Spiced Candied Pecans

Happy Steeler Sunday!

Today I spent the better part of my afternoon not watching the Steeler game.  Instead, I got it into my mind that I wanted to create a variation to the chocolate chip cookie recipe that I posted awhile back.  I happened to be flipping through Ready for Dessert (the best dessert book ever, by the way, and I'm not biased) and David suggests replacing the regular pecans or walnuts in his cookie recipe with a version of what he calls "candy" pecans.

This very short and very EASY (do you read that people, this is EASY) recipe was found in the candy section of the book.  I wondered why at first.  Now I know.  There's no eating just one of those babies.  You're supposed to use four cups of pecans to make this treat, but I only had two (thank God for that because I needed those two cups for the cookies).   So I just halved the recipe. 

Believe you me.  It takes four minutes to toss the stuff together and thirty minutes to bake.  Then you have to cool them.  If you are in any way a nut lover, trust me, you need to make these.

They are perfectly, sweet, spicy, crunchy and just a teeny bit hot.  The flavors come together amazingly well in this thick, caramel like sauce that you toss your pecans with.  I suppose you can use other types of nuts.  I prefer walnuts. 

As I'm writing this, I actually only have one cup left.  Shame on me.  I guess those cookies will have to wait!

Spiced Candied Pecans

adapted just slightly from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

1 large egg white
1/2 cup of PACKED light brown sugar (do pack it)
2 Tbs ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cayenne or pure chile powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 300 F. 
Spray the baking sheet you will be using with nonstick cooking spray or oil it just slightly
In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, only 10 seconds or so
Toss in the rest of the ingredients, adding the nuts last
Coat the nuts well
Distribute nuts on your baking sheet and bake until the nuts are toasted, about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 to prevent sticking
Let cool, separating the pecans as they cool.

My notes:

I used walnuts, not pecans

In the deep recesses of what is the cave of spices in my kitchen, I found both chile and cayenne powders (thank God I have a use for the cayenne now!), so I tried both.  I prefer the cayenne world's over!  It gives the nuts a bigger punch, in my opinion.

Use real vanilla.  I tried both real and imitation and there was a huge difference.

Lastly, these are so easy, it's NUTS.  (Haha. I had to say it)

Brownies for Baby

I know.  It's been forever!  In my defense, I must say that this will (if successful) be the fourth time I have actually sat down to make a post.  Ce la vie.

The other day, my two best girlfriends visited me for a belated birthday celebration.  They made all manner of yummy foods which I normally do not eat, but was glad to (simply because it was them who made it).  It made me laugh, because the dreaded "cheese drawer" conversation started again, for probably at least the fiftieth time!  To clarify, each of the girls has a drawer in the bottom of their fridge, which is full of cheese.  All kinds of cheese.  Block cheese, sliced, shredded, I think even maybe spreadable cheese.  It's because they use cheese as a staple.  Every dish that they made me the day they visited had cheese in it.  I still have a bag of cheese that they left behind!

I make fun of them (jokingly) of course, because of their cheese drawers.

The sad reality was that today, I realized something.  That same bottom drawer in my fridge is filled with chocolate.  Not only do I have eight different kinds of chocolate chips, there are several large bars of solid brick chocolate, and three boxes of baking chocolate.  Semi sweet, bittersweet, and all precentage of cacao content.  I sat back, laughing.  I suppose we all have our thing.

Speaking of my thing...

My friend Tracy is having a baby next week.  For her going away on maternity leave, she requested brownies.  Since I have an epic chocolate drawer in my fridge, it was easy to come up with something.  With a little help from David of course.  :)

The following is a homemade recipe for brownies, using just butter, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, and of course, three different kinds of chocolate.  They're probably better than any brownie I've ever had - complete chocolate overload with very little sweetness.  Although I've never tried, I'm pretty sure I can house a pan of these by myself, plain jane.  For Tracy though, I might frost them.  Cheescake cinnamon frosting, with maybe just a few drops of red food coloring.  Pink icing for baby girl.  Enjoy!

Cheesecake Brownies

One 9-inch (23cm) or 8-inch (20cm) square pan

Adapted from David's website.

For those of you who like higher brownies, use an 8-inch pan.

Maggie's note:  I used this recipe, opting out of the cheesecake part.  I know, sounds crazy, but these are better plain!  By all means however, give the cheesecake part a whirl if you want, and decide for yourself.  The only thing better than one batch of brownies, is two!

6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (130g) sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (70g) flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (80g) chocolate chips

For cheesecake:

8 ounces (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tablespoons (75g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a 9-inch (23cm) or 8-inch (20cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup (130g) sugar, then the eggs.

4. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

5. In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tablespoons (75g) of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

6. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.