Gearing up to host a romantic dinner for your loved ones but don’t know what to prepare? Fret not as celebrity chef Sabyasachi Gorai is here to drive your worries away. Loaded with the goodness of health and irresistible flavours, walnuts are the go-to-nut for anything sweet or savoury. So what are you waiting for? Put on your chef apron and let California walnuts add the magic of love and nutrition to your meal.
Prawns & California
Walnuts A L’orange
Ingredients
200 gm of shrimps
250 gm of zucchini
200 gm of cherry tomatoes
1/2 squeezed lemon
2 spoonfuls of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
A pinch of salt and pepper
30 gm of California walnuts
200 ml orange juice
Direction
Peel the prawns, preserving the heads and rinds. Mix the tails of the prawns with a spoonful of olive oil, one very thin cut clove of garlic, a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave to marinate in the fridge. With a spiral cutter, make strips of zucchini spaghetti and drizzle with a few drops of lemon juice.
In a frying pan, grease with a drop of oil, toast walnuts and add the orange juice. Set it aside. In another frying pan, heat one tablespoon of oil and add the remains of the prawns, sauté. Once the prawns release their juice, remove the remains.
In the same pan, add a clove of garlic, the tails of the prawns, walnuts and cherry tomatoes. Sauté until the skin of the tomatoes wrinkle and remove the peel. Add the zucchini spaghetti and stir fry for one minute on high heat. Add the orange juice. Cook to reduce the juice, add the peeled cherry tomatoes and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix and serve immediately.
Marinated Goat Cheese, Roasted Grapes & Walnuts
Ingredients
1/2 cup of walnuts,
coarsely chopped; 2
cups of red grapes; 1/2
cup of olive oil,
divided; 4 sprigs of
fresh thyme; 1/2
teaspoon of sea salt,
divided; 226 gm of
fresh goat cheese, cold
Direction
Preheat oven to 176°C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Toast walnuts on baking sheet for eight minutes and then transfer them to a plate. On same baking sheet, toss grapes with two tablespoons of olive oil, thyme and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until skins are bursting and wrinkled. Remove from oven and cool for at least 10 minutes. Slice goat cheese into 1/4-inch-thick round; place on serving dish. Pour the remaining olive oil on top; let sit while grapes roast. Place grapes and thyme sprigs, chopped walnuts and remaining salt over cheese. Serve with toasted French bread, if you prefer.
Cookie Hearts
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of toasted
California walnuts;
2/3 cup of sugar; 1/3
cup of cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Pinch of ground
nutmeg; 3/4 cup of
chilled butter cut
in 15-20 pieces; 2
egg; yolks; 2
teaspoons of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
extract
For assembling and
decorating the cookies
1/2 – 2/3 cup of fig jam or
apricot jam; 28 gm of
bittersweet chocolate,
melted; 1/2 cup of finely
chopped California walnuts
Direction
In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, mix flour, walnuts, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and nutmeg. Process until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter and pulse until blended into the dry ingredients and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small cup, whisk together egg yolks, water and vanilla and add to the flour mixture and process until the dough holds together in a stiff mass. Transfer the dough to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes until firm but not hard.
Preheat the oven to 176°C and cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. Divide the chilled dough in half (keep the piece you are not working on refrigerated). On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a thickness slightly less than 1/4-inch. If the top of the dough is sticky, sprinkle it lightly with additional flour. Using a heart-shaped (or round) cutter 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter, cut cookies from the rolled-out dough. Gather the scraps together, reroll them and cut out additional cookies.
Place the cookies about 1/2-inch apart on the cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes until they look dry. Cool for about two minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely before filling. To assemble and decorate the cookies, place half of them in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Spread each one with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam, then top with a second cookie. When all the cookies have been filled, top each with about 1/2 teaspoon melted chocolate, spreading the chocolate with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the chocolate with walnuts. Let the cookies stand for 2-3 hours or until firm. Store them in an airtight container.