The first recipe became a standard just a couple of years ago. My husband is a book editor for The University Press of Mississippi and we went to a Book Friends party launching You Are Where You Eat: Stories and Recipes from the Neighborhoods of New Orleans by Elsa Hahne. This is a lovely book combining heartfelt stories, history, photographs and recipes from several New Orleans neighborhoods.
So imagine our joy when we arrived to find the hostesses serving a slew of the recipes from the book! (FAB idea by the way for all you future/current cookbookers.)
We had Alligator Shooters (it was really just made from avocado), Sour Cream and Onion Pie, Mother-in-Law Meatballs, desserts and more. One menu item really stuck out to me, though, and that was the Pecan Tapas. Part of the attraction was the name and the other part was the sweet and spicy flavor coating the roasted pecans. They will be a favorite at your house, too, if you allow them space in your little heart.
This is, of course, meant as a teaser because you really do need this cookbook in your collection. You can buy it through the Press or at Amazon. Trust me.
Pecan Tapas is a fun recipe to play with because you can add spices to suit your palate, experiment with flavored honeys and/or syrups or choose a different kind of nut altogether.
*Please note I don't have accompanying photos with my recipes (shameful, I know- but I will make more soon and post them)
Pecan Tapas
1 lb. pecan halves (or nuts of your choosing)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cayenne (red) pepper
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano or thyme (or both)
1/3 cup of honey or honey/syrup combination
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, add spices and then honey. (Turn the eye on AFTER you have added your spices to the oil. Don’t add the red and black pepper spice mixture to the hot oil. It will run you – and your significant other – out of the kitchen coughing and hacking!! Not that I would know from personal experience but a friend of mine told me that it happened to her……..)
Stir and simmer over low heat for a few minutes. You are trying to get rid of some of the water in the honey but not cook it so much that it will clump instead of coat the pecans. (If you choose to use syrup, it doesn’t need to cook as long. That same friend of mine ran into this problem when she used Delta Cane syrup.)
Fold pecans into mixture, coating well. Transfer pecans to oiled cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes until darker, reddish brown. Take out and leave them on stovetop or heat-safe surface while they cool.
Stir pecans periodically until they cool, or they will cling to each other and the cookie sheet. (Sometimes, that’s not always a bad thing in this case because you can break them apart later)
For those of us who live in humid locales, don’t despair if your Pecan Tapas is a little sticky or slick to the touch once you set them out at your party. That’s what happened to me – I mean – my friend on our unseasonably warm New Years Eve.
These are a great and healthy go-to snack in the party off-season, too!
As in every situation, there must be a balance. Good outweighs the bad, pecans going head to head with Hot Cheese Puffs. Oh yes, we have a winner.
This recipe came to me from a bridal shower eons ago and it’s only just now that I took the plunge. Let’s just say, it was a hit. Nary a cheese puff left at the end of the night. That’s when you know you’ve hit the nail on the head. I would label this one…a party saver. If you have a faltering shindig, bring these out for an immediate shot in the arm result.
When I looked at the recipe, it seemed a little complicated – I used a make-shift double boiler and I was wary about the end result. Oh, me of little faith!
This is a recipe I promised to post for The Runaway Spoon. So here goes!
Again, this is another recipe you can play with for varied taste results. In my case, I used sharp cheddar and not Monterey Jack, and also added red pepper to it for a little zing. Internally, I balked at the use of cream cheese but it wasn’t as overwhelming as I imaged – it just heightened the cheese intensity. By the end of the night, these were gone!
Hot Cheese Puffs
(Makes 5 – 6 dozen puffs)
1 Loaf of French bread (you won’t use all of it)
8 oz. of Monterey Jack Cheese
½ cup of butter
3 oz. of Cream Cheese
2 egg whites, room temperature
Cube bread into 1-inch cubes. Melt cheese, butter, and cream cheese in double boiler (in my case I used a metal bowl over water boiling in a saucepan. Worked like a charm).
Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into cheese mixture. Dip bread cubes into cheese mixture and place on cookie sheets.
At this point you can either:
1. Freeze them. Place in plastic bags and store up to 3 months.
Or
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Let me know how it turns out and if you tinker with the recipes, what you did! Have fun wowing the crowds!
p.s. *My “To be Continued: Cleveland” post will be here before you know it. *
p.p.s. Can you believe I was asked this week to be involved in another chicken cook-off after my last experience?! haha Guess how long it took me to say, "I will NOT eat any chicken!!"
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