Hazelnut - Description
Hazelnuts, or Lombard nuts, are called hazel fruits, a large type of deciduous woody shrubs of the Hazel family of the Birch family. The native land of hazelnuts is considered Asia Minor and the Caucasus. From there he came to Europe, first to southern, then to northern, and later to America. Hazelnut nut, covered with a hard brown shell, has an oval or round shape and a length of up to 2 cm.
Under natural conditions, hazelnuts today grow in southeastern Europe and Asia Minor; The main areas of its cultivation in culture are Turkey, the Balkans, Italy, North America, southern France and Germany. When grown, it is not particularly demanding of weather conditions, however, for good yields it needs fertile soil and a sufficient amount of sunlight.
The most common varieties of hazelnuts include Badem, Crimean and Kerasund. Slightly different in appearance and thickness of the shell, they have exactly the same taste properties.
Hazelnuts - useful properties
Hazelnut contains oil consisting of organic acids (70%), protein (20%), vitamins B and E. It is also rich in minerals - potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, etc. This composition makes the presence of hazelnuts in the diet very desirable children and people who recover after a long illness.
The most useful hazelnuts for the cardiovascular system, due to the high content of potassium and calcium, beneficial effects on blood vessels and smooth muscle of the heart. This nut helps to treat blood diseases, such as anemia. It is also indicated for diseases such as varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, various problems with capillaries. It helps to treat the prostate gland, strengthen the immune system, cleanse the body, especially the liver.
The content in the hazelnut of an anticancer substance paclitaxel allows its use in the prevention of cancer. And due to the unique combination of vitamin E with protein, it favorably affects the growth and development of muscle tissue.
Hazelnut nut butter, mixed with egg white in equal proportions, is very effective against burns. Regularly rubbing it into the scalp, you can strengthen the hair and make it very beautiful.
However, this nut has contraindications. First of all, it should not be in the diet of people with severe diabetes, atypical diathesis, chronic and severe liver diseases, and obesity. In this case, nutritionists warn that even for the rest, the daily rate of consumption of hazelnuts should not exceed 50 grams, so that it does not cause headaches, vasospasm of the brain, as well as overstrain of the stomach and intestines.
Hazelnut - calorie
The caloric content of hazelnuts is 704 kcal.
Hazelnuts - Use in Cooking
In the kitchen of almost every nation you can find hazelnuts. It is used both raw and processed, using for the preparation of salads and sauces, vegetable dishes, seasonings for meat and fish.
With the use of hazelnuts also produce a variety of pastries: cakes, cookies, desserts, pastries, chocolate, candy, halvah and many other tasty products.
Hazelnut Recipe Examples
Recipe 1: Pear Dessert with Hazelnuts
Delicious and beautiful dessert, in which the tenderness of pears very well with a nutty flavor. The alcohol used in this dessert is not felt at all in the finished dish, but simply gives it a specific flavor.
Ingredients:
4 pears;
500 gr. port wine;
500 gr. Grenadine Syrup;
200 gr. Sahara;
2 tbsp. l lemon juice.
For filling:
250 gr. chocolate;
150 gr. heavy cream (from 30%);
100 gr. peeled and roasted hazelnuts.
Cooking method:
1. After washing and peeling pears, we clean the core from them. Put the pears in the pan. Mixing the syrup with port wine, sugar and lemon juice, pour this mixture into a saucepan with pears and cook it on low heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Having melted chocolate, add cream and nuts to it. Then, taking the pears out of the pan and chilling, fill them with a mixture of cream and chocolate. Serve, laid out on a beautiful dish.
Recipe 2: Homemade Hazelnut Candies
Even if you do not consider yourself a sweet tooth, these soft and fragrant candies made of hazelnuts, waffles, butter and chocolate will not leave you indifferent.
Ingredients:
400 gr. waffles;
1 cup roasted hazelnuts;
50 gr. chocolate;
100 gr. drain oils;
50 gr. cocoa powder.
Cooking method:
1. We grind nuts in the combine to a powdery state. Then chop the waffles and add them to the nuts along with cocoa, mix everything well and set aside 3 tbsp from this mixture. l
2. Melt butter with chocolate, pour them to chopped waffles with nuts and carefully knead the candy mass. Then we form round candies from it. Roll them in nuts with waffles, which we pour, put the candies on the dish and set for an hour to cool, after which our homemade candies with hazelnuts are ready.
Recipe 3: Light hazelnut cookies
Very often, the desire to eat something tasty meets resistance from our unwillingness to consume extra calories. If you also know such contradictions, try to make hazelnut cookies according to our recipe. For its preparation you will need nuts, brown sugar and egg white - in a word, products that will allow you to pamper yourself completely without damage to the figure!
Ingredients:
2/3 cup of hazelnuts;
1/3 cup walnuts;
70 gr. brown sugar;
1 raw egg white.
Cooking method:
1. Do not chop hazelnuts and walnuts too finely, then, adding sugar to them, mix the mixture well.
2. Beat the protein well, add it to the mixture of nuts and sugar and mix everything well.
3. Cover the baking sheet with confectionery paper. Then, spreading the mixture on it with a spoon, form small cookies and bake them in a well heated oven for about 10 minutes.
Hazelnuts - useful tips from experienced chefs
You should not buy peeled hazelnuts by weight, as it may be contaminated with dangerous mold fungi. Nut kernels with dark spots and musty aroma may indicate their presence. At the same time, it is not always easy to recognize a fungus, so it is better to buy hazelnuts in the shell.
If there is no opportunity to buy unpeeled hazelnuts, it is better to choose nuts in bags. However, here it is important not to make a mistake and not to buy a fake instead of a quality product. It can even give out packaging. For example, reliable manufacturers do not produce hazelnuts in transparent sachets, as under the influence of light it can quickly deteriorate. Acquire should be nuts, packaged no more than 6 months ago. Do not be too lazy to pay attention to such subtleties, you buy a real high-quality hazelnuts and you can cook your best dishes with it!
