Dee’s Curried Cashew & Carrot Soup
Cashews transform everyday soup into something really delicious, unusual and exotic.
For 4-6 Servings
1 Tbsp butter
1-2 Tbsp curry powder
2 small onions, chopped
500g carrots (3 large carrots) chopped
3 cups vegetable or soup stock
100g Alison’s Pantry Roast Cashews
Melt the butter in a medium-sized pot, and the curry powder and chopped onions.
Cover and cook until the onions are soft but not brown. Add the carrots and stock and simmer until the carrots are tender.
In a blender or food processor, process the roasted cashew nuts to the consistency of ground almonds (the finer the grind, the smoother the soup). Drain the cooked carrots and onion and put into the food processor with the ground cashews. Process, adding enough cooking liquid to reach the thickness you like. Taste and season if necessary.
Reheat and serve as is, or top each serving with a spoonful of yoghurt and a little chopped mint or coriander, or more chopped cashews.
Download PDF version: Alison Holst’s Dee’s Curried Cashew & Carrot Soup
Walnut Pate
This unusual meatless pate looks rather like chicken liver pate. Its flavour is excellent when you make it with light coloured, full flavoured Alison’s Pantry Walnuts.
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
1 cup (100g) Alison’s Pantry Walnuts, chopped
Pinch of chilli powder
¼ tsp dried thyme
4 hard boiled eggs
½ tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a small frying pan, add the chopped garlic, onion and celery and cook over moderate heat until the vegetables are lightly browned. Add the chopped walnuts and continue to cook until the walnuts are brown slightly. Stir in the chili powder and thyme, remove from heat, then transfer mixture to a food processor fitted with its metal chopping blade. Process briefly then add the roughly chopped eggs, salt and pepper, and process until the mixture is fairly smooth – whatever you consider to be pate texture. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Refrigerate up to 4 days.
Download PDF version: Alison Holst’s Walnut Pate
Fruity Nutty Balls
Home-made fruit and nut mixtures taste very fresh and interesting.
½ cup dried Alison’s Pantry Dried Apricots
½ cup washed Alison’s Pantry Raisins
¼ cup orange or lemon juice
¼ cup toasted Alison’s Pantry Sesame Seeds
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Roasted Peanuts
About ½ cup Alison’s Pantry Coconut
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Sultanas
Boil chopped apricots in juice until liquid has disappeared. Chop nuts roughly in food processor. Add apricots, sultanas, currants and sesame seeds, and process until finely chopped. Add enough coconut to form a rollable mixture. Form into bars or small balls. Roll in extra coconut.
Download PDF version: Alison Holst’s Fruity Nutty Balls
Dukkah
Dukkah is a highly flavored, nutritious mixture of spiced, finely chopped nuts and seeds. Serve it in shallow bowls, beside pieces of crusty bread to dip first in olive or avocado oil, then into Dukkah.
FOR 2 ¼ CUPS:
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Sesame Seeds
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Sunflower Seeds
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Pumpkin Seeds
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Whole Blanched Almonds
½ cup Alison’s Pantry Hazelnuts
¼ cup cumin seeds
¼ cup coriander seeds
1 Tbsp (ground) paprika
1 ½ tsp (flaky) salt
1 ½ tsp (ground) turmeric
Heat the oven to 180°C. Roast the seeds and nuts in separate foil dishes, putting nuts in the oven in the order given. Check every few minutes, taking out each container when the contents have darkened a little and have an appetizing aroma. (Most take about 10 minutes.)
Let nuts and seeds cool, then grind with the paprika, salt and turmeric, in several batches in a food processor (use pulse button), spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar. Mixture should have some texture – it should not be an oily powder. Use immediately or store in airtight containers in a cool place, away from direct light. It gradually loses flavour, but lasts about two months.
Note: Try Dukkah sprinkled on an oiled chicken before roasting, and on plainly cooked green beans. Mix Dukkah with a similar amount of flour, dip fillets first in beaten egg then in the Dukkah mixture, then shallow-fry in a little canola oil.
Download PDF version: Alison Holst’s Dukkah
Date, Almond & Apricot Bars
This flavourful bar with its many nutritious additions, is a meal in itself! It carries well in a backpack or school bag.
Base:
1 cup Standard flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Instant Oats
200g chilled butter
1 cup brown sugar
Topping:
4 large eggs
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups Alison’s Pantry Natural Almonds
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Select Dates, chopped
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Choice Apricots, chopped
1 cup dark chocolate melts
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Shredded Coconut
Heat oven to 180°C or 170°C fan bake, with the rack just below the middle. Line a 18x28cm pan with baking paper. For base, process the flours, oats and cubed butter together, or grate the butter into the oats and flours in a bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and press mixture into the prepared pan. (Halve the base ingredients for a thinner base).
For topping, beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a fork. Add everything else and mix together with a stirrer or spatula. Spread evenly over the uncooked base. Bake for 45 minutes, covering with folded baking paper if it browns to fast. Cool in baking pan, preferably overnight. When cold, cut in four large slabs with a sharp serrated knife. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze up to six weeks in plastic bags. Cut each slab into bars or fingers just before serving.
Download PDF version: Alison Holst’s Date, Almond & Apricot Bars