I've been bouncing around some ideas with a few forum friends about some stuff to do homemade to share with people for Christmas presents. It's fun to do unique and interesting things that people will enjoy. At one point in the conversation the subject of smoked pecan and walnuts came up. That got me thinking pistachios. I've loved those things since I was a kid and could easily sit down and eat a 2 pound bag. Found a place out in NM a few years ago while on a motorcycle riding trip that grows, roasts, and seasons them and they are amazing but I wanted to do something different...and thought my idea was viable. Last year was the garlic and herb infused olive oil, which garnered a huge amount of attention here in the forum I will do some of again this year, but felt the need to mix it up a bit. Ordered a bunch of pistachios that were roasted but not salted or seasoned. This worked well because the shells were already opened and I didn't have to roast them. Cold smoked yesterday, let rest overnight in a zip lock bag, and seasoned today.
Here is what I got a bunch of
A half pound in the grilling wok. Did a small batch because this is a trial run
Cold smoked with the AMNTS in my big smoker. I thought a couple hours would be plenty. WRONG!! It took 6 hours to get a nice smoke flavor. Here they are after smoking and in the zip lock bag. Not really a lot to see but I want to cover all the steps
These were seasoned with Hatch chili powder and a little salt
This morning I put spices in the bag and shook them up real well. My biggest fear came true: the pistachios were too dry and the seasoning wouldn't stick. Dumped the nuts and seasonings into a bowl, added some olive oil, and mixed them again. This worked!! Problem solved.
I put them onto a paper plate so sit out and dry for a few hours
Mid afternoon I tasted one and they were lacking. Added a touch more salt and more of the Hatch chili powder. You can see that I added more spice
And here we have a nice gift bag all vac sealed and ready to share with some poor, unsuspecting soul Although not lethal by any means, these do have a nice little kick to them
When I started the seasoning it was with 2 teaspoons of the chili powder. After adding about a half teaspoon of oil in the bowl to get the spice to stick to the shells I tasted them and a little salt was needed so I put a half teaspoon of salt in and re-mixed. That's when I put them on the plate to dry. After a few hours I tried another one and they just needed more bang so I added one more teaspoon each of the chili powder and salt. Perfect!! Interestingly enough though as the pistachios sat out on the counter the oil apparently dried up because the second round of seasonings was not sticking so I had to add another drizzle of the oil. Grand total I'd say I used about 1 teaspoon of oil (1/2 teaspoon two times), one T of chili powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to a half pound of pistachios. At the end of the day, these things are amazing!! I also got hands on some jalapeno powder I'm going to season some with as well as Old Bay seasoning. There will also be some done with garlic and onion for those that don't want the heat.
Well thanks once again for dropping in. this was a ton of fun and opens the door for all sorts of different flavor profiles. Most likely I'll go through all that I ordered this weekend and order another big batch. See y'all on the next episode of craziness
Robert
Here is what I got a bunch of
A half pound in the grilling wok. Did a small batch because this is a trial run
Cold smoked with the AMNTS in my big smoker. I thought a couple hours would be plenty. WRONG!! It took 6 hours to get a nice smoke flavor. Here they are after smoking and in the zip lock bag. Not really a lot to see but I want to cover all the steps
These were seasoned with Hatch chili powder and a little salt
This morning I put spices in the bag and shook them up real well. My biggest fear came true: the pistachios were too dry and the seasoning wouldn't stick. Dumped the nuts and seasonings into a bowl, added some olive oil, and mixed them again. This worked!! Problem solved.
I put them onto a paper plate so sit out and dry for a few hours
Mid afternoon I tasted one and they were lacking. Added a touch more salt and more of the Hatch chili powder. You can see that I added more spice
And here we have a nice gift bag all vac sealed and ready to share with some poor, unsuspecting soul Although not lethal by any means, these do have a nice little kick to them
When I started the seasoning it was with 2 teaspoons of the chili powder. After adding about a half teaspoon of oil in the bowl to get the spice to stick to the shells I tasted them and a little salt was needed so I put a half teaspoon of salt in and re-mixed. That's when I put them on the plate to dry. After a few hours I tried another one and they just needed more bang so I added one more teaspoon each of the chili powder and salt. Perfect!! Interestingly enough though as the pistachios sat out on the counter the oil apparently dried up because the second round of seasonings was not sticking so I had to add another drizzle of the oil. Grand total I'd say I used about 1 teaspoon of oil (1/2 teaspoon two times), one T of chili powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to a half pound of pistachios. At the end of the day, these things are amazing!! I also got hands on some jalapeno powder I'm going to season some with as well as Old Bay seasoning. There will also be some done with garlic and onion for those that don't want the heat.
Well thanks once again for dropping in. this was a ton of fun and opens the door for all sorts of different flavor profiles. Most likely I'll go through all that I ordered this weekend and order another big batch. See y'all on the next episode of craziness
Robert