Rosemary's Cocktail Nuts

Just let me warn you now. Portion control ahead.

These nuts, flavored in your kitchen with butter and dried rosemary are spectacular. Sophisticated. Addictive. This will be a go to recipe for me from  now on. Perfect for parties and showers, gift-giving, or that extra little treat in my lunch bag.

I love a good wasabi almond or chile lime peanut. But these are nothing like the nuts you can buy at the store. Once I stumbled upon the idea of rosemary and nuts, I found that many a gourmet had traveled this path before. The world is filled with variations. Some with garlic, others with maple, some sweetened, some not. I was really interested in discovering the flavor of the rosemary itself, so I chose one of the simplest recipes as my launching point. The Diner recipe is closest to that of the Food Network.

I backed off the heat of the cayenne. That was for the hubby's best interest. He doesn't do hot, and I don't want to be responsible for eating this entire recipe alone. Not with all the nut tasting I have been doing this month while working on a nut related newsletter. Besides that, the hubs has been using all my cayenne to sprinkle into holes the new puppies have been digging in the back yard. I think our yard has the definite scent of various peppers wafting from the soil. I am not sure it is working how he hoped, Rather than abandon their digging, they simply seek virgin ground to dig. Our yard will be so fun to mow this summer with scores of small holes, all able to twist an ankle. Joys of puppies. (I still miss the days when it was Tonka truck construction creating the holes.)

My oldest son just celebrated his 4th anniversary yesterday. These nuts would have been wonderful for the wedding reception. Sweet memories. And even better news for our family today. My middle son Pearson, has great news, Following his radiation treatment, the doctors now see no evidence of cancer. We are praising God for that!

Without further avail, here is my promised recipe from this month's 24/7 Low Carb Diner News.

Rosemary’s Cocktail Nuts

The unusual flavor of this nut mix is unexpectedly good!

3 cups mixed nuts*

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp dried rosemary

1 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted nuts

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a skillet, melt butter. Stir in rosemary, salt if using, and cayenne. Stir in nuts to coat. Transfer nuts to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes if using raw nuts, 5 minutes if using pre-roasted nuts. Let cool in the fridge to set butter.  Transfer to jars or serving bowls.

*preroasted will have a shorter baking time than raw mixes. I tested the recipe with pre-roasted, but the times listed in the recipe should be correct.

Serves 16:  169 calories  5 g carb

Note that serving size and don't overdo! It will be hard. I am practicing discipline these days. Never sit down with the whole bowl. Never. Limit your portion size on this recipe, and you will be able to try all the other nut and seed recipes this month. A year of the Diner News is just $6. Take a look:

So Frugal Almond Dip

5 Spice Almonds

Sunflower Seed Hummus

Vanilla Pecan Butter

Thai Slaw with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Cowboy Crockpot Walnuts

Southwest Pepita Spread

Home Made Vanilla Almond Milk

Sweet Maple Pumpkin Seed Butter

Honey Sunflower Cookies

Chicken with Romesco Sauce

Bitchin' Sauce

Coconut Cashew Butter

Sunflower Seed Milk

Pesto Chicken

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