The color and astringency of hard-to-remove walnut skins can be lightened significantly by a brief boiling in acidified water, which leaches out tannins and bleaches the color of those that remain Tough chestnut skins are softened by roasting or boiling in the shell, or by a brief period in the microwave oven They’re also simply peeled off like the skin of an apple Nut Pastes and Butters All dry and fatty nuts can be ground in a mortar or blender into a butter-like paste, with the oil from ruptured cells coating and lubricating the cell fragments and particles of intact cells One of the most venerable nut pastes is the Middle Eastern tahini, made from ground sesame seeds; it’s used with chickpeas to make hummus, and with eggplant to make baba ghanoush Throughout the world, nut pastes are added to soups and stews to contribute flavor, richness, and body; almond soups are made in Spain and Turkey, walnut soups in Mexico, coconut soups in Brazil, pecan and peanut soups in the American South Nut Oils The oils of a number of nuts are prized for their flavor — walnut oil and coconut oil, for example — and several others as ordinary cooking oils (peanut oil, sunflower seed oil) Oils are extracted from nuts by two different means “Cold-pressed” or “expeller-pressed” nut oils are made by crushing the nut cells and forcing the oil out with mechanical pressure The nuts get hot from the pressure and friction, but generally don’t exceed the boiling point Solventextracted oils are made by dissolving the oil out of the crushed nuts with a solvent at temperatures around 300ºF/150ºC, then separating the oil from the solvent They are more refined than pressed oils, having fewer of the trace compounds that make oils both flavorful and potentially allergenic (p 455) ... Spain and Turkey, walnut soups in Mexico, coconut soups in Brazil, pecan and peanut soups in the American South Nut Oils The oils of a number of nuts are prized for their flavor — walnut oil and. .. oils are made by crushing the nut cells and forcing the oil out with mechanical pressure The nuts get hot from the pressure and friction, but generally don’t exceed the boiling point Solventextracted... dissolving the oil out of the crushed nuts with a solvent at temperatures around 300ºF/150ºC, then separating the oil from the solvent They are more refined than pressed oils, having fewer of the trace