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Some favorite ways to cook with Oregon hazelnuts Wednesday Nov 16, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Jan Roberts-Dominguez for the Mail Tribune Welcome to Oregon hazelnut country, where 99.9 percent of the nation’s crop is grown. Here are a few of my favorite tried-and-true ways to enjoy our local hazelnuts.   Hot and Sugary Roasted Hazelnuts with Rosemary and Cayenne Makes 3 cups. These are an exquisite nibble! The rosemary complements the toasty undertones with the caramelized sugar and hazelnuts. And the small pinch of cayenne just keeps the experience alive a little longer. Place these out at happy hour and your guests will be very happy indeed. They also make an awesome host/hostess gift, not to mention a unique and wonderful appetizer to put out during your holiday parties. 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 3 cups lightly roasted and skinned hazelnuts ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh rosemary 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter and corn syrup in the center of a rimmed baking sheet and warm in the oven until the butter has melted. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the hazelnuts, brown sugar, rosemary, salt and cayenne. Transfer the mixture to the baking pan, stirring the mixture again with a flat-sided spatula to incorporate the butter and syrup. Bake until the sugar melts and carmelizes around the nuts, stirring every 5 minutes with a wide spatula or a pastry scraper, for about 20 minutes total baking time. While the nuts are roasting, spread a large sheet of parchment paper on a cutting board. When the nuts and coating have darkened, remove the pan from the oven and immediately scrape them out onto the paper, quickly spreading the nuts out into a single layer so they don’t touch each other for the most part. Allow them to cool and then break them apart as desired into single nuts or clusters. The pieces should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container, in which then can be kept for several weeks. — Recipe from “Oregon Hazelnut Country — the Food, the Drink, the Spirit” by Jan Roberts-Dominguez.   Foley Station Green Olive and Hazelnut Pesto Makes a generous 2 cups. Here’s a wonderful recipe from Chef Merlyn Baker, who was the owner of a popular La Grand restaurant, Foley Station, which Chef Baker chose to close a few years ago to pursue other food-related ventures. Chef Baker uses this mostly as a pasta sauce, but it’s also a great appetizer, served alongside a thinly sliced baguette. 1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained well 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 cup roasted and skinned hazelnuts ¾ cup coarsely chopped green olives 3 tablespoons minced garlic 1/3 cup olive oil Combine the sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan, olives, and hazelnuts in the workbowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is finely chopped. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. If the mixture seems too thick after you have added the oil, add a small amount of water to reach a pesto-like consistency. Adjust seasonings, adding salt or additional Parmesan as desired.   Mushroom Bisque with Leeks and Hazelnuts Makes 8 servings. This soup can be made several days ahead and refrigerated. 2 pound white or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced 3 stalks of celery, chopped 2 yellow onions, chopped 1 leek (white part only), washed and chopped to measure about 1 cup 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 8 cups chicken broth 1½ cups full-bodied brown ale 3 medium-sized Yukon gold or other yellow-fleshed potato, peeled and chopped to measure a scant 4 cups 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ½ cup finely chopped roasted and skinned hazelnuts ½ cup sour cream 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream For garnish, about 1 tablespoon dried crumbled sage (or fresh sage leaves); 1/3 cup coarsely chopped roasted and skinned hazelnuts In a heavy 4-quart pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until the moisture they release has cooked off and the mushrooms begin to brown. Add the celery, onions, leek, salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, ale, potatoes and vinegar and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Add the hazelnuts. Puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor (or directly in the pot with a hand-held immersion blender). Adjust seasonings, adding additional salt, pepper and vinegar to taste. Thin the sour cream by whisking in some of the heavy cream. To serve, ladle into soup bowls and garnish each one with a swirl of the sour cream, a pinch of sage (or one or two whole sage leaves), and a sprinkling of chopped roasted hazelnuts. To make a pretty design with the sour cream, place a dollop in the center of each serving, then draw a skewer through it at several points (beginning at the center), to create the desired pattern before adding the sage and hazelnut garnishes. — Recipe from “Oregon Hazelnut Country- the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” by Jan Roberts-Dominguez   Spinach and Pears with Candied Hazelnuts and Raspberry-Poppy Seed Vinaigrette Makes 6 to 8 servings. This is a wonderful autumn-into-winter salad while the local pear harvest is producing succulent fruit. In fact, I’ve used it at my Thanksgiving table many times. 8 to 10 cups mixed baby spinach, baby arugula and other salad greens, tough stems removed 1 sweet onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced Raspberry-Poppy Seed Vinaigrette (recipe follows) 2 ripe pears (preferably comice), peeled, cored and thinly sliced About ½ cup crumbled blue cheese (or feta) Candied Hazelnut Garnish (recipe follows) ½ cup dried cherries or dried cranberries To assemble the salad, place the spinach and other salad greens in a large bowl, along with the sweet onion slices. Toss with enough of the vinaigrette to evenly coat the leaves. To serve, place a serving of the tossed greens on each salad plate. Divide the sliced pears among the plates, arranging them attractively on one edge of the greens. Sprinkle each serving with a portion of the blue cheese, then the candied Hazelnuts and dried cherries or cranberries. Drizzle an extra bit of vinaigrette over everyone’s serving of pears. CANDIED HAZELNUTS: In a medium- to small-sized nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar together over medium heat. Add 3/4 cup of chopped, roasted and skinned hazelnuts and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring fairly constantly until the sugar caramelizes around the nuts and they are a rich golden-brown. Remove to parchment paper and separate the nuts so they won’t stick together when they cool. May be prepared several days ahead and stored in a covered container. Makes about ¾ cup. — Recipe from “Oregon Hazelnut Country - the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” by Jan Roberts-Dominguez   Raspberry-Poppyseed Vinaigrette Makes about 1 cup. This vinaigrette was designed to go with the Spinach and Pears with Candied Hazelnuts Salad. Beyond that, consider other spinach or baby-greens salads incorporating many other fruits, including (when in season), strawberries, apples, orange segments, avocados and Asian pears. ¼ cup raspberry vinegar 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons poppy seeds 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 finely minced clove of garlic ½ teaspoon salt Scant ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ½ cup extra virgin olive oil In a bowl or pint-sized jar with lid, whisk together the vinegar, brown sugar, poppy seeds, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil. Whisk thoroughly again just before using. Can be prepared and refrigerated until needed (the olive oil will thicken when cool, so remove from refrigerator ahead of serving time to allow it to liquefy). — Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist, and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at [email protected], or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.