A homemade nut mix takes on a sticky, spicy finish with a recipe from Anthony Bourdain, on Friday, Oct. 23 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion.)

A homemade nut mix takes on a sticky, spicy finish with a recipe from Anthony Bourdain, on Friday, Oct. 23 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion.)

Kalifornsky Kitchen: I’m going nuts

I’m enjoying the nuts while I work from home and occasionally daydream about the international travel

By Victoria Petersen

For the Peninsula Clarion

Two years ago around this time of year, I cracked open “Appetites: A Cookbook” by Anthony Bourdain. I had received the book as a Christmas gift a couple of years prior. The famous chef and TV personality took his own life in June 2018, and that morning I was rolling over in my bed to check my phone, barely awake — and then suddenly awake — as I read the most recent news notification on my phone’s screen.

Bourdain was not everyone’s cup of tea, but I grew up watching him on TV — “A Cook’s Tour,” “No Reservations,” “The Layover,” “The Mind of a Chef” and “Parts Unknown.” Most of the shows I watched as a kid were centered around traveling or food or learning about something new. Between watching Rick Steves’ European adventures on PBS, Samantha Brown’s weekend getaways on Travel Channel and Bourdain’s programs, I spent a lot of time dreaming of jetting off to new places and trying new things. I still do, especially now.

I think many people were impacted by Bourdain’s death. His shows and writing resonated with people who were hungry for more than just food and sightseeing. It was one of those celebrity deaths that impacted me more than I expected it to. For that reason, it took me a long time to watch his shows again, or try his recipes. Many months after he died in June 2018, around the holidays, I pulled his cookbook off the shelf. I’d never made anything from it, but I wanted to go out of my way and try one of his recipes.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

My boyfriend and I decided on a recipe for spiced bar nuts. I think we had a party to go to and we thought it would be a nice thing to bring, and an easier recipe to accomplish. We thought the nuts were great. They ride the line of sweet and spicy, but it works. We’ve made them around this time of year for two years now, and we’re going to continue carrying on the tradition. In our own circle of friends, they’ve sort of become their own hyped-up holiday event. “When are they going to make the nuts?”

This year, I’m enjoying the nuts while I work from home and occasionally daydream about the international travel I won’t be able to do for at least a year, if not longer. Having something to look forward to, even if it’s at an undetermined time in the seemingly far off future, can still be comforting.

In the top note of the cookbook, it says the genesis of the bar nuts is with his friend, Beth Aretsky, who later came to identify herself as “the Grill Bitch,” at One Fifth, a long-gone New York City restaurant.

“She created these spicy and sweet bar nuts, which caused many a customer to linger over drinks far beyond the advisable cutoff point. They are truly addictive,” Bourdain wrote in his cookbook. A quick Google search of Bourdain and “bar nuts” will populate with the original recipe.

We have strayed from the recipe the last couple of years, and just buy whatever nuts we feel like adding. This year we opted for Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, cashews, peanuts, pecans and almonds. As we were eating them we wished walnuts could have fit in the picture. Your favorite nut mix will probably be made up of your favorite nuts, so really follow your heart when it comes to this recipe. We also like to double it, because the nuts last forever and are great for sharing with others. Put the nuts in baggies and drop them off with friends and family for a little holiday treat. We could all use fewer October surprises and more holiday treats.

4 egg whites

5 pounds of mixed nuts

1⁄2 cup of sugar

1⁄4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

11⁄2 tablespoons cayenne

11⁄2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the egg whites in a mixing bowl until they are nearly whipped and foamy.

In a new mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients — the nuts, sugars and spice — and mix to combine and coat the nuts in the sugars and spices.

Fold the egg whites into the nut mixture, making sure to coat the nuts.

Pour the nut mixture onto the parchment paper-lined cookie sheets, and place in the oven for half an hour, stopping halfway through to stir the nuts up. Let cool and enjoy.

More in Life

A clay tea set on display at the Kenai Potters Guild exhibit, “River,” hosted by the Kenai Art Center. (Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Making art shaped by the river

Kenai Potters Guild Clay On Display exhibit focuses on a river’s effect on self and community.

A clipping from a Homer Death Cafe poster.
Homer group tackles death and dying through open conversations

The local group mirrors a growing worldwide trend of “Death Cafes.”

Peonies bloom on Friday, July 4, 2024, in the garden beside Cosmic Kitchen on Pioneer Avenue in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting
Homer chamber hosts 6th annual Peony Celebration

The weeks-long festival features art exhibits, events, flower sales, guided farm tours and more.

These fudgy brownies are a classic, decadent treat. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Dessert for a thoughtful reader

These classic fudgy brownies are dense and decadent.

Volunteers scoop up ducks at the finish line during the annual Anchor River Duck Races on Saturday, July 5, in Anchor Point.
Locals win at 4th annual Anchor River duck races

The event is part of the Anchor Point VFW’s Fourth of July celebrations.

Photo courtesy of the Melchior Family Collection
Between 1879 and 1892, Stephan Melchior (far left, middle row) performed his mandatory Prussian military service. He was a member of the Eighth Rhineland Infantry Regiment No. 70 in Trier, Germany.
Steve Melchior: Treasured peninsula pioneer with a sketchy past — Part 1

Did anyone in Alaska know the real Steve Melchior? That is difficult to say.

File
Minister’s Message: ‘Be still and I will fight for you’

Letting go of control and embracing faith and silence can encourage us in peace and divine trust.

"Octopus" is an acrylic painting by new co-op member Heather Mann on display at Ptarmigan Arts in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Ptarmigan Arts
July First Friday in Homer

Homer’s galleries and public art spaces celebrate with new and ongoing exhibits.

Frank Rowley and his youngest child, Raymond, stand in knee-deep snow in front of the protective fence around the main substation for Mountain View Light & Power in Anchorage in 1948 or ’49. This photo was taken a year or two before Rowley moved to Kenai to begin supplying electrical power to the central peninsula. (Photo courtesy of the Rowley Family)
Let there be light: The electrifying Frank Rowley — Part 2

In July 1946, the soft-spoken Rowley was involved in an incident that for several consecutive days made the front page of the Anchorage Daily Times.

Most Read