Ermmm, as you can see, our bird is still under wraps – literally.
I’ve covered it in cheesecloth and poured a bourbon, brown sugar, and apple cider marinade over all, then covered and stashed the works downstairs to be dealt with later.
Full report and better pics to come; sometime next week, I think.
For now, let me share this wicked tasty recipe for spiced walnuts, which will be gracing our feast day salad. I found this recipe on – where else? – da Google, and it makes for one fine batch o’ nuts, so thanks to the nice folk at thelunacafe.com.
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
•1 tsp chile powder
•1/2 tsp salt
•2 heaping cups walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°.
Whisk together the sugar, chile powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add walnuts and blanch for 3 minutes (if you use pecans, the Luna Cafe folk say to only blanch for 15 seconds).
Drain the nuts thoroughly and immediately toss in the sugar mixture with a fork until thoroughly coated.
The sugar will melt into a glaze, like this:
Transfer the nuts to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and roast until they are deep golden brown, turning halfway through baking, about 15 minutes. Watch closely because the sugar burns easily – I just caught mine on the edge of turning sooty – and not in a good way.
Great nuts! And just imagine how nice they’ll be tossed over romaine and roasted beets and dressed lightly with a new take on an old salad dressing – tomorrow in Parfait!, peeps.
And Happy Thanksgiving!