A Month-of-Recipes: Flavored Nuts

Here we are at the end of another February with a Month-of-Recipes edition. Every year at this time I ask myself why I do this. It’s pretty hard keeping up with all my other writing commitments, life, etc. when I am posting food every day. I mean, “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” is a “foodie-oriented blog”, but it is not a “food blog”. Thus my shameless self-promotions for Mission Impastable and the soon-to-be-completed sequel, Prime Rib and Punishment. Did I mention Mission Impastable has 5-star reviews? <blush>

Just to make sure we cover the whole “soup to nuts” thing, I have several nut recipes for you today. And mid-month, I shared my Chocolate Cinnamon-Sugared Pecans for Valentine’s Day. 

http://sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-month-of-appetizers-chocolate.html

Surely, you can set out dishes of nuts from the can for folks to scoop up, but with just a small amount of effort, you can serve nuts like these that clearly go, as Buzz Lightyear might say, “To infinity and beyond”.

These recipes are all from a great blog you should be following: www.pinkblotmom.com  Not only does Shari write entertainingly about food and many other topics. It is BEAUTIFUL, too! Her food porn is right up there with the best! Try her recipes! Yummers!

Cinnamon Almonds (makes 2 cups)

2 cups almonds

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg white

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine egg white and vanilla in small bowl; beat together until frothy. 

Stir in nuts, making sure almonds are evenly coated. 

Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon in small bowl, and sprinkle sugar/cinnamon mixture over nuts until evenly coated. 

Roast nuts on prepared baking sheet at 250° for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. 

Separate nuts on baking sheet and cool allow to cool at room temperature.

Coconut Cashews (makes about 2½ cups)

1 1/2 cups cashews

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup hot water

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cream of tarter

1 cup shredded "angel flake" coconut

Toast coconut at 325° for 9-10 minutes on prepared baking sheet.  Stir coconut every two minutes to avoid burning. 

Combine water, salt, sugar and cream of tartar in saucepan over medium heat, stirring consistently until sugar dissolves. 

Once dissolved, remove sugar mixture from heat and add vanilla extract and toasted coconut in medium sized bowl. 

Quickly stir in nuts, coating evenly with sugar mixture. 

Spread onto baking sheet while still warm. 

Separate nuts on baking sheet and allow to cool at room temperature.

Maple Pecans (makes about 2 cups)

2 cups pecans

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix syrup, egg white, butter, salt, cayenne and black pepper thoroughly.  Add pecans, covering evenly. 

Spread nuts onto prepared baking sheet and roast at 250° for 40 minutes, stirring once after 20 minutes. 

Separate nuts on baking sheet and allow to cool at room temperature.

Thus endth another Month-of-Recipes February. Wonder what you’ll pick for me to do next year? Oh, and do stop by Pink Blot Mom to see what else Shari is cooking up!

DH’s Rating: 3½ Tongues Up  A minimalist kind of guy, he really prefers his nuts scooped from a bin at a natural foods store. These are kind of like a dessert nut for him rather than something he’d munch on at a party or day-to-day.

A Month-of-Recipes: Mediterranean Medley

It happens to me every February. Here we are at the end of the month, and I have more recipes left than days to share them. To solve that problem, I combined several with a relationship to the Mediterranean. So you get more than one recipe today! Three in fact. More than that if you count in how to use the leftovers.

To get your party started, I included tzatziki, olive spread, and Greek Greek Yogurt Dip for your appetizer pleasure. A suggestion for an appetizer party is to do it thematically. Break out the ouzo and retsina to serve with these three. To complete the theme, add garlic-basil dipping oil, grapes, cheeses, veggies, crackers/bread, and hummus (no, I’m not sharing my recipe today--maybe another time). Now that’s the way to party Mediterranean-style!

Tzatziki (makes a little more than 1 ¼ cup)

½ medium cucumber, shredded

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Drain cucumber shreds and minced garlic, then blot with a paper towel to get rid of excess liquid.

In a small mixing bowl, combine yogurt, cucumber, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Thoroughly blend. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Use leftovers on sandwiches or salads. Mix with hard boiled eggs, shredded cooked chicken, or tuna for salad.

Olive Spread (makes more than one cup)

8 ounces cream cheese (low-fat okay), room temperature

Handful green olives with pimiento

Handful of pitted, medium black olives

In mini-food processor pulse olives to chunky. Add cream cheese and pulse until olives are evenly distributed. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Bring to cool (from cold) before serving with crackers and veggies. Leftovers make a terrific sandwich spread with meat and cheese.

Greek Greek Yogurt Dip (makes one cup)

1 cup Honey Greek Yogurt

2 tablespoons Greek Seasoning (on the spice shelf at your grocer)

Mix Greek seasoning into Greek yogurt and blend thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

This is a good dip for fruit or veggies. Serve leftovers on a chicken or ham sandwich instead of mustard or mayo. Use as a creamy salad dressing.

DH’s Ratings: Tzatziki--3 Tongues Up (not a cucumber fan)--tasted “too green” to him; Olive Spread--4 Tongues Up--he liked it better on a sandwich than as an appetizer; Greek Greek Yogurt--3 Tongues Up--as mentioned  earlier, he’s not generally a fan of sweetish appetizers

A Month-of-Appetizers: Bacon-Wrapped "Stuff"

I was watching an episode of Chopped in which every round had to feature bacon. It reminded me of an upscale version of what has been happening at State Fairs the last few years: How many weird ways can you serve bacon?

On Chopped they had bacon that can sell for $600 a pound in Spain? $600? I’ll never complain about bacon prices at the grocery ever again! And here I thought varieties of bacon meant which company packaged it or whether it was smoked with apple wood! Just goes to show you!

DH is very health conscious, so we don’t have bacon often. In a sop to more healthful eating, I only buy nitrite-free/nitrate-free bacon. Still.

Bacon is addictive--the smell, the taste, the crackling in the pan. There is no flavor comparable. And appetizers made with bacon disappear first from my table. Don’t forget to include Date Bites for Date Nights posted earlier this month if you are doing Bacon-Wrapped Stuff for your party.

Bacon-Wrapped Stuff (makes about 30)

10 strips nitrite-free/nitrate free bacon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

30 “stuff” to wrap: ideas--medium shrimp, whole water chestnuts, tiny potatoes--see Note-, Lil’ Smokies sausages, medium mushrooms, or something else!

[Choose one item or make a combo for a prettier plate]

Set oven to broil and place rack 3-4” from broiler.

Cut bacon strips into third, cross-wise. Toss with brown sugar and set aside for a few minutes.

Wrap “stuff” with bacon. Place on rimmed baking sheet, not touching, seam-side down.

Broil for 8-10 minutes (or until bacon is crispy), turning once. Secure bacon on the “stuff” with toothpicks and serve immediately.

NOTE: If using tiny potatoes, get the smallest you can. You might have to cut bacon strips in halves instead of thirds to cover. Prepare potatoes before wrapping with bacon by cooking 2 minutes in microwave. Cool enough to handle before wrapping. Continue as above to broil.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up for everything but the Lil’ Smokies. He thought the bacon and sausage together was too much. The slight brown sugar sweetness was a nice surprise that he liked a lot, especially on the shrimp.

A Month-of-Appetizers: Cheesy Rosemary Cream Scones

 

Before we get into today’s appetizer, I have to let you know that Mission Impastable, Kindle-version, went live this week. If you’ve been waiting to read this mystery with recipes, now could be the time. Check it out at http://amzn.to/1dttdrq

I have a modest reputation among friends and family for my lemon cream scones with cranberries and almonds (archived in the recipe on this blog). Well-deserved, I might add (she says with no sense of modesty).

All I did here was tweak my sweet scone recipe to make a savory one. Take one of your favorite recipes and play with it. Just keep proportions of wet and dry and you’re good to go!

  

Cheesy Rosemary Cream Scones (2 dozen)

3 cups flour (+ more for kneading)

3 teaspoons baking powder

zest from one lemon

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

1 tablespoon rosemary

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1¼ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated; divided

Heat oven to 400°. Prepare two cookie sheets.

Combine flour, baking powder, zest, salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Add cream. Stir until just moistened.

Mix in 1 cup cheese. Knead dough on lightly floured surface 6-7 times until smooth.

Tip: handle scone dough as little as possible to keep it tender.

Divide dough in quarters. Divide each quarter into six balls. Pat each ball flat into a 1.5-2” disk and place at least 2” apart on cookie sheets.

Top with remaining cheese and bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Serve room temperature.   

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  He liked the savoriness of the spice and cheese scones in contrast to the breakfast scones I usually make. Any leftovers get eaten with soup or served as a side bread with meals.

A Month-of-Appetizers: Baked Brie

So sorry to be posting this late. Every year it seems I get behind and lose a day. But no worries. Later today, I’ll put up a second recipe. Wouldn’t want you to be cheated!

I’ve been making a version of baked Brie for decades after a friend served it at her party in the 1970’s. The origin of the recipe is lost in the mists of time, but there are dozens of versions via the Internet these days. Just keep on trying until you find the one you like. (Pick me! Pick me!)

My version for you has cinnamon to kick it up a notch from what the neighbors serve as baked Brie. Also, you might be tempted to just dump on pecans without toasting them. Unh unh. Pecans change flavor with toasting.

So your choice: pedestrian, no toasting; spectacular, toasted pecans. Also, put away the Triscuits and Wheat Thins. You want a cracker that is bland and will not compete with the cheese flavors. You can use day old French bread, too.

As an added benefit this is another one of those two-fer appetizers: the umami taste of cheese and the sweet taste from brown sugar and honey perk up the appetizer party.

Baked Brie

1 small round of Brie (~ 8 ounces give or take)

½ cup pecan pieces

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Carr’s Water Crackers (or some other high quality, plain cracker)

Heat oven to 350°. Put a square of parchment paper on a baking sheet and center the Brie on it.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes until oozy to the touch. Remove from oven to the heat-proof serving dish you’ll be using to serve on. Let sit about 20 minutes.

Spread pecans on same baking pan (sans parchment paper) and toast for about 5-10 minutes (until fragrant). Alternatively, toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly to keep from burning. When fragrant, remove from heat.

Mix brown sugar and honey in a small pan and heat to a boil over medium heat. Let it get foamy (a couple of minutes) and then stir in cinnamon.

Pour evenly over Brie (letting some drip over sides) and sprinkle on the pecans. Serve immediately.

DH’s Rating: 3½ Tongues Up  He doesn’t like his cheese sweetened. Too bad. More for me!