Cooking with Bruce : Walnuts

So you've ended up with bollox loads of walnuts in your house? Damn shame that. Here's dirty uncle B's solutions...

It also means I get to use a hammer. As most of you know, I'm not big on woodwork stuff, but I do own a hammer - given to me as a present by despairing parents in an attempt to woo me from the kitchen...so as a compromise, I use the hammer to break nuts in my kitchen.

Pasta with blue cheese, walnut and cream sauce

Break nuts ! Cook pasta. While pasta is cooking, heat walnut (or good quality olive) oil on med-low, and gently fry walnuts. Turn heat down, add blue cheese (more is less is a good motto), add cream, fresh ground pepper. Mix with pasta. Eat.

I had mine with a Wychwood honey sweetened ale, worked well. Oh and you can use mascarpone instead of cream (which I think I did last time).

This led to a nice night, I watched Mongol (superb movie), had dinner, sipped liqueur coffee (frangelico, cream, cinnamon) then some Reaper. Very relaxing.

Walnut and date loaf/cake

This may have started out as a walnut and fig cake, but I never remember to get any figs.

1.5c walnuts, 2c chopped dates, 100gm+ good quality dark chocolate, slug of brandy/cognac/booze

Cream 100gm butter, 1c sugar, 2T honey, add 2 eggs and mix. Fold in .25c cocoa, 1.33c flour, 1t baking powder, dump everything else in. Mix. Bake at 150C for 1.25-1.5 hours.

Serve with booze, blue cheese (see how it ties in with last nights dinner), and cream.

I still have walnuts left, so if I remember to get some cornflakes some afghan biscuits may happen too. Glad the russian fudge has left...

Jerk fish is currently marinading, it's been quite domestic today - even done washing. Although it looks like it's going rain - again. Damn u big huey !!

b.