There's a store in Rockport, Maine, called Main Street Meats. Their butcher shop sells locally raised, pasture-fed meats and poultry, and their other offerings—French mustards, salumi, anchovies packed in oil, an overflowing cheese case, freshly baked bread (one batch in the morning and one in the afternoon)—make it hard to walk out of there with less than one bag of groceries.
I'll write a real post about the store when I can actually go there, but for now I want to tell you about one of my favorite things they sell: spiced nuts. I buy many boxes of them when I'm in Maine and bring them back to Cambridge, but since I've depleted my stash, I figured it was time I learn how to make my own version. And if you're wondering: No, I've never been able to say "Spiced Nuts" without laughing or turning slightly red (more after the jump).
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Deb Perelman, blogger behing Smitten Kitchen and author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, for America's Test Kitchen. She's one of my culinary idols—hers was the first food blog I ever loved—so I wanted to be sure to do my research and read as much of the backlog of her blog (backblog?) as I could before we talked. In doing so, I came across her recipe for Sweet and Spicy Nuts, reminding me of the fact that I had none left. And so we find ourselves here: elbows deep in nuts.
I didn't intend to make these yesterday. I only left the house to get a coffee and plan some more blog posts with my roommate. But then a coffee at our favorite local bookstore's cafe, Porter Square Books, turned into my buying the cookbook Ottolenghi, some temporary tattoos, and a book of cooking quotes. Those purchases inspired me to cook, so I went to the supermarket next door and bought the fixings for this recipe and peanut butter cookies. And then I bought flowers. And then I walked by a nail salon and got a manicure. It turned out to be one of the most expensive coffees of my life.
The cookies I made were a total disaster. Really, really awful. So while it's back to the drawing board on those guys, I'm pleased to report I had much better luck with the nuts; they came out perfectly toasted with a nice crunch, a bit of a kick from the cayenne, and the right mix of salty and sweet flavors.
I messed around with Deb's recipe; the nuts they use in the Main Street Meats mix are almonds, walnuts, and pecans, so I used those instead of just the walnuts or hazelnuts she calls for. I also didn't have any brown sugar that wasn't hard as a rock, so I opted for Turbinado instead, and I really like the texture I ended up with.
It was a lovely, if wallet-draining, Saturday afternoon. And since I now have so many sweet and spicy nuts, let me know if you want any. But you can only have some if you can ask me for them with a straight face.
SWEET AND SPICY ROASTED NUTS
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, inspired by Main Street Meats.
1 cup Turbinado sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
A "generous pinch" cayenne pepper (up this to a little less than 1/4 tsp if you like them spicier)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
7 ounces walnuts
7 ounces peacns
7 ounces almonds
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix the sugar, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon; set aside. Beat the egg white and water in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, stirring to coat evenly. Sprinkle the nuts with the sugar mixture, then toss until they're evenly coated. Spread the sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper. Bake them for 30 minutes, stirring three or four times. Remove them from the oven, and keep stirring occasionally to separate the nuts as they cool. Once they've cooled, transfer them to a chic jar or bowl or whatever you want to store them in (but it has to be chic) and break up any that have clumped together. Then have someone hide them from you or you'll eat them all in about ten minutes.
Nut-Making Music: "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones. Couldn't find a song called "Turbinado Sugar."
