California Walnuts | Essential Food for Health

Chef Charlie Palmer

Charlie Palmer is one of the most highly regarded chefs in America. He is best known as the chef and owner of New York's Aureole restaurant, consistently rated Number One for "Best American Cuisine" by Zagat's New York Restaurant Survey. He has been the recipient of numerous culinary awards, including two James Beard Awards, the Relais & Chateaux, presented by the European Association of Quality Hotels and Restaurants, and Restaurants & Institutions' Ivy Award.

Author of "Great American Food" and "Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking," Chef Palmer is also a frequent Today Show guest.

Owner of restaurants across the country, Charlie uses walnuts throughout his menus.  His restaurants include: New York's Aureole, Metrazur, Astra NY and Kitchen 22; Las Vegas’ Charlie Palmer Steak and Aureole LV; Washington DC’s Charlie Palmer Steak; and Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, California.

A bowl of in-shell walnuts is always kept at Charlie’s Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant. "You can't believe how absolutely delicious roasted walnuts, fresh from your oven can taste and smell," he says.

Charlie uses walnuts as a coating for meat, poultry and fish, to add flavor and texture to conserves and stuffings, and a tasty crunch to salads and pasta dishes. His bar foods, tasting courses and entrées come alive with California Walnuts.

He suggests using walnuts for:

• Walnut Butters
• Walnut Pasts, for spreads, combine in creams, fillings
• Walnut Flour, ground to various fineness depending on use
• Walnut Coatings, Breading
• Walnut Conserve, used as topping/garnish
• Walnut Extract, in intensify flavoring
• Walnut Fricos

 

Try Charlie’s fabulous Walnut, Black Pepper and Cumin Crusted Monkfish recipe.

Chefs Duskie Estes and John Stewart
ZAZU
Santa Rosa, California

The ZAZU kitchen is inspired by the thoroughly American and deep Italian roots of Sonoma County’s wine growing families. The food is innovative but approachable, yet heavily based in combinations that have a culinary history and that work.  Duskie likes to update comforting American classics with the best local ingredients, such as walnuts.  Duskie and John are committed to the philosophy of finding ingredients as close to the restaurant as possible, harvested at peak ripeness, and doing as little as possible to alter their natural perfection.

The 2006 Zagat restaurant review recognized Duskie and John as, “passionate, creative, whimsical chef-owners [who] concoct sumptuous, innovative new American-northern Italian cuisine.”

Duskie and John are also chef-owners of BOVOLO restaurant in Healdsburg, CA.

These walnut recipes are some of Duskie and John’s favorites: