03 January 2015

Weekend Cooking: Spiced Almonds

Weekend Cooking hosted by www.BethFishReads.comWeekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.
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spiced almondsBecause everyone is still pretty much in vacation mode or frantically pulling the house back together before returning to work or school or whatever constitutes real life, today's Weekend Cooking post is going to be short and sweet.

First, I want to thank everyone for their continued support of this little meme. I love all your posts and blogs and look forward to new discoveries from you each week. I'm not planning any changes here, but I do hope to include more cookbook reviews in 2015. Here's wishing all of you a happy, healthy, foodie new year.

I've written about three of Ellie Krieger's cookbooks on this blog (So Easy, The Food You Crave, Weeknight Wonders), so it might not come as a big surprise that today's recipe is one of hers.

We were invited to a Christmas open house in early December and were asked to bring something to munch on. I had no clear idea of what I wanted to make, so decided to do some Web browsing for Krieger appetizers. All it took was one look at this recipe and I knew I had a winner.

We took these easy-to-make spicy almonds to the party and then I made another batch for my New Year's Eve party. They were a hit at both events.

Spiced Almonds
Spiced AlmondsYield: 2 cups (about 8 servings)
  • 2 cups whole unsalted almonds
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (or to taste)
Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a bowl.

In a small bowl stir together the cumin, garlic powder, cayenne, and salt. Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Stir the spices into the oil and cook, stirring until warm, about 30 seconds. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently until the nuts are warm and the spices are evenly distributed. Add the hot pepper sauce and stir to distribute. Remove the almonds from the pan and allow them to cool before serving.

17 comments:

  1. I have found that any kind of "enhanced" nuts are even better if you leave them in a crockpot on the warm setting.

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  2. You know, I've never really thought about doing something like this. I eat a lot of raw unsalted nuts, and with almonds, I have to eat them with raisins to offset a slight bitterness to the raw part. Cooking them up in my own spices sounds fantastic! I wouldn't make them hot like this - I'm not a fan of spicy! - but I'm sure I could find some good recipes for making them good and savory! Thanks. :)

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  3. Hmm.......I loooove almonds. And my husband loves heat. I think I'll have to give this a try.

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  4. These sound easy and delicious!

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  5. Those almonds look and sound wonderful! Such a great party treat.

    Joy's Book Blog

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  6. I probably snack on way too many of these!

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  7. And thank YOU for continuing to host Weekend Cooking. My mom told me over Christmas that she reads this faithfully every week. (I knew this, but just didn't mention it until now.) She reads every link and while I was visiting her, at least one cookbook written by a blogger that she discovered here arrived that she had ordered. She is not a blogger - never will be - and doesn't read blogs on a daily basis, except on Saturdays. :)

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  8. Yum! I always make these kinds of things as gifts so that I can't eat a few and then pack them up quickly and give them away otherwise I'd eat my weight in them! Love the spice in this recipe.

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  9. These look good! I'm going to try these with cashews.

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  10. Like Jill I like them warm too. These sound really delicious! And easy to make. Happy new year!

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  11. I so enjoy your Weekend Cooking meme! It's been a crazy busy month and I haven't been able to participate, but I'm back now and looking forward to 2015.

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  12. I so love spiced almonds. Happy New Year-Hopefully this will be a calmer year where I can participate more.

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  13. I am a huge Ellie fan. I used to belong to the group that cooked Ellie recipes weekly. I have of the two books you mentioned. I guess, it is time to get the other one. Thanks.

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  14. I have her second one. I bought it when I used to watch her on Food Network. My ohana and I love her peach, French Toast recipe and her Chinese, chicken salad recipe.

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  15. I need to eat more nuts,so I'm going to try this recipe. Thanks!

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