Stuffed Caramel Walnuts From Cleopatra Recipes

CHILES EN NOGADA (MEXICAN STUFFED POBLANO PEPPERS IN WALNUT SAUCE)

Steps:

• Roast poblano chiles over an open flame on a gas stove or grill until the skin is black and charred on all sides, turning often, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Place the charred chiles in a plastic bag or in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then open and peel off the skin. Cut a slit in each chile lengthwise and remove the seeds.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add ground pork and cook until browned, breaking up with a spoon while cooking, about 7 minutes. Mix in tomatoes, plantain, apple, peach, parsley, candied orange peel, pine nuts, raisins, almonds, cloves, salt, and pepper. Simmer until filling is cooked through and flavors are well combined, about 10 minutes.
• Combine walnuts, milk, goat cheese, sugar, and cinnamon stick in a blender; blend until walnut sauce is smooth and creamy.
• Fill each poblano chile with the pork filling and place on a plate. Spoon walnut sauce over chile and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

WALNUT-CARAMEL STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, butter, milk powder, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, honey and sour cream. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with walnut halves., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 16-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Combine the chopped walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. , Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices. Place cut side down over caramel sauce. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. , Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter.

STUFFED CARAMEL WALNUTS FROM CLEOPATRA

Steps:

• Mix the almond flour (milled almonds, grind your own in a food processor or blender if you like) with the sugar and enough orange essence to form a paste.
• Place a little of this paste between two walnut halves and press.
• Melt the sugar in a pan with a few drops of water and when it starts to turn to caramel, remove it from the heat source and dip the nuts inside to coat them with caramel.
• Set them out on grease proof paper to dry.
• Note: for an easy shortcut you can use store bought marzipan or almond paste and simply knead the orange extract into that instead of preparing your own from alond flour in step 1; then proceede with the rest of the recipe as written.

STUFFED POBLANO CHILES IN A CREAMY WALNUT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the pork, ground sirloin, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, salt and pepper and cook at medium heat until meat loses its pink color and is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Add the dried apples, apricots, and sweetened pineapple and remove from the heat. Add the ground cinnamon and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Set aside. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf and discard.
• Sauce: Put the walnuts, Mexican crema and goat cheese in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and silky, about 2 minutes. Sauce should coat the back of a spoon. (If the sauce is too thin, add more walnuts and puree. If too thick, add more cream.) Season with salt, to taste.
• Cut a lengthwise slit into each chile and carefully cut out seeds with kitchen shears, leaving the stem intact. (For less spice, carefully remove the veins.)
• Spoon the filling into the chiles, then close, slightly overlapping the sides of the openings. Transfer the stuffed chiles, seam sides up, to plates and pour about 1/3 cup the walnut sauce over each chile, leaving some of the chile visible. Sprinkle with parsley leaves and pomegranate seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• *Cook's Note: To peel the walnuts: Cook in boiling water for 1 minute and drain. When cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to remove the skins. Peeling the walnuts before adding them to the sauce will make a smoother, whiter sauce. Unpeeled walnuts can be used, but the texture will be a little grainy and slightly bitter.

CARAMEL COATED WALNUTS

Steps:

• Mix together brown sugar, margarine, white corn syrup, cream of tartar, and salt.
• Bring to a boil for 3 minutes stirring often. Remove from heat.
• Add baking soda and stir well until settles.
• Pour over walnuts and stir until well coated.
• Pour into a large pan. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

BLUE CHEESE STUFFED WALNUTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat the first six ingredients until blended. Shape into 1/2-in. balls. Place each between 2 walnut halves; gently press together. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

CARAMEL-APPLE-WALNUT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper, then close the ring around it for each removal of the cheesecake after baking.
• Place walnuts in a bowl and drizzle melted butter on top. Toss until evenly coated. Sprinkle dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves on top and toss nut topping well.
• Place sliced apples in a bowl, add lemon juice, and toss well. Add cinnamon and cloves and toss apple topping. Set both toppings aside.
• Mix flour, sugar, chopped pecans, and lemon peel together in a bowl until well combined. Cut in butter slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix well. Press crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared springform pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool crust on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Place cream cheese in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar slowly, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well to ensure it is dissolved after each addition. Add flour, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and salt.
• Combine egg and egg yolks in a bowl and add to cream cheese mixture. Beat in heavy cream and whip on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour into the cooled crust and decorate with the cinnamon apples. Sprinkle just some of the nut topping on top.
• Fill a 9x13-inch baking pan with water and place on the bottom rack of the hot oven.
• Bake the cheesecake on the middle rack of the hot oven until set, about 80 minutes.
• Turn oven off and let cheesecake sit, untouched, for 1 hour to finish cooking throughout.
• Cool on a wire rack until room temperature, about 1 hour. Place cheesecake in the refrigerator for 8 hours to overnight.
• Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen chilled cheesecake. Remove sides of pan.
• Crush remaining nut topping into a crumble and use to decorate around the sides of the cheesecake.
• Melt caramel topping in a microwave oven for 30 seconds at a time until pourable. Drizzle on top of cheesecake and top with more walnuts, if desired.