SOME HOMEMADE NUT FOODS.
By Winnie L. Kelsea
The call from “W. C.,” of Virginia, which was printed in the Review of November 12, brought down from our kitchen shelf a number of recipes collected when on a similar search for substitutes for the more expensive health foods. Much has been said concerning the use and abuse of the roasted peanut,—some claiming that peanuts prepared in that manner were practically indigestible, producing in the system large quantities of uric acid, followed by all its attendant evils. It was therefore with much relief that I read in the November Good Health, under “answers to correspondents,” the following: “Do peanuts baked in a slow oven until they are a dark-yellow color make healthful nut butter?—Ans. Peanuts may be baked in an oven, if care is taken to avoid a temperature sufficiently high to burn the nuts or to produce a dark-brown color. It is a good precaution to put a large pan of water in the oven with the nuts.” Granting that nuts prepared in this manner are healthful, it remains to get them into the more usable form of nut butter. I have tried different ways, but have found none so satisfactory as that of browning the nuts, and grinding them through a nut butter mill, advertisements of which have appeared from time to time in our periodicals. Before grinding the nuts, the skins should be removed by rubbing the nuts between the hands, or better, by rubbing them briskly over a coarse sieve. The recipes here given are not original, but have been culled from various sources, tried, and found good. The following makes a pleasing substitute for nuttose: Take three cups of strong caramel-cereal, strained, two cups of nut butter, one cup of cornstarch, and one teaspoonful of salt. Combine the ingredients by mixing the cornstarch, butter, and salt first; then put in the coffee, adding a little at a time, and mixing until smooth. Put in a can or dish with a tight-fitting cover, and cook in a closed steamer for from three to five hours. The contents of the can will be firm when cooked, and may be cut in slices, or used in many of the ways in which meat is served. Another: Two cups nut butter, one and one-half cups of water, three tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, three-fourths teaspoonful of finely powdered sage, and one teaspoonful of salt. Prepare in the same manner as the foregoing recipe. These substitutes for nuttose mold quickly in warm weather, but will keep for a week or more during winter, if kept in a cool place. As these recipes are written for the benefit of those to whom all articles from the food factories are unavailable, it may be suggested that any coffee made from parched or roasted grains may take the place of caramel-cereal. A good coffee is made from equal parts of wheat, oats, and barley, browned in the oven like ordinary coffee, and ground. Another way would be to take three quarts of the best bran, one quart of cornmeal, and three tablespoonfuls of molasses; mix and brown in the oven like ordinary coffee. In preparing nut butter for the table, place the quantity desired for a meal in a bowl, add a little water, stir until smooth, then add a little more water, until the butter is of a consistency to spread smoothly. No more should be prepared than will be needed for the meal, as nut butter quickly ferments when water is added, but will keep indefinitely when placed in a covered dish just as it comes from the mill. To those who are just beginning the use of nut butter, it may be well to add a word of caution: Avoid the too free use of it, bearing in mind that the peanut is highly nutritious, and should be eaten accordingly. Properly used, it forms a valuable addition to a vegetarian’s bill of fare.