Smokehouse Flavored Roasted Nuts

Cookbook Bites: Smokehouse Flavored Roasted Nuts

The other day I was on the elliptical at the gym watching Ina Garten roasting nuts with chipotle and rosemary. She was making roasted nuts for entertaining, but I was already connecting the dots thinking they'd make a good portable snack.

Neighborhood tree beginning to change colors before the leaves fall.

As I reviewed the recipe I found that I didn't know what chipotle was, which it turned out is smoke-dried jalapeño. The recipe also calls for smoked paprika, which is pretty amazing, so I decided to go all in with the smokehouse flavor and added liquid smoke.

The fresh rosemary was the scent I remember from the Herbal Essence shampoo from the 70's. (They said there were 17 herbal essences in the shampoo, and as it turns out, as per Truth in Aging: Did Vintage Shampoos Have the Right Idea?, some other unwanted ingredients like the carcinogen Tetrasodium EDTA. So it seems there's a solid reason as to why it's not on the market anymore. Bummer!)

Mixed nuts, Splenda brown sugar, rosemary

Smokehouse Flavored Roasted Nuts

2 1/2  C mixed nuts
1 C pecans
1/2 C almonds
1/2 C cashews
1/4 C brown sugar (Splenda brown sugar worked fine)
2 T fresh rosemary minced

1 1/2 T fresh squeezed orange juice

1 T vegetable oil
2 T butter
1/8 t liquid smoke

1/4 t chipotle powder

1/4 t smoked paprika
Sprinkle with kosher salt
Pam spray

Spray or oil your baking sheet. Set oven to 350. In a bowl add the nuts, brown sugar and rosemary. Stir to combine. In a separate small bowl add orange juice, oil, melted butter, liquid smoke, chipotle powder, smoked paprika and stir. Pour liquid over the nuts and stir to distribute. Pour the nuts out onto the pan and spread out into a thin layer. Roast the nuts for 20-25 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes. Pull from the oven and sprinkle with salt while warm.

They're very good and are a little understated, but flavorful. A nice change from the over-flavored seasoned nuts at the grocery store.

Recipe Sources/Inspiration:
Jamie Oliver: Festive Honey Roasted Nuts
Ina Garten: Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts
Sunset November 1997