Friday, September 29, 2006

Spicy Nuts


Watch out. These spicy, New Orleans-style, cocktail nuts are highly appealing. Mrs. Finbar from our church in Buffalo would bring these quite often, and I would munch handfuls into disappearance. When she visited us this past weekend, she brought a large bag for us, which I munched into disappearance the day before yesterday. She kindly shared the recipe with me. (Compliments to Emeril Lagasse.)

1 large egg white
1 teaspoon water
4 cups assorted, shelled nuts (I've only had it with a walnut/almond/pecan mixture)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Essence (recipe below)
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or tin foil).

In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy. Add the nuts and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, Essence blend, cayenne, and salt. Add the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Spread the nuts on the prepared pan and bake until dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir to separate. Let cool on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning)
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container. Yield: About 2/3 cup.

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

We were fortunate enough to visit the church on a week that these were served and Matt loved them too. Thank you for sharing the recipe! :-)

Abigail said...

Hurrah! Glad he liked them. I'd only ever had spicy-sweet nuts heavy on the sweet part (which I love), and when I tasted these from Winnie (heavy on the spicy part), I loved them, too.