Nutty, but true… today is National Pecan Day. Do you say pe-can or pi-kahn? Either way you say it, they are yummy! Pecans are such a great nut, they even get the entire month of April as National Pecan Month. Maybe that’s because pecans are the only nut trees native to North America and they are considered one of the most valuable nut species in North America.
The pecan tree is a species of hickory and usually range from 70 to 100 feet, with some growing as tall as 150 feet or higher.Native pecan trees, those over 150 years old, have trunks more than three feet in diameter.
The word pecan is Algonquian meaning a nut requiring a stone to crack. Pecans grow surrounded by an outer husk. The husk starts out green, turns brown as it ripens and splits into 4 sections to release the brown shelled nut inside.
With more than 600,000 pecan trees, Albany, Georgia is the pecan capital of the United States. Of course one of the most famous southern dishes using pecans would have to be pecan pie. The following pecan pie recipe is from Trisha Yearwood’s cookbook “Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen”.
Pecan Pie
1 cup(s) (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup(s) butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
2 tablespoon(s) milk
1 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour
1 cup(s) chopped pecans
1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell, unbaked, or homemade pastry
1 cup(s) pecan halves
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. To make the filling, beat the sugars with the eggs in an electric mixer until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the melted butter, vanilla, milk, flour, and chopped pecans. Pour the mixture into the shell. Arrange the pecan halves on top of the pie in a circular pattern.
3. Bake the pie for 55 minutes. Check for doneness by shaking the pan slightly. The pie should be firm, with only a slight jiggle in the center. It will set more as it cools.
4. Serve warm, topped with vanilla ice cream, or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.
Buttered Pecan Popcorn
8 c. popped popcorn (about 1/3 to ½ c. unpopped)
Nonstick cooking spray
½ c. pecan pieces
2 T. butter or margarine
1/3 c. light corn syrup
¼ c. instant butter pecan pudding mix (dry) (some recipes I found listed butterscotch pudding instead of vanilla)
¼ t. vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. After popping, discard unpopped popcorn kernels. Spray a 17x12x2” roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place the popped corn and pecans in the pan. In a separate pan, heat butter and corn syrup, then stir in pudding mix and vanilla. Pour mixture over popcorn. Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 16 minutes, stirring halfway through baking. Remove pan from oven and turn mixture onto a large piece of foil. Cool popcorn completely. When cool, break into large pieces and serve.
One last nutty fact about pecans… they can improve your love life! Pecans provide a good dose of zinc, which is needed for the healthy production of testosterone. So, pass on the oysters and reach for a handful of pecans! Happy National Pecan Day!!
