I seem to have been gifted with at least 10 pounds of in-the-shell pistachios. What on earth am I going to do with them besides eat them, or give some away?
Also, should I keep them in the freezer so they don’t go bad?
Send them to me!!! I couldn’t possibly ever have enough Pistachios!
I don’t think they ‘go bad’. Wouldn’t know. Then never hang around my place long enough to find out.
PM for shipping info…
^Beat me to it.
As far as using them in cooking, I think your best bets are going to be salads and desserts. Googling “pistachio” and “recipe” should give you ideas. Do you make your own ice cream?
With over 10 pounds of them, you could try making pistachio butter.
Once you start eating them, it won’t seem like 10 pounds anymore. They’ll go quickly…
Lucky!!I’m (pistachio) green with envy.
I know pistachios mixed with bread crumbs make a nice coating for chicken and fish. Other than that, I would have no problem eating my way through 10 pounds of them.
And yes, they most definitely go stale. Are they in one big container? I think you’d definitely want to store them in smaller batches and then maybe freeze them that way.
Shelled, you really only have a little less than 5 pounds.
In my experience, pistachios definitely can go bad. I think they go bad faster than other nuts since in most of them the shell is open and the interior is exposed. (And no one wants the ones that are closed anyway.)
Mmm, pistachios! Are they salted in the shell? 10 pounds would be a couple days’ supply for the spouse and me… 
We can’t be trusted around them. They’re just too tasty. I vote for eating them!
(Funny thing–I never liked pistachios when I was a kid, and I couldn’t figure out why I never tried them. Then I realized it was because they used to dye the shells red. They looked yucky then, so I never thought they’d taste good. The natural-colored shells make them look much more appetizing, IMO.)
I had some stale pistachios and I read that you can put them in 350 degree oven for a half hour to freshen them up. I just threw them away and got more. But the principle is there.
I would say that the freezer or fridge is bad for them though.
Holy cow! I completely forgot about red pistachios. Which is weird since I ended up with red fingers and lips often enough :smack: Do those even exist anymore? Did they go away around the same time as red M&Ms?
Apparently not:
You could go feed squirrels or go to the zoo and feed elephants.
If they aren’t salted, make baklava.
But then the question becomes, what do I do with 20 pounds of baclava? Well, you can share. I won’t say no.
Interesting. Once again the Dope takes me down memory lane.
I kinda miss the red ones.
I don’t know if this helps, but some of the recipes here look pretty dang good.
Pistachio pesto sauce. I like it better than regular pine nut pesto, as it’s less rich and cloying.
Throw a bunch of pistachios into a food processor, together with basil, olive oil, garlic, and some grated parmesan. Whir it up and spoon it over pasta. You don’t even have to cook it.
I used to keep pistachios in fridge and it definitely extended their lifespan.
There are times when a person can easily find that they are over burdened with pistachios. In my life, at those times, I sit in my car away from my house with as many of the pistachios as I can lug around, and recreate this movie scene:
