Maple and Bacon Roasted Almonds
When I’m invited to parties, I never know what to bring. There’s the
usual suspects — chips and salsa or Chex-Mix — but I’ve always wanted
something unique, a conversation-starter.
I might have found it when New York Magazine recently named its best bar snack: almonds roasted in bacon and maple syrup, a specialty at the New York restaurant Buttermilk Channel. The magazine offered a rough guide on how to make it and from there it was trial and error figuring out my own version. This quick, easy blend offers something most people have never seen before and tastes great.
It calls for four simple ingredients: whole almonds, bacon, mustard powder, maple syrup.
I used a half-pound of raw shelled almonds, the cheapest ones I could find. For the bacon I used four strips of a hickory-smoked, but any relatively thick bacon would be fine. The mustard powder had been untouched in spice cabinet for who knows how long, and I measured out two teaspoons, found the taste to be lacking and added a third. Finally I used a little more than 1/3 of a cup of real Vermont maple syrup. As with all recipes, the better the ingredients, the better the final product, especially with the bacon and maple syrup in this one.
Now here’s the preparation:
