Pistachio & Hazelnut Orgeat (With Shells)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Roasted Hazelnut Shells

• 1/4 cup Roasted Hazelnuts

• 1 cup Roasted Pistachio Shells

• 1/4 cup Roasted Pistachios

• 1.5 cups Sugar

• 1.25 cups Water

• .5 teaspoon Orange flower water

• 1 oz Brandy

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast whole hazelnuts on baking sheet, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes (depending on the level of smoke you want). Shake pan to see if skin crumbles off, if not roast for 5 more minutes. Pulse hazelnut shells in a food processor until finely ground.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roast pistachios in shell, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Test the strength of shells at this point, remove pistachios. If shells not roasted enough put back in for 5 minutes without the nuts. Add to shells and nuts to food processor and grind up the pistachios into a single finely ground mixture.

• Combine the sugar and water in a pot over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves completely. Boil the syrup for 3 minutes, then add in the ground hazelnut shells. Then add the ground pistachio powder. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for another three minutes, then slowly increase the temperature to medium high. Just before it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and cover it with a lid.

• Allow the covered mixture to infuse for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours. Then, strain it through 2 layers of cheesecloth, discarding the ground hazelnuts for another use (Hazelnut/Pistachio Cold Brew) Stir the orange flower water and brandy into the nutty syrup. Use a small funnel to portion the orgeat into bottles or a jar.

  Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks.