Nuts

For decades, those with high cholesterol have been given a list of don'ts when it comes to their diet: Don't eat cholesterol-rich eggs; don't eat butter; don't eat red meat or regular ice cream. Well, now researchers have identified a list of do's for the diet that may work to lower cholesterol levels better than avoiding those don'ts. In a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that eating cholesterol-lowering foods like nuts, soy protein, and certain fiber-rich items result in bigger drops in "bad" LDL cholesterol than avoiding...

MARLBOROUGH — The shop that Madrid-born Sergio Mendoza and his wife, Lia, opened three years ago and turned into Madrid European Bakery & Patisserie had been another bakery. The couple went about replacing sheet cakes and other American-style baked goods with beautiful European cakes, petit cream puffs and eclairs, and simpler treats, such as butter cookies, coconut macaroons, and butterfly-shaped puff pastry palmiers. On weekends, Mendoza, the sole pastry chef, makes croissants and other morning pastries.

Q. Is it OK to eat nuts, corn, and popcorn if you have diverticulitis? A. There are new reasons to think it may indeed be OK - a sharp reversal of past advice. For years, doctors assumed that chunky little foods such as nuts and corn were bad for people with diverticulosis or diverticulitis - diseases of the colon in which tiny pouches, which can trap undigested food, develop in the colon wall. (Diverticulosis is the mere presence of the pouches; diverticulitis is when they become inflamed.)

No wonder bestselling writer Kathryn Harrison likes fairy tales - not the ones where the girl gets the prince, but the ones where the prince kills the girl. Her life has at times resembled a Grimm's fairy tale: abandoned by young parents, brought up by very elderly grandparents, an incestuous relationship with her father. The latter is recounted in her memoir "The Kiss. " Harrison discusses her most recent novel, "Enchantment," 6 p.m. Thursday at the Boston Public Library. BOOKS: What draws you to fairy tales?

Cheeks flushed, muscles flexed, Brian Quinn's attention never wavers from the batch of roasting pecans as they turn a rich brown in their copper bowl. Quinn, whom friends call Q, and his wife, Beth, run Q's Nuts. They make a variety of sweet and savory cashews, pecans, almonds, and peanuts. Some of their popular selections are Mexican chocolate pecans, Key Lime ginger cashews, cayenne mango and rosemary sea salt almonds, and fiery cashews with hot chilies ($3.50 for 2.5- and 3-ounce bags; $7 for 5- and 6-ounce bags)

Serves 4 1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup pecans 1/4 cup almonds 3 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper...

WASHINGTON Certain packaged and bulk containers of in-shell hazelnuts and mixed nuts made by DeFranco & Sons of Los Angeles and sold late last year have been recalled because they could contain E. coli bacteria. Seven cases of E. coli illness, possibly linked to the nuts, have been reported in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. No E. coli has been detected in the products but the suspicion it may exist prompted the recall. FLORIDA Mother is charged in girl’s truck death MIAMI — Police say the mother of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in a toxic truck...

TERRA BELLA, Calif. - The salmonella scare that prompted a blanket federal warning against eating pistachios may have erupted because contaminated raw nuts got mixed with roasted nuts during processing, the company at the center of the nationwide recall said yesterday. Lee Cohen, the production manager for Setton International Foods Inc., said the company does not believe pistachios were contaminated by a human or animal source in its plant. He said the company suspects that roasted pistachios sold to Kraft Foods Inc. may have become mixed at Setton's plant with...

Kona Brewing Co. in Hawaii has introduced its first new beer to the mainland since 2007. Koko Brown, brewed with toasted coconut, looks and smells like your basic brown ale -- cola brown with a creamy head, boasting an aroma of dark roasted malts, molasses, and nuts. Take in a sip, and the coconut accents are right up front. But once they clear, the beer finishes as a middle-of-the-road brown ale -- notes of molassess, caramel, and roasted nuts -- with a slight medicinal character in the aftertaste.

Makes 1 pound As a child, I thought of these pecans as something to be eaten by the fistful, directly from the tin, when Mom wasn’t watching. Now I show some restraint and add them for crunch to a warm spinach salad, set them beside cheeses on an appetizer plate, or crumble them over vanilla ice cream. What makes them so good is a coating of egg whites, then a second coating of sugar, salt, and cinnamon, which turn the nuts crisp, dry, and delicious. Whipping up a batch for a party is no more difficult than making a few for a small dinner.

Serves 4 Don't be alarmed by the length of this recipe; each component is simple to make and the whole dish comes together in under 30 minutes. First, make a simple caper-raisin vinaigrette; stir in toasted pine nuts just before serving to preserve their toasty crunch. Next, pan-roast cauliflower, which turns nutty and sweet, and sprinkle it with parsley. That makes a bed for crisp, semolina-crusted haddock. Because haddock fillets tend to be long and thin, you will need two skillets (or cook the fish in two batches)

Serves 4 with leftovers 1  whole chicken (4 1/2 pounds)   Salt and pepper, to taste  2  tablespoons olive oil  3  slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces  1/3  cup pine nuts  1  large clove garlic, finely chopped  1/2  cup chicken or vegetable stock  2  pounds kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves cut into 2-inch pieces  1. Set the oven at 400 degrees. Have on hand a brick wrapped in foil or a heavy cast iron frying pan, a rimmed baking sheet, and a plate lined with a paper towel.

Kona Brewing Co. in Hawaii has introduced its first new beer to the mainland since 2007. Koko Brown, brewed with toasted coconut, looks and smells like your basic brown ale -- cola brown with a creamy head, boasting an aroma of dark roasted malts, molasses, and nuts. Take in a sip, and the coconut accents are right up front. But once they clear, the beer finishes as a middle-of-the-road brown ale -- notes of molassess, caramel, and roasted nuts -- with a slight medicinal character in the aftertaste.

Cheeks flushed, muscles flexed, Brian Quinn's attention never wavers from the batch of roasting pecans as they turn a rich brown in their copper bowl. Quinn, whom friends call Q, and his wife, Beth, run Q's Nuts. They make a variety of sweet and savory cashews, pecans, almonds, and peanuts. Some of their popular selections are Mexican chocolate pecans, Key Lime ginger cashews, cayenne mango and rosemary sea salt almonds, and fiery cashews with hot chilies ($3.50 for 2.5- and 3-ounce bags; $7 for 5- and 6-ounce bags)

A fire over the summer at a New York City sewage treatment plant may have been caused by a loose nut. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection released its findings in report on Tuesday. The report says the cause of the four-alarm fire at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Harlem cannot be determined with certainty, but says a nut connected to a fuel injector had been tightened improperly. The fire sent hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into waterways surrounding the city in July, forcing several beach closings.

Makes 3 cups Many suggestions in "Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion" are immensely appealing, these Spanish-style nuts among them. They're shiny and crackly at the end of baking, which is 4 hours in a very low oven. 1   egg white, lightly beaten   ½   teaspoon water   12   ounces whole blanched almonds   2   teaspoons sea salt flakes, such as Malden Sea Salt   6   fresh bay leaves or 3 dried   1. Set the oven at 150 degrees or its lowest setting.

Makes 3 cups Many suggestions in "Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion" are immensely appealing, these Spanish-style nuts among them. They're shiny and crackly at the end of baking, which is 4 hours in a very low oven. 1   egg white, lightly beaten   ½   teaspoon water   12   ounces whole blanched almonds   2   teaspoons sea salt flakes, such as Malden Sea Salt   6   fresh bay leaves or 3 dried   1. Set the oven at 150 degrees or its lowest setting.

Serves 10 Amy Sedaris suggests serving this recipe with Ritz crackers. 2 cups shredded smoked gouda, at room temperature 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature 2 1/2 tablespoons milk 2 1/2 tablespoons steak sauce 1 cup chopped nuts 1. In a bowl, beat the gouda, cream cheese, butter, milk, and steak sauce until...

At least one "Rally Squirrel" was caught in his tracks. Two days after a pesky critter scampered across home plate during an NL playoff game in St. Louis, another squirrel was captured before Game 5 in Philadelphia. Nutty, right? Philadelphia pitcher Roy Oswalt used his glove, trying to snag the squirrel near the warning track at Citizens Bank Park hours before the deciding game between the Cardinals and Phillies. The squirrel was eventually caught by a member of the Phillies grounds crew and released.

Makes 32 You can buy chopped dates, but they tend to be dried out. Instead buy pitted dates and snip them with a scissors. Butter (for the pan) 8 ounces (2 cups) whole pitted dates, coarsely snipped ½ cup boiling water 1 ½ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature ½ cup granulated sugar ½ cup light brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ...