Featured Article - October 2009
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| Just Loafing: This autumn, serve up Pumpkin-Pecan Spice Bread with homemade nut butter and a sparkling wine like New Mexico-based Gruet's Blanc de Noirs. |
SOUTHWEST FLAVOR
Go Nuts!
Entertain with New Mexico's piñons, pecans, pistachios, and peanuts
Story and photography by Lois Ellen Frank
One of my favorite fall activities is enjoying the pleasures and benefits of cooking with freshly harvested local nuts. New Mexico grows nuts, you ask? Actually, New Mexico is the fourth largest producer of nuts in the United States.
My favorite is the nut of the piñon pine, which I love for its texture, taste, and oil content. The piñon is one of the oldest wild-harvested nuts in New Mexico, and the piñon pine is our state tree. The two-needle piñon (Pinus edulis) is native to the United States and dates back at least 7,500 years. For millennia, its nuts were used by New Mexico’s Ancestral Puebloans and other historic tribes living in this region, and cracked nutshells are found at virtually all such archaeological sites. Piñon nuts contain the 20 amino acids that make up a complete protein, as well as more than 3,000 calories per pound, making the nut’s protein density comparable to that of steak. Of the nine amino acids essential to human growth, seven are concentrated in the piñon, which is also an excellent source of potassium. Whether eaten roasted or raw, piñon nuts are delicious by anyone’s standard.
OKTOBERFEST! When the Pumpkin-Pecan Spice Bread is served as a dessert, it can be perfectly partnered with Gruet’s Blanc de Noirs, a sparkling wine with a fruity flavor, toasty characterful aromas, and a creamy texture. Three different wines can complement the Piñon Chocolate Torte. Casa Rondeña’s 2006 Meritage Red—a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot—has a delicate fruit flavor enhanced by earthy, tobacco-scented secondary notes. Gruet’s Pinot Noir has a rich body with focused black cherry, plum, anise, and floral notes, all framed by a light oak secondary note. Finally, Milagro’s 2006 Zinfandel has aromas of raspberry, red currant, and spice, with lush flavors of currant, jam, and oak—perfect for a chocolate dessert. For info: www.nmwine.com |
Another wonderful New Mexico nut is the pecan, the most common name for a species of hickory (Carya illinoensis) that belongs to the walnut family. Pecans grew wild in Texas and in northern Mexico. It is believed that they were then propagated to the north and east by wild crows, which prefer the thin-shelled nuts and can carry them many miles. The word pecan derives from the Algonquin word pacane, meaning “nut to be cracked with a rock.” Wild pecans were a major source of food for various tribes, and some tribes’ activities and settlements actually followed the maturing harvest of the wild trees. Spanish colonists exported pecans from northern Mexico to Spanish settlements elsewhere where the nut could be
grown for food. Pecans are a particularly good source of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid considered to be good for the heart. They contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals, and are a good source of vitamin E and fiber. Today, pecans are grown commercially in and around communities in southern New Mexico, including Alamogordo, Carlsbad, La Mesa, Las Cruces, Mesilla, and Roswell.
Alamogordo boasts one of the few climates in the United States with summers long, hot, and dry enough to grow pistachios (Pistacia vera), a native of the Middle East. New Mexico pistachios are prized when seasoned with red or green chile during the roasting process. (My favorite are green-chile pistachios.)
The eastern New Mexico community of Portales is a top producer of organic peanuts (Arachis hypogaea). In fact, Portales hosts its annual Peanut Festival this year on the weekend of October 17–18. Valencia peanuts are the primary variety grown. Smaller and sweeter than their conventional counterparts, Valencias are favored by candymakers, and also make a satisfying peanut butter.
RESOURCES: Peanuts Sunland Peanuts, Portales Pecans Piñon Pistachios McGinn’s Online Country Store, Alamogordo
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Pumpkin-Pecan Spice Bread
This moist, dense bread can be eaten for breakfast, or as a snack with homemade nut butter—or add vanilla ice cream and serve
as dessert.
2 cups all-purpose organic flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk
½ cup organic sunflower or safflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups cooked pumpkin
1 cup raw New Mexico pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans or two 9-inch round pans.
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. In separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir cooked pumpkin into liquid until completely mixed. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in pecans.
Pour batter into pans and bake until bread springs back when touched in center (about 45 minutes). Great with homemade nut butter.
Serves 12–16.
Make homemade nut butters with New Mexico pistachios, piñons, pecans, or Valencia peanuts. Add 1 cup of raw or roasted, shelled nuts to food processor. Grind 2-3 minutes, or until butter has desired texture. (Crunch? Smooth? Your choice.) Serve immediately or store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
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| The Ancestral Puebloans gathered piñon nuts, the crowning delight of the Piñon Chocolate Torte. |
Piñon Chocolate Torte
The piñon is a savory wild nut, and this delicious torte is easy to make.
1 cup piñons (pine nuts)
2 tablespoons blue cornmeal, finely ground
2 tablespoons unsalted organic butter
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate
6 organic egg yolks
⅔ cup organic granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ cup confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 9-inch round cake pan.
In food processor, grind piñons to a moist nut meal (2–3 minutes). Add blue cornmeal and blend again for about 30 seconds, or just long enough to combine. You should have a nut-butter mixture the consistency of freshly ground peanut butter.
In double boiler over medium-high heat, melt butter and chocolate together, stirring until evenly blended. Add to piñon mixture in food processor and blend about 1 minute, or until smooth.
In separate bowl, beat together egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Add to other ingredients in food processor and blend again until smooth (10–15 seconds). Almost immediately, dough will bind together into a ball—it should have the consistency of brownie dough. Don’t overmix at this stage or oil will separate from piñon nuts and chocolate. Spoon dough into prepared pan and pat down with fingers until evenly spread.
Bake 10–12 minutes, or until torte gently springs back when center is touched with a finger. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
When torte has cooled 20–30 minutes, remove from pan and get creative in decorating it. You can individually stencil each slice or decorate the entire torte.
To make the Southwestern motif pictured, cut stencil out of cardboard. Holding stencil on over a small portion of cake, dust cake with confectioners’ sugar in a small strainer, lightly tapping sides of strainer while moving strainer in a circular motion over surface of torte. Gently remove stencil without disrupting design. For a finishing touch, decorate with piñons.
Serves 6-8.
Lois Ellen Frank is a chef, author, and photographer who lives in Santa Fe. She is presently completing a PhD in culinary anthropology at the University of New Mexico on the discourse and practice of Native American cuisine. An adjunct professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Lois is also an instructor at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Her company, Red Mesa Cuisine (www.redmesacuisine.com), specializes in preparing local, sustainable meals including traditional Native American ingredients.
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