To fuck or to cook?

[robustpuppy]

I have a chocolate hazelnut cookie recipe that calls for 1 c. hazelnuts, toasted, hulled, and chopped. In the house I have a bag of chopped hazelnuts. Will there be a major difference if I toast the chopped hazelnuts? Or should I send my husband out for whole hazelnuts?

[Fugee]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I have a chocolate hazelnut cookie recipe that calls for 1 c. hazelnuts, toasted, hulled, and chopped. In the house I have a bag of chopped hazelnuts. Will there be a major difference if I toast the chopped hazelnuts? Or should I send my husband out for whole hazelnuts?

It depends on whether your chopped hazelnuts have the skin still on them or not.

tmdiva can correct me if I'm wrong as she lives in hazelnut country, but I believe the reason recipes call for toasting the hazelnuts before chopping them is because that makes it easier to get the skin (or husk) off. You toast them and then rub them with a towel and most of the skin will come off. I'm assuming your recipe means getting the skin off when it talks about hulling because I'ev never seen a recipe that calls for toasting hazelnuts when they still are in the shell.

Recently I read a different way to get the skins off hazelnuts. You boil them then the skin is supposed to come off completely and then you toast them to get rid of the water they absorb in the boiling. It was probably in a cooking magazine like Fine Cooking or Cooks Illustrated.

This is a long way of saying that if your chopped hazelnuts don't have a ton of skin, I'd toast them. If they still have a ton of skin, it depends on how delicate a flavor the recipe has because I think the skins are a little bitter & that's why recipes want you to skin them. But I could be way wrong and tmdiva is more a hazelnut expert. For a chocolate recipe, I'd just toast & use the chopped ones no matter what.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I have a chocolate hazelnut cookie recipe

P.S. If the cookies from your recipe are major delish, you must post the recipe here!

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
I have a chocolate hazelnut cookie recipe that calls for 1 c. hazelnuts, toasted, hulled, and chopped. In the house I have a bag of chopped hazelnuts. Will there be a major difference if I toast the chopped hazelnuts? Or should I send my husband out for whole hazelnuts?

I would actually be a bit surprised if the chopped hazelnuts weren't already toasted. Do they sell chopped raw hazelnuts in regular stores? Since I live in the land of the filberts, I buy mine in bulk at the farmers' market. Anyway, I'd recommend trying to avoid toasting and skinning a new batch of whole hazelnuts if possible, as it's a pain in the ass.

And Fugee, I've tried the blanching then toasting method on almonds, and found the texture of the nuts suffered some. It's all right if you're going to use them in a ground or finely-chopped application, but not really for anything in which they will be whole or coarsely chopped.

tm

[Fugee]

Originally posted by tmdiva
I would actually be a bit surprised if the chopped hazelnuts weren't already toasted. Do they sell chopped raw hazelnuts in regular stores? Since I live in the land of the filberts, I buy mine in bulk at the farmers' market. Anyway, I'd recommend trying to avoid toasting and skinning a new batch of whole hazelnuts if possible, as it's a pain in the ass.

And Fugee, I've tried the blanching then toasting method on almonds, and found the texture of the nuts suffered some. It's all right if you're going to use them in a ground or finely-chopped application, but not really for anything in which they will be whole or coarsely chopped.

tm

I knew you'd know the answer. Is there any good way to skin them other than toasting them and rubbing them with a dish towel? That process has not been real successful for me. Not to mention being a pain in the ass.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by tmdiva
I would actually be a bit surprised if the chopped hazelnuts weren't already toasted. Do they sell chopped raw hazelnuts in regular stores? Since I live in the land of the filberts, I buy mine in bulk at the farmers' market. Anyway, I'd recommend trying to avoid toasting and skinning a new batch of whole hazelnuts if possible, as it's a pain in the ass.

And Fugee, I've tried the blanching then toasting method on almonds, and found the texture of the nuts suffered some. It's all right if you're going to use them in a ground or finely-chopped application, but not really for anything in which they will be whole or coarsely chopped.

tm

It's hard to tell from the package. I think the package has toasting directions on the back, which implies that they are not already toasted. And the chopped pieces still have skins on them. Won't they be bitter? And how much of a pain in the ass will it be to remove the skins from chopped pieces?

The package claims they are "recipe ready." I want to say "I'll be the judge of that." The website is no help at all, except that it has recipes using chopped hazelnuts that calls for them to be toasted, but does not say what to do with the skins.

http://www.diamondnuts.com/products/...ariant=chopped

[Fugee]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
It's hard to tell from the package. I think the package has toasting directions on the back, which implies that they are not already toasted. And the chopped pieces still have skins on them. Won't they be bitter? And how much of a pain in the ass will it be to remove the skins from chopped pieces?

The package claims they are "recipe ready." I want to say "I'll be the judge of that." The website is no help at all, except that it has recipes using chopped hazelnuts that calls for them to be toasted, but does not say what to do with the skins.

http://www.diamondnuts.com/products/...ariant=chopped

Those look like fairly big chopped pieces. So you could toast them, then put them in a dish towel and rub a little to see if any skin comes off.

Or you could toast and use them as is with skin. IIRC, your recipe is for chocolate cookies so the chocolatey taste should be strong enough for a little skin.

And if the cookies taste really good, please post the recipe here.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by Fugee
Those look like fairly big chopped pieces. So you could toast them, then put them in a dish towel and rub a little to see if any skin comes off.

Or you could toast and use them as is with skin. IIRC, your recipe is for chocolate cookies so the chocolatey taste should be strong enough for a little skin.

And if the cookies taste really good, please post the recipe here.

Yes, that's what I plan to do. I hope the cookies are good -- they are Giada's favorite, and they call for chopped up Heath bars in addition to the chocolate. I'll let you know by Friday!

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Yes, that's what I plan to do. I hope the cookies are good -- they are Giada's favorite, and they call for chopped up Heath bars in addition to the chocolate. I'll let you know by Friday!

I love toffee!!!!! Except, there is too much around, and now I have that horrible "I ate a whole bunch of straight* sugar" feeling.


*Usually this doesn't happen if I have, like, a lot of pie, because pie has starch and fruit and so forth, not JUST and PRIMARILY sugar. Unlike chocolate-covered toffee, which is primarily sugar, even though there are cocoa solids and nuts and butter in there as well.

[Hank Chinaski]

when I's a young'n my grammie made red, chocolate, maple and green potato fudge.

we're trying to make it this year, but all I find on the internet is chocolate.

anyone here actually make this stuff? what flavor variants.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
when I's a young'n my grammie made red, chocolate, maple and green potato fudge.

we're trying to make it this year, but all I find on the internet is chocolate.

anyone here actually make this stuff? what flavor variants.

If you Google for Potato Candy or Mashed Potato Candy, you'll find some non-chocolate ones.

This one has cinnamon which would go well with red dye. There are peanut butter and coconut versions too.

I remember my Mom making potato candy calls that she dipped in chocolate. They must not have been big favorites because she doesn't make them anymore.

[Fugee]

I bought a wheel of Brie for Christmas. Anyone have good recipes or ideas for serving it besides just serving plain or wrapping it in crescent roll dough and baking it?

[Oliver_Wendell_Ramone]

Originally posted by Fugee
I bought a wheel of Brie for Christmas. Anyone have good recipes or ideas for serving it besides just serving plain or wrapping it in crescent roll dough and baking it?

Not the right time of year for it, but it's great chopped up, mixed with diced tomatoes, basil, garlic, and good olive oil, and tossed with hot pasta. In December, maybe try it with sundried tomatoes? Or the cherry tomatoes you can get from Mexico/Central America. It's a great August dish.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Fugee
I bought a wheel of Brie for Christmas. Anyone have good recipes or ideas for serving it besides just serving plain or wrapping it in crescent roll dough and baking it?

Put aprocot jelly and dried cranberries on top of it when you wrap it, then bake at around 400 for about 20 minutes. Give it time to cool off before taking it out of the oven or else you end up with runny brie.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Put aprocot jelly and dried cranberries on top of it when you wrap it, then bake at around 400 for about 20 minutes. Give it time to cool off before taking it out of the oven or else you end up with runny brie.

Also good with pesto instead of jelly and berries.