Almond Board Media Tour

Image courtesy of the Almond Board of California

Go ahead. Ask me about my favorite nut. Since last week I've been on the road praising the delicious virtues of almonds. On April 17, the Almond Board of California kicked off a multi-city media tour at The Drake Hotel in Toronto's Queens West neighborhood. Joined by fellow Almond Innovators, Chef Anthony Rose, formerly of The Drake, and Mixologist Matthew Biancaniello, of The Library Bar in Los Angeles, we demonstrated just how versatile almonds can be.

Anthony started the event with a tasty spin on the classic pot sticker. His version featured almond butter, giving the appetizer a subtle nuttiness to compliment the mushrooms inside. He followed that up with a halibut dish that sung the flavors of spring, adorned with toasted chopped almonds. Matthew mixed up two innovative almond cocktails: Lost in Laos, a kaffir lime-infused gin drink with almond milk, and the Nutty Monk, perfect proportions of Benedictine, almond oil and lemon juice, topped with cocoa nibs.

Image courtesy of the Almond Board of California

I made almond milk panna cotta with almond brittle and strawberry-rhubarb preserves. I demonstrated just how easy it is to make brittle. Panna cotta is one of my all-time favorite desserts and it's equally simple. Steeping almond milk with a combination of roasted almonds, almond paste and almond extract enhanced the rich almond flavor. I chose to pair my panna cotta with a strawberry-rhubarb preserves, but you could swap that out for any other seasonal fruit you prefer.

Image courtesy of the Almond Board of California

You can find the recipe for my almond milk panna cotta here.