Thursday, June 20, 2013

Crispy Almonds Recipe



So I have had this bag of bulk almonds for a while and not too long ago I learned that I do not care for plain almonds very much.  (lol)  What to do?  

I generally eat in line with the research of Dr. Weston A. Price, which suggests that humans should not consume any nuts, seeds or grains without having first soaked, sprouted, and/or fermented them.  Nuts, seeds, and grains were created to preserve themselves with a coating of phytase, or phytic acid as it is sometimes called.  This substance is GREAT at preserving  them!  In fact, it is so efficient at its job that it creates havoc in our digestive systems when we eat it.  Though some people do not exhibit the same symptoms as others, it is generally truthful to say that rather than some people being allergic to these healthy food items, we are all intolerant of them as long as the phytase is on them.  They must be soaked before being consumed so that they do not inhibit our absorption of important vitamins and minerals.

The question comes then, “Who on earth is going to eat soggy almonds?”  Not me!  I decided to try an experiment last week, and it’s one of my best tasting yet!  Here is what I did (Well, technically my wonderful, amazing daughter did some of the work at my direction):


She soaked about 1 pound raw almonds in un-chlorinated water for over 24 hours.  We really didn’t need to do it this long; it just happened that I wasn’t able to come home that night and we had to deal with the almonds the following evening.  Normally 6-12 hours is sufficient.  (Actually I was concerned about mold; you really don’t want to leave anything that long normally.  Mine were fine this time, but it could have been a failure.)  Then the soggy almonds went into the food dehydrator for about 12 hours.  I have one of the types of dehydrator that is cylindrical with the shelves stacked on top of each other.  Hot air is blown through the shelves from the base in the center.  When dehydrating nuts, it’s important to taste-test every so often to make sure they’re not getting too hard.  You can over-dehydrate them if you leave them too long.  When they were nice and crispy, I put them in my stationary mixer on the lowest setting for maybe not even one minute.  I used the bread-kneading arm rather than the wire whisk or the dough tool so that they wouldn’t get completely crushed in the process.  It only split a few of them, actually, which was great!  I used probably about a tablespoon of coconut oil to make them sticky, and then I sprinkled garlic powder, Italian seasoning, pink salt, and pepper on them.  I did not measure any of the spices; I just went by sight and smell.  These are some of the best tasting almonds I have ever had!  Also, you can’t beat the healthy herbal properties of those spices!

Here’s a quick look at the process:

 

Soak raw almonds for 6-12 hours
Dehydrate almonds for up to 12 hours, depending on crispiness

Put in standing mixer on lowest setting with the least-crushing tool

Add a little coconut oil to help the herbs stick

Sprinkle garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!