It is the eve of our family garden party. Forget Henley, Ascot or even Bestival. For me this is THE summer event by which all other summer events will be judged and found wanting. This year my dad is even putting up a gazebo.
Unlike most people I relish the prospect of a large family event. It brings together many of the things I love: food in vast quantities, flowing booze and my family.
Years of seething resentment, suppressed emotions and bizarre complexes combined with a good spread makes for a fantastic day out. This year my little sister’s boyfriend will be attending for the first time and this only make me more excited. How will we come across to this outsider and will he have as much fun as me? Unlikely considering he will be surrounded by mainly hostile faces some of whom look and sound strangely similar to his girlfriend.
I have been put in charge of nuts, cocktail sausages and mayonnaise. Quite a strange remit. Almost as if I was an afterthought. I shall probably bring that up tomorrow.
This is based on a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. I often get confused and call her the Barefaced Contessa which is clearly a much better name. She must be kicking herself for going with Barefoot.
To make these nibbles select a mixture of nuts, I used roughly 700 grams of cashew and almonds. Melt 90 grams of butter to make a glaze and add 2 tbsp of brown sugar and cayenne pepper to taste. You’ll need plenty of pepper to cut through all the sugar so don’t be a wimp. Cut up about 2 large handfuls of fresh rosemary very finely and add this to the glaze. Coat the nuts with the mixture stirring thoroughly.
I love these nuts but my only criticism for this batch is I felt they had a bit too much buttery sauce on, thus making them a bit too sweet and sickly for me. Other then that no complaints!
I totally agree, I melted too much butter but just put it in anyway as I didn’t want to waste it. That is why I will never be a professional.
Ta recette me paraît très intéressante. De plus, j’ignorais que “ROSEMARY” means “romarin” en français. Je lis ton blog avec mon dictionnaire sous la main!