Mom loved last week's CSA box contents and we loved our week at the beach. Sun, sand, seashells, putt-putt, and copious amounts of steamed seafood. Heaven, sheer heaven, or at least, this redneck girl's idea of heaven. Back to mom: upon our return, we were given the pecans from last week's box. I guess this means I need to invest in a nutcracker. My very generous neighbors gave me a five-pound bag of unshelled pecans that's been sitting in the pantry for a couple of months, so between the two stores, I should have enough nuts to make a pie or something pretty special.
Just perusing the cookbooks on my desk, and have come up with a few ideas. From "Beans, Greens and Sweet Georgia Peaches," recipes include a Salad with Apple, Pecans and Clemson Blue Cheese; Baked Apples with Bourbon and Pecans (the author, Damon Lee Fowler, must keep the Maker's Mark next to the breadbox, it's called for quite frequently); Brown Butter Pecans (which I think would be luscious in home-churned vanilla ice cream); and Pecan Pie and Pecan Shortbread. All very tempting.
My favorite 1,000-page book, "The Gourmet Cookbook" suggests a Bananas Foster Cheesecake, or Catfish Fillets with Pecans and Butter Sauce. Sables and Cheddar Crackers have a certain savory appeal. The recipe for Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake sounds like a winner. Coconut, pecans, ganache, dulce de leche, how can you go wrong?
But, first, to the hardware store for a nutcracker and some quality nut-cracking time.
I could never manage without a nutcracker. They are invaluable for opening bottles and jars which have small caps. There are other non-nutcracking applications which elude me at the moment, but you should have at least two or three. Get the children involved if you're going to crack nuts.
ReplyDeleteLobster -- they're wonderful cracking lobster shells.
Enjoy your pecans!
Marcia