chipotle & rosemary spiced nuts

I love fancy nuts.

By fancy, I mean nuts that are lightly glazed and roasted. Oh, and that are exciting enough to make me look forward to them as a mid-morning snack.

Spicy cajun almonds and Gramercy Tavern bar nuts have been favourites around here, but after Christmas, I felt like the new year deserved a new nut recipe.

I found this: Ina Garten's chipotle and rosemary spiced nuts. I had a little bag of fresh rosemary in the fridge and so it felt like fate.

I adapted the recipe to suit my nut tastes (and budget) and I feel particularly pleased about the pistachios I added. They are like little gems of concentrated flavour nestled around the bigger cashews and pecans.

On first glance, the recipe looks a bit odd: chipotle, rosemary, orange juice? I know. But trust Ina here. They are a trio I am now very glad to meet.

So here you are – a new nut recipe for the new year. Feel free to adapt it for the nuts you find in your cupboard.

one year ago: tuscan white beans
two years ago: happy things in the new year and carrot and fennel soup
three years ago: glory bowl
four years ago: naomi's granola

chipotle and rosemary spiced nuts
adapted from Ina Garten on The Kitchn

275 g. (2 c.) unroasted cashews
100 g. (1 c.) unroasted pecan halves
200 g. (1 1/2 c.) unroasted almonds
100 g. (2/3 c.) shelled unroasted pistachios
50 g. (3 tbsp.) maple syrup
25 g. (2 tbsp. + 1 tsp.) brown sugar
2 g. (1 tsp.) ground chipotle powder
32 g. (2 tbsp.) freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
18 g. (1 tbsp. + 1 tsp.) neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
1 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp. regular salt)
later: 1 tsp. Kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp. regular salt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and get out a sheet pan or two regular cookie sheets.

Brush the pan(s) a bit of neutral oil. Get out a very large bowl and mix up the cashews, pecans, almonds, pistachios, maple syrup, brown sugar, chipotle powder, orange juice, rosemary, oil and 1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt.

Spread the nuts out on the pan(s) as evenly as possible and slide into the oven. Roast for 25 – 28 minutes, stirring twice, until the nuts look glazed and golden brown. Put the pan(s) on a rack to cool and toss with the other 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Stir sometimes as they cool to help prevent the nuts sticking together – although they will anyway. Don't fret: you can break them up later when you put your precious nuts in an airtight container to store. Keep them at room temperature, all the easier to snack upon.

three-nuts chocolate torte

Dear readers, I fly to Japan tomorrow!

I am going for two weeks with my mother, as part of a cultural exchange between my home town of Kelowna and Kasugai in Japan. Even though I have now checked into my flight and my bags are packed, I can still hardly believe it.

I will tell you all about it when I get back. But in the meantime, I wanted to share this heavenly new cake recipe with you. My co-worker Portia shared it with me after everyone at work raved about it.

They were right to rave. It's originally from Jamie Oliver, and it's kind of like a flourless chocolate cake with lots of nuts in it. His original recipe calls for just almonds and walnuts, but I find it difficult not to add hazelnuts to chocolate – it's the German in me – so in they went.

(I do believe you could stick with his original version of 150 g. walnuts and 150 g. almonds and also be quite happy).

You whiz everything together in the food processor and end up with a thick but light batter from all those whipped egg whites.

The batter bakes into a substantial cake that's moist and dense with nuts and rich with chocolate. And, of course, lovely with a dollop of hazelnut-scented whip cream on the side.

I might note that if you don't like pumpkin pie, it also makes a fine Thanksgiving dessert. (Which I tested for you yesterday, just to make sure.)

Sayonara!

one year ago: 27 hours in saskatoon and homemade ricotta cheese
two years ago: quince almond cake and roasted beet risotto
three years ago: pear ginger jam

three-nuts chocolate torte
slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver

100 g. peeled almonds
100 g. walnuts
100 g. mostly-peeled hazelnuts*
300 g. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher), broken into rough pieces
1 tsp. cocoa powder, heaped + cocoa for dusting the pan
255 g. butter, at room temperature
100 g. fine sugar or caster sugar
6 large egss, separated
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Choose an 8 or 10-inch cake pan (preferably spring-form) and line the bottom with parchment paper. Then butter the bottom and sides, and dust with cocoa. Set it on a cookie sheet, in case a little bit of butter weeps out while it's baking.

Put the nuts in a food processor and whiz until finely ground. Add the chocolate and cocoa, and whiz another 30 seconds to break the chocolate up. Spoon it out of the food processor and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in the food processor until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then mix in the chocolate and nut mixture. Set aside in a separate, large bowl.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the big bowl of chocolate-nut-butter mixture. Pour it all into the prepared pan.

Bake about 40 – 45 minutes for an 8-inch pan, possibly 35 – 40 for a 10-inch pan. You want this cake to be moist, so trust your nose! You should also stick a cake pin tester into the cake for 5 seconds and have it come out clean when it's ready.

Let cool before serving.


hazelnut whip cream

500 ml. whipping cream
3 tbsp. fine or caster sugar
3 tbsp. Frangelico or hazelnut liqueur

Beat the cream with the sugar and liqueur until it's puffy. Serve a big dollop with each slice of cake.


* You might need to roast the hazelnuts to get much of their peels off if you can't buy them peeled.