Pecans from The Nut house
Pecans recently harvested from Elbie Powers’ North Carolina Farm arrive in late October every year.
A fresh pecan is like nothing else: plump and golden brown, meaty, and rich with flavorful oils.
You haven’t tasted pecans until you’ve tried one from The Nut House. Elbie Powers’ pecans come to our bakery days after he’s harvested and shelled them, direct from his Sampson County grove. When the nuts arrive at our pastry commissary it feels like Christmas - and it marks the official start of our holiday baking season.
We take these hefty pecan halves and toast them on sheet pans until they turn a rich brown, intensifying their nutty essence. Our bakers mix them into pecan scones, sugar them to decorate Sweet Potato Tarts, a fall special, and turn them into extraordinary Bourbon Pecan Pies for the Holidays.
Elbie Powers is “head nut” at The Nut House pecan farm.
North Carolina is No. 1 for direct sales of pecans (or PEE-cans, as they’re called in much of the South and the Northeast).
Powers, known as “head nut” at his Roseboro, N.C., farm, has tended 800 trees since planting them in 1996. He is grower/processor/shipper at his 25-acre operation and sells the entirety of his crop to bakeries and restaurants across the country.
Even though pecans love hot, humid climates with sandy soil, it takes a lot of planning to be a successful pecan farmer. “You plan to fail, but don’t fail to plan,” Powers quipped in a 2015 interview. Patience and a second income as a crop duster helped him survive the early years; new pecan trees take four to six years to produce their first crop.
After harvest, the pecans are cleaned, dried, sorted and shelled, before shipping direct to their destination. Grand Central Bakery receives nearly 1,000 pounds every fall.
This year’s pecan harvest was notable in that the only news was a successful crop. In the past, his pecan grove has been threatened by hurricanes and severe fall storms.
But through good years and bad, Nut House pecans are well worth waiting for.
“The oils in these pecans are super fresh, not rancid or dried out, which makes a very creamy and flavorful nut.”
Elbie Powers’ ultra-fresh, rich-tasting nuts from The Nut House, right, are featured in our Bourbon Pecan Pie for the Holidays.