I have many happy memories of my 2012 road trip through the American south-west, which took in everything from fog and enchiladas in San Francisco’s Mission district to the Prada art installation in Marfa, Texas. But one unexpected highlight was the pecan orchards. “Orchard” probably isn’t the right word, though, for those rows of dusty deciduous giants that can stand 40m tall and 2m wide – not quite the diminutive Mediterranean almond trees I’m used to. It seems fitting that so large a tree should bear so rich a fruit – I got a headache when doing this test just from tasting too many pecans in one go. That kind of opulence needs tempering. The south-western method is to douse them in sugar and more sugar, which obviously works in a good pecan pie, but your recipes have brought to my attention other, subtler tools.
The winning recipe: Malted pecan pancakes
For as long as I’ve been making drop scones, I’ve stuck to a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe from 2006, but ColonialCravings’ fluffy pancakes have decidedly shaken things up. The plain and wholewheat flour combo, the pecans and the malt conspire to create a depth of flavour that usually only comes from the topping. And they are lighter in texture than should be possible for something fried in butter.
Makes 8-10
150g self-raising flour
40g wholewheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
200ml milk
2 eggs
30g butter, melted
3 tbsp malt extract
60g pecans, finely chopped
A pinch of salt
1 Whisk together the flours and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. In a separate jug, whisk together the milk, eggs, butter and malt extract until well combined.
2 Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in about a third of the wet mixture. Mix this together, working from the centre outwards, incorporating a little of the dry mixture at a time. Repeat this with the rest of the wet mixture until everything is blended together into a thick, smooth batter. Fold the chopped pecans into the batter.
3 Lightly grease a large frying pan and put it over a medium heat. Pour some batter into the pan to create your pancakes, however big or small you like them, and cook for a couple of minutes before flipping them over and cooking them on the other side. Serve hot with butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Pecan and fennel seed butter biscuits
It was detoutcoeurLimousin pairing her pecans with fennel seeds that attracted me, and I was not disappointed. The aromatic seeds lift the nuts out of their buttery richness, and that sprinkling of salt highlights their caramel flavour.
Makes 15-25
100g pecans, finely chopped
100g plain white flour
90g butter, at room temperature
90g sugar
2 tsp fennel seeds
A pinch of salt
1 Heat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3 and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2 Put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix until the dough comes together into a ball. Or mix with a wooden spoon – it just takes longer.
3 Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and put on to the baking trays 6-7cm apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they flatten out, start to bubble and go golden brown around the edges. Don’t worry if they seem soft – they will continue to cook and firm up after you take them out of the oven.
4 Wait for the biscuits to cool on the trays for 10-15 minutes before carefully putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Potato soup with pecan and rocket pesto
Bobby Ananta, what a pesto! It’s a good job the recipe makes more than you need for the soup – I ate a fair few spoonfuls straight out of the tub. The soup is every bit as impressive, and shows that pecans aren’t only for sticky sweet dishes: they work just as well with salt and spice.
Serves 4-6
500g potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
3 banana shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tbsp butter
400ml whole milk
100ml double cream
500ml vegetable stock
50g toasted pecans, to serve
A handful of rocket, to serve
For the pesto
60g pecans, toasted
2 garlic cloves
80g rocket
100ml rapeseed oil
40g parmesan cheese, grated
¼ tsp chilli flakes
1 Indonesian long pepper, grated (optional but highly recommended)
50ml olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 To make the pesto, blitz the pecans, garlic, rocket and rapeseed oil in a food processor, then add the parmesan, chilli, long pepper and olive oil. Season, process to a smooth paste and stir in the lemon juice.
2 In a large pan over a medium heat, boil the potatoes for 20 minutes. Set aside. Fry the shallots with rapeseed oil and butter over a low heat until soft and slightly caramelised.
3 Add the cooked potato, milk, cream and stock, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add half of the pesto (store the rest in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week). Stir well and process with a hand blender until smooth. Season to taste.
4 Serve with toasted pecans and rocket leaves on top.
Spiced pecans
Building on the spiced theme that Bobby’s pesto hinted at, Chipepo’s snack is definitive proof that hot, sweet and spicy is an excellent way to go with a bag of pecans. I love how straightforwardly this recipe gets you there.
Makes 500g
1 tbsp melted salted butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp sriracha sauce
500g pecans
1 Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2.
2 Mix the butter, maple syrup and sriracha together.
3 Spread the pecans out on a baking tray in a single layer. Drizzle over the sauce and if necessary stir so all the nuts are coated.
4 Bake for about 30 minutes. As the nuts cook, you’ll need to stir to stop them sticking to each other. Let them cool and crisp, then store in a sealed container.
Rhubarb pecan crumble
My friend’s vegan father turned 75 on Saturday, so I was happy to have an appropriate dessert at the ready. As it turns out, The Whole Ingredient, you made everyone – vegan or otherwise – very happy. Where almonds alone might have kept it a little dry, the pecans lent this crumble a moist, rich bite. The dates match the nuts in toffee tones and the whole works beautifully with a fruit mixture judiciously spiced and left unsweetened.
Serves 6-8
For the filling
400g fresh rhubarb
4 medjool dates (or 8 smaller dates)
150g blueberries (raspberries or blackberries work too)
150ml water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
For the topping
100g pecans, roughly chopped
100g rolled oats
50g oat flour (or blitz 50g of oats in a food processor)
50g ground almonds
2 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of salt
1 Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Slice the rhubarb into 1cm-long pieces. Finely chop the dates. Combine these with the rest of the filling ingredients and spread out in a baking dish or tin.
2 Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spread on top of the fruit filling.
3 Cook for about 1 hour, and serve with vegan ice-cream or cream.
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