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The
Nutcracker Feast Nuts,
at least of the botanical sort, were probably more prominant at the
table when humans were hunters and gatherers. Nuts have been found in
kitchen midens as old as paleolithic humans. Anthropologists tell us
cave dwellers in Northern Iraq were fond of chestnuts, walnuts, pine
nuts and acorns. Long
before nuts were cultivated, they were a serendipitous find, ground to
make bread or thicken porridge. Today, nuts are an adjunct, an ornament,
a flavourful suggestion. When used to make savory holiday dishes, they
add a honey sort of luxury. Our
enduring attachment to nuts is reflected in how often their flavour is
evoked to describe other foods. Nutty brown butter. A ripe, nutty
cheese. The nutty aftertaste of a big red wine. Nutiness, in food talk,
means a sweet earthiness. Nutty
is also an affectionate term for crazy and food historians trace the
etymology to the Romans, who saw the walnut as a paradigm of the human
brain. The fleshy green husk was the scalp; the hard shell, the
protective skull; the parchment partition, the membrane. The Romans,
concluded that walnuts have a homeopathic ability to cure head aches, a
theory you could obviously interpret the other way. Indeed, it is a
claim some doctors still make today. When
it comes to defining a nut, botony is stricter than psychiatry, limiting
the meaning to a one-seeded fruit with a tough, dry meaty layer rather
than a fleshy one. By this definaition only acorns, hazelnuts, beechnuts
and sweet chestnuts qualify. Almonds and walnuts, as well as the pecan,
are the oversized seeds of a drupe- a fleshy fruit, like a peach, in
which the nut is a stone. Fortunately,
in the kitchen a nut just has to taste like a nut. The almond is by far
the most popular variety inCanada, though I find its flavour more in
tune with Spring. In winter, I prefer to cook with walnuts, pecans and
hazelnuts, whose dense, abiding character is particularly toothsome in
holiday foods. A breading of ground pecans, for instance, can turn
ordinary chicken breast into a festive, luxurious meal; a pecan stuffing
renders a capon irresistible. when combined with goat cheese or Stilton
to garnish a winter salad, walnuts are a true indulgence. For
centuries, nuts have been synonymous with holiday cooking, but
nostaligia alone can’t fully explain why their smell, roasting in a
pan, triggers such a swoon. Perhaps its their sheer stalwartness that
perfumes the air. Its a hopeful, head turning smell, the smell of
endurance. Serves
4 1/2
cup buttermilk 1
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard 1
1/2 cup toasted pecans, ground 1
tsp salt freshly
ground pepper to taste 2
boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1)
Preheat the oven to 375 F. 2)
In a shallow bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and mustard. 3)
In a shallow dish combine the pecans, salt and pepper. 4)
Dip each piece of chicken in the buttermilk mixture and then coat with
the ground pecans. Place on a baking sheet. 5) Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the nuts are brown, about 25 minutes. Divide among 4 plates and serve. |
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