Biscotti = Disappointment & Slow Cooker Nuts = Pleasant Surprise

I have lost my biscotti mojo.  Once upon a time, I made biscotti so tasty, even complete strangers who have no familial relationship to me whatsoever would clamour on my website for me to make some for them.  I know they were good because Everyone told me so and Everyone doesn't lie, do they?  (Looking sideways suspiciously at Everyone.)

But lately...I just don't know, Reader.  Lately I kinda suck at it. 

It started with an ill-advised attempted at making Bicciolani di Vercelli as a thank-you present for a chef and his restaurant.  The cookie is a kind of highly-spiced polenta biscotti that I read about in La Dolce Vita by Michele Sciocolone.  Mario Batali has a version of them (although his do not have cornmeal) but other than that, it appeared to be a regional specialty that not everybody makes all the time, so I was thinking I would make this oddball cookie and be all hot shit with my special Italian cookie-making skillz. 

This was pure hubris.

I mean look at this picture I just outright stole from the Food Network website. 

 

The cookies are hideous and look like they'd taste of glue stick when made by Mario Batali.  WTF was I thinking?

Then I made a batch of Epicurious's Chocolate-Orange biscotti (still - now frantically - trying to make this damn thank-you present).  Despite having successfully made them twice before, this batch - for no good reason, there were no errors in the cooking - tasted salty.  Salty. 

Yet still I wasn't worried, so foolish was my pride.  But yesterday I made the Joy of Cooking's Mocha-Chocolate Biscotti and they suck ass and I'm really just about up to here with all of it.  (Makes that brusquely-swiping-under-chin hand gesture that means "f you" in Italian in the general vicinity of biscotti worldwide.)

But when Jebus closes one food-gift door, he opens another food-gift window, and this window is called: Slow Cooker Spiced Nuts.

As mentioned, I look for a large ease-of-creation to happy-reception ratio.  You can't make something too easy or your recipient will just give you a weak smile and insincere thanks for your store-bought candy cane tied with a bow.   But if you make something too too complicated and arduous, you risk feeling resentful if your recipient doesn't explode with gratitude when you present your homemade Seven-Wonders-of-the-World-Rendered-in-Chocolate.

So, since biscotti are quite possibly dead to me, I think I might now have a new excellent gift. I made Cajun Spiced Pecans in the slow cooker yesterday and they are delicious without being ridiculously time-consuming.

Here's the recipe I used.  It's a combination of the recipe in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and this recipe from About.com Southern Food section, which is very nearly the same, with a couple of tweaks from me.

I used chipotle pepper powder instead of regular chili powder.  Chipotle pepper powder has the same lovely rich smokiness of the actual chipotle pepper.  (Uh, safety note: do not prove this to yourself by taking a whiff of the powder from the bulk spice jar at the store unless you want to come dangerously close to acting out the wasabi-snorting scene from Jackass.  Not that I would know about that or anything because I certainly wouldn't make such a silly mistake.)

And since I was using chipotle flavoring, I also used Mexican oregano instead of the usual oregano.  I don't know quite how this affects it, but I liked the thematic continuity. 

Other than that one ingredient, I found all the others in the bulk food section of my local natural food market, so this was also very economical to make.

I made this in my small 2.5 quart slow cooker, so should be fine for down to that size. 

Cajun-Via-Mexico Slow Cooker Spiced Nuts

• 1 pound pecan halves (raw, unsalted) (can also use cashews, which are usually cheaper, and I actually enjoy the sweetness of the cashew against the spiciness more now than I do the pecans...but they are both delicious)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano (can be found usual be found in small bag in Mexican ingredient aisle as opposed to spice aisle) or regular oregano if you're not concerned with thematic tidiness
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder or granules
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1. Put the nuts and the oil in the slow cooker, stir to coat and cook, covered, on high for 15 minutes.
2. Mix all the other ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Pour spice mixture over nuts, stir to coat evenly, reduce heat to low.
4. Cook for 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally (be sure when stirring to really get down to the bottom and scrape up any flavoring goop to re-incorporate it into the overall nut mixture).  The instructions in the other recipes say cook uncovered. I didn't notice this until now; mine still turned out great.  Your call, I assume they will be crisper uncovered.
5. Once they are cooked, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and cool completely. 
6. Store in airtight container in fridge for up to four weeks or in freezer for 2-3 months.

Update on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 08:14AM by Leslie Seaton

Oh, PS, y'all, I should note that these nuts are spicy, as in hot-spicy.  But it's a nice kind of heat, the kind where you feel it on your tongue right after and it's definitely hot, but not the lingering kind that makes you feel like you need to gargle milk or something.

Comments

[Clay]

This recipe is the best! I made it with the chipotle pepper (forgot to get the mexican oregano so went with what I had) and loved the flavor. Great suggestion!

[LQSeaton]

Rad! Yes I have been ever more impressed with this since my first batch. Have made two other kinds now, will post those recipes soon. Stay tuned! Nutz fer nutz, y'all!!

[SF]

Can I have some of that botched, dead to you biscotti? Because last time I had your "oh, this is terrible" biscotti, it was wonderful.