How to Process Black Walnuts for Eating
By Jerome Henkin *
Black walnut trees grow well throughout much of North America. The kernels are highly nutritious and healthy. The delicious and distinctive taste of black walnut kernels makes them ideal for snacks, baked goods, desserts, and ice cream toppings.
As soon as the yellowish-green hulls, that look like tennis balls, containing the ripe black walnuts fall from the trees in September and October, you need to process them for eating. Often this hull (other names for the outer covering of a nut are "husk" or "shuck") is black in parts, indicating that it has been on the ground for a while; or it has other marks on it, indicating insect damage. When the hulls are opened, there may be whitish-ivory colored maggots inside. Neither of these factors will affect the taste of the kernels, but a delay in processing will result in the pellicle or skin of the kernels darkening and becoming less flavorful.
Here are the steps to follow as a guide in processing black walnuts:
Wear heavy plastic or rubber gloves and work boots as the liquid from the husk will stain hands, clothing, and anything it touches. Using the weight of your body, step on the hull so that the nut comes out. If the shell breaks, discard it - you only want nuts that completely contain the kernel (the edible part) and are not broken. Roll the shell under your foot to get as much as the hull material off the shell.
Put the hulled nuts in a bucket of water. Usually, the nuts that float are blank inside (they do not have filled kernels); discard them. Once you have a dozen or so nuts that have sunk to the bottom of the bucket, you are ready to clean them of the fibrous hull material that still sticks to the shell. Use a wooden stick to stir the nuts around. The water will turn darkish brown to black. (You can actually use this water to dye clothing.) Put the nuts in another bucket of clear water and this time use your gloved hands to rub three or four nuts together to further clean them. A stripping brush works wonders.
Lay the wet nuts one or two layers deep on a screen to dry and cure ("curing" means to lessen the moisture content of the kernel so it is ready for eating) for about four to six weeks. Keep the screen in a cool, dry place, with some air circulation from a small fan or open window. The nutshells should not be exposed to the sun, nor should they be placed where squirrels or other wildlife can get to them. After the curing period, crack out a nut or two using a heavy-duty, hard-shell nutcracker (several varieties are offered for sale in the NNGA quarterly newsletter, The Nutshell, and on our website). You could also use two fist-sized rocks or a hammer and an equally hard surface like an anvil. If needed, a wire cutter can be used to cut away the internal parts of the shell in order to fully extract the kernel. Be very careful to separate out all the small, broken pieces of sharp nut shells. Taste the kernels to see if they have properly dried. If they have, the nuts are ready to store in the crisper section of the refrigerator (or in a squirrel-proof container in a cool section of the house) and to crack out when you are ready to use them in meals. You can also crack all your nuts at once and freeze the kernels. The frozen kernels will last for several years.
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今年收获了两大桶核桃,也曾经寻中文在网上看怎么处理,一直未果。
无意中用手剥,倒容易兑皮,只是核桃上的襄丝很难处理,一会儿就
黑了,,,象吃剩的苹果、梨一见到空气似的。
核桃皮是很好的染料,好象能各色的,据说还是中药。
处理了两个钟头才想到用英文查询,处理的方式与我做的差不多。转
到这里给咖啡里别的朋友参考。
自家收获的核桃,吃着肯定香,口感也不一样。
- posted on 11/03/2008
xw好有口福啊!
今天在一个小花园里见一种玫瑰(double delight)开的很艳......还特别特别的香, 非常好闻的一种香. 我很是陶醉! ( zt: This is the hybrid tea rose Double Delight. "Lemon ice dipped in strawberry sauce" is one way that this rose has been described. The fragrance is very itense, but difficult to describe; you have to smell it to appreciate it. )
另外见一种BERRY, 抄了名字: Porcelain-berry. 查了一下还可以吃, 可惜我没尝. 非常好看, 象瓷, 象玉....你见过吗? - posted on 11/04/2008
lucy wrote:
xw好有口福啊!
今天在一个小花园里见一种玫瑰(double delight)开的很艳......还特别特别的香, 非常好闻的一种香. 我很是陶醉! ( zt: This is the hybrid tea rose Double Delight. "Lemon ice dipped in strawberry sauce" is one way that this rose has been described. The fragrance is very itense, but difficult to describe; you have to smell it to appreciate it. )
都说夏季最后一朵玫瑰。其实就是深秋,也有玫瑰的。
另外见一种BERRY, 抄了名字: Porcelain-berry. 查了一下还可以吃, 可惜我没尝. 非常好看, 象瓷, 象玉....你见过吗?
怎么不认识。倒是你健忘了,还记上年初认wild cucumber?
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