Nuts: 50 Tasty Recipes, from Crunchy to Creamy and Savory to Sweet Hardcover – August 25, 2015

Nice quality book which made for a good present for a nut lover. A good range of recipes

A small hardback book that contains fifty recipes featuring nuts as the central ingredient. Recipes range from standard ways to roast and toast nut to some interesting spice blends to use with nuts, along with a few unexpected choices, but most of the dishes, like Glazed Pecans (which I made and are quite delicious) it would be disappointing not to find here.The binding is sturdy, without incurring any damage I bent it backwards to loosen it up so it would lay flat open on the kitchen counter top. The paper is of high quality. When splashed with liquid, if wiped up immediately, the paper did not warp – not always the case.Of the fifty recipes there are photographs for about twenty of them. There are a number of wasted opportunities – photos of plain nuts, some crushed, some with nutcrackers which although pretty could have been used to illustrate more of the finished dishes.Instructions are clear and easy to follow and the recipes are fine for cooks with all levels of cooking ability. For people with vision concerns, the instructions are printed in 10 point font, a decent size, but the ingredients are smaller (9 point) making them difficult to read from almost any distance, particularly when laying open on a kitchen counter top --even for people with good vision. At least black ink, the easiest to read, is used throughout the book.This is an attractive gift book designed for recipients that prefer books on one topic rather than large comprehensive volumes or appropriate when a small gift is needed.

Due to health issues, I get a lot of the protein in my diet from nuts. Usually, one meal a day has nuts as a component of it. I have been looking for different recipes and different ways to use a wider variety of nuts and I hoped this cookbook would answer my needs. While it did not provide recipes where the nuts were the main component, it did provide a lot of delicious and interesting ways of using nuts as well as invaluable information as to how to choose and utilize nuts on their own.The book has 50 recipes but these include various a large variety of sweets, butters, and snacks. That works for me as I will take the protein where I can. For the most part, the nuts are just an add-on that added flavor or crunch to a dish rather than being the focus of the dish. I especially liked the Pecan-Encusted Port Chops with Bourbon-Maple-Pecan Butter and the Chicken Waldorf Salad roll.A really nice part of the book is the opening explanation of what a variety of “nuts” actually are (turns out that there are several major categories that they fall into.) There is also an explanation of what to look for in a fresh nut. Then he explains how to prepare them (butter, chop, milk, and roast/toast.) I really appreciate that the author then explains in detail how to roast/toast specific nuts as there are differences in treatments. This part of the book is invaluable for me.It is a lovely little cookbook (based on its physical size) with really beautiful photographs. It is a great addition to my collection of cookbooks and one that I will certainly turn to again and again in the future.

Despite its relatively short length, this compact books contains a lot of information and a number of interesting recipes. Nut basics including information about selection and storage open the book. In addition to the expected sweets, milks and butters, there are a generous number of savory offerings. To date I have made two, the brownies, which were delicious if expected, and a green olive tapenade. It is different, adding an interesting piquant touch to crusty bread and pasta. There are lovely pictures but not every recipe is accompanied by them. The recipe instructions are clear and easy to follow and the ingredients are accessible. If you are nuts about nuts, this is a fun book.

The recipe book that is Nuts is a good general look at various items you can do with nut meats - it covers all of your basics like roasting, boiling, making milk, butters, as well as general spice mixes, protein recipes, salad suggestions, as well as some desserts and even some cocktails. The book specifically covers your most easy to find nuts - Almond, Cashew, Chestnut, Hazelnut, Macadamia, Peanut, Pecan, Pine, Pistachio, and Walnuts (yes, it does cover the fact that peanuts are legumes).While the volume is a relatively short book - only 132 pages, it actually does cover quite a bit of ground. The recipes are easy to understand and well explained. There's not a picture for every recipe (maybe closer to one in five or so), but the ones that are there are nicely presented.Since the volume does span from raw nuts to dessert and all courses in between, there's nothing that's specifically vegetarian or gluten free, Having said that, the majority of the included recipes are quite healthy and many lean towards vegetarianism and gluten free options - you just have to avoid adding things like bacon to the salad, or skip the desserts with cake-ish subjects. There's actually quite a bit to choose from for both specific requirements.All in all, I probably wouldn't suggest Nuts as a addition to small collector of cookbooks, simply because much of the subject matter is probably covered in general cookbooks, but if you're a cookbook collector like I am, it's not a bad volume to add.