Surprisingly Tasty and Simple Pasta

Whenever we come back home from being out town no matter how long we've been gone Russ and I both are always ready to have a home cooked meal. The only problem with this is that we usually come back tired from traveling. This weekend was no exception. We went to Atlanta for one night to visit Sam and Farrah and go to the Beer Festival. We had a wonderful time and like always when we got home we both wanted to stay in and eat a home cooked meal for diner. For some reason I was at a complete loss as to what to make, so Russ mentioned that pasta sounded good to him. I pulled out Giada’s Everyday Pasta cookbook and flipped through it. I almost immediately stopped at a recipe that has caught my eye before as one that looked simple and pretty good, Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions. Since I was looking for simple and pasta I decided to go for it even though it didn't look like a fabulous recipe.

To make the pasta you sauté the red peppers and onions (seasoned with salt and pepper) in olive oil for a few minutes. The recipe calls for ¼ cup of olive oil, but I just used about two tablespoons and it was plenty. Once these have sautéed for a few minutes you add the garlic, basil, and oregano. This cooks for a little longer and then you incorporate the tomato paste. Once this is incorporated you add the Marsala wine, diced tomatoes with their juices, and the sliced sausage. I used precooked sausage which made the dish even easier. The sausage, pepper, onion mixture then simmers until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. This is where you should start the pasta... but I didn’t read the recipe all the way through before starting and therefore didn't realize the sauce needed to simmer for 20 minutes. Anyway, I cooked my pasta earlier and then when the sauce was done I tossed it with the sauce long enough to make sure the pasta was heated back up.. You then serve the pasta and sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese.

I was pleasantly surprised with this pasta dish. As I mentioned before I didn’t have the highest of expectations, but the flavor and combination of red peppers, onions, and sausage were fantastic. Russ and I both really enjoyed this dish and it was perfect for night like tonight where we are tired, but want a warm, home cooked meal. This one will definitely be repeated in our house since it was simple to throw together and very flavorful. I do think I overcooked the pasta a little and I ran out of penne and had to use two types of pasta, but besides that it was great. I am looking forward to having leftovers for lunch tomorrow and that is always a good sign. Russ rates the pasta a 9.

Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions
Giada De Laurentiis

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 yellow onions, sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Marsala wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on both sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain. (I used precooked sausage, so I skipped this step and just sliced them and added them later.) Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, basil, and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the Marsala wine, tomatoes, and chili flakes, if using. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Bring to a simmer. Cut the sausages into 4 to 6 pieces each, about 1-inch cubes. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.

While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes. Drain the pasta and add to the thickened sauce; toss to combine. Spoon into individual bowl and sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

Venezuelan Salmon

Tonight I needed a meal that was light, quick and easy since Russ and I wanted to run after work and still be able to eat at a decent hour. I decided on one of the recipes I brought home from my time in Venezuela several years ago. I spent most of a summer while in graduate school in Caracas, Venezuela staying with Ernesto’s family. Ernesto is my Venezuelan brother and his family took me that summer as their American daughter. It was a wonderful experience and I got to see lots of their beautiful country! I also was able to enjoy lots of its delicious food and drinks. I fell in love with mangos there, tasted papaya, arepas, and yuca for the first time, ate lots of fresh seafood, enjoyed a Venezuelan cook out, drank lots of fresh juices including passion fruit, snacked on too many delicious pastries, and the list goes on and on. One of the seafood dishes I ate on multiple occasions for every meal including breakfast was Ernesto’s Dad’s salmon. I have made arepas for Russ before, but I have not made him any of the other Venezuelan dishes yet… so tonight I decided to serve Senor Vidal’s Salmon a la Plancha.

To make the salmon you start by sprinkling it with garlic powder, salt, pepper and then marinate it in a mixture of white wine, olive oil, and parsley. Senor Vidal cooks his salmon on the griddle, but we decided to grill it. We let it marinate for about an hour and then Russ grilled it for about 10 or so minutes on the Egg. I served it with corn and a salad.

This is a super simple recipe that has great flavor and for me brings back wonderful memories of sitting in their kitchen with the doors and window open and eating salmon for breakfast. My family loves this dish too and my Dad has made it on a number of occasions. Tonight’s salmon turned out really well, only it was not as good as Senor Vidal’s. Next time we’ll marinate it a little longer. Russ really liked the salmon and we both enjoyed the simplicity of the dish and its great flavor. Russ rates the salmon a 9.

Filet de Salmon a la Plancha, Senor Vidal

1. ajo en polvo (garlic powder)
2. perejil molido (dried parsley)
3. pimienta (pepper)
4. aceite de oliva (olive oil)
5. vino blanco (white wine)
6. sal al gusto (salt to taste)

Cook for about 10 to 12 minutes

A Similar Yet Different Stir Fry

Lately I have been in the mood for a stir fry with lots of veggies and some warm brown rice. Since we have an abundance of ripe green peppers in our garden I wanted to find a stir fry recipe that would use them as a main ingredient. I did a search and ended up deciding on an older CL recipe called Three Pepper Beef.

One of the great things about making a stir fry is that it cooks very quickly. Brown rice on the other hand takes about 45 minutes. So to get things started I got the rice going first. Then I sliced the flank steak (across the grain and very thin) and mixed it in a bowl with a little cornstarch, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl I whisked together cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, beef broth and soy sauce. I then prepped the rest of the ingredients by slicing the green onions, cutting the peppers and onion into thin strips (green, red, and yellow ones), trimming the sugar snap peas, and mincing the garlic and ginger. Then in a non-stick skillet I heated the oil (I used dark sesame oil instead of veggie oil) and sautéed the onions, ginger, and garlic. I then added the beef mixture and let it cook for a couple minutes. You then remove the beef mixture and stir fry the remaining veggies until they are almost done. Lastly you add the beef mixture and sauce into the pan and let everything cook together for a couple minutes until the sauce has thickened. Serve it over the rice.

I was excited to not only use the green peppers from our garden, but also to try cooking sugar snap peas for the first time. Unfortunately the green peppers from our garden had a distinct bitter taste to them. I am not sure if they were not ripe enough or if we they are simply not allowed to grow to their full potential in both size and flavor due to being in pots... I am still working on a green thumb. As far as the stir fry we both really liked it, however, Russ thought I had served it before... It was a new recipe for us, but I believe he was confusing it with the Ginger, Beef, and Green Bean Stir Fry I made not too long ago. While the two are similar I actually prefer the flavor of the sauce from the ginger stir fry over tonight's. Tonight's was good, but the sauce was a little too plain for me. I did however love the flavor and color of the red and yellow peppers and sugar snap peas in it. Maybe next time I'm in the mood for stir fry I'll combine the two recipes. Russ rates tonight's stir fry a 8.

One Apple Too Many...

Tonight is Bachelor Night and Seth and Elizabeth are hosting which means that Russ and I are in charge of an appetizer and dessert. Since I have been on an apple kick and still have apples left I decided to do an apple dessert. There is an abundance of apple recipes, so narrowing it down was a little difficult. I decided I wanted to make an apple bar of sorts and I finally decided on County Fair Caramel Apple Bars from King Arthur Flour’s website.

For the sake of time I decided to make the bars on Sunday. You start by mixing unsalted butter, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, sugars, and vanilla extract together. You then add the flours (all purpose and nut flour – I made my own pecan flour). Once the mixture is crumbly you remove half of it to use in the topping. You then mix the egg into the remaining portion of the mixture. This is then pressed into a greased baking dish and baked at 350 for 17 minutes. While the crust is baking you can prepare the topping. You peel the apples and slice them. You then cut the slices into pieces. The apple pieces are then mixed with cinnamon, brown sugar, salt and vanilla extract. You then combine the flour mixture (that you set aside earlier) to the apples. This is then evenly distributed over the crust and baked at 350 for 45 minutes. Once they have baked you allow them to cool. You then are supposed to go ahead and cut them into bars and let them cool further, however, I managed to skip this step. Lastly you melt caramel candies with milk or cream (I used half and half) and drizzle this over the bars.

So, last night when I made the bars they looked picture perfect! I covered them with foil once they had cooled completely (including the drizzled caramel) and didn’t look at them again until I go to cut them to take to Bachelor Night….. When I go to cut them I am disappointed to find that something happened overnight and the caramel has become liquid and the apple topping mushy. They didn’t look beautiful and appetizing like they did last night. I try to bake them a little longer to have the caramel firm up, but in the end Russ thinks that they taste good enough and we’ll serve them with ice cream and chocolate sauce to help them out. I am not sure if not cutting them and putting them in Tupperware was the problem or what, but in the end the bottom of the crust was over baked (possibly from baking them again in an attempt to have the caramel harden), the apple filling lacked texture, and the drizzled caramel didn’t hold up enough to provide its flavor or stickiness. Russ felt like the apple topping still had good flavor and he is right, but overall these were a bust. I’m not going to bother recreating this recipe to try to have a better end product since there are so many other yummy sounding apple bar recipes out there. For now I am going to leave the rest of my apples alone until this weekend when I’ll pick back up with working with them perhaps to make homemade applesauce (Russ’ request). Russ rates the Caramel Apple Bars a generous 7.

For an appetizer we brought cheese and crackers which were yummy and lucky for me fool proof. Seth gave us all a treat and made his Dad’s special sandwiches which involve a hoagie, sliced steak, sautéed onions, green peppers, and mushrooms, tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. Yummy! Russ liked them so much he is still talking about them. Dowe and Emily did a wonderful Caesar salad and tomatoes with basil and fresh mozzarella. It was a fun night, but now Russ and I are feeling the Bachelor pressure… after the not so great shish kebabs and the apple bar disaster we have got to step up our sides for next week and the entrée for the following. We are keeping our fingers crossed…

(Since the apple bars aren't much to look at... I included our latest family picture from one of our hikes in Highlands.)

Apples, Apples and More Apples

This Saturday Russ and I made no plans except to stick around the house, watch football, bake, grill, and hang out with friends. Russ got started in the kitchen first by grilling wings for lunch and prepping the ribs. Once he was done with the kitchen I took over and started my apple baking. As I mentioned before we stopped by an orchard on our way home from Highlands, NC and picked up two and a half pecks of apples. I have been looking at different apple recipes for days now trying to narrow down what I want to try. I decided on a muffin and cake recipe for today.

The Apple Muffin recipe I decided on is from King Arthur Flour and it calls for predominately whole grain flour. To make the muffins you mix the flours (white whole wheat and all-purpose), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set this bowl to the side and cream the butter and sugars. Then mix the egg and buttermilk in and then turn off the mixer and stir in the flour mixture. Once this is all incorporated then you mix in the apple (which is cored, peeled, and cut into chunks). This is then put into muffin tins and baked for 10 minutes at 450 and then 15 minutes at 400. You are supposed to sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the batter before baking, but I managed to forget this until they had already baked.

The muffins turned out really well! They are not a sweet muffin, but a tasty one filled with apples. The apples truly take center stage in this recipe and really make the muffin. You can’t put too many apples into it. This is one I will definitely try again, only next time I’ll probably double the recipe since it only makes 12 muffins in order to have more to share with friends and family. I did manage to share a few with Jess and Scott and sent a couple with Will (Russ' good college friend who was passing through town) and Megan (Will's friend) for the road. Jess called to tell me that she thinks they are best muffin yet and she has tasted lots of them in my quest for a perfect blueberry muffin! I may have to use some of the last of the Mentone blueberries from the freezer and try this recipe with blueberries. Russ rates the muffins a 9.

Next up on my apple baking spree is a cake I have made once before (pre-blog) and despite it not being the prettiest of cakes it was a real hit as far as flavor and texture. It is recipe I found online called Gooey Apple Sheet Cake. I am typically not a big fan of sheet cakes simply because they are not very attractive and have to be served out of the pan, but I do make exceptions and this recipe is definitely worth the exception.

To make the cake you mix melted butter and sugar together and then add the eggs. In a separate bowl you mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and cinnamon). You then add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk until it is all mixed together. You then fold the apples into the batter and spread the batter into a greased pan. Then you make the topping by mixing the cream cheese, powdered sugar, eggs, and oats together. You then spread this over the cake batter and put it in the oven to bake for 45 minutes at 350.

This recipe is so simple to put together and it is so moist, rich, and gooey (hence the name). It is not light by any means, but it is well worth the splurge. I was a little disappointed though that I chunked the apples instead of leaving them in thin slices. Last time I believe I did the think slices and I think the shape and thickness of slices would work much better than the chunks. Allen, Russ, Will, Megan and I all loved it! It is a recipe that is a guaranteed hit with a crowd, so if you are in need of a dessert sometime soon I would highly recommend it. As an added bonus it is similar to a coffee cake, so it is tasty in the morning too! Russ rates the cake a 10.

On a non-apple note I also made homemade Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese tonight. Russ and I were watching the Food Network recently and ran across Alton Brown’s Good Eats on cheese. Being the cheese lovers that we are we could resist watching. Russ loves the macaroni and cheese from the blue box, so despite the many recipes I have tried for homemade macaroni and cheese he still prefers the box kind. Alton convinces his nephew on the show that his Stove Top Mac and Cheese is better than the box kind, so I had to give it a try.

To make the macaroni and cheese you start by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling you cook the elbow pasta until al dente. While the pasta is cooking you grate the sharp cheddar cheese. You also mix the evaporated milk, dry mustard, hot sauce, salt, and pepper together. I went ahead and double the recipe since there were five of us for dinner. Once the pasta is cooked you drain it and run cold water over it. Then you return it to the pan and add the milk mixture and then the cheese. This is supposed to cook for a couple minutes until it thickens up and the cheese melts. I had to turn up the heat in order to get it to thicken a little quicker.

The recipe is very simple and the results are good, but not great. The texture was not as smooth as I would have liked, however, this may have been in part to my increasing the heat to have it thicken. It also had good flavor, but was far from fantastic. I think I’ll keep trying to find a homemade macaroni and cheese recipe that is true winner. Russ rates the mac and cheese a 7.

Gooey Apple Sheet Cake

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar1 cup butter -- melted

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c buttermilk

2 c chopped apples -- (1/4-1/2 inch pieces)
1 and 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon

For the Topping:
3 cups powdered sugar

8 oz. lowfat cream cheese (softened)

2 eggs
1/4 c oats

Mix melted butter and sugar with a mixer. Add eggs and beat well. Combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing well. Fold in the chopped apples. Spread batter into well greased (or sprayed) 13 x 9 baking pan. Mix Topping ingredients and put over cake BEFORE baking. Bake in a 350ºF oven for 40-45 minutes. You can store this on the counter or in the refrigerator. Great warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Source: Found online and is modified from a recipe from Diana's Desserts.

Shish Kebabs

Tonight is Bachelor night and Russ and I are hosting which means we are in charge of the entrée. Since the men have been more involved in entrees the last two times and steak has been involved Russ felt like he should fire up the Egg for tonight and red meat should somehow be involved. We decided that steak and chicken shish kebabs fit the bill. We have done kebabs before, but we still haven’t found a recipe that we love so we are trying a new one tonight for Emeril’s Wine Marinated Beef Kebabs.

Since the meat needs to marinate for 6 to 24 hours we went ahead and put it together last night, so that it can marinate overnight and all day today. We wanted to do steak and chicken even though the recipe only calls for steak. We looked around for a different marinade to use on the chicken, but in the end decided to use the same marinade for both. Russ started by cutting the steak (top sirloin) and chicken into large cubes. While I worked on mincing the garlic and gathering the herbs Russ tossed the meat with Emeril’s Essence seasoning in a large Ziploc bag. We then added soy sauce, red wine, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire, minced garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, and dried thyme (as our fresh thyme has dried out). When we got home from work tonight we put the wood skewers in water to soak. I then cut the onions, green pepper, and red pepper into large chunks. I washed the cherry tomatoes and cleaned the mushrooms and cut the tips of the stems off. The recipe does not call for marinating the vegetables at all, but we decided to throw them in for a little while until we were ready to skewer them. We did a mix on the skewers of chicken, beef, and veggies. Russ then grilled them on the Egg.

The shish kebabs were good, but not great. The first thing that we should have done differently is use a different cut of meat. We used top sirloin as the recipe had called for and it was a beautiful cut, but it was too tough for a kebab. I think next time we’ll try tenderloin when we do steak kebabs and see how that goes. The other thing we should have done differently is to not mix the chicken and steak on the skewers. The steak had to cook a little longer than it needed in order to have the chicken cook through. As far as the marinade we thought it was okay, but not aything super special or different. Russ and I both agreed that we liked it better on the chicken than on the steak which was surprising since the recipe is actually for beef. Overall Russ was fairly disappointed with the kebabs and gave them a 5.

Elizabeth and Seth were in charge of the sides and brought butter beans and roasted potatoes. They were both very yummy and I really liked the size of the potatoes. Elizabeth had them cut into bite size pieces which I loved! Emily and Dowe brought the appetizer and dessert. Emily made an excellent Baked Pimiento Cheese Dip which was very creamy and tasty with a kick to it. This is one that I will definitely keep in mind next time I need an appetizer. For dessert they brought a cute cookie cake which was devoured! As always it was a fun filled night with good friends, lots of food and drink, and another entertaining episode!

The rest of this week and the weekend already look to be filled with fun cooking and baking. We have several small, ripe green peppers in our garden that will show up soon. I also am very excited to have two and a half pecks of beautiful apples from an orchard where Russ, Cash, and I stopped at on our way home from Highlands, North Carolina. I am hoping to be able to have lots of time for baking with the apples this weekend!

Early Fall Weekend in Mentone

This weekend Russ, Cash, and I went up to Mentone with Sumner and John. We had a very fun relaxing time! While the boys watched the football games Sumner and I had fun cooking and catching up. For dinner we decided to grill out steaks and serve them with a spinach salad and mushroom risotto.

The spinach salad is a new recipe that Jane made up at the beach over Labor Day. Russ and I really liked it and I have wanted to try it ever since. I decided to make the dressing, candied walnuts, and cook the bacon prior to heading up to Mentone. To make the walnuts you whisk an egg white and then add a little water to it. The walnuts get mixed in the egg white mixture and then get coated in a sugar mixture. The sugar mixture has granulated sugar, brown sugar, a pinch of cayenne, cinnamon, and salt. They then bake at 300 F for 15 minutes. Then you stir them around and let them continue baking for about 15 minutes more. Once cooled then put them in an airtight container. To make the dressing you whisk the mustard with the vinegar and then slowly add the oil whisking as you add it. Lastly you whisk the reserved bacon fat in and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Russ cooked the bacon (we used turkey bacon) for me and then crumbled it. Once in Mentone Sumner and I seasoned the tomatoes and broiled them. We then added part of the bacon and dressing to the spinach and then layered the tomatoes, walnuts, and rest of the bacon on top. I brought basil up with us, but forgot to include it in the spinach mixture. Neither Sumner nor I felt like we missed out on anything by not including it.

This is a great spinach salad that is worth the extra effort to make it. It is wonderful mixture of textures and flavors. You could easily serve this as a main course and serve it with grilled sliced steak or chicken on top. Russ rates the salad a 9.

I have made Giada’s mushroom risotto before and while we liked it I wanted to try a different recipe this time. I found Tyler Florence’s recipe for Mushroom Risotto online that looked like a tasty one to try. To make the risotto you sauté the garlic and part of the onion in one pot and then sauté the rest of the onion in a sauté pan. To the sauté pan you will add the herbs and mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are cooked. To the pot you will add the rice and let it become opaque before adding the white wine. Risotto is a slow cooking process (which I love doing when I have the time) where you add warm broth (chicken broth here) to the risotto as it slow cooks and absorbs the liquid. You continue adding the broth ladle by ladle until the rice is fully cooked and not crunchy. Then you add the mushroom mixture to the rice and mix them all together. Lastly you mix in the grated parmesan cheese.

This was a wonderful hearty mushroom risotto that really let the mushrooms and herbs take center stage. I like the overall flavor better than Giada’s and think that this recipe may be my go to recipe for mushroom risotto. It also worked well with the steaks and salad. Russ rates the risotto a 9.

Spinach and Basil Salad with Tomatoes, Candied Walnuts and Warm Bacon Dressing
Fine Cooking Fresh, Fall 2007

Serves four.

½ lb. baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
6 slices bacon
2 Tbs. white-wine vinegar
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/3 cup plus 2 tsp. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes, washed and dried
1 and ½ dried herbes de Provence
½ tsp. dehydrated minced or granulated garlic
Candied Walnuts (see recipe below)

In a large salad bowl, toss the spinach and the basil.

Cut each slice of bacon into thirds. Cook in a medium skillet over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp; drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 Tbs. of the bacon fat. Crumble the bacon into pieces.

In a medium metal bowl, whisk the vinegar with the mustard. Slowly whisk in 1/3 cup of the oil and then whisk in the 1 Tbs. bacon fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside in a warm place.

Position an oven rack as close as possible to the broiler element. Put a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet on the rack and heat the broiler to high. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tsp. olive oil, the herbes de Provence, dehydrated garlic, and ½ tsp of salt. Pour the tomatoes onto the hot pan and broil, stirring occasionally, until the skins are cracked and blistered and the flesh is warmed through, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the broiler. Transfer the tomatoes with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the salad dressing. Stir to coat and mix the seasonings into the dressing. Put the bowl in the oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

Just before serving, transfer the tomatoes from the dressing into another bowl with a slotted spoon. Whisk the dressing to recombine. Add half the bacon to the greens. Drizzle with 3 Tbs. of the dressing and toss lightly to coat. Add more dressing only if needed; don’t overdress the salad. Mound the greens on four salad plates. Garnish with the tomatoes, the remaining bacon, and some of the candied walnuts (you’ll have leftovers for snacking). Serve immediately.

Candied Walnuts
Yields about 3 cups.

1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 and ½ Tbs. brown sugar
½ tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 large egg white, at room temperature
½ lb. walnut halves

Heat the oven to 300 F. In a small bowl, mix both sugars with the salt, cinnamon, and cayenne. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy; whisk in 1 Tbs. water until combined. Add the walnuts and stir to coat. Sprinkle on the sugar mixture and stir to distribute evenly.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a non-stick baking mat or parchment. Spread the sugared nuts in a single layer on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir the nuts, and continue baking until the nuts smell toasted and the sugar coating is caramelized, about another 15 minutes.

Let the nuts cool on the pan, separating them as they cool. When completely cool, transfer them to an airtight container. They’ll keep for two weeks.