Walnuts

The walnuts have been falling from our walnut tree and I'm still very excited! Walnuts are definitely one of my favourite foods and I generally just eat them as is. I'd love to cook more with them, but as a young boy Gib ate so many he made himself ill on them and doesn't really like eating them now...


I love roasting nuts though. I get a bag of mixed nuts (about 250 g) and put them in a bowl. I mix in 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp brown sugar or honey and then select some spices to add depending on whether I want to go more sweet or savoury or both: Cinnamon, mixed spice, cumin, chili, paprika, tumeric or some other generic spice blend that I have in the pantry at the time (Moroccan, Mexican, Indian... they all taste good). You can't really fail with this: no matter what combination of spices you put in it's going to taste great. Quantities are approximate, but I tend to use 1/2 tsp of each spice (or 1/4 tsp chili), or if I'm using a spice blend, 2-3 tbsp. Roast on a tray at 180C for 15 mins, giving them a bit of a shake/turn over with a spatular half way through.