Blanching your almonds prevent discoloration in almond-flavored foods.
While it may sound complicated to blanch almonds, the name is truly more extravagant than the actual preparation process. Whether you have handful or an entire bushel of almonds to blanch, you can get through the entire lot in no time by following some simple instructions. The easy blanching procedure leaves you with beautifully white almonds, without a trace of peel that are suitable for use in recipes from salad, to desserts to drinks or main courses.
Instructions
1. Pick a large pot that will accommodate all of your almonds without crowding the nuts. Use a very large soup pot or something similar to hold the large quantity of almonds you are working with.
2. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the almonds. If you are unsure how much water this is, put the almonds in the pot and fill it up with water. Once the almonds are covered, then remove the almonds and set them aside.
3. Bring the pot of water to a full, rolling boil. Do not leave it to boil for a long time or you will lose a lot of water and not have enough to cover the almonds once you add them.
4. Drop the entire lot of almonds into the boiling water and leave the pot uncovered. Allow the almonds to sit in the water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. When the skin appears to be loose around the almonds, the pot can be taken off the stove.
5. Drain the almonds in a colander and run cold water over them. Let the nuts sit under the cold running water until the almonds are cool to the touch.
6. Pick up one almond and hold it at the wider end between your thumb and index finger. Squeeze the almond until the white nut emerges from inside the loose skin, then discard the skin. Repeat with all of the almonds until the entire lot is skinned.
Tags: almonds without, cover almonds, your almonds
