As a kid, I used to love those mixed nuts that came in a big can. My mom would buy the one with the peanuts, cashews, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and pecans. We each had our favorites. I would fight one brother for those enormous brazil nuts and the other for hazelnuts, but my absolute favorites were the cashews. Both my mom and I loved them. When the can eventually got passed to my dad, he had to settle for the peanuts and almonds. The pecans were almost always left on the bottom.

To this day, I still love cashews, so when I saw this recipe from Susan Eats London, I literally sprang up and got in my car to buy a huge bag of it. I thought for a moment of using a mix of nuts, but I knew I’d end up picking out all the cashews first, so I saved myself the trouble.

These cashews are sweet, salty, and smoky with a slight hint of heat from the perfect combination of sugar and spice and everything nice, namely rosemary and orange. The original recipe included amchoor, a spice made from powdered dried green mango, which I had never heard of, but plan to find ASAP!! Instead, I substituted some zest and juice from an orange, which I thought would complement the spices very well.

These spiced nuts will be a great new addition to the olives, cheese, salumi and other hors d’oeuvres I usually serve with cocktails, wine, and beer at parties.

Spiced Cocktail Nuts
Yields 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon zest and 1 tablespoon juice from an orange
1 large egg white
10 ounces raw unsalted cashews (Almonds, pecans or mixed nuts are good substitutes.)
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves, for garnish

Method:
Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Line baking sheet with silpat or silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the sugars, salt, spices, and orange zest. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg white with a whisk until completely opaque and foamy, about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and orange juice and blend thoroughly.

Add the cashews into the bowl and toss to coat thoroughly. Spread the coated cashews in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes and then stir with a spatula to loosen any nuts that may be sticking to the baking sheet, keeping cashews in a single layer. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees F, and continue to roast until the nuts are golden, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and scrape the cashews off the baking sheet, breaking apart nuts that may have stuck together. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped rosemary leaves. Serve immediately with a cocktail or ice-cold beer in a frosty mug.

Adapted from Susan Eats London.

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