So our buddy Grant is back with us today in the kitchen
Grant is a crack member of our culinary team
here at the show.
(Applause)
Now normally we call upon Grant to come out here
and show his baking wizardry.
Today, he's gonna get a little savory,
because we are working with California walnuts.
We're working with them because they add texture
and flavor, and they're also heart healthy,
heart healthy goodness to our dishes,
and Grant is going to literally "go nuts!" Haha!
(scattered laughter)
Yes! Whatever, I tried.
Not only am I gonna to go nuts,
but I think you're gonna go nuts
for these recipes too, cause they're all really delicious
I already got pretty nutty, Grant
I ate like fifty handfuls of these walnuts
before we went to this segment.
Half of the walnuts are gone, but you know what,
now you have a healthy heart.
So you're good to go. Exactly!
So like Rachael said, normally I'm not here baking
but since I do bake a lot, I always have walnuts
in my pantry, I actually keep them in the fridge
cause that's best place to store them.
I actually keep all the nuts in the freezer.
Fridge, freezer, the reason we do that
is nuts have oil, oil spoils.
You'll get a longer shelf life out of your nuts
if you keep them in the fridge or freezer.
Since I always have nuts when I'm baking,
I always use them in my savory stuff as well.
So today I'm gonna show you guys
some great entertaining recipes.
All of them have walnuts in them.
And the first one I'm gonna show you
is a walnut romesco sauce, which is super delicious.
Romesco is a classic sauce, it's made of roasted peppers
and, traditionally, marcona almonds.
It is a Spanish sauce.
The walnuts, I think, more people have them
in their pantry. Yeah, totally.
Cause it's a go-to for recipes.
For baking, and for yeah, sweet and savory.
Oh yeah, for sure.
So I like to start my romesco off
by making a garlic and tomato oil, which is really yummy,
it adds a really delicious flavor to it.
Right here I just have some warm olive oil.
It's not super hot, it's just a little warm.
And into that I add in a few tablespoons of tomato paste,
And it's nice to cook out your tomato paste,
like you always do. You have to cook out
the tomato paste because it's been sitting in a tube
you gotta kind of wake it up!
Wake it up! Yeah, wake it up.
And this is actually a good tip too,
when you buys your tomato paste,
buy it in a tube just like your toothpaste.
When you buy it in little cans,
you have to switch containers,
it often allows more contaminants in,
and you end up throwing it in the garbage.
You keep it in a tube, and you just roll up
from the bottom and keep it in the fridge,
Right And you don't waste any.
You get a lot more bang for your buck.
And you know what, I've never been to Italy,
but I hear this is what the Italians use for toothpaste.
(laughter)
They just put it on their toothbrush.
That's what I heard, I don't know.
Yes, we mix it, we cut it fifty fifty with baking soda
we brush our teeth with tomatoes.
You guys are getting so many tips today.
So you don't want to cook it a lot,
you just kinda want to take the edge off the raw garlic,
toast out your tomato paste a little bit.
You're mellowing the garlic,
and you're waking up the tomato paste.
Yep, so everybody's mellow,
everybody's woke. Everybody's mellow.
And now we're going to throw in our toasted walnuts.
Whenever I cook with walnuts,
I like to toast them a little bit too.
Whenever you cook with any nut
you should toast them, because as I said,
all nuts have oil, and oil not only can spoil,
but oil develops the flavor of the nut more fully
when you toast it. Yeah.
So you don't have to add anything to it,
you just add heat, put them in the oven,
or toast them in a small skillet on the stove top,
and it really brings out the richness
and the depth of the flavor.
So then, Salt and pepper.
A little bit of salt and pepper.
I'm also going to add in some smoked paprika,
a little bit of cayenne, some honey,
Smoked paprika, also known as pimenton.
And a little drizzle of honey Little bit of honey, yeah,
Just kinda take that edge off,
And we're actually going to use piquillo peppers.
I have some over there Rachael.
I actually use the ones from the jar,
if you want to buy some piquillo peppers, or red peppers,
you can roast them and peel them and all that.
You don't want them in oil, though,
and piquillos are just little small, mild peppers,
and they roast them and peel the skins off,
but there's a little bit of char left on them.
So it's a little smokey and a little sweet.
These are mild peppers. Nice and mild, yeah.
Yeah, throw these guys in here?
Yep, we're gonna throw those in there.
And then your sherry vinegar, did you get that yet?
Put in a little sherry vinegar, about a third of a cup.
I'm gonna buzz this up, and make a nice,
I like a smooth romesco,
I think you like it a little more chunky,
No, I like it smooth. You like it smooth? Alright.
So if you like it smooth, just turn on your mixer,
let it run for a few minutes,
and it gets nice and smooth, and it's as easy as that.
Check this out. Pulse that one more time,
got some chunks of garlic in there.
I have some vampires coming over for dinner.
(laughs) I always smell like garlic, I don't mind.
There we go.
Alright, now we're gonna come down here,
so, I like to serve this, like I said,
you can use this as a sandwich spread,
you can put it on chicken, but I like to use it
as a little crostini appetizer.
Just toasted up some bread, put some goat cheese on it.
(applause)
We're gonna top it with some nuts,
today we're working with California walnuts,
sprinkle those all over the top.
Beautiful. Little bit of parsley,
and there we go, a nice, easy,
super delicious appetizer. Lovely darling. Gorgeous.
(applause)