Cauliflower Korma with Blackened Raisins (Gobhi Korma) from Meera Sodha

  • 2 large cauliflowers (about 3 1/2 pounds in total)
  • Neutral oil, like grapeseed or canola
  • Salt
  • 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 6 cloves of garlic (see note above)
  • 2 1/2-inch piece of ginger, peeled (see note above)
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (or finely ground seeds from 8 pods)
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground red chile (we used cayenne)
  • 1 cup ground almonds
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 3/4 – 1 1/4 cups milk
  • A handful of raisins
  • A handful of sliced almonds
  • Heat the oven to 350°F and (optionally) line two large baking pans with foil.
  • Break the cauliflower into bite-sized florets and put into a large bowl. Pour 4 tablespoons of oil over the florets (or mix enough to coat them properly), then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix with your hands until they’re completely coated, and place in a single layer in the baking pans. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and nicely browned in places. Check every 10 minutes—if the florets start to burn, cover them loosely with foil.
  • In the meantime, put 3 tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan over medium heat and, when hot, add the onions. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until soft and browning, then crush or grate in the garlic and grate in the ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the ground cardamom, black pepper, garam masala, ground red chile, ground almonds, honey and 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt (or to taste). Stir-fry for 3 minutes, then add the yogurt.
  • Turn the heat down to low and cook for around 10 minutes, until the sauce starts to turn a rich gold. When the cauliflower is tender, tip it ino the sauce and stir to coat. Thin the sauce to the consistency of pouring yogurt with milk, and heat through. Check for seasoning, as you may need to add a little more salt.
  • Finally, put a small frying pan over medium heat and, when hot, add the raisins and sliced almonds. Stir-fry until the raisins start to blacken and puff up and the almonds turn golden brown, then take off the heat.

broccoli slaw from smittenkitchen.com

2 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/3 cup mayonnaise (this is more than is in the original, to thicken the dressing further)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)

Trim broccoli and cut it into large chunks. From here, you can either feed it through your food processor’s slicing blade, use a mandoline to cut it into thin slices, or simply had chop it into smaller pieces. I used the stem and the flowerets, but if you have a broccoli stem aversion you can just use the tops. (P.S. My favorite way to prep the stems is to peel them — the tough skin is why most people think they don’t like broccoli stems; the broccoli underneath is juicy and crisp — then use the mandoline or a knife to cut them into thin slices.)

Toss the sliced broccoli with the almonds, cranberries and red onion in a large bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients in a smaller one, with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli (if you’ve skipped the stems, you might not want it all; I otherwise found this to be the perfect amount) and toss it well. Season well with salt and pepper to taste.

Should keep up to a week in the fridge, if you don’t have any pregnant women nearby.

Variation: I bet this slaw would be equally good with cauliflower. I might use dried currants instead of cranberries, walnuts instead of almonds and maybe even some celery slices thrown in. Have fun with it.

 

fish with toasted almonds from nigella lawson

  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 4 6-ounce cod fillets (or any other meaty white fish), with skin
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

    Place a large dry nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add almonds. Stir constantly until they are tinged with color. Take from heat, and transfer to a bowl to cool.

    Season both sides of the fish well with salt and pepper. Place the same pan over medium heat, and add butter and olive oil. When both begin to bubble, add cod fillets skin side up. Brown fish until opaque all the way through, turning once, 3 to 4 minutes a side. Transfer fish to a warm serving plate, skin side down.

    Reduce heat under pan to low, and add lemon juice. Stir to blend with butter and oil, then pour this sauce over fillets. Scatter parsley over cod, and scatter with toasted almonds. Serve immediately.

Fish With Toasted Almonds from Nigella Lawson

  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 4 6-ounce cod fillets (or any other meaty white fish), with skin
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  1. Place a large dry nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add almonds. Stir constantly until they are tinged with color. Take from heat, and transfer to a bowl to cool.
  2. Season both sides of the fish well with salt and pepper. Place the same pan over medium heat, and add butter and olive oil. When both begin to bubble, add cod fillets skin side up. Brown fish until opaque all the way through, turning once, 3 to 4 minutes a side. Transfer fish to a warm serving plate, skin side down.
  3. Reduce heat under pan to low, and add lemon juice. Stir to blend with butter and oil, then pour this sauce over fillets. Scatter parsley over cod, and scatter with toasted almonds. Serve immediately.

Kale Salad With Apples and Cheddar from NY Times

  • 4 cups very fine31recipehealthnew-articlelarge-v2ly chopped or slivered curly kale or Russian kale(about 6 ounces on the stem, or half of a 3/4-pound bunch, stemmed and washed in two rinses of water)
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped toasted almonds
  • 1 apple, sweet, like a Fuji, or a sweet-tart, like a Gala, Braeburn or Pink Lady, cored and cut in 1/4-inch dice
  • 1 ounce sharp Cheddar cheese, cut in 1/4-inch dice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 very small garlic clove, puréed
  • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
  1. Combine the kale, almonds, apple and Cheddar in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk together the lemon juice, salt, garlic and olive oil. Add to the salad, and toss well. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top, and serve.

 

Mrs. Behr’s Buttercake

download2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 lb. soft butter
1 Tbsp. pure almond extract
1 egg, save a little egg white to brush on top of cake
1 small pkg.  whole almonds

Combine ingredients in bowl.  Mis well with hands.  Don’t squash mix.  Use a round flat cake tin.  Flatten mixture with palm of hand.  

Decorate with whole almonds on top…Original cake recipe calls for them simply placed around the edge then brush egg white on top of cake.

Don’t preheat oven!!!!

Put cake into 375 oven for 1/2 hour

Cool on wire rack

Cut into small slivers for serving

Enjoy!

Tamari Roasted Almonds

  • download3 cups whole unblanched almonds
  • 1cup tamari or Braggs aminos or soy sauce
  • 1teaspoon sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
  2. Spread almonds in one layer on a baking sheet (you may need two pans) – bake 15 minutes.
  3. While baking, mix tamari and sugar in a large bowl until sugar dissolves.
  4. Add hot almonds to bowl and stir to coat. Let sit in bowl 5 min, stirring occasionally.
  5. Return almonds to baking sheets (use slotted spoon so you don’t get too much liquid).
  6. Bake 12 minutes, stir and rotate tray, then bake 12 more minutes until almonds are dark brown.
  7. Remove from oven, cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

Spinach and Berries Salad with Dill, Phyllis Keating

spinach_and_berries_salad_w_dillRed Wine Vinaigrette
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons pepper
1/4 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoons onion powder

Salad
1 cup almonds
1 pounds baby spinach
1 pounds butter lettuce
1 bunch scallions
1/2 pints strawberries
1/2 pints raspberries
1/2 pints blueberries
1/4 c dill weed

Toast the almonds for about 5 minutes at 350F . Cool. Toss the almonds, spinach, lettuce, onions, fruit and dill week in a large bowl. Add the vinaigrette just before serving and toss to coat.  Serving Size: 8

cherry almond dutch baby from smitten kitchen

Adapted from Sunset Magazine

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Let’s talk about almonds for a minute: I think those waxy, often stale, and flavorless cream-colored discs sold as sliced almonds are absolutely terrible tasting — from the package. But I buy them anyway because they are so magically transformed by toasting, becoming crisp, sweet and intensely fragrant, that I want to put them on everything when I’m not eating them straight. Please, do not go easy on your almonds; spread them on a tray, bake them for 8 to 10 minutes at 350, tossing them around once or twice for even color, and not taking them out until they’re deeply golden brown. Make more than you’ll need so you’ll have them for everything else (like broccoli slaw!).

3 large egg
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (more or less to taste)
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups pitted sweet cherries
1/2 cup sliced almonds, well-toasted
Powdered sugar
Lemon wedges

Heat oven to 425°F. Whisk egg, sugar, flour, milk, extract and salt together until the batter is blended but lumpy; you can also do this in a blender. In a 12-inch ovenproof frying pan, melt butter. Add cherries and cook until warmed, about 2 minutes. Pour in batter and transfer to heated oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and rumpled-looking. (I err on the side of more cooking time with these pancakes, because I find the longer, within a range, they cook, the more rumpled and golden they get.)

Remove pancake from oven and quickly scatter with toasted almonds, dust with powdered sugar and squeeze lemon juice over. Serve in wedges, piping hot.  Serves 2 generously or 4 petitely