First an update on my last post, in which I listed the five states I’ve lived in and asked you to guess the best and worst. Well, Kalyn seemed to have crawled inside my psyche and divined the answer, because California is the best and Texas and I just didn’t get along (no, I wasn’t in Austin). I’ll be sending Kalyn a cookbook. It’s not low-carb, but trust me, the fearless teacher/chef/union pro/houseboat queen can wash away carbs with a sweep of her hand!

A little botany

Researching the nut world, I was determined to elevate the standards of this nutty blog with the inclusion of real science. Surely you need to know the differences between true nuts and drupes, as defined by botanists? Well, as I read, my eyes glazed over and I began to wonder if I really cared that almonds aren’t true nuts. Isn’t it enough that they’re delicious?

In short, the only true nuts we eat are hazelnuts and chestnuts. Pecans, macadamias, almonds, walnuts and coconuts are drupes. Brazil nuts, cashews and pine nuts are seeds. And peanuts are legumes. A drupe is a fleshy fruit that has a single seed surrounded by a hard covering called a stone or pit. Olives, plums, apricots, cherries, and peaches are also drupes. The almonds we eat are actually the seed inside of the pit inside of a fleshy green fruit from a flowering tree. So almonds are drupes.

For your further confusion/edification, I will refer you to Fruits Called Nuts, for some explanatory pictures. At the top of the page are pictures of all of the nuts in question (yes, I’m going to continue to call them all nuts!) and then if you scroll down, you’ll see that the almond is the first nut covered in more depth.

If you couldn’t care less what it is–you just want to eat it–then fear not, we’re pretty much done with the botanical discussion. Now let’s figure out what a macaroon is, shall we?

Macaroons

I’ve always thought a macaroon was a light and chewy coconut cookie. But apparently, that’s just an American version; in other countries, macaroons are usually almond-laden.

The Food Network defines a macaroon as “a small cookie classically made of almond paste or ground almonds (or both) mixed with sugar and egg whites. Almond macaroons can be chewy, crunchy or a combined texture with the outside crisp and the inside chewy. There is also a coconut macaroon, which substitutes coconut for the almonds. Macaroons can be flavored with various ingredients such as chocolate, maraschino cherries or orange peel.”

These particular macaroons come from Nigella Lawson. I’ve just purchased my first of her cookbooks–$11.99 at Costco. How could I pass it up–especially when I saw all the nut recipes in the index?

Spanish Macaroons
From How to Be a Domestic Goddess
With instructions paraphrased/shortened by Lisa

1 3/4 c plus 2 T ground almonds
(or 2 1/4 c (18 oz) whole blanched almonds, ground)
1 2/3 c confectioners sugar, sifted
zest of 2 oranges
1/2 t almond extract
1/2 t cinnamon
1 large egg plus 3 large egg whites
2 baking trays lined with parchment or waxed paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the almonds, sugar, zest, extract and cinnamon. In a separate bowl or wide-mouthed measuring cup, beat the whole egg with the egg whites. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients, then pour and mix in the egg. The mixture will be very sticky.

Form walnut-sized balls by rubbing the torn-off pieces of dough between your palms, and place on the prepared baking sheets. It will help if you wet your hands and wash them off now and again as you roll the balls.

Cook for 20 minutes, by which time the cookies should look lightly browned on the surface. Cool on a rack. Makes about 30.

Lisa’s Notes: To blanch almonds, boil them for one minute and cool slightly. The skins will slip off easily. You can then dry them in a 350-degree oven for 8-10 minutes. (It always amazes me when the little brown jackets come off. They seemed so intractable just 60 seconds earlier and now they’re slip-sliding off and newly white and smooth almonds are flying across the room.)

I don’t think I ground up the nuts quite as small as I should have, but still, these cookies were a revelation. The combination of orange, cinnamon and almonds really struck the perfect note, without being overly sweet. They actually felt like health food–like a bit of an energy bar. At least that’s what I told myself!