Chile Lime Pecans

I have a thing for nuts.  Don't go there.  I know you want to, but just don't.

Let me expound upon that.  I really have a thing for candied nuts.  For nuts that are made better than their normal wonderful selves by things like cinnamon, cayenne pepper and of course, chocolate.  Those are the kind of nuts that I am always on the look out for, even with two tried and true recipes.  Cause, really, can you ever have too many nuts?

October's Bon Appetit came prepared to help you throw a party, from one dish mains to new and improved appetizers.   Appetizers that happened to include Chili Lime Cashews.  When first going through one of my magazines, I make sure to have a packet of page-taggers near by.  If something looks good, yummy, great potential, ect., I tag it.  The problem with this system is that there are always at least 8 tags by half way through the magazine.  So how do you know which ones you want to tackle first?  Well, that gets the tallest tag, of course.  Ok, it's not a fool-proof method, but the point I want to get across here is that those Chili Lime Cashews had the highest tag.  They were the winners of the first recipe to be cooked contest from October's BA magazine.  (It's quite a honor, really...)  I just had to find Kaffir lime leaves.

You know how this story ends.  I wasn't about to go conduct a Rockford-wide search of Asian food markets for lime leaves.  I happily took the shortcut the recipe so readily offered - no leaves?  Double the lime zest.  Got it.  Check the box.  Move on.

These were quick and easy.  When the hardest part of the recipe is taking pictures before it gets to dark out (which I failed this time around, hence no finished product.  I'm sorry), you know it's a simple one.  Unfortunately, the end results was also a little simple, a little lacking in any sort of va-va-voom (Mental note to self: start using va-va-voom more in blogging).  Maybe had I committed to finding the Kaffir lime leaves, the story would be different.  Maybe if I stuck with cashews and didn't trade in pecans, the story would be different.   But I didn't.  And so I'm left with just nuts.  Not a horrible thing, because I really do like nuts, just not as exciting as one might hope.

Chile Lime Pecans
Adapted from BA's October 2012 issue

Surprisingly not that spicy.  I think I might have liked them more had they had a little more heat to back up on.  I did add the sugar completely.  It felt weird not having sugar in there.  They are barely, hardly noticeably sweet, so it's a good balance.  They are over salty.  I would definitely cut back on the salt.

2 c. pecans
8 dried chiles de arbol
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt (cut back)
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. (heaping) ancho chili powder
2 Tbsp. lime zest (3-4 limes)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with either a silicone baking mat or tin foil (this will help will clean up later!)

In large bowl, toss all ingredients, except for lime zest, making sure pecans are well coated.  Spread out evenly on prepared baking sheet.

Roast 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until pecans are browned, toasted and smell heavenly (yes, that's a technical kitchen term).  Let cool to room temperature.  Toss in bowl with lime zest, covering nuts evenly.

If not serving immediately, keep in air tight container.

Mojito Cake-Tails

I have wanted to make this recipe for over two years.

I had a summer internship where I lived in Providence, Rhode Island.  It was here that I got my first taste of living, and eating, independently, in a country where my favorite spice was familiarly called cinnamon, and not “Zimt”.  Not that I didn’t love my summer living in Germany, because I did, and not that I didn’t cook there, because I did, it just wasn’t really the place to sit around in the kitchen and discover things, when I could be out in Germany, discovering things.  Like Biergartens, famous castles, and Weinwanderung--a wine hike.  So it was a lot of chicken breasts and cold cut sandwiches, with amazingly delicious, fresh bread.  And the occasional Ananas Eis from the ice cream cart in the park.

On the other hand, during the Providence Summer, I had a sufficiently stocked kitchen and I cooked often for me, my roommate and her ever present boyfriend.  I tried new things, some of which are already in my green cookbook, and my purple recipe file began to grow exponentially, with the help of a color printer at work. 

This is one of those recipes, Mojito Cake Tails. (Ha, get it?  Like a cocktail, but a cake!)  You start with a pretzel and butter crust, packed tightly into the bottoms of muffin tins and you top it with this creamy, dreamy, lime and mint flecked cream.  Then you freeze it.  No baking, no buttering or dusting tins, you could probably even cheat and just use CoolWhip instead of whipping some cream up yourself.   It is the perfect summer dish, served cold from the freezer; it’s refreshing.  It wasn’t overly minty, not too much lime, if I had to complain I would say that there wasn’t enough rum.

The recipe said it made up 12 servings.  With 3 cups of crushed pretzels, we easily filled the bottoms of 17 muffin tins, and most of those had thick bases.  You could likely stretch this to 18-20 with no harm, because our cream tops were overflowing as well.  And be sure to chop the mint super fine.  Can I say again, they were delicious?  Cold and dreamy, with the salt from the pretzel crust balancing out the sweet cream.  The mint and lime epitomized summer.  The perfect end to a grilled Memorial Day dinner. 

There were rave reviews from aunts and uncles alike, most of whom stuck their fork in the middle and ate it like a popsicle.  A delicious, summer, adult popsicle.  Happy Summer!

Mojito Cake-Tails

adapted from here

2 sticks butter
3 c. salted pretzels, finely crushed 
1 1/4 c. sugar, plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
Two 8 ounce packages, cream cheese, softened
Grated peel of 3 limes
1/2 c. lime juice
2 Tbsp. white rum
3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint
2 c. heavy cream

Over medium-low heat, melt butter in a medium skillet.  Stir in pretzels and 2 tablespoons sugar and cook until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.  Transfer to bowl and let cool slightly.  Press about 3 tablespoons into bottom of muffin pans.  Freeze for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy.  Mix in remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar on low speed.  Gradually mix in lime peel, lime juice, rum and chopped mint.  In a separate bowl, beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold ito cream cheese mixture.

Divide cream cheese mixture evenly among muffin cups; swirl and smooth the tops.  Cover with plastic wrap and freeze 8 hours, or overnight.   To remove from muffin tins, dip a butter knife in warm water, then run around each cake.  Cake-tail should pop right out, but if it doesn't, invert pan.  Serve with a mint sprig or lime twist for garnish.