The Wonderful Versatility of Nuts

by

Native nuts—black walnuts, the now vanishing butternut, the vanished American chestnut, hazelnuts, chinquapins, and hickory nuts—have long been an integral part of mountain culinary culture. They figured prominently in the diet of the Cherokees and early settlers relied on them as a dietary mainstay. So much was this the case that nutting expeditions, especially when chestnuts were falling, were something entire families participated in on an annual basis.

In my own family autumn outings to gather newly fallen black walnuts, followed by the demanding series of steps necessary before they were ready to eat (letting the hulls dry, removing the hulls with a flail or by other means, cracking the nuts, and tediously picking out the meats), was an annual ritual. My mom, a daughter of the Great Depression who was the essence of frugality to her innermost being, reveled in the whole undertaking. After all, the family was taking advantage of nature’s abundant free bounty, providing the wherewithal for delightful eating, and enjoying times of togetherness

From the latter portion of November on into the New Year we would have periodic family evenings spent listening to the likes of the Grand Ole Opry or the Wayne Raney Show on WCKY out of Cincinnati, Ohio (“50,000 Watts of Pure Power”) while meticulously using a slender knife point or homemade nut pick to get the goodies from walnuts daddy had cracked. It was tedious work, but many hands along with country music, simple conversation, or maybe favorite radio shows such as “The Lone Ranger” and “Amos and Andy” made it a time of pleasure. Today that joy continues in the form of fond reminiscence.

Nut gathering and shelling largely belongs to a world we have lost, but today’s grocery shelves carry a wide variety of nuts that offer stepping stones to a wide variety of tasty dishes. Other than black walnuts, which can be difficult to find and are pricey indeed even if you manage to locate them, nuts are readily available and can bring versatility to mountain tables in both taste and nutritional value. A wide variety of options follows, and it should be noted that these recipes range widely enough to remind us that nuts transcend their traditional uses as snacks or desserts.

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Chestnut Dressing

During my boyhood and well beyond, one of the standards of our family Thanksgiving feast was chestnut dressing. It harkened back to my father’s youth, when the American chestnut still ruled supreme as monarch of mountain forests. Blight had long since ended that reign of wonder, but Chinese chestnuts made a decent substitute and the dressing, bathed in gravy atop a slice or two of baked chicken (we had chicken, not turkey, for the simple reason we raised our own) was scrumptious.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup butter or margarine
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 cup cooked, chopped chestnuts (you can substitute pecans)
  • 6-8 cups cornbread crumbs (use your favorite cornbread recipe, but not the sweetened abomination sometimes posited as real cornbread))
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 (or more) cups chicken or turkey broth
  • Salt and pepper to taste (those who like sage can add it as well, but keep in mind it has a dominating flavor)

Preparation:

Melt butter in skillet and sauté celery, onion, and nuts.  Cook slowly over low heat for 10 minutes; stir frequently as this burns easily.  Add to cornbread crumbs in mixing bowl.  Add beaten egg and broth, mixing well.  Dressing must be VERY moist; add more liquid if needed.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and sage (omit sage if you wish, which I do).  Bake in casserole dish at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Leftover dressing is every bit as tasty as when the preparation has just come from the oven, and it can be reheated for a side dish, adorned with gravy, or mixed with chopped up chicken or turkey and fried as cakes.

Ice Cream Pie with Black Walnut Crust

Black walnuts are a taste treat justifying the considerable labor to crack the nuts and pick out the meats (or the startling expense if you find them for sale), and here’s one delightful and somewhat unusual way to use them.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup finely chopped black walnuts
  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • Vanilla ice cream

Preparation:

Combine chopped nuts, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Mix well and press into a pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Spoon softened ice cream into pie shell. Place in the freezer. When served, top with a sprinkling of walnuts or a chocolate or berry sauce.

TIP: Stir a couple of tablespoons of black walnut syrup into the softened ice cream for an even more intense walnut taste.

Pear and Hazelnut Salad

Although that time has long come and gone, several generations back folks gathered hazelnuts early each fall where the bushes grew along creek and river banks in great profusion throughout the mountains. Indeed, Hazel Creek, a famed trout stream in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, takes its name from the abundance of nuts once found there. In today’s world, just substitute filberts.

Ingredients:

  • 4-6 cups mixed greens
  • 2 large, fresh pears, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts, toasted
  • 3-4 tablespoons mild blue cheese

Preparation:

Arrange greens on salad plates. Sprinkle liberally with pears, nuts, and cheese. Drizzle with mild Italian dressing or raspberry vinaigrette.

Blueberry Nut Bread

Blueberries, whether domestic or wild, along with their hardscrabble cousin, the huckleberry, are abundant and lend themselves to freezing. They go wonderfully well with nuts, and this recipe is a prime example of the pairing they provide. Pretty much any type of nut, from readily available store bought ones such as pecans and English walnuts, to those from the mountain wilds, works nicely in this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • v1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 1 cup berries
  • ½ cup chopped nuts

Preparation:

Cream sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add egg and beat well. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with milk and blend well. Gently fold berries and nuts into batter then pour into 9 x 5 x 3-inch prepare loaf pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown and bread tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removal from pan.

Wilted Spinach and Pine Nuts

Pine nuts have a rich, savory, and truly special flavor, and they stand out as a real taste treat in this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pine nuts
  • 1 pound spinach, stemmed, washed, torn, and drained
  • 1 ½ tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pine nuts and stir until golden (about a minute). Add spinach (in batches if necessary) and toss until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle on Parmesan cheese, and served immediately.

Applesauce Cake

This dessert was a traditional Christmas treat in my family. Mom often prepared a batch of half a dozen or so applesauce cakes over the Thanksgiving weekend for use at Yuletide. The ensuing weeks would see cakes stored in a cool area and periodically anointed with a few tablespoons of apple cider or wine to keep them moist. This combination of aging and moisturizing produced a cake that was, by the time Christmas rolled around and it was sliced, soaked through with toothsome goodness. It was so moist that the slices literally glistened.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 cups flour
  • ¹/³ cup cocoa
  • 4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons allspice
  • 2 cups raisins
  • 3 cups applesauce
  • 2 cups black walnut meats
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • Pinch of salt

Preparation:

Cream butter and sugar.  Add applesauce and remaining ingredients a small amount at a time, stirring by hand as you do so.  Bake in a 10-inch tube pan for 50 minutes to an hour at 350 degrees.  Check with toothpick to see if cake is done.

Pecan Crunch Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes baked in their jackets and eaten with butter or maybe smothered with squirrel gravy were one of my favorite boyhood dishes, but for holidays or special occasions they would be offered in other ways. Those included pies, soufflés, and casseroles, but this recipe was a personal favorite.

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter or margarine, softened or melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

Preparation:

Combine butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Add to mashed sweet potatoes, mix, and place in a baking dish.

PECAN TOPPING

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 stick butter or margarine, melted
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup (or a bit more) chopped pecans

Preparation:

Mix topping ingredients and crumble over sweet potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Although almost dessert-like in nature, this dish makes a hearty side offering for baked ham or a pork roast.                                               

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