All about almonds

To say �almond� like an almond farmer in the Sacramento Valley, the �l� is not pronounced. It rhymes with salmon.

Maisie Jane Hurtado is the fourth generation in a family of almond growers. She and her husband Isidro own Maisie Jane's California Sunshine Products, and on their website you can buy almonds any way that you like them: Natural (above), Flavored, Chocolate Covered, as well as Almond Butter, all from genuine almond country.

Try these recipes from Maisie Jane:
Couscous Salad
Gingered Vegetables in Honey Almond Sauce
Almond Butter Milkshake

Arnon Oren is a chef who has combined his culinary skills with his childhood memories of the true tastes of food to create his Oren's Kitchen line of artisan roasted nuts, including Wild Rosemary Almonds (above).

Salads with Almonds

Crisp endive from California Endive combines with nuts and cheese for the sweet, tangy and aromatic flavors of Endive and Tangerine Salad with Almonds and Feta (below).

Almonds provide a delicious crunch in from Fall River Wild Rice Wild Rice Artichoke Salad.

Green Bean and Spinach Salad with Rosemary Almonds and Manchego Cheese (below) uses the Wild Rosemary Almonds from Oren's Kitchen.

Almonds paired with fruit

Apricot and Almond Dessert Pizza (below) is full of good-for-you ingredients, such as almonds and the apricots from B & R Farms.

Other fruits pair well with almonds too, such as this recipe from Valley Fig Growers: Fruit Salsa with Figs, Pineapple and Mango, topped with almonds.

Valley Fig Growers's recipe for Lemon-Fig Bread with Almond Streusel makes another almond-fruit combination.

Bellwether Farms Cr�me Fra�che and sliced almonds make a fabulous topping for Baked Pears and Cr�me Fra�che.

Another Bellwether Farms recipe, Basket Ricotta with Almonds & Honey could be served as an appetizer or a dessert.

Start your day with almonds, and...

The artisan granolas from Oat Cuisine (below) are packed with all sorts of goodies that will start your day off right, including almonds. You'll think you're having dessert for breakfast.

Vanilla almond syrup

Make believe you're in a fancy coffee house and take your espresso up a notch with Vanilla Almond Syrup from Sonoma Syrup Co.: Vanilla Almond Mocha (below).

Spain and California meet

Jimtown Store's Romesco (below) combines California ingredients to make the classic Catalonian sauce: peppers, almonds, olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Beautifully complements fish, poultry, vegetables, cheese, eggs.

Recipes made with Jimtown's Romesco:
Garbanzo Bean Salad with Cucumber, Mint, Olives & Jimtown Romesco Sauce

Grilled Asparagus with Romesco and Shaved Manchego

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Potatoes with Jimtown Romesco

Almond oil

The nut oil specialists, La Tourangelle, produce a light and flavorful Almond Oil that adds an unexpected flavor to Roasted Almond Oil Hummus (below) and also makes an extraordinary vinaigrette for Mixed Greens with Toasted Almonds and Grapefruit. Or jazz up fish in Almond-Crusted Halibut.

Stuffed

Almond-stuffed olives from Santa Barbara Olive Co. are plump Sevallano olives hand stuffed with a California blanched almond.

Rice with an almond crunch

Brown Basmati Pilaf with Almonds and Raisins (below) uses one of the many types of rice from Lundberg Family Farms.

Almond confections and desserts

Well-known for their Proustian Madeleines, Donsuemor also makes the elegant classic Parisian pastry called a Financier (above). These little cakes made with almonds are rich and moist with crisp edges.

The exotic fruit in Rumba Desserts' Mamey Ice Cream (above) evokes flavors of maraschino cherries, almonds and vanilla.

Traditionally biscotti have been made with almonds, and Shelley's Biscotti takes that seriously. Plain, dark, or white chocolate dipped, these are almond-y and delicious. (Above they are shown with another of Shelley's products, Sesame Cardamom Regina Biscotti.)

Robert Lambert's White and Dark Fruitcakes (above, left to right) inspire poetic responses. "This fruitcake rocked my world. The�precious loaf comes looking like a present from heaven, and smells divine. The flavor? Exotically interesting, distinctive�a whole different fruitcake experience. It�s delicious and one of a kind."

Winner of the 2009 sofi� gold award for outstanding cookie, Laceys (above), from Desserts on Us are a continental confection of two feather light, toffee wafers sandwiched with smooth dark or milk chocolate. Chocolate Almond is crunchy almond wafers sandwiched with velvety dark chocolate. (Also Milk Chocolate Macadamia.)

New to SavorCalifornia.com, Napa Cakes Panforte makes the dense, rich, dark, traditional Italian fruitcake known as Panforte (literally, "strong bread, shown above). The Romans carried it across the Alps. You don't have to be so athletic to enjoy this remarkable dessert.

Elaine's Toffee Co. makes Milk Chocolate (above) and Dark Chocolate Almond Toffees. Rich, buttery, perfectly crunchy toffee filled with toasted amonds, then covered with creamy Guittard chocolate and sprinkled with more toasted almonds.