4 sacks of walnuts to shell. We have done the first one. Keep at it! Out in the shed we turn the radio on (when its just me - I like to listen to National Radio ) or music and hammer away. Strict quality control....if in doubt throw it out. We only keep shelled nuts as there are too many surprises for us or others in unshelled ones. Once shelled I place them in either big 1 kg bags or more often small 300 gram bags with resealable tops. Our own to keep get stored in the deep freezer till needed. They just free flow from the bags so the quantity needed can be taken out & the rest put back. That way we never have rancid nuts( all the shop ones are slightly rancid ) and if there are any weevils they freeze to death. So,we have always got a supply of fresh perfect nuts that way. We do the same with the Macadamia nuts.
walnuts =Juglans regia ( we have 3 different varieties ).They are good for us as they have polyunsaturates in them and may lower cholesterol. Actually they are yummy that's the best bit! Raw or with a little cheese and / or ripe apple. A small handful a day is very good.
They are great for Waldorf Salad or Walnut Brownies but my favourite baked recipe is this:
Walnut and Apricot Loaf.
* Soak 1 cup of chopped dried apricots in 1 cup of boiling water for an hour.
* Beat 2 large eggs with 1 cup of sugar. Pour this into a bowl that already has 2 3/4 cups of flour and 2 tsps of baking powder and half a tsp of baking soda. Mix in.
* Now pour the apricots and any liquid left all into this mixture.
* Add 1 cup of chopped walnuts.
* Pour into a 1 large or 2 smaller lined loaf tins and cook at 180 degrees C ( or 350 degrees F )
for about 1 hour. (test with a skewer.) keeps well and freezes well.
Well now I'm off to the nut house ooops I mean shed.
Oh YUM!! What a rare treat to have FRESH walnuts. I always wonder just how old the ones n the supermarket are...
ReplyDeleteThat loaf sounds yummy - going to have to try it.
ReplyDeleteAli, that recipe sounds soooo nice, I will just have to try it.
ReplyDeleteI love most nuts, & fresh Walnuts are just so delish. Thanks also for the freezer tip, I never knew that before.
Man I didn't realise we were eating slightly rancid nuts from the supermarket! I just assumed that nuts would keep.
ReplyDeleteYou must never need to exercise, your work always sounds so physical.
Fresh walnuts are the best - those trees are just priceless. I can't eat the walnuts they sell in the supermarket as they smell so awful. I'm salivating just thinking about those nuts of yours. I'll try your recipe with pecans as I have fresh frozen ones in the freezer. Have a smashing day Ali. ;-))))
ReplyDeleteI never knew that tip about keeping nuts in the freezer---thank you! must try your yummy sounding bread......
ReplyDeleteThe apricot and walnut loaf sounds good! I don't envy you having to shell all those nuts though!
ReplyDeleteYumm.....y!
ReplyDeleteHow did you know Nuts of any kind are my favourite, it seems when Mum was expecting me she ate peanuts every day so I joke it's a wonder I didn't come out nut shaped. Thanks for the recipe I'll have to try it.
ReplyDelete