Another Friday, another dish by Dorie, since this is a French Fridays with Dorie selection. And yet another knockout. The recipe is straight forward. You toss a bunch of nuts with barely beaten eggwhite, which will act as glue for seasonings and will make the nuts crisp, then with your sugar, spice and everything nice. A slow 'bout in the oven and you are done. What I love about a recipe like this is how its really more of a technique. Once you've mastered the "idea" you can change the seasoning blends and even nuts and make it your own. I've made a variation of these spice nuts before, and I was skeptical about the amount of sugar being used, but the salt and spices balanced it out completely.
Will I make these again? Absolutely! I had them in the oven in minutes and a total of 45 minutes from start to snacks! I'm not expecting dinner guests until tomorrow night, but honestly these could be made completely on the fly when unexpected visitors show up for a glass of something festive. And on another note, there are egg whites in this recipe! That's a draw for me right there, until I start my egg white business. When you make as much ice cream, sweet pastry and butter cookies as me, there tends to be an out of control supply of eggwhites in the freezer. I'm always looking for a way to use them.
And just in case some of you don't have her book, but are really feeling like some crunchy nuts, I'm leaving you with a recipe today. Not Dorie's, but my own go to cocktail nut recipe. The holidays, ready or not, are here, and this is a recipe you are going to want up your sleeve. While Dorie's would be great for making in large capacities and giving all month long, my recipe is more suited to eating that day, in fact just warm from the oven even. They are more savoury than sweet, with a nice dose of herbs and some smokiness from paprika to round it out. Perfect with a dark beer or big Malbec and definatly with a Bourbon based cocktail, like a Manhatten, my fave. And those still left in the dish at the end of the night will be a welcome before breakfast treat.
Cocktail Nuts with Herbes de Provence and Smoked Paprika
2 cups unroasted nuts, such as cashews, pecans, hazelnuts, or peanuts
1 Tbsp muscovado, or dark brown, sugar
1 Tbsp herbs de provence
1 tsp kosher or course salt
3/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp butter
Preheat oven to 350. Place all nuts on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, place your butter. Mix together sugar, salt, herbs and spices in a small bowl.
Remove baking sheet from oven and pour into large bowl with the butter. Using a heat proof spatula, mix the hot nuts with the butter until completely melted and coating the nuts. Then sprinkle over the seasoning and toss quickly and thoroughly.
Remove and pour into serving bowl while still warm, or leave on he baking sheet and rewarm later for 5 minutes at 350.
