subject: Using Nuts In Your Cooking [print this page] A number of people are deathly afraid of eating nuts. Thousands of them are especially fearful of peanuts because they have peanut allergies. Others are afraid that eating nuts will make them fat, especially if they eat nuts with a high fat content. Nuts, however, are great sources of nutrition. In addition they provide tons of energy.
If you are one of the many who are concerned about the amount of fats in nuts, the key is moderation. But also, keep in mind that the fat in most nuts are the good kind of fat in that they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Nuts are among the most versatile of foods. You can include them into your daily meals in hundreds of different ways. For example, for breakfast, you can add them to your instant cereals. This immediately makes your breakfast more nutritious. For lunch, they are a natural addition to many salads - especially something like the Waldorf salad which is famous for using walnuts.
And, when you look at supper menus, you will see that nuts are pretty much essential elements in many of the foods. Desserts are not exempt either, as many desserts don't feel complete without the addition of nuts. Ice cream and cookies most come to mind as desserts that frequently include various types of nuts as one of their ingredients. In short, nuts can be eaten with any meal and not feel out of place.
Most likely the most prevalent nuts used in American dishes these days are either pecans or pinenuts. Pecans are used in hundred of dishes. A lot of desserts such as butter pecan ice cream, breads, cakes, cookies, and all types of other pastries have pecans as one of their main ingredients. Pinenuts are very popular in non-dessert dishes, especially those that come from Spain or Italy. You will find them in breads, salads, and some pastries as well. Other nuts often used in foods are cashews, peanuts, and walnuts.
As anyone can easily ascertain, simply by looking at the sales figures for peanut butter, peanuts are very popular. They would undoubtedly be more popular in processed foods if manufacturers were not so afraid of losing sales because of peanut allergy complaints.
A trick that many chefs utilize when cooking or baking with nuts is to toast them. The heat helps to release the flavors in them. You can do this in one of two ways. Most chefs will place the nuts in a pan with or without a bit of oil, and toast them over an open flame. The best flavor, however, is produced when they are slow roasted in an oven. The key in either case, is not to over cook them as they tend to turn bitter.
It is important that when you plan on keeping nuts for a while that you store them in a cool place so they will not become rancid. And, when you buy them, try to buy them at a place with high turnover to ensure that you are getting fresh nuts.
