Mixed Nuts with Rosemary

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mixed nuts (pecans and walnuts work really well b/c of their ridges)
• 4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (NOT dried!)
• pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, but highly recommended)
• Coarse salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degress. On a rimmed baking sheet, roast nuts until golden and fragrant, about 12-15 minutes. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter and rosemary over medium heat. Add sugar and stir (you may need to use a whisk) until combined .Add nuts; stir until butter mixture is golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Stir in pinch of cayenne.
3. Spread nuts on prepared baking sheet. Season with salt. Cool to room temperature, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.

RESULTS: I first tried these nuts at a friends party and I couldn't stop eating them. I called to ask for the recipe and she said she would not only give me the recipe, but she's also give me about a quart of the nuts that she had leftover (her mom made a quadrupple batch). I still couldn't stop eating them, so I tried to make them myself and I burnt the heck out of the sugar. It was fairly awful. So, I changed the recipe around (that's what I wrote here) so that the sugar isn't added until after the butter melts, and the temp is at medium, not medium high. It's not as good as Gina's mom's nuts, but it's way better than a house that smells like burnt sugar.

Go easy on the cayenne, it's stronger than you think.

Union Square Cafe bar nuts mix

I got this recipe off of a chat transcript for the Washington Post food section.

1-1/4 pounds mixed raw nuts, toasted for 10 minutes at 350. Toss with 2 teaspoons brown sugar, two teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, two tablespoons chopped rosemary and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Serve warm. (Though cold is fine too.)

RESULTS: Whoa, way too spicy. The problem was the cayenne clumped, so some nuts were very coated with it, and some had barely a hint of spice. I would still halve the spice, myself, but it's totally variable. Otherwise, they were really good, I really liked the sweet, salty, rosemary mix. It was a lot like what I was trying to do a couple months ago; I got a recipe from a friend, who got it from her mom, for rosemary nuts, but her recipe called for mixing all the ingredients and THEN putting it in the oven, which was disasterous since the suger burned, the kitchen (well, the whole house, really) filled with the worst smoke, EVERY smoke alarm was going off,... not good. I would recommend this method instead. I didn't do a post on that other recipe because there was really no finished product to evaluate.

The rosemary is much better fresh (I dried both fresh and dried and the fresh is better). As for what nuts to use, I used cashews, walnuts and pecans. The cashews weren't the best in the mix, they really didn't take on much of the flavor. The pecans came in second place, but the walnuts really worked well. I think peanuts could be good? Maybe almonds? I don't think I'd use cashews again, though. I think they just have so much flavor to begin with, and with the smooth outside of the nut, there's nothing for the spices to settle into. Either way, thumbs up on this one (if with less spice).

maple-walnut pudding

Every workday in Japan, the lunch ladies would wheel this cart into the staff room at 10:30. If I didn't have a class that period, I would invariable plunk down some yen for what can only be compared to ambrosia. It was this custard that came in a little Jello cup. It was maple-flavored and on the bottom of the cup was a collection of maple syrupy goodness that you could gradually scoop at as you ate the cup, which I made sure to do very very slowly to stave off boredom and savor the custard. I've been searching since I came home for the maple custard, like Fivel looking for his dad in An American Tale. I came across a recipe for maple-walnut pudding and thought I hit jackpot. It's basically egg yolks, cornstarch, milk, maple syrup and a little salt. You have to boil all that together for a minute to activate the cornstarch, but there's also a danger of scrambling the eggs and clumping the milk, which is what happened when I made eggnog this year and had to strain it. After whisking, you add some butter and stir, then refrigerate.

Results: I was very happy that I managed to avoid clumping with the pudding -- my whisking must be getting better -- but the dish itself couldn't hold up to my very high expectations. I think part of the problem is that it's a pudding, not a custard, so the texture wasn't the same, but I also don't think it tasted right. Sigh! the search continues.

Casualties: 1) three egg whites that I'll probably forget about before I get around to using them. 2) my heart, which has broken. 3) the $6 that I plunked down for all that maple syrup.


On the postive side, I found out something great. The pudding calls for a maple-walnut sauce to go on top. You have to toast some walnuts in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until they're fragrant. Never having toasted nuts before, I wasn't sure what this fragrance would be. Well, let me tell you, it was wonderful! Toasting made the walnuts smell like really rich popcorn, and they because crispy. I'll definitely have to try this with other nuts. I love mixed nuts, but not as much all the salt that they come with when you buy them already roasted, and I've been looking for ways to make them taste more interesting without all that sodium. I'll keep you posted.