Spiced Nuts

Two Racks of Spiced Nuts

I was attending a bridal shower a little while ago, and the food theme was appetizers and mocktails. My friend Emily (the gal who was hosting) is a great cook, and we both appreciate fun, creative food. So when she asked me to brainstorm for appetizer ideas and possibly bring something, I knew I had to look for something cool.

I checked out a few appetizer books from the library, and one of them was Savoring Appetizers by Williams-Sonoma. (A great one to put on the wish list!) Appetizers are divided up into categories by region of the world, and I found a simple, yet interesting one for Spicy Nuts and Seeds (or Nueces y Pepitas Picantes if you’re from Coahuila, Mexico). It looked great, but of course I had to take it and make it my own. My version is as follows:

Peanuts
Brazil Nuts
Pepitas (a kind of pumpkin seed)
Garlic
Fresh Ground Salt
Cayenne
Curry

I sautéed some garlic in a pan with a little bit of oil, and added all of the nuts. After they were hot and toasty, I sprinkled the salt, cayenne, and curry powder over them, tasting once in a while to know when to quit adding the spice, and stirring all the while. Once I got the flavor I liked, I laid them out on a cookie sheet and roasted them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 275°. The result was a salty, spicy treat, a nice change of pace from the usual bowl of nuts!

Spiced Nuts

Tags: Appetizers, Mexican, Snacks

This entry was posted on October 19th, 2008 and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.