I had the opportunity to test some of Fisher Nuts Culinary Touch Add-ins and Toppings and Fusion Snack Mixes. As soon as I popped open the first bag I knew I was working with a quality product, the aroma was great. I have had problems recently with walnuts from other vendors which smell old and slightly rancid when you open the bag. So I was pleased by the wholesome, fresh aroma.
I added 1/2 a cup of Fisher Culinary Touch Pecan, Cranberry, and Orange blend to give a new twist to the my favorite banana bread recipe. The additional fruit and nuts really gave the bread a wonderful range of flavors. Each bite was a surprise.
I used the rest of the bag as topping for a green salad tossing it all together with extra virgin olive oil and Lucini 10-year Gran Riserva Balsamico vinegar. Again, it was like a symphony for the tongue - a hint of orange here, a bit of tart cranberry there, then the satisfying texture of the pecans.
About that time, we where throwing a big gumbo party fundraiser for our "Ma Louisianne" project and I used the Fisher unsalted cashews as the protein in a vegan gumbo. (The recipe is posted below.) I added the nuts at the end of the cooking so they wouldn't become too mushy. They gave the gumbo an incredibly rich flavor. Chef Melissa Graham of Monogram Events, one of our guests that night, said it was her favorite gumbo out of the 4 selections. She thought I had added cashew butter but it was just the lovely cashews themselves.
The Fisher Fusions snack mixes were a bit too sweet for me. The Ice Cream Sundae mix was especially sweet. If you read the ingredients, all of the fruit was sweetened: pineapple, banana and strawberries. Those were then mixed with marshmallows and chocolate covered peanuts. Whoa! I'll stick to the nuts.
The great thing about the Fisher Culinary Touch bags is that they are small enough to put in ones' bag for a healthy snack on the go. I'd like to see Fisher go even further and make smaller size snack bags of their nut mixtures as an alternative to candy.
Showing posts with label walnuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walnuts. Show all posts
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
All's Fair in Love and Food
My first date with my husband was an invitation to make locum, better known as Turkish Delight. I entered his apartment through the kitchen. What a mistake!
He was the worst housekeeper I'd ever seen. His kitchen table was piled high with strata of magazines, dishtowels, mail, cookie sheets, books, more magazines. The stack climbed the wall and left just a six inch ledge where he could balance a plate while he piled things onto it. I didn't want to touch anything for fear of a landslide. To this day he still perches dishes on the edge of the counter rather than sit them firmly on the expanse of counter top.
The first meal he ever made me was trout with pecan sauce on top, nestled in a pool of browned butter. Who knew the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach?
He's from New Orleans and he loves to cook and talk about food. He'll be eating a fabulous lunch and casually ask, "What's for dinner?"
I don't think that far in advance. He's a cookbook cook. I love to improvise. Show me what's in the refrigerator and stand back. I have no formal training. I'm just a good home cook and proud of it.
I cook by color as well as flavor and I come up with things like Pomegranate Salad which is a tribute to the Armenian side of my family. Pomegranates are the beloved fruit of Armenia. The grapes are a tribute to my Aunt Peg and Uncle Mesik who raised grapes for raisins. The walnuts are for the stories my dad, Horan, tells about shelling walnuts when he was growing up in Selma, California. He can identify every fruit and nut tree as we whiz by the fields at 65 mph.
The honey, is for my grandparents, Elisa and Krikor who made a life here in the States after a world of heartbreak. My grandmother surrounded their house with a hedge of gardenias. I remember the smell of their blooms even though I can't picture her face. That hedge stood for years after her death, a testament to her desire for sweetness.
Here's the recipe:
3 tbsp. of honey
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 large grapefruit, peeled and cut in chunks
1 1/2 cups green seedless grapes, cut in half
1 cup broken walnut pieces
The seeds of one pomegranate
Make a dressing with the honey and vinegar. Whisk until the honey is dissolved. Put the fruit and nuts into a bowl. Pour the dressing over the fruit and mix until all is coated. It's best if you refrigerate it for at least an hour.
We eat it for breakfast, as a side dish or for dessert. It first appeared on the Spatulatta website in 2005 and also appears in the Spatulatta cookbook.
He was the worst housekeeper I'd ever seen. His kitchen table was piled high with strata of magazines, dishtowels, mail, cookie sheets, books, more magazines. The stack climbed the wall and left just a six inch ledge where he could balance a plate while he piled things onto it. I didn't want to touch anything for fear of a landslide. To this day he still perches dishes on the edge of the counter rather than sit them firmly on the expanse of counter top.
The first meal he ever made me was trout with pecan sauce on top, nestled in a pool of browned butter. Who knew the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach?
He's from New Orleans and he loves to cook and talk about food. He'll be eating a fabulous lunch and casually ask, "What's for dinner?"
I don't think that far in advance. He's a cookbook cook. I love to improvise. Show me what's in the refrigerator and stand back. I have no formal training. I'm just a good home cook and proud of it.
I cook by color as well as flavor and I come up with things like Pomegranate Salad which is a tribute to the Armenian side of my family. Pomegranates are the beloved fruit of Armenia. The grapes are a tribute to my Aunt Peg and Uncle Mesik who raised grapes for raisins. The walnuts are for the stories my dad, Horan, tells about shelling walnuts when he was growing up in Selma, California. He can identify every fruit and nut tree as we whiz by the fields at 65 mph.
The honey, is for my grandparents, Elisa and Krikor who made a life here in the States after a world of heartbreak. My grandmother surrounded their house with a hedge of gardenias. I remember the smell of their blooms even though I can't picture her face. That hedge stood for years after her death, a testament to her desire for sweetness.
Here's the recipe:
3 tbsp. of honey
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 large grapefruit, peeled and cut in chunks
1 1/2 cups green seedless grapes, cut in half
1 cup broken walnut pieces
The seeds of one pomegranate
Make a dressing with the honey and vinegar. Whisk until the honey is dissolved. Put the fruit and nuts into a bowl. Pour the dressing over the fruit and mix until all is coated. It's best if you refrigerate it for at least an hour.
We eat it for breakfast, as a side dish or for dessert. It first appeared on the Spatulatta website in 2005 and also appears in the Spatulatta cookbook.
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