Pistachio Ideas

I just received 10lb of delicious Zenobia pistachio nuts from Turkey. Any ideas what I can do with them besides sitting on the couch and popping them in my mouth? Ice cream would be great, but i'm not an ice cream maker. Thank You.

Pistachios are a great addition to rice dishes like pilaf or biryani, or as a salad garnish.

Also, how about cookies or muffins?

Best,
EC

Chocolate orange cookies, p. 322, The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook.

This afternoon I'm making pistachio biscotti, with a little dried cherry and chocolate chips. I'm using pre-shelled pistachios, though - shelling 'em all by hand would take forever.

Baklava made with pistachios beat the snot out of those made with walnuts

Try grinding them up and mixing with equal amount of seasoned bread crumbs, then use the mixture with to coat a flattened chicken breat and pan fry. Tastes great. I got the idea from Paradiso in Oak Park

Hi,

I just returned from Costco where they were selling pistachios in the shell: about 3 lbs for $14. The only unshelled pistachios they had were seasoned with lime and chili; which won't work for me. I stopped by another store which caters to ethnic food interests. They had shelled pistachios for almost $10. per pound.

Has anyone seen a relatively inexpensive source for shelled pistachios recently? I'm guessing I need to stop in the Kedzie-Lawrence area, but if someone knows a source then I can be more laser focussed.

Thanks!

Regards,

Unfortunately, I can't find the price on line, but I don't think Trader Joe's charges anywere near that much for shelled pistachios. I'd phone before I went out in the cold for them to check the price, tho.

Which reminds me to mention my new favorite cookie:

Start with a basic oatmeal butter cookie recipe; instead of raisins and walnuts, mix in pistachio nuts, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and grated tangerine rind [or orange, but I prefer tangerine] and a dash of vanilla if it's not in the recipe already. These will be part of my Christmas baking this year [love it when I can get red & green in my cookies without resorting to colored sugar or jimmies].

Giovanna

Giovanna,

Your cookie sounds sublime!

Thanks!

A few random ideas;
There is a pistachio brittle recipe on Epicurious, I believe.
I also make a salad with a pomegranate (sp?) vinaigrette, dried cherries and toasted pistachios over baby greens
I've also seen recipes for pesto variations using pistachios - you may want to experiement with that.
I tried a terrific recipe from the New York Times Magazine that involved sliced organges drizzled with a mixture of pomegranate syrup (basically I reduced some pomegranate juice) honey, then topped with chopped toaste pistachios, chopped dates and fresh mint. It was quite a hit.

Here's a recipe from the noon news program at WGN TV for pistachio orange brittle that looked really delicious.

http://wgntv.trb.com/news/local/noonnew ... efault-nav

For inexpensive pistachios (hummus, turkish coffee, eggplant pies, pita, dried fruit, I could go on all day) check out the Middle Eastern Bakery on Foster between Clark and Ashland. They have regular pistachios, shelled pistachios and a lemon-flavored variety that are delicious.
For recipe ideas, I put pistachios and dried cranberries or cherries with spinach, balsamic vinaigrette to make a salad. I like the brittle idea as well.

I just thought of another idea.
I've made homemade truffles for the holidays and rolled them in crushed pecans. I bet pistachios would be good, too.

Hi,

In this post there is mention of a Pistachio Soup.

I went to Trader Joe's last night to find shelled pistachio nuts and pieces for $6.79 per pound.

Regards,

And you can read this while shelling them.

Foodnetwork has tons of recipes with pistachios, dessert, savory, whatever.

Make sure you try some toasted.

Nancy

Cathy2,

just bought some shelled pistachios on Devon last night. They are running $7.50 lb. at the big Patel store.

Happy Taster Gal

America’s Pistachio Industry Came From a Single Seed
A “plant explorer” helped establish the crop in California.

Cathy2 wrote:America’s Pistachio Industry Came From a Single Seed
A “plant explorer” helped establish the crop in California.

Interesting article. I'd forgotten about pistachio vending machines.

I also remember around 1979 the American crop was starting to get will-distributed, and a point of pride was that the US-grown ones weren't dyed red.

I adore Pistachios! And this recipe recently popped up from NYTimes cooking which I have added to my 'TO BAKE' list for sometime in the near future. Something to consider?
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... bundt-cake