Are you one of those people who admires the notion of adding peanut butter to anything and everything? Yeah, so am I. Sometimes, I do like to switch things up and do almond butter or some other type of nut butter (ever tried sunflower seed butter?). Today, though, I want to share an anecdote on how I composed a dish out of nut butter. “What?!” you’re chanting. Peanut butter is a great and easy way to add both protein and comfort to any dish, whether sweet or savory. But in my limited experience, it’s difficult to sell on its own. And to many, it may seem like a basic additive not worth including in an otherwise exotic list of inclusions. Though peanut butter makes itself useful in cooking with many Thai dishes, there is much more that peanut butter can be. The title of this entry is purposeful, because I’ll not only show you an innovative way to present nut butter, but I’m going to show you how to make it. Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter… sunflower seed butter with pumpkin seeds and oats – you name it. It’s the easiest thing in the world because all you need is a blender and, well, your nut/seed of choice. Throw them in the blender with some salt and blend the hell out of them. You may have to bend over backwards every now and then to keep the nut paste off the edges; give the mixture ten minutes or so and voila. Ten minutes will give you smooth butter, but even chunky/rough butter takes no longer than a couple minutes to blend. All you’re looking for is texture. Nut butter is just nuts. Those few extra ingredients added in most commercial nut butters exist because they’re commercial. You may choose to add salt or (for that matter) anything you want, but nut butter is no secret art. Making it presentable, however, is more so an artistic challenge. My nut butter of choice: cashew and almond blend. I could have paid ten dollars plus for it at the grocery store, or I could blend the nuts myself and save a quantifiable amount of money (hint: I chose the latter). I also did not want a smooth butter for this recipe. Instead, I wanted something closer to a rough dough. Ideally, the nut butter would not be rough, but it would not be too smooth to hold itself up. Thankfully, because I didn’t leave it in the blender too long, the oils didn’t fully emerge (hence the thicker and rougher texture). While I could have left this paste as is for use in sandwiches and wherever else one might use nut butter, my goal today was different. Adding such ingredients as vanilla bean seeds, honey, and almond extract, I prepared the nut butter for a delicious snack to be served. Meet strawberry baby cakes… except that mine got all f’ed up. You’ll find many different recipes depending on where you look, but my version is made straight from the nuts, not their nut flour counterparts. In this way, nut butter plays a role more significant than the annoying best friend. It’s the foundation for this dish – the lead who stands out from an otherwise ordinary cast. What makes it unique is that this standout dish does not rely on foundational elements to support it. It’s the only element, which means that it must support itself. The show must go on! The strawberries were doused in lemon juice in honey – a delectable balance of sweet and sour – giving the baby cakes a sweet edge. I could have just as easily prepared a savory snack from this. By choosing some other topping (like, I don’t know, roasted asparagus or chili peppers stuffed with cream cheese) and omitting the honey, this would have been a hearty snack for lunchtime. You can see how versatile nut butter can be in this area. It’s a remarkable and playful ingredient, often overlooked in lieu of its rather unfortunate abuse for temporary satisfaction. That’s all I have for this entry. A new experience with a familiar ingredient is just as exotic as a new ingredient if you ask me. Think about the fundamental idea of that: it’s not the ingredient that’s new. It’s what you do with it that renews your cooking experience. I’ve used lots of unique ingredients in my day, but there are many that don’t stand out and offer very little on their own. One clear example is canned bamboo shoots – a crunchy inclusion to curries but otherwise boring on their own. Looking at your ingredients from a fresh perspective independent of Western standards will allow you to fully appreciate and realize the creative potential that you possess. Never lose sight of that.
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June 2018
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