Spicy Cocktail Nuts with Fresh Rosemary

When I was growing up, my great-aunt Florence used to send us a package every Christmas.  It contained 2 things and 2 things only:  roasted pecans, and a fruit cake so soaked with rum that the cheesecloth it was wrapped in was dripping wet.  The fruit cake would always find it’s way to the garbage (though no one would admit to putting it there), but the nuts were delicious and we would eagerly await them.   They came wrapped in wax paper, inside an old Danish Butter Cookie tin.  My dad was allergic to  nuts so they were all for my mother and me, which was just fine with us.

Now, I can’t tell you this story without telling you a little about Flo.  She was kooky crazy.  And fabulous.  She was independent and eccentric, never married (though she did have a  “lady-friend” named Henrietta), worked overseas in Japan for the government right after the war, then took a job in Downtown Chicago, communting daily on the train from our suburb on the North Shore (so bohemian for a single lady in the early 1950’s), where she worked as a legal secretary in the Loop until she finally retired.  She had rhinestone sunglasses, painted red toenails,  wore wigs (bad ones!) for “fashion”, smoked in secret and when she did, used one of those long handled cigarette holders like Cruella DeVille, and had a beautifully embroidered  kimono hanging in her closet that she brought back from Japan.  When she would get drunk (which was often), she would put it on,  do a little bow  and say “ohio gozaimasu“, which means good morning in Japanese…lol   She was way ahead of her time…until she got older and then sadly, time passed her right by.

She also had a gigantic fat white-haired cat named Beauty.

One December, my aunt Annie went over to see Flo, who was in the middle of making the nuts to deliver to our entire family.  She was roasting batch after batch, and had them spread out on cookie sheets all over her kitchen and living room.  Annie knocked and let herself in, and then stopped cold:  there was Beauty, walking on top of the nuts, shedding everywhere and licking the salt off them.  ALL OF THEM!!  Needless to say, as the story got back to my mom, every year thereafter the nuts would arrive and my mom would yell “DON’T EAT THOSE! They’re full of Beauty!!” and she’d throw them right away.  No worries, she said…we’ll make our own.

The recipe below is ours.  They’re spicy, but it’s a salty sweet kind of heat that sneaks up on you.  I like to pair them with an ice cold Bud Light (or 3!) because its perfectly crisp and carbonated.  During the Stanley Cup playoffs I couldn’t make enough of these and with football starting, it’s a great time for you to try them, too.  Enjoy!

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COCKTAIL NUTS
1 - 10 ounce bag shelled, halved pecans
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
4 springs fresh rosemary, stripped off the stalk
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus a little extra


Preheat over to 300 degrees

ready to roast

Melt butter in saucepan over med heat.  Add pecans.  Stir to coat until the nuts get warm. Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.  There will be some melted butter left in the pan, but that's ok, you don't need it.  Very lightly, sprinkle with some of the salt.  Place in the oven and roast for 15-20 min.  (Check the oven at 15 min and move the nuts around.  They should be smelling like toasted deliciousness.  If they start to become too brown, take them out. Otherwise leave in the full 20 min). 

While the nuts are cooking, make the spice mixture:
In large bowl, mix brown sugar, cayenne pepper, rosemary, and 1 tablespoon kosher salt.  Set aside on counter until nuts are ready.

When nuts are done, remove from oven and let cool for 10 min.  Then, place them in the bowl with the sugar mixture and toss well, making sure the spices coat all the nuts.  Pour into colander over sink and shake so the excess sugar mixture falls away.

Place in bowl.  Let cool completely and cover until ready to serve.

NOTE:  These nuts are great while still hot, but will still be a little soft from the butter.  I prefer the flavor and texture of them the next day.