If you’ve been following my culinary adventures, you’ve probably noticed how much I love pistachios! Daddy (my father-in-law) went to visit one of his friends in Sacramento who grows orchards of pistachios. Daddy brought bags filled with fresh pistachios back for me to have fun with. I had never seen or tasted the raw product and it was amazing. The color is richer and greener. Daddy said raw pistachios are very common in India and picking the pistachios brought him back in time. There were so many pistachios that I had to come up with creative ways to make use of them. I immediately thought of making pistachio paste by grinding and blending them raw with a little Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Sugar. I also added pistachio oil to make the paste smooth and creamy because pistachios contain very little natural oil compared to other nuts. I also added a touch of almond extract to give the pistachio paste a nice aroma.
I didn’t stop there. I used the paste to flavor a typical French dessert: crème brûlée. I’ve made crèmes brûlées so many times (lavender, banana, cherry, masala chai, matcha green tea, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, even a savory garlic flavored-one!) that after checking back on PhamFatale.com, I was surprised to see that I never posted this particular version! The pistachios were so fresh that it was almost guaranteed that the crèmes brûlées would be divine. To accentuate the dessert, I used vanilla sugar from Bourbon Barrel in the pistachio paste, the custard mixture and the brûlé part itself. It’s just more evidence that a few exquisite ingredients can transform the simplest foods (eggs, milk, cream and sugar) into something extraordinary.
In addition to tasting incredible, this naturally green-colored dessert can be part of your Halloween table. The kids can have their Snickers and Twix; I’d rather have one (or three) of these pistachio crèmes brûlées!
1. Info for Pistachio Dessert: Pistachio Creme Brulee Recipe
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 2 hrs
- Servings: 9
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Pistachio Dessert: Pistachio Creme Brulee Recipe
- 40 fresh raw pistachios, soaked overnight
- 2 tablespoons pistachio oil (or any other oils or soft butter)
- 4 egg yolks
- ¼ cup Bourbon vanilla sugar (see tips)
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 8 ounces Belgian white chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted roasted pistachio kernels, finely crushed
3. Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wash the pistachios. Drain all the liquid. Shell them and gather about 4 ounces of pistachio kernels. Try to leave as little skin as possible
- Using a mortar and pestle (or a small food processor), grind the pistachios until a coarse mixture is formed. Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar and the salt and turn the coarse mill into a paste. Add 2 tablespoons of pistachio oil (or canola oil) and almond extract. Stir well. Isn’t the natural green color pretty?
