Easy Apps: Spiced Pecans

One of the things I love about The Kitchen Survival Guide is that it expects you not only to feed yourself properly, but your guests as well.

Spiced Pecans

Be sure to make lots of these as they will disappear fast.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Can be made ahead? Yes. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Can be frozen? No.
Can be doubled and tripled? Yes.
Good for leftovers? Yes, if there are any left over.

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
10 drops Tabasco sauce (fewer if you want it less spicy)
12 ounces (approximately 2 1/2 cups) shelled pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the rack in the center position. Line a shallow baking pan with foil (to make cleanup easier).

In a medium mixing bowl combine all the ingredients, except the pecans, in the order they are listed. Mix well to combine, then mix in the pecans. Distribute the pecans and the sauce evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Then cool 15 minutes in the pan.

Pass the pecans while still warm in a bowl or on a plate. Or store in a covered container at room temperature until ready to serve.

Simple. Tasty. Good with drinks. I like the mixture of sugar and soy, mustard and cayenne. I wouldn't drop down the Tabasco, in part because I love spicy stuff, and in part because I think you need the heat to balance the sweet. Plus, if it's spicier, there's a chance you'll eat it more slowly...

Grandma Green always had a bowl of nuts on her coffee table; I remember being slightly disappointed when we didn't get a nut bowl and nut pick set for a wedding gift (I spent my early years very near The House of Myrtlewood, after all...). I don't remember having pecans much, though, until I moved east, so my instinct would be to substitute walnuts for the pecans.