Yoghurt Barley Soup with Cilantro-Walnut Pesto

Ingredients:

For the Soup:

  • 1 cup pearl barley
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup finely minced onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon minced or crushed garlic
  • 1 cup plain yoghurt, at room temperature
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Cilantro-walnut pesto

For the Cilantro-Walnut Pesto:

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • ½ teaspoon minced or crushed garlic
  • 1 cup firmly packed cilantro (leaves and smaller stems)Scant
  •  ½ teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Optional Additional Toppings:

  • Minced fresh mint
  • Chopped California walnuts

Preparation:

For the Soup:

  1. Combine the barley, water, and ½ teaspoon of salt in a medium-large saucepan, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the barley is tender – about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, place a medium-sized skillet over medium heat and wait about a minute, then add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
  2. Toss in the onion and cumin and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onion becomes translucent. Add the garlic and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and continue to sauté until the onion becomes very soft – about another 5 to 8 minutes.
  3. When steps 1 and 2 are done, add the sautéed mixture to the barley mixture, and simmer them together, covered, over the lowest possible heat, for about 10 minutes – to meld the flavours.
  4. Stir and/or whisk the room-temperature yoghurt into the hot soup until it blends in completely. Season to taste with black pepper, and serve right away, with a heaping teaspoon (or more) of the pesto added to each serving.
  5. If desired, you can also top it with scatterings of fresh mint and minced walnuts.

For the Cilantro-Walnut Pesto:

  1. Place the walnuts in a blender or the small bowl of a food processor, and grind to a coarse meal.
  2. Add the garlic, cilantro, and salt, and continue to run the machine until it becomes a uniform green paste (some light walnut texture is fine).
  3. Run the machine while you drizzle in the oil. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid, and refrigerate until use.


Fennel Tomato Soup with California Walnut Lemon Gremolata

Ingredients:

  • 400g bulb fennel (fresh fennel)
  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 240g peeled tomatoes
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • Salt, pepper
  • 1 pinch sugar

For the Gremolata:

  • 60g California walnuts
  • Grated peel from ½ organic lemon
  • 40 freshly ground parmesan
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fennel green

Additional:

  • Fennel green for decoration

Preparation:

  1. Clean the fennel and set the fennel greens aside. Cut in halves, and remove the stem. Cut the fennel into small pieces. Peel onion and garlic and dice into small pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan. Lightly fry fennel, onions and garlic. Add tomatoes and vegetable stock. Cook for 20 minutes.
  2. Puree the soup not until completely fine. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.
  3. Chop walnuts and roast them without fat in a coated pan. Combine with lemon peel, parmesan and fennel green. Top the soup with gremolata and fennel green. Serve together with the rest of the gremolata.


Wild Mushroom and Walnut Soup

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 450g wild and white mushrooms, sliced
  • 60g dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted (see instructions below)
  • 1 cup ground walnuts
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 6 cups hot chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1/3 cup sherry
  • 2 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Sautéed mushrooms and/or blue cheese for garnish
  • Low-fat milk can be substituted for whipping cream

Preparations:

  1. In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot on high heat, melt butter. Add mushrooms, walnuts, onion, garlic, celery and bay leaves and sauté until lightly browned (about 5 to 10 minutes). Reduce heat to medium, add flour and cook for another 2 minutes.
  2. Stirring constantly, slowly add hot broth and sherry and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 20 minutes and remove bay leaves.
  3. Remove from heat and using an immersion blender, pulse until mushrooms are nearly puréed or until desired consistency. Return to heat, bring to a boil and add thyme and cream. Stir to combine.
  4. Garnish with sautéed wild mushrooms and/or blue cheese, if desired, and serve.

Tips:

  1. For a subtle, smokey flavour, use 3 to 4 strips of bacon in place of butter.
  2. Make soup ahead of time; refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. To reconstitute the dried porcini mushrooms: combine porcini and 1-1/2 cups boiling water in a medium bowl.
  3. Let stand until porcini soften, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove porcini from the water and chop coarsely.


Stuffed Rolled Turkey With California Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 1kg turkey breast
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 80g gorgonzola
  • 150g leaf spinach
  • 80g California walnuts
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 125ml white wine
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons light sauce thickener
  • 250ml cooking cream
  • Kitchen twine

Preparations:

  1. Season turkey breast with salt and pepper. Spread the inside, except for a small edge, with Gorgonzola. Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly and sort them out. Bring salted water to the boil in a pot. Add the spinach leaves and let them wilt. Then pour the leaf spinach into a sieve, rinse briefly in cold water and squeeze vigorously with a wooden spoon. Chop California walnuts. Spread the spinach leaves and two thirds of the walnuts on the coated side of the meat. Roll up the meat and tie it together with kitchen twine.
  2. Heat oil in a dutch oven. Fry the meat on all sides. Deglaze with white wine and pour in the chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes.
  3. Remove the rolled turkey roast from the stock. Stir in the sauce thickener, pour in the cream and cook uncovered for 3 minutes while stirring. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and add the remaining walnuts.
  4. Slice the rolled turkey roast and serve with the sauce. Serve with broccoli with roasted walnut slivers and boiled potatoes or pasta.

Tip: For the rolled roast, have the butcher cut the turkey breast into a flat piece.


Baked Figs with Cardamom Yoghurt, Honey & California Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 12 ripe figs
  • 300g plain rich yoghurt flavoured with cardamom powder
  • 90ml honey, divided
  • 75g California walnuts, chopped

Preparations:

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
  2. Cut the figs in half lengthwise. Place the figs, cut side up in a baking dish.
  3. Brush 30ml of the orange blossom honey over the cut side of the figs.
  4. Bake figs for 12 minutes, until just softened and heated through. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. Lay the fig halves on a serving plate. Spoon yoghurt on top of the figs.
  6. Drizzle the honey over the yogurt and figs.
  7. Sprinkle the California walnuts over.


Beetroot and Red Cabbage Soup with California Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 700g red cabbage
  • 300g beetroot
  • 1 onion
  • Fresh ginger
  • 165ml coconut milk
  • 100ml cooking cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pinch of sugar
  • Lemon juice
  • 50g California walnuts
  • 30g dried cranberries
  • Coriander, for garnish

Preparations:

  1. Cut red cabbage into pieces and juice (makes approx. 500 ml). Peel and roughly dice the beetroot and onion. Peel and finely chop a walnut-sized piece of ginger.
  2. Put the red cabbage juice, beetroot, onion and ginger in a pot and cook covered for 30 minutes. Then put it in a blender, puree it and pour it back into the pot.
  3. Add coconut milk and cooking cream and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice.
  4. Chop walnuts and roast briefly. Mix with the cranberries. Serve the soup with the walnut-cranberry mixture and garnished with coriander if desired.

Tip: If you don’t have a juicer, replace the red cabbage juice with beetroot juice and refine the soup with around 100 g of red cabbage from the jar.


Lentil Soup with Kale and California Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 1/2 medium onion (about 1/2 cup), diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 cans reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 large potato, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 cup dry lentils
  • 4 cups coarsely chopped kale

Preparation:

  1. Heat oil in a medium stock pot. Add celery, carrots, onion and garlic.
  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add broth, potato and lentils. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally until potatoes and lentils are tender. With a spoon or potato masher, press potatoes and lentils to make a slightly thickened soup.
  3. Stir in kale or spinach and cook for 5-10 minutes until tender. Top with walnuts just before serving.


Walnut Gujiya

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup maida
  • 2 tablespoons sooji
  • Salt
  • 2 teaspoons ghee
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • Warm water

To Make Filling:

  • 1 cup California walnuts
  • 15 dates
  • Dry rose petals
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom powder

Preparation:

  1. To a bowl, take wheat flour, maida, sooji, salt and ghee. Mix them well.
  2. To this add milk and mix.
  3. Now start adding warm water and start kneading the dough.
  4. Knead the dough for 5 mins.
  5. Cover it with some ghee and leave for about 5 mins.
  6. To make the filling, to the processor add walnut, dates, dry rose petals and cardamom powder.
  7. Grind it to a coarse mixture.
  8. After 30 mins, divide the dough into smaller balls.
  9. Take a dough ball and roll it out a little.
  10. Place the walnut-dates filling in the center.
  11. Fold from one side and seal it on all sides.
  12. Heat some oil in a kadai.
  13. Deep fry the gujiya on medium flame until they are golden brown in colour.


California Walnut and Couscous Chicken Harissa Broth

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 fennel bulb, chopped
  • 1.3 litre chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon harissa paste
  • 400g giant wholewheat couscous
  • 100g sugar snaps, sliced diagonally
  • 50g California walnuts, chopped
  • 100g baby spinach
  • 200g roast chicken breast, shredded
  • Drizzle chilli sauce to serve

Preparations:

  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and fennel for 5 minutes. Add the stock and harissa and bring to a boil, stir in the couscous and simmer, covered for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the sugar snaps and walnuts and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the couscous is tender. Add the spinach and chicken and stir until the spinach has wilted.
  3. Spoon into bowls and drizzle with a little chilli sauce to serve.

Cooks tip: Try using pak choi instead of the sugar snaps or swap the spinach for shredded savoy cabbage.


Baked Pumpkin Custard

Ingredients:

  • 6 small sugar pumpkins, approx. 400g each, and about 4-inches in diameter (to be used as decorative bowls)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup non-fat or low-fat evaporated milk
  • 6 tablespoons chopped, toasted California walnuts

*NOTE: These crustless, individual custards can be baked either in small, hollowed-out pumpkins or in ramekins. Instructions for both methods are given.

Preparation:

  1. To prepare the pumpkins, if you are using them, remove the stem end from each, and scrape the seeds and fibers from inside the pumpkins. Cut a very thin slice off the bottom of each pumpkin, so they will sit flat, without wobbling.
  2. Alternately, coat 6 ramekins, each about 170g capacity, with non-stick cooking spray.
  3. Preheat the oven to 230°C In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt, and stir with a whisk or spoon until evenly blended.
  4. Add the eggs and pumpkin puree and beat until completely mixed. Slowly pour in the evaporated milk, stirring until smooth.
  5. If you are using pumpkins, divide the filling among them, pouring about 1/2 cup into each. Place the pumpkins on a parchment-lined shallow baking pan, with their tops next to them. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350ºF and continue baking about 1 hour more, or until the pumpkins are tender when pierced. If the tops are done sooner, remove them.
  6. If you are using ramekins, pour about 1/2 cup of filling into each. Place the ramekins on a shallow baking pan.
  7. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 163°C and bake about 25 minutes more, or until a knife inserted in the filling comes out clean or almost clean.
  8. Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool (cool for an hour if baked in pumpkins).
  9. Serve the custards warm, sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of walnuts. Accompany with sweetened whipped cream, if desired. The pumpkin lids may be placed atop the pumpkins, or at a jaunty angle alongside.