A friend of mine was recently bemoaning the bother of blanching nuts, and I must confess that I was confused – I have found this method to be almost ridiculously easy.
Now, admittedly, he was talking about almonds, which I have (so far) not attempted, but if you find yourself with some pecans (or walnuts) in need of a bit of blanching, candy-ing and spicing, then we have your method right here.
Might even work with almonds…
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
•1 tsp Gateway to the North Barbecue Seasoning – or any other seasoning blend you prefer – I plan on trying a batch using Shichimi Togarashi next time
•1/2 tsp salt (I use my seasoned salt)
•2 heaping cups pecans
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar with the seasonings in a large bowl and set aside.
This is the tricky bit: preset your timer to 15 seconds, then bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the pecans, hit timer start, and drain them once the timer has gone off. Walnuts are simpler, they should be blanched for 3 minutes.
Add the (still damp and warm) drained pecans to the seasoned confectioners’ sugar and stir to combine. The bit of water left on the nuts, along with the warmth, will melt the sugar into a glaze that will nicely coat the nuts.
Turn the pecans onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment, and toast for 15 minutes, giving the nuts a stir after 7 minutes or so. Watch your timing at the end so that the sugar doesn’t burn.
Cool and serve as you will. I keep mine in the fridge until needed, then set them out to come to room temperature before serving.