walnootillustratie

Going walNuts

What to do with al those walnuts? Last year I’ve discovered a lot of walnut trees in and around the city Utrecht. I felt like a squirrel and became ‘walNuts’ to collect as many walnuts as I could find. At the end of the season I collected had more then 1200 walnuts.

When I searched for recipes for all these walnuts I discoverd that there is a lot more to do with those nuts. Especially when the walnuts are young and still coverd in their green hull. Painting, pickling and making wine and liquer.See below the walnut experiments and become walNuts!

“Put on your gloves and pick the green walnuts before the
24th of June, so the nut inside is still soft.”

 

Walnut liqueur recipe

Ingredients (for one bottle)

  • 900 ml whiskey
  • 10 green walnuts
  • 175 grams sugar
  • your favorite herbs and spices like cinnamon, star anise, cloves

Put on some glove and cut the green walnuts in wedges and put them with the rest of the ingredients in a clean bottle.

Store the Walnut liqueur for 9 weeks in a dark, cool place and shake it once a week so the sugar can dissolve completely. After this, filter the mixture and pour it back into the bottle. Let the liqueur rest for one week. Your patience will be rewarded with a slightly syrupy and delicious aromatic liqueur.

Walnut wine recipe

Ingredients (for one bottle)

  • 800 ml red wine
  • 5 green walnuts
  • 5 young walnut leafs
  • 100 grams sugar
  • 160 ml of strong liqueur (> 39% alcohol like whiskey or wodka)
  • your favorite herbs and spices like vanilla, muskat, cloves

Put on some glove and cut the green walnuts in wedges and put them in a clean bottle. Wash the walnut leafs and ad put together with the rest of the ingredients in the bottle.

Store the Vin de Noix for 6 weeks in a dark, cool place and shake it once a week so the sugar can dissolve completely. After this, filter the mixture and pour it back into the bottle. Let the wine age for at least three months. Your patience will be rewarded with a slightly syrupy and delicious aromatic wine.

Pickled walnuts recipe

Ingredients (for 3 x 300 ml jars)

  • 45 green walnuts
  • salt to make enough brine water
  • 700 ml balsamic vinegar / 700 ml malt vinegar with 100 grams sugar
  • your favorite herbs and spices like all spice, ginger, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cinnamon, anise, cloves

Put on some glove and prick each walnut for around 4 times with a vork. Put al the green walnuts in a bucket and cover with brine water (water with 10-15% salt). Leave them for a week and refresh and cover again for one week with some fresh made brine water. Let the walnuts dry by air till their dry and their color changed from green to black.

Bring the vinegar to the boil in a saucepan together with the optional sugar (when your using malt vinegar) and your favorite herbs and spices. Add the walnuts and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the walnuts to clean jars and cover with the liquid, close the lid and turn up side down till the mixture had cooled.

The pickles walnuts taste great with some blue cheese and cold dishes.

 

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