These Mexican Hot Chocolate Roasted Pecans may quite possibly be the most addictive food I’ve cooked up in my kitchen in quite a while. It immediately caught my eye when I saw it here by Savvy Julie because I think it would make a great homemade holiday gift. That is, if you can manage not to eat them all yourself first. They are that addictive.

You’ll need: whole raw pecans, cayenne pepper, unsweetened cocoa powder, ground allspice, sugar, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and egg whites.

You start by whipping the egg whites in a bowl.

You’ll keep whisking them until they form soft peaks.

Then add the pecans and coat them evenly.

In another bowl, combine the sugar and cocoa powder…

Along with the cinnamon…

Ground ginger…

Cayenne…

And allspice.

Give it a stir and add that mixture to the bowl of pecans and toss them until they are well coated.

Spread the pecans onto a greased baking sheet.

Spread them as evenly as possible so they don’t stick together and bake them at 250ºF for one hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the pecans are dry.

You’ll notice that there are some missing from this tray—maybe half. They just disappeared somehow between the oven and the table. It’s that spicy sweet savory combination, I tell you! So addictive.

I served what was left at my holiday party and they were gone in a flash. Thanks so much to Savvy Julie for this amazing recipe! Visit her blog Savvy Eats for more of her great recipes.

Printable Recipe

Mexican Hot Chocolate Roasted Pecans

by Savvy Julie on November 16, 2011 in Appetizers, Snacks November 16, 2011 AppetizersSnacks

See post on Savvy Julie’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 4 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

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These pecans make for a stellar appetizer or snack. Pack them into a glass jar and tie up with a ribbon for a beautiful gift for friends and party hosts. If you’d like, you can use a combination of pecans and almonds here, or replace all of the pecans with 4 cups of almonds.

Ingredients

• 1  Egg White
• 3-½ cups Unsalted Raw Pecans
• ⅔ cups Granulated Sugar
• ¼ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1-½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ground Ginger
• 1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
• 1 pinch Ground Allspice

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 250F and grease a large rimmed baking sheet.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the egg white until it is white and frothy with soft peaks. Fold in the pecans, stirring until they are all coated with the egg white.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and spices. Add the sugar to the pecans and stir until all of the sugar is sticking to the nuts.

Spread the pecans onto the baking sheet. Bake at 250F for one hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the pecans are dry and the sugar doesn’t come off on your fingers when you touch them.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

 
One thing that is pretty much always in my refrigerator is almond milk. I love the nuttiness of the plain and vanilla flavors. And the chocolate almond milk? There’s just nothing like it in a tall glass of iced coffee.

And even though I love making many things from scratch, it just never occurred to me to make homemade almond milk until I saw Jennifer’s recipe here on Tasty Kitchen!

It also never occurred to me how simple it is to make it. Literally all you need is almonds and filtered water, along with any flavorings you’d like. In this case, I tried vanilla and a bit of honey.

The main thing is to soak the almonds in water for up to 6 hours, which will soften them and make it easier to extract the flavor from them once they are blended.

But since I’m not a very good planner, I only soaked them for an hour and the recipe still worked very well.

One other option is to use blanched almonds without skins for a very pure color. But hey, I don’t mind beige almond milk myself.

Once your almonds have soaked, combine them along with filtered water in a blender and give them a whirl for a few minutes.

A nice head of foam will start to form and that’s when you can stop and add the flavorings.

I added some honey from my bees here. But you could try stevia or maple syrup or leave it plain too.

Then I added vanilla. Once again, you could skip this or add cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, cinnamon, and so many other things.

Blend these ingredients together for another 30 seconds and then get ready for the filtering process.

Cut a swatch of cheesecloth and layer it into about four layers. Give it a rinse under cold water and squeeze out the excess. Then drape it over the mouth of a pitcher or Mason jar. If you want to help yourself out you can secure it with a rubber band. Pour in the liquid a little at a time, pressing the excess ground almond that gathers as you go.

It will help to scoop away some of the ground almond if it builds up too much.

Your contraption will look something like this. Keep adding until you’ve pressed in all of the liquid.

And there you will have homemade almond milk!

Thanks so much to Jennifer’s for this great recipe! I’ll never have to buy it again.

Printable Recipe

Homemade Almond Milk

by Jennifer on October 7, 2011 in Drinks, Non-Alcoholic October 7, 2011 DrinksNon-Alcoholic

4.00 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: -

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

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Almond milk is so easy to make, and so sweet. It’s a beautiful addition to cereal or your morning coffee.

For this recipe, you need cheesecloth, a big pitcher, and a blender.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Almonds, Unsalted (preferably Without Skin On)
• 4 cups Cold, Filtered Water
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• Optional Add-ins (a Few Are Listed Below) As Desired

Preparation Instructions

1. Soak the raw almonds covered in water for at least 6 hours, and then drain them.
2. Pour the almonds into a blender and add the cold filtered water.
3. Blend well. When you see a froth on the top, stop blending.
4. Add the vanilla and honey.
5. Blend again for another 20-30 seconds.
6. Take the cheesecloth, and fold to ensure it is at least 4 layers thick.
7. Put the cheesecloth on the top of the pitcher and secure it with a big elastic band. Use your fist to push some of the cheesecloth down into the pitcher so that it is not tight on top.
8. Pour the almond mix through the cheesecloth into the pitcher.
9. Use a big spoon to help push the milk through the mass of almond and into the pitcher.

And voila, you have Almond Milk!

Once you cinch the basic recipe, you’ll be eager to try the many possible variations:

For a chocolate fix, add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.
For sweeter milk, throw in a 1/2 cup of dates.
For cinnamon milk, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.
For maple flavour, add 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup.
For a sugar-free option, eliminate the honey and add Stevia to taste.

 
 
_______________________________________

There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

 
There is something so comforting about recipes made by grandmothers. Why do we like them so much? I think for me it is the nostalgia that comes with a recipe from her but also those good kitchen smells and the fact that no matter how hard I try, it never comes out quite like hers. I also love that grandmas rarely cook with recipes. They just seem to know what to do. They have an intuition in the kitchen that I strive for but seems to be part of that generation’s DNA. So of course this recipe called Nonnie’s Persimmon Pudding and submitted by MariahS was one I absolutely had to try.

You’ll need: soft ripe persimmons, eggs, butter, buttermilk, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, flour, baking soda, heavy cream, and honey.

All of the good things life is made of.

If your persimmons are really soft you can easily peel the skin off with a paring knife and mash them with a fork.

But some varieties of persimmons are a bit harder so it would be worthwhile to puree them in a blender for a few seconds.

Next add your sugar.

Then your baking soda…

And your eggs. Now you could do it the “proper” way and beat the eggs first, but I was trying to channel my grandmother and defy the rules so I mixed mine once I added them to the puree.

In a separate bowl combine the flour and cinnamon.

Then add the baking powder.

Give it a nice stir and gather your bowls side by side.

Incorporate part of the buttermilk and whisk as you go…

It will make a rather mesmerizing art piece as you swirl. At least it did for me but I’m easily entertained.

Next mix in part of the dry ingredients… and go back and forth between the dry and the buttermilk until it’s all incorporated.

Next whisk in the cream.

Then the honey. This was the last of a batch from my honeybees!

Next you’ll pour in the melted butter.

Give it a good whisk until it’s well incorporated.

Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and pop it in the oven for 1 hour.

While it cooks you’ll make the glaze for the pudding. Get some water simmering on the stovetop.

Then gather vanilla and a combination of sugar and flour.

Once the water is simmering add the sugar and flour mixer a little at a time, whisking while you do.

The mixture will begin to bubble and thicken so that it becomes viscous. Once it does you can turn the heat off and let it sit.

After it’s cooled for a few minutes you add the vanilla and whisk it in.

After the batter has baked, open the oven just briefly. It will be golden brown and wonderfully moist.

But you’re going to make it even more moist by pouring the syrup all over the top!

Look at that glossy goodness!

Close the oven door and let it all soak in while keeping it warm.

I was amazed at just how warm is stayed for hours just by leaving it in there.

When you’re ready to eat it simply scoop it out and serve. It would be wonderful with a scoop of ice cream as well. I took this to a pumpkin carving party and it was a total hit. Everyone said it tasted like fall.

Thanks so much to Mariah for sharing this tasty recipe!

Printable Recipe

Nonnie’s Persimmon Pudding

by MariahS on September 25, 2011 in Custards/Puddings, Desserts September 25, 2011 Custards/PuddingsDesserts

4.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 12

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My husband’s grandmother, Nonnie, used to make her really unique version of Persimmon Pudding every Thanksgiving. When she wasn’t able to make it anymore, I took over making it each fall. You can serve this warm or let it cool; my family loves it both ways. Nonnie passed away this year, but you can be sure that this will be on the Thanksgiving menu. Nonnie would have loved to have her recipe shared with others.

Ingredients

• FOR THE PUDDING:
• 2 cups Persimmon Pulp
• 2 cups White Sugar
• 2  Eggs, Beaten
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1-½ cup Buttermilk
• ¼ cups Heavy Cream
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 1 cup Water
• ½ cups White Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Preparation Instructions

Note: Prepare the sauce while the pudding is baking.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan lightly with nonstick spray; set aside.

For the pudding, mix the persimmon pulp with the sugar in a large bowl; set aside.

Whisk together the eggs and baking soda in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the persimmon mixture and beat well; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir 1/4 of the flour mixture into the persimmon mixture. Add 1/4 of the buttermilk and mix well. Continue alternating flour and buttermilk, adding 1/4 each time, and mixing well after each addition, until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk are incorporated. Stir in cream, honey, and melted butter until well combined. Pour the pudding batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven until set, about 1 hour. While baking, do not stir; Turn off the oven at the end of the baking time, but do not remove the pudding from the oven.

Meanwhile, when the pudding has about 10 minutes of baking time left, make the sauce. Boil the water in a small saucepan. Whisk the sugar and flour together, and whisk the sugar mixture into the boiling water, whisking until smooth. Boil the sauce for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

Pour the sauce mixture evenly over the pudding and leave the pudding to cool in the warm oven for 20 more minutes, being sure that the oven is off so that the pudding does not continue to cook.

 
 
_______________________________________

There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

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