An exquisite visit to Nestlé Kitchens

I am so thankful that I got invited to Nestlé along with other bloguera friends for a cooking day and we visited some parts of their headquarters in Glendale. So here I have tons of pictures and a recipe I want to share with you, although keep in mind I would love to share tons of recipes too cause the food we cooked and ate was all exquisite!

Nestlé has their own Kitchen were they test recipes with their products and it’s real, I cooked there! It was so neatly prepared for us, a station which all the ingredients needed and the recipe to prepare. I chose the salad, I need to learn how to make more salads cause I love them but I love them more at a restaurant or when my sister prepares them for me(I think in her other life she was salad chef!).

And the salad I learned how to make was delicious!! You have to try it, it’s pretty easy too. I am excited to make it at my new home, I haven’t started cooking so much more yet (I talked about it here) but it’s coming!

So here is the recipe specially for you 🙂

Ingredients
COCOA-SPICED PECANS
Parchment paper or nonstick cooking spray
1 large egg white
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or ancho chile powder
4 cups pecan halves

SALAD
1 container (5.3 ounces) soft goat’s milk cheese
2 1/2 cups halved or quartered strawberries
About 2/3 cup Cocoa-Spiced Pecans
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (optional)
1/4 teaspoon each fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic syrup*
2 1/2 cups arugula, washed and dried

Directions
FOR COCOA-SPICED PECANS:
PREHEAT oven to 325° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

WHISK together egg white, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in medium bowl. Stir in nuts; stir until completely coated. Pour nuts onto prepared baking sheet and spread into a single layer.

BAKE for 20 minutes; remove from oven. Using spatula, stir and separate nuts. Reduce oven temperature to 250° F and continue to bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet on wire rack, then break into pieces. Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Makes 4 cups.

FOR SALAD:
PLACE about 2 tablespoons goat cheese in the center of each of 5 salad plates. Scatter about ½ cup strawberries and 2 tablespoons cocoa-spiced pecans around. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with syrup. Top each with a handful (about ½ cup) arugula. You can also combine everything in just one big serving dish.


*If you can’t find balsamic syrup, you can make your own reduction by boiling balsamic vinegar until reduced by half. Cool completely before using.

One of the things I really liked was that we had the opportunity to meet the real people behind the scenes here, they really make the recipes and even take pictures of them right there, I didn’t know Nestlé even had a special Nestlé Kitchens MEALS site were they post these. Nestlé Kitchens has also a blog and here is their post of that day.

The design and branding is also so good, I like it all. For me Nestlé has a special place in my life, I have already talked about it here in my blog, remember this post? So I’m very familiar with many of their products and I’m always checking out their designs.

For dessert I have a favorite one, well actually 2, the Lemon and Berry Parfaits and the Berry Delicious Juice Snacks, you can find the recipes here and here. I guarantee you I will make these at home! Easy and yummy for all my familia.

Hope you enjoyed and get inspired to cook something… I was! So to help you out Nestlé agreed to giveaway some products here for you, so in the post after this one you can find a Nestlé Basket giveaway 🙂

Disclosure: No compensation was received for this post, Nestle provided all the ingredients and tools for us to cook plus a basket of products similar to the one for the giveaway — All thoughts are 100% my own.

Aquí les traje la receta:

Ingredientes

HORNEA por 20 minutos; sácalas del horno. Separa y remueve las nuces son una espátula. Reduce la temperatura del horno a 250º F y continúa por unos 15 minutos más. Sácalas y déjalas que se enfríen y luego sepáralas en pedazos pequeños. Guárdalas en un envase bien cerrado por hasta 2 semanas. Esto hace 4 tazas en total.

*Si no puedes encontrar sirop balsámico, puedes hacerlo en casa hirviendo el vinagre balsámico hasta que se reduzca a la mitad. Déjalo enfriar antes de usar.

Espero que hayan disfrutado de mi cuento de hoy y que estén inspirados para cocinar, yo me inspiré bastante! Para ayudarles a cocinar algunas de estas recetas Nestlé va a sortear varios productos aquí en mi blog, pueden ver el post que le sigue a este y participar en el sorteo de una cesta de productos Nestlé 🙂

Aclaratoria: Este post no está patrocinado. Nestlé me invitó a cocinar y proporcionó todo lo necesario para esta gran comida y una cesta muy parecida a la del sorteo. Todas las opiniones son 100% mías.