Almonds II

As I said a while ago, I really like almonds. I had some roasted almonds I bought at Trader Joe's a while back which were roasted in olive oil, salt and rosemary. They had this nice rosemary scent which I really liked a lot. These were some kind of special Spanish almonds but I figured it wouldn't be hard to do with regular ones for a lot less. (I should try it with the fancy Spanish almonds.) There are numerous recipes on the web for this sort of thing but here's what I did:

1 cup raw almonds (blanched is probably best)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp dried rosemary (I didn't grind it but this would have been better)
1 tsp dried rubbed sage

Times are approximate, you'll have to test the almonds and watch to make sure they don't burn!

Put a saucepan on medium-low heat. Toss the almonds, 2 tbsp olive oil and the salt and allow to roast covered for approximately five to seven minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting. The nuts will get soft during this time. Add the remaining olive oil, rosemary and sage, toss and allow to roast uncovered for an additional three to five minutes. Allow the almonds to harden before serving, though they are best when still warm.

Comments

Well they were OK the next day but not like the day they were made. The salt and rosemary didn't adhere to the almonds after cooling down.

Any ideas?

Stuart Broz's picture

Brown sugar.

Interesting notion but this is supposed to be savory, not sweet, and I worry that something like brown sugar would shift the flavor substantially. Maybe it would work better with finer salt and crushed rosemary. Egg whites might do the trick in a relatively flavorless way.

Stuart Broz's picture

Although I think a small amount of brown sugar isn't going to make it too sweet, particularly given the salt.

Hmmm, good point. Might be worth a try. Grind the whole mixture up in a mortar and pestle?

We have been making almonds at the Holidays for years.

Make sure to not use too much oil - it prevents the salt from sticking.

I have never tried the rosemary.

So, roast the blanched almonds in just the very hot olive oil. When I make mine, I stir constantly.

Remove from the heat, and use a slotted spoon to remove, then place on a brown paper bag to drain the oil. Sprinkle with a good sea salt, and in your case, add the rosemary as well.

Enjoy!

Thanks. I tried to keep the oil minimal but I think the problem was too coarse ingredients. I have a burr coffee grinder but I should probably buy a blade grinder for spice grinding. Maybe Stuart's favorite mortar and pestle would be the best?