Re: [CH] Any ideas for salvaging these pecans?

ChileBuzz (chilebuzz@earthlink.net)
Sat, 15 Jan 2005 21:30:22 -0500 

Boy, let me tell you, my messing up those pecans was a blessing rather than
the disaster I thought.

What a lot of really terrific ideas you all have offered.  My head is
spinning.  The best I could come up with was a pecan pie and maybe trying
to freezing some of them to occasionally top a green salad.  Now my problem
has become "choosing where" to use this batch of haywire pecans.  Not a bad
problem to have at all.  I am amazed at all the imaginative suggestions.
Yee-hah!!  You know, I am thinking this batch of pecans isn't going to be
nearly enough.  LOL.

And recipes, too!  Gosh, Dave, I could work on that chile-lover's dream
recipe list along for a long time  ... unless, of course, I made your
jalapeno brownies first.  With jalapenos AND habs AND bird chiles, I reckon
the brownies would be lethal and I wouldn't be making no more brownies ever
again afer eating them.    . . . I wonder whether the grocer still has some
of
those pretty habs I saw not long ago.

Doug, I would love to have Marie's Serbian moist apple cake recipe when you
get a chance.  It sounds gooood.  As it happens, I also have a half pound
of walnuts left over from the Christmas cooking frenzy.  I was going to
freeze those.

This was my first attempt at making spiced nuts.  I belately realized I
didn't even know how to tell if the pecans were "done"  Guess I should have
just tasted the little buggers before that last 8 minutes.  With this
particular mix, the coating needed to be on the pecans as they toasted to
allow the mix ingredients to meld together as well as meld onto the pecan.
I tasted one before toasting, and the spice paste was very raw.  Had to be
cooked to come together.  It was a thick chile-powder paste, with some
superfine sugar, canola oil, and Kahlua.  I was banking on the Kahlua to
add a special flavor.  The pecans were so non-sweet and so blah tasting
after baking, that I also tried sprinkling some more superfine sugar on
them afterwards, but they had cooled a lot already.  Most of that will
shake off, also a good thing, I think.

I did wonder whether that coating would freeze well.  I know nuts generally
do, but wasn't sure if the sugar in the coating would freeze & thaw all
that well.  One thing I did do right, and patted myself on the back for it.
I lined the baking sheet with foil.  Thank goodness.  I was able to just
roll the extremely messy residue up and slam dunk it into the trashcan.

Rain, David, Doug, Dave, Beth, Elise, and Jim -- THANK YOU!!!
Got a smile back on my face now!


ChileBuzz