My recent glut of free time (which is what happens when you leave a restaurant position) has left me with a lot of cooking fire and nowhere to put it. So I've turned all Susie Homemaker and started making everything from scratch at the house. Things I did at the restaurant - pasta, nut butter, jam - but never did at home because it was too daunting a task after a day of service. It it all fair game now; once you are used to prepping for 10 hours straight five days a week, a four hour project at home seems like fun. Which is when I figured out why being a home chef, while very relaxing and personal, can at times be harder than being a restaurant chef - you have to wash your own dishes! Man I took Pedro, Jorge and Ronnie for granted. No, I didn't. Those guys rock and have the most important job in the whole place.
Back to the house and my little kitchen. Nick and I, being runners, love nut butter. Instant satisfaction, calories and energy never tasted so good. Until I made my own weird blend and found the magic black hole of nut butters: almond, cashew, date, chia and cacao nib. Damn! After Nick hogged down a few spoons of the first batch and said, this tastes like cookie dough, I knew I had a ringer.
Recipe:
1 cup raw almonds
3/4 cup raw cashews
3 dates - pitted and pureed in food processor
2 TB chia seeds
2 TB cacao nibs
Puree the dates in the food processor first. Scoop out with a spatula into mixing bowl. Then add nuts and pinch of salt to machine and start it up! It will take about 10 minutes to get smooth. Stop machine and clear sides with spatula whenever necessary, more in the first 5 minutes. You will know it's ready when it's smoothly running like nut butter should! Pour into bowl with dates, add chia and cacao, and fold together.
Put in little jar and spread on everything.