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Nutty recipes
In the depths of winter, what better way to add flavour and body to cosy, hearty dishes than by taking some tips from squirrels? Skye Gyngell cracks open the hazelnuts
Published: 04 February 2007
During the cold months I find myself using nuts a lot in cooking, they provide a firm, textural foundation that gives a much-needed warmth and cosiness to winter dishes. Hazelnuts are a particular favourite of mine. I love their distinctive taste and the earthy flavours they give to slow-cooked meat and stews.
Nuts are harvested in the autumn, so it's now that they are absolutely in season. This also means that nut oils are at their best right now too. This time last year I wrote a piece about walnut oil, and how versatile it is, but many nut oils are equally delicious.
It's important to try to buy nuts still in their shells whenever possible, as this keeps them fresh. The best way to store them is in an airtight container, preferably in a cool, dark cupboard and use them soon after you buy them.
Hazelnuts are enclosed in a small, hard husk. I open them by tapping them with a rolling pin until the shell falls off. Each nut comes encased in an outer skin that can taste a little bitter so we tend to remove them. You can do this easily by placing them in a medium oven for around four minutes then covering them with a dish cloth and rubbing your hands over them, so the cloth drags their skins off.
The Spanish often use hazelnuts, along with almonds, as a thickener in sauces such as Romesco. And, in the Catalan region, picada is popular - a combination of hazelnuts, breadcrumbs and herbs that they add to stocks and stews to provide texture. I love the rustic quality of both these sauces and use them in many different guises at Petersham. The veal recipe that follows is based on a picada.
Like spices, nuts need to be warmed gently in the oven before using to release their flavour. All nuts vary, but as a general rule of thumb, heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4, lay the nuts on a baking tray and warm through for 3-4 minutes or a little longer for a deeper colour. Absolutely delicious.
Skye Gyngell is head chef at Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey, tel: 020 8605 3627
Monkfish and clams with roasted hazelnuts and rosemary aioli
In France, monkfish is known as the poor man's lobster. Its texture is similar - plump and firm-fleshed - and it has only got one big backbone so it's easy to fillet and works really well in curries and stews. I serve this with grilled sourdough rubbed with garlic and drizzled with oil. You can also play around with the base of this dish - for example by substituting clams for mussels or prawns, adding potatoes, black olives and omitting the hazelnuts if you wish. The variations are endless.
Serves 4
4tbsp olive oil
2 large red onions, peeled and finely sliced
Sea-salt and ground black pepper
2 bulbs of fennel, tough outer leaves removed and finely sliced lengthwise
2 dried red chillis
4 branches of rosemary
2 bay leaves
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1tbsp Vinagre de Jerez
250ml/8fl oz dry white wine
1 generous pinch of saffron threads infused in 250ml/8fl oz of boiling water
2 tins of good-quality, chopped tomatoes
125g/4oz hazelnuts, lightly toasted to release their flavour and ground roughly (a coffee grinder is ideal)
1kg/2lb monkfish, backbone removed, cut into generous chunks
40 clams
Heat the oil in a large, stainless-steel or ceramic saucepan. When the oil is warm, add the onions and a pinch of salt and then cook for about 5 minutes, until soft. Next, add the fennel, chilli, rosemary, bay leaves and garlic and cook for a further 10 minutes until the fennel begins to soften. Add the sherry vinegar, white wine and the saffron, plus the water that it has soaked in.
Allow the wine to bubble away for a couple more minutes before adding the tomatoes. Give the pan a good stir, turn down the heat to fairly low and cook for a further 20 minutes. Next, add the toasted hazelnuts (see introduction) this will give the dish a lovely textural quality as well as (omega) a delicious nutty flavour. Check for seasoning, as you will definitely need to add salt and pepper. Just before you are ready to eat, add the monkfish and clams, simmer for 4 minutes until the monkfish is cooked through (firm and pure white in colour) and the clams have opened.
Serve with a simple salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil and grilled sourdough rubbed with garlic, olive oil and a bowl of garlicky, rosemary-infused aioli.
Veal with spinach and hazelnut picada
A picada is similar to Romesco in that it is used to thicken sauces. This is a very, very loose interpretation of an original picada sauce.
Serves 4
100g/31/2oz English spinach
20g/3/4oz unsalted butter
1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Sea-salt and black pepper
4 English veal chops
2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the hazelnut picada
75g/3oz sourdough breadcrumbs
100g/31/2oz toasted hazelnuts
1 small bunch of sage, leaves only, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 dried chilli
The juice and zest of one orange (I always use blood oranges at this time of year)
A generous pinch of sea-salt
3tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
First make the picada. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4. Lay the breadcrumbs on a baking tray and toast until golden brown. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for about 4 minutes. When cool, roughly chop or pound in a pestle and mortar.
Place the nuts in a bowl and add the breadcrumbs and the sage. Next, add the garlic, crumble in the dried chilli (including the seeds), the juice and zest of the orange and a generous pinch of sea-salt. Finally, pour in the olive oil and mix together until it is crunchy in texture. Use this the day you make it as it does not improve with age and keeping it in the fridge does it no favours.
Wash the spinach well in cold running water and shake dry. Place a medium-sized saucepan over the heat and add the spinach in batches - removing it just as it begins to wilt. Continue until all the spinach has been cooked, placing it in a colander as you go along. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess water (spinach has a very high water content and needs to be squeezed). Return to the pan, add the butter, olive oil, garlic, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place over a gentle heat and stir to combine. Remove and set aside.
To cook the veal, season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the oil in a non-stick pan large enough to hold the chops (if not, cook in two batches keeping the first lot of veal in a warm place). When the oil is really hot and smoking, add the veal chops. Cook for 3 minutes on the first side without turning. The meat should be a lovely golden brown with a slightly salty crust. Turn, and cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Remove and leave to rest for 10 minutes in a warm place. It is very important that the meat should rest before it is eaten so that it relaxes and becomes tender.
To serve, place the veal on a serving plate. Warm through the spinach and spoon it on top and then spoon on the crumbly picada.
Salad of toasted hazelnuts, roasted squash, mache and blood oranges
This simple, wintery salad is delicious as a first course or, if you add a tablespoon or two of ricotta or goat's cheese, it would be perfect as a light lunch.
We serve it here at Petersham as part of a simple supper along with the beautiful dish known as brasato that hails from Piedmont.
Serves 4 For the squash
1 onion squash (if not, then butternut is fine)
1 dried chilli
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
A little sea-salt
2tbsp mild-tasting, extra-virgin olive oil
For the dressing
1tspn Dijon mustard
1tsp sherry vinegar
2tbsp blood orange juice
A pinch of sea-salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4tbsp hazelnut oil
1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the salad
2 handfuls of mache, or lamb's lettuce
2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced into pinwheels
100g/31/2oz toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4. Slice the pumpkin into generous 5cm (2in) chunks. Lay on a baking tray and crumble over the chilli, garlic and sea-salt. Drizzle over the olive oil and place in the oven and roast until tender when pierced with a fork. This should take around 40 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
For the dressing, place the mustard, vinegar, blood orange juice, sea-salt and black pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the hazelnut oil and the olive oil. For the salad, place the mache, blood oranges and roasted onion squash in a bowl. Spoon over the dressing and scatter the hazelnuts. Serve immediately.
Hazelnut bitter chocolate cake
Serves 8
375g/12oz unsalted butter
380g/12oz bitter chocolate
300g/10oz caster sugar
9 eggs separated
75g/3oz plain flour
60g/21/2oz hazelnuts
Heat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas3. Brush a 26cm (10in) cake tin with melted butter. Place the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water until it melts. Leave it to cool slightly. Mix three-quarters of the sugar with the yolks until well blended and fold into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the flour and hazelnuts. Whisk the whites with the remaining sugar until soft peaks are formed and fold this carefully, but thoroughly, into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the cake tin and bake for around 40-50 minutes.
