black walnuts

A rich, thick syrup that tastes like green black walnuts smell. Makes about 3.5 cups of &quot;honey&quot;.

Green Walnut Honey

lb (roughly 15-22) young unripe black walnuts

lb Brown sugar sugar

Harvest unripe black walnuts directly from the tree. While it may be tempting to harvest walnuts that have already fallen, you will want to cut some of them in half to make sure they&#39;re pearly white and clean on the inside, without any spotting or deterioration. If you harvest walnuts from the ground, wash them.

Wearing gloves, cut the walnuts in half using a heavy knife, preferably on a cutting board you don&#39;t mind getting stained. Older recipes often mention crushing or pounding the unripe nuts, which you could also do, but beware of splattering juice.

Mix the walnut with the sugar, then pack into a container that can accomodate the entire mixture. For the amount listed, you would want a half gallon mason jar.

Prep

Allow the walnut-sugar mixture to sit at room temperature or outside for at least 30 days, and up to a few months, opening the jar occasionally to release carbon dioxide as the mixture will ferment. Shake or stir it occasionally to help it on it&#39;s way, which will coat the nuts in the fermenting syrup and help prevent mold.

Maceration

After at least 30 days, scrape the sugary walnut sludge into a non-reactive sauce pot with high sides, bring the mixture to a full boil, then strain out the walnuts using a slotted spoon. Discard the walnuts and thank them for their service.

As the syrup cooks, it will begin to foam-a byproduct of the fermentation process. You can resist the urge to skim off the foam as it will subside and disappear as the syrup cools.

With clean mason jars at the ready, bring the syrup back to a brisk simmer, turn off the heat and wait a minute or two for the foam to settle. Pour the piping hot syrup into the jars leaving 1/2 inch or so of headspace (the amount headspace is more to prevent sticky leaks than for safety as the syrup is very stable), screw on the lids tightly, then turn the jars upside down and allow to cool and seal. The syrup will last for years.

Boiling, straining and storing

Black Walnut Pesto

basil leaves

fresh garlic

virgin sunflower or extra virgin olive oil

tsp pepper

grana padano or parmigiano reggiano

Preheat the oven to 350. When it is preheated, put your walnuts in a saute pan or cookie sheet and toast for about 15 minutes, until aromatic and nicely toasted, but not at all black or burnt. Cool the walnuts completely so they do not heat the basil while pureeing in the blender, which will destroy the color.

Bring a couple quarts of water to a boil, salt the water until it tastes like the sea

Pick the basil leaves off of their stems, making sure not to include any hard, woody stem pieces.

Blanch the basil in the boiling salted water until just wilted, then refresh in ice water to cool and preserve the color. Then drain the basil and chop roughly.

In the bowl of a high speed blender or food processor, puree the basil, cheese, nuts and clove of garlic until roughly pureed.

Finally drizzle in the oil slowly until a smooth puree is formed.

Transfer the pesto to a container, such as a tupperware. Press plastic wrap down directly on the surface of the pesto, so that air cannot touch it, Then cover the container with another layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. The pesto will also keep for months if not years in the freezer as the oil helps to prevent freezer burn, but I doubt it will last that long.

Moravian Black Walnut Cookies

sugar

unsalted butter (1 stick), softened to room teperature

eggs, room temperature

salt

Tablespoon baking soda white vinegar

black walnuts (not English walnuts)

all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar until well blended.  Add remaining ingredients, mix well.

Roll into logs about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Refrigerate until completely chilled (or freeze), then cut into 1/4 inch slices with sharp knife.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake 325F degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges.

Cool on wire racks.

OPTIONAL: Roll the logs in additional finely chopped black walnuts before wrapping and chilling.

Top 3 black walnuts recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Green Walnut Honey

Black Walnut Pesto

Moravian Black Walnut Cookies

Top 3 black walnuts recipes from across the web

The most viewed black walnuts recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Green Walnut Honey

Black Walnut Pesto

Moravian Black Walnut Cookies

The most viewed black walnuts recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine