" CUISINE SCENE

_ BEING A native-born’

‘ Californian girl myself, I —

~ guess I’m a Dit biased when
it comes to good ’ole walnuts.
“Yep ... the very best do come
from California. And the
fresh crop is in cur local
steres now.

In the shell, shelled in halves,
pieces, or nuggets. Your choice. And
if the sample
L received last

_week was any
indication, -
they are great
this year!

When |
=>, was growing -
~ up in Los
Angeles, I
- moaned and groaned (as a child)
whenever a big Christmas package
arrived for our family ... only to be
opened, with great anticipation, to
find that it contained nuts! _

Or dried apricots and dates! Or
dried figs and nuts! Or a huge com-
bination basket of all of these and
_more. My brother, Daryl, and 1
never anticipated such a gift at all.

* - Now that I have a home of my
own, I see.the light. There is no gift
that | appreciate more at holiday
time than one of food. Nuts, dried
fruits, homemade vinegar or hand-
made truffles, a leaf of bread, a jar
of lovingly prepared mustard or jam

or chutney. Nothing says love like a
gift from the kitchen. Or something
good to eat.

‘Public’relations lady par excel-
lence Nancy Wong sent me a com-
plete packet last week on this year’s
crop of fresh California walnuts.
Recipes, a nifty little nut-opener,
some tree ornaments fashioned
from nutshells, some wainut-stud-
ded biscotii, nut praline-filled
chocolates, and (of course!) some
shelled walnuts. Along with lots of
facts and nutty advice about using .
them.

Wong informed me that the rea-
son these California wainuts taste so
fresh, crunchy, sweet and just plain

_wonderful — is the fact that they.
are (indeed) fresh.

Others you may find on the
supermarket shelf are (most certain-
ly) imported from China and other
far-away places, and have been on
the shelf sometimes for up to a
year's time. So, this new crop.is
certainly something to seek cut,

And it won't be much of a
search, California supplies 97% of
the walnuts to our Canadian market.

<*t They boast they are the “better, not

biter” walnut. And it’s true.

With Christmas nearly (yips!!!)
upon us, and festive Christmas bak-
ing should be under way —~ walnuts

WALLY’S
SEAFOOD

X-mas Special §
Chilean H/P Shrimp
*1™ 100g
1410 Lonsdale Ave.
984-4571

are certtinty called for our fruit
cukes, batter breads, Christmas
cakes and plum puddings, Walnuts
are great added to your turkey stuff-
ing, mincemeat, cookies aud chut-
ney.

And in my Armenian heritage,
we always offered a how! of soft
dried apricots, dried moist dates.
and crunchy walnuts at the end of a
meal, No grandmother worth her
Ammenian salt omitted this from her
parlor coffee table!

Here are some great recipes to
get you started. With some nulty
facts and figures as well.

_And 1 love this old proverb:
Mellow nuts have hardest rind
{applies to some friends 1 know,
{00).

Some nutty facts

1 Ib. (450 g) walnuts in shell will
yield about 2 c. (500 mL.) of shelled
walnuts. ;

8] Store unused portion of shelled
walnuts tightly sealed and refriger-
ated, or store in the freezer for
future use. In-shell nuts will remain
fresh several months stored in a
cool, dry place. Shell just before
using.

BH 4c. (125 mL) serving of walnuts
is 335 calories, has only 5 mg of
sodium, and some dietary fibre. A
good source of phosphorus, magne-
sium and zinc as well.

@ Walnuts have been around for
ages, one of the oldest tree foods
known te man. They date back to
7000 BC, originally from Persia. In
ancient Rome, walnuts were known
as food for the Gods.

® Our popular name of walnut
comes from “wahtnut,” an old
English word for Welsf-nut (mean-
ing a foreigner).

As a cooking ingredient, the
walnut is North America’s most
popular of all nut varieties.

Make life a tittle nuttier!

Some novel, and delicious, ideas
from the California Walnut Council.
@ Sprinkle walnuts in your salads
(even in a Caesar!). Make a classic
Waldorf Salad for the holidays with
red and green chopped apples, crisp
celery, mayonnaise and toasted wal-
nut pieces.

“ Walnuts are great in your

favorite pancake or waffle and muf-

‘fir’ batter.

H Walnuts team beautifully with
your favorite chicken recipes —
especially used in stir-frys.

~ 4 Fora great ice cream sundae —-

top rich vanilla ice cream (or maple
vanilla flavor) with caramel sauce,
and a sprinkling of toasted chopped
walnuts.

WALNUT ZUCCHINE LOAF

Courtesy the California Walnut
folks, fronia great fittle recipe bouk-
let, this great recipe for a walnut and
aucchint loaf. For dessert with tea
(great with cream cheese!) and a
fovely holiday gift.

A nice wintery substitution is to
prepare this loaf using grated carrots
instead of the more summery zucchi-
ni.

Makes two 9x 5
loaves.
2c. (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1% ¢. (425 mL) whole wheat flour
1 tsp. (5 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) each ground cloves,
. ¢innamon, allspice
1% ec. (325 mL.) liquid honey
2eggs °
1 Tosp. (15 mL) plain yogurt or

buttermilk = -

1% c. (425 mL) grated zucchini (or
carrots), lightly packed

(23 x 13 em)

1c, (250 mL) chopped California.

walnuts
1 Tbsp. (15 mL.) sesame seeds

In a large mixing bowl, blend the .

flours, baking powder, baking soda
and spices.

In a medium bowl, blend oil,
honey, eggs, yogurt and zucchini (or

carrots).
Stir into
dry ingre-
dients, just
until
blended.
Stir in wal-
nuts.
Divide
batter
evenly into two lightly greased 9°x
5" (23 x 13 cm) loaf pans. Pans will
only. be half full. Sprinkle tops of
batter with sesame seeds.

Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for |
hour, or until a toothpick inserted in
centre comes out clean. Cool loaves
in pans about 15 minutes.

Invert onto wire rack and cool
completely. Makes two. Loaves
freeze well!

WALNUT MOCHA TRUFFLES

A great gift for holiday giving!
Simple to prepare, these walnutty
truffles are divine, a decadent indul-
gence to share with friends.

Coated with finely chopped wal-
nuts, and dusted with cocoa or icing
sugar -—- they are an elegant sweet to
have around this time of year.

Makes 15-20 truffles. (From the
California Walnut Commission.)

% ec. (50 mL) unsalted butter, soft-
ened

%e. (175 mL) icing sugar

6 squares (1 02/28 g each) eeri-
sweet chocolate

2 tsp. (10 mi) instant coffee gran-
-tules

‘2. Thsp. (30 t inL) rum.

1 «.’ (250 mi) shelled California
- walnuts, finely chopped
Cocoa powder
Icing sugar
In a small bowl, beat together the
butter and sugar.
In top of a double boiler set over
gently simmering water, combine
the chocolate and coffee. Cook and

_ stir over hot (not boiling) water until

US FARM MARKET

EDGEMONT VILLAGE

Corner of Edgemont Blvd. & Queens

983-9330

We raserve the right to timit quantities. Prices in elfect Wed. Nov, 30, ta Tues. Dec. 6, 1994

BEAT APL TY RENTERS

NEWS photo Terry Peters

A NEW crop of California walnuts fs in our local stores now. :
Sweet, crunchy, crisp, and really fresh — ready to add to your
favorite holiday baking and festive foods. Go a little nutty!

chocolate is melted and smocth.
Remove from heat.

Add mixture slowly to the butter-

sugar mixture.

Stir in the rum, and 4c. (125 mL)
of the nuts. Chill mixture until
slightly firmed.

Shape the chilled mixture into
truffle-sized balls, rolling lightly
between palms. Roll in remaining
walnuts to coat, and then coat (by

rolling) in cocoa powder ‘or ‘icing ~ *”

sugar.

Place truffles in tiny paper candy
cups, and store in covered container
in refrigerator until just before serv-
ing.

Truffles may be prepared and
refrigerated for up to one week, or
frozen for up to three months.

COUNTRY CABBAGE SLAW
WITH WALNUTS
Walnuts add a nice crunch to this

zesty cabbage slaw (which will keep . :

up to oné week, refrigerated!) to
serve with holiday Foast ham and ‘
leftovers.

Serves 4-6. (Recipe may be dou-
bled or tripled.) . ,
% head green cabbage
% head red cabbage
2 large carrots .

2 green onions, , chopped
1 celery stalk, diced :
% ec (150 mL) chopped walnuts,

‘toasted Shee
Yogurt dressing:
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Dijon ‘mustard
%c. (50 mi) wine or tarragon vine- -

gar
Ke. (75 mL) vegetable oil
%c. (75 mL) plain yogurt
Freshly ground black pepper ;
Shred the cabbage into long, thin
shreds with a.very sharp knife or

-cleaver (or in a food processor).

Grate the carrots, and toss in a large

_ See Walnuts page 55.

| SPECIALS OF THE WEEK

| Oranges
f Sunkist size 150

f Chinese
: Oranges]

Potato.

|. Russet

~ Christmas Poinsettias
all sizes, reasonable prices _

Old Dutch Potato C Chips 200 g box, all varieties se

4193 LYNN VALLEY RD.

Top of Lynn Valley Rd.

NORTH VAN:
Valid Nov. 30 - Dec. 6, '94