Smoked almonds


 

JayHeyl

TVWBB Pro
I did three batches of smoked almonds today using the recipes on the web site as a starting point. I did simple butter and salt smoked, a variation on the jalapeno smoked, and the curry almonds. With the jalapeno smoked I didn't have the green or red Tabasco sauce so I improvised using Cholula, a bit of ground chipotle, and some ground cayenne. I messed up with one aspect. The recipe calls for the hot sauce, Worcestershire, and melted butter along with some dried spices. I melted the butter, measured out the hot sauce and Worcestershire, mixed in the dried spices, and then added the melted butter. Problem was the hot sauce and Worcestershire came straight from the refrigerator and when the butter hit the cold it coagulated. When I mixed this with the nuts I ended up with little droplets of butter all over the place. They melted once they got in the smoker but it really didn't work the way I intended. Last year I let the nuts sit for a while in the sauce and they had soaked it all up by the time they went on the smoker. This time it was a lot juicier due to the melting butter. Live and learn.

The curry almonds call for tossing the almonds with olive oil and then smoking, sprinkling with the curry/celery salt/sugar/chili powder mix afterward. I followed the directions on this pretty closely, but afterwards started to question if there wasn't a better approach. The curry and chili powders are both oil soluble and many recipes have you bloom them in hot oil before adding other ingredients. I was thinking that might be a better approach on this recipe. Heat the olive oil until just shimmering and then stir in the curry and chili powders. Turn off the heat and let the oil cool. When it's no longer blistering hot, pour it over the almonds, toss to cover, and then smoke. Sprinkle with the celery salt/sugar mix when done. Any thoughts on this alternative approach?
 

 

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