Deviled Almonds

 

This is a very simple recipe from John Mollard’s 1802 cookbook The Art of Cookery: Made Easy and Refined. You’ll need to start with raw almonds. The recipe calls for jordan almonds, but this might be a bit confusing. These are not the sugar-coated Jordan almonds that are a fairly common candy. In this case ‘jordan’ refers to a variety of sweet almonds that originated in Spain. Any commonly available raw almond will be fine.

If you’re unfamiliar with blanching, it’s really very simple. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the almonds for no longer than 60 seconds. Dump them into a sieve. The skins should easily slip off when you pinch the almond between two fingers. Take care not to leave the nuts in the water too long or they will get a bit soft.

Deviled Almonds
8 ounces raw almonds, blanched
2 ounces butter
salt and cayenne powder to taste

Melt the better in a large skillet, add the almonds, stirring frequently until lightly browned. Remove the almonds and drain, either in a sieve or on paper towels. While hot, toss with salt and cayenne to taste.

Variations to this recipe are only limited to your imagination and the ingredients you’ve got on hand. You can use other oils, such as olive or canola, for a vegan snack. Substitute other nuts for all or part of the almonds. Instead of cayenne, feel free to use your favorite seasoning mixture. In this example I’ve added pecans and substuted za’atar and garlic powder for the cayenne.