Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Cooking with Blue Diamond: Blueberry and Salted Caramel Almonds (sponsored)

 
Earlier this month I got the opportunity to participate in another project with Blue Diamonds Tastemakers. I was sent two kinds of almonds for testing and review purposes-Blueberry and Salted Caramel. We decided to use them in our favorite granola recipe. They worked well in the granola and add a nice flavor and crunch to it. Here's the original recipe from Alton Brown with the changes we made on this batch noted.

Granola
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almond (we used 1 cup of chopped blueberry almonds)
1 cup cashews (we used 1 cup of chopped salted caramel almonds)
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins (we didn't use any)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color. Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

We made parfaits with the granola, blueberries, nectarines, and vanilla yogurt. They were pretty tasty.


Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Blue Diamond Artisan Nut Thins Review and Pairings (Sponsored)


Recently I was given the opportunity to try a couple new varieties of Blue Diamond Nut Thins. This time from their new artisan nut thins line-one with flax seeds and a multi-seed one too. Even though I was sent two boxes of nut thins to test and review for free threw Blue Diamond Tastemakers-the following review is my own honest thoughts about the products.

As I mentioned previously these are a great cracker for people who can't tolerate wheat and/or gluten in their diet. They have a nice crispy texture to them and I enjoyed the addition of seeds. I like both the flax seed and multi seed crackers. They both have a nice overall flavor to them. And they pair well with a variety of cheeses, meats, dips, ect.

One dip that pairs well with the Artisan Nut Thins is this pan fried onion dip I found on The Brown-eyed Baker's blog. I did modify it a little because I didn't have all the ingredients on hand and don't like cayenne pepper. I think I will try it sometime as written and use garlic instead of cayenne. I also really liked these crackers with chocolate fondue and cookie butter.