YOUR RECIPES

Walnut season is a chance to make the most of this nutritious crop. Readers share their best recipes.

- Walnut.

“The lovely big walnut tree is right on a boundary and as such, it’s prone to theft. One evening I looked out the window to see a man sending his child up a long ladder into the tree to steal the walnuts!” says Suzy Parker.

Cauliflower Walnut Casserole

Susan Clay grew up harvesting, sorting and cooking the walnuts from the huge trees on her grandfather’s farm in Pennsylvania in the US, and later on, while living in California, she had many opportunities to buy newly harvested walnuts from roadside farmers’ stalls. So even though a move to Red Beach to be closer to her daughter has meant that her own gardening experience is now past, she still has a wealth of walnut recipes to draw on.

Susan has used walnuts in everything from breads and salads to appetiser trays but this recipe has always been requested by her family for holidays, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Serves 4-6

1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets

1 cup sour cream

1 cup grated sharp or vintage cheddar 1 tablespoon flour

2 teaspoons powdered chicken stock 1 teaspoon mustard powder

1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

¼ cup fine dried breadcrumbs or panko crumbs 1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon marjoram

½ teaspoon onion salt

Place the cauliflower florets in a pan of salted boiling water. Bring it back to the boil then reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until tender. Drain very well. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Place the sour cream, cheese, flour, stock powder and mustard in a bowl and mix well to combine. Place the walnuts, breadcrumbs, butter, marjoram and onion salt in a second bowl and mix well to combine.

Mix the cauliflower florets through the sour cream mixture and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle over the walnut mixture.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until hot and bubbling.

Quick Walnut Biscuits

Greytown resident Vicki Rennie made a lucky discovery one day while walking her two Labradors at the local river. In complete wilderness and surrounded by blackberry was a well-laden walnut tree. At one point the council built a new gravel road through the area but luckily they diverted it around the tree.

Since her find, Vicki has been gathering the walnuts from the tree and hanging them to dry in her potting shed.

Then the following year she’ll shell the walnuts and freeze them in 1-cup portions, meaning she has a good supply throughout the year.

Which is a good thing as her Walnut Biscuit recipe is in high demand – Vicki reckons it’s the Wairarapa walnuts that make them so good! It’s a recipe Vicki came across in a Lioness newsletter many years ago, but despite her efforts she hasn’t been able to find the original author.

Makes 20 biscuits

125g butter

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 cup flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted 2 teaspoons ground ginger, sifted ½-¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Mix in the golden syrup and the sifted dry ingredients. Stir through the walnuts. Take spoonfuls of the mixture and dollop onto a cold tray. Flatten with a fork. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Top tip: Vicki says this simple recipe is an excellent one for young novice cooks to try – and as a retired food technology teacher she knows her stuff!

French Green Beans, Walnuts, Bacon & Haloumi

When Heather Chambers moved from a lifestyle block to a small cottage in Waikanae five years ago, at first it seemed like such a loss – but it has become a delight. Instead of gracious lawns and shrubbery she now has an informal cottage garden full of seasonal surprises and delights. The small pond and fountain are a treat and the birds love having access to water and a variety of plants. She loves being enclosed by the garden and feeling a part of it whether working or sitting in it. There’s no room for a walnut tree but Heather loves her neighbourhood interactive website where she can look out for local walnut sources. She found her current bounty on a walk in Clive.

Heather’s husband grows French green beans so she’s always looking for good recipes and this walnut recipe makes the best of them. She invented it herself.

Use amounts to serve as many as you need – and maybe make more than you think you’ll need, it’s very moreish. It’s a great side dish or you can serve it with noodles or pasta to make a meal of it.

Serves as many as you like

Use quantities to taste of… French green beans, trimmed rashers of bacon, chopped walnut pieces haloumi cheese, cut into cubes

Cook the beans in a pot of salted boiling water until tender but still firm, about 2-3 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, add the bacon and walnuts to hot pan and cook for a few minutes until the bacon is crispy. Set aside. Add the haloumi cheese to the same pan and fry until browned.

Place the green beans, bacon, walnuts and haloumi in a serving dish and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Banana & Walnut Loaf

It’s all well and good having permanent free and easy access to a walnut tree in your mother’s garden but, as Auckland gardener Suzy Parker has discovered, sometimes others want that sweet access too! “The lovely big walnut tree is right on a boundary and as such, it’s prone to theft. One evening I looked out the window to see a man sending his child up a long ladder into the tree to steal the walnuts! I didn’t disturb the thieves in case the child fell. Another time, I was perplexed as to why there was a hole developing in the hedge below the walnut tree, until I caught a man climbing into the hedge to steal the walnuts that had fallen on the other side – this thief got a good telling off! It took years for the hedge to recover.”

And as if thieves of the human kind weren’t enough, there’s another pesky pest to contend with – the walnuts need to be picked up as soon as they fall, otherwise the rats get them.

As for the delicious Banana and Walnut Loaf recipe, Suzy explains, “I created it after my son Wesley came home from primary school one day saying they had made banana bread at school and he had absolutely loved it. I searched for a recipe but nothing really took my fancy so used I the basic idea and created my own. Adding the walnuts made all the difference and then the sprinkle of brown sugar on the top gave a lovely sweetness to the crust. It is so delicious served warm with butter. It never lasts long enough to freeze, we gobble it up too quickly! I’m sure it would freeze well though.”

Makes 1 big loaf or 2 small loaves

150g butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 very ripe bananas, mashed ½ teaspoon vanilla essence 1½ cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts a sprinkle of brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line one large tin or two small loaf tins with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, banana and vanilla. Mix well.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together and add to the creamed mixture along with the walnuts. Mix together until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin(s). Sprinkle over a little brown sugar. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.