Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Weekend Wokking Round-up: the almond challenge!

As usual, this round of Weekend Wokking proved to be a challenge. Almonds were the theme ingredient, and I would guess they're not something most of use regularly in our cooking and baking. Kudos to the participants; they did a good job showing the versatility of this ingredient. There's a little bit of sweet, a little bit of savory and even a little bit of savory and sweet together. Enjoy!



Chocolate Almond Crunch submitted by Rita of Pink Bites in Seattle. I can't believe I forgot to include these tasties when I posted the round-up! My apologies to Rita. Can you guess what gives these chocolate almond clusters their crunch? It's not the almonds. You'll just have to click over to Rita's post to see her secret.




Almond Eggplant “Bisteeya” (Bastilla) submitted by [eatingclub] vancouver. Don’t let these girls fool you. They’re industrious and creative. They wanted to use almonds in its various forms , and they did just that with a result that was “ savory-sweet-eggy-nutty.”




Almond Coated Chicken Filet submitted by Pepsi’s life journal 1-2-3 in Norway. A great alternative to bread crumbs. I bet the almonds give a better texture to the crust as well as an extra layer of flavor.



Green Tea Soba Noodles with Almond Butter submitted by Wandering Chopsticks. It's quick, colorful and high in protein. Perfect match for miso-glazed salmon.




Cebollada con Almendras (Andalusian Onion and Almond Soup) submitted by Kits Chow in Vancouver. This is a savory soup with cumin, almond milk, and a touch of cinnamon. Based on a recipe that dates back to the 16th century and served to royalty!




Almond Stuffed Dates submitted by Yasmeen of Health Nut in Cleveland. Sweet Medjool dates stuffed with an almond paste cooked with a pinch of saffron. These tasty treats are a favored snack across the Middle East, but now you can make them at home no matter where you live!




Almond Orange Chicken and Veggies submitted by MomGateway. Chicken coated with finely chopped almonds tossed with seasonal vegetables in a soy-citrus sauce. Just give me a bowl of rice and a bottle of Sriracha and I'm ready for dinner!




Napoleonshatte with homemade marzipan submitted by me. Sugar cookies stuffed with marzipan and dipped in chocolate. This one was Hubby’s idea and I’m so glad he suggested it. The marzipan took less effort than I expected and the results were spectacular!




Again, thank you to the participants for the inspiration!

For the next secret ingredient, I choose BEEF! I went in on a quarter beef with a friend and we've got an assload of it, especially ground. So I'm looking for your best beef recipes. The host this time is Marija of Palachinka.(If you haven't checked out her blog, do head over there. It's got gorgeous photos and there's a recent whimsy post she did featuring Alice in Wonderland). Please read over the submission guidelines and send your submissions to palachinkablog(at)gmail(dot)com by Sunday, March 29th.

9 comments:

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Assload of beef huh? Did you specifically get the "assload"? I've got another oxtail recipe I can post. :)

I think almonds were pretty challenging for people. I kept expecting a simple Chinese green bean with almond slivers recipe, but no one posted it.

Thanks for hosting!

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a great selection of recipes. I have some work cut out for me.

dp said...

WC, almonds must have been challenging because the entries basically came all at once that last weekend :-)

Assload. Isn't that a funny term? But it's true. I got 38 pounds of ground, not to mention the steaks and roasts. The only word that describes that much beef is assload! :P

Mary, welcome back! I look forward to reading about your trip.

Manggy said...

Great round-up! I think 38 pounds is more like a cow-load (eww) :P Good luck to your poor freezer!

Paula said...

Mmmm ... almonds! I love the savory as well as the sweet entries. I laughed out loud at your beef comment! I guess we now know how to answer the old quesion of, "Where's the beef?" It's at Darlene's house! Ha! :-)

Anonymous said...

Delicious recipes with my favorite nut.The next challenge sounds exciting,even we stock up on meat ,and lean beef is on our menu at least once a week.

Dee said...

Yaseem, I hope you will submit something for the next challenge. With my freezer full of beef, I need all the inspiration I can get!

TS of eatingclub vancouver said...

Thanks for the round-up! (This I say 3 weeks later!)

We're kind of pressed for time with coming up with both Weekend Wokking and Regional Recipes entries... but we won't miss it this time!

Dee said...

ts, I know you guys will think of something to submit to both!