Salty, Crunchy, Home-made Snacks

[Chris Amirault]

With winter holidays approaching here in the northern hemisphere, I've started thinking about the sorts of snacks I like to have out for cocktails, noshing, and the like. I've been fiddling around with nuts lately: just made a batch of hzrt8w's peanuts with nam yu, and I've gotten closer to an ideal smoked nut recipe.

What about you? Is there a perfect chex mix out there? How about homemade potato chips or tortilla chips? Salt and crunch is the only requirement.

[Pam R]

I have had great success with root vegetable chips. Beets are particularly good. You have to slice them very thin, and hit them with salt right out of the oil.

[pam claughton]

We often doctor up the Chex Mix by adding mixed nuts, and dried fruit and dark chocolate to it. Makes it downright addictive. We tried making the chex mix ourselves, but it wasn't a noticeable improvement over the pre-made mix, so we just buy that now and fix it the way we like it.

Also, spiced pecans with brown sugar, butter, chinese five spice, and a hint of cayenne are delicious!

[Marlene]

I always make JAZ's spiced pecans, and I usually make homemade potato chips dusted with parmesan.

Also, tortilla crisps which are m husband's favourite

3/4 c butter, softened

1/2 c parmesan

2 tsp parsley flakes

1/4 c sesame seeds

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2- 1 tsp garlic powder

6 6 inch tortillas

Combine first 7 ingredients. Spread each tortilla with a thick layer

of the butter mixture. It will seem like too much, but it's not! Cut

each tortilla into 8 wedges.

Place on ungreased baking pans. Bake in a 350 oven for 12-15 minutes

until crisp and brown.

Edited November 17, 2008 by Marlene (log)

[gfron1]

I'm hooked on the savory granola in the new Alinea book.

[Peter the eater]

I have had great success with root vegetable chips.  Beets are particularly good.  You have to slice them very thin, and hit them with salt right out of the oil.

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Your chips sound and look better than mine. What kind of oil do you use?

[heidih]

One of my considerations is also trying to avoid people filling up on the snacks and then giving short shrift to the lovely meal. Two light but satisfyingly crunchy items that come to mind are pumpkin seeds and Vietnamese rice crackers.

I used the Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin seeds this year in a successful prep. Normally I have only salted and roasted. This year I tossed half in a zip lock bag with salt, olive oil, garlic powder, pepper, and the other half with salt, olive oil and Mrs. Dash's hot pepper blend. That was just a quicky; the possibilities are endless. The teens hoovered them and I was kind of glad I did not hide them for myself because they enjoyed them so much- plus they are flavorful without being filling.

The Vietnamese sesame rice crackers we are currently addicted to are not salted but they are crunchy and fun. They are labeled "Banh Da" (the black sesame ) and "Banh Trang Me Trang Tom (white sesame and dried shrimp). They look like thick dried rice papers. I break each one up into 3 or so pieces and microwave for 30 to 40 seconds. They magically puff up. Try them with small chunks of an intense cheddar or other cheese and some grapes. Looks cool, is entertaining and tastes great.

[Pam R]

I have had great success with root vegetable chips.  Beets are particularly good.  You have to slice them very thin, and hit them with salt right out of the oil.

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Your chips sound and look better than mine. What kind of oil do you use?

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Canola, almost always.

[BekkiM]

Barbecue Sweet Potato Chips - salty and spicy and smoky right out of the fryer. I'm still experimenting with the appropriate thickness, but I have had good luck with soaking them for an hour or so in cold water (which I hear leaches some of the starch out of them, reducing the risk of burning), then layering them in clean kitchen towels to dry (so I don't put too much water in the hot oil--which can be very exciting).

I was just in Seattle and had the most amazing tempura-battered sweet potato fries that were tossed in this amazing wasabi oil then served with a wasabi-mayonaise dipping sauce. Now to recreate that experience at home...

[JAZ]

I always make JAZ's spiced pecans, and I usually make homemade potato chips dusted with parmesan.

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Strictly speaking, the recipe is for walnuts, although pecans also work well.

One of the best bar snacks I've ever had is a Thai appetizer called "cashew salad" that I learned about years ago in a cooking class.

You start with fairly darkly roasted, salted cashews. (The instructor fried raw cashews, but I find that tossing them with a little oil and roasting is easier and less messy. If you're in a hurry, you can buy already roasted cashews and just toast them a little more in the oven. The main thing is that they need to be warm.)

For each pound of cashews, thinly slice a shallot, a couple of green onions, and a few hot peppers (a combination of red and green is pretty, and a combination of something hot, like a Thai bird, and something not quite so hot, like a jalapeno works well). When the cashews are roasted and salted (and warm), toss them with the onions and peppers. Squeeze a lime over the whole thing, toss again and serve right away.

Another snack that's easy and surprising is to slice corn tortillas into thin strips -- think quarter-inch -- instead of triangles and fry them. Somehow the shape makes a big difference; they're great just sprinkled with salt and a medium hot chile powder, or you can serve a red table salsa for dipping.

Finally, there was a place in San Francisco that served deep fried anchovy-stuffed olives. They were breaded but the coating was thin, so the olive was prominent. I don't have a recipe, though.

[HungryC]

I love old-school cheese straws. I use my grandmother's best friend's recipe, from the Pine Bluff, AR, Junior League cookbook. It's pretty standard: lots of butter, shredded cheddar cheese, flour, and cayenne, worked into a fairly stiff dough, chilled, then shaped & baked. Whether cut into the traditional long strips or into rounds topped with pecan halves, it's all good. I do tart them up on occasion with a combination of cheeses & some sesame seeds (black sesame seeds make for a nice color contrast with pecorino or parmesan cheeses).

[Marlene]

I always make JAZ's spiced pecans, and I usually make homemade potato chips dusted with parmesan.

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Strictly speaking, the recipe is for walnuts, although pecans also work well.

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I knew that. I just said pecans for some reason!

[snowangel]

For each pound of cashews, thinly slice a shallot, a couple of green onions, and a few hot peppers (a combination of red and green is pretty, and a combination of something hot, like a Thai bird, and something not quite so hot, like a jalapeno works well). When the cashews are roasted and salted (and warm), toss them with the onions and peppers. Squeeze a lime over the whole thing, toss again and serve right away.

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Trader Joe's makes something similar, only difference is that they are not served ala minute, and have crunched (as opposed to crushed) red peppers and crunched dried kaffir lime leaves.

[MikeHartnett]

I'm hooked on the savory granola in the new Alinea book.

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Rob, do you just eat it out of hand? And does it keep well, make enough to last, etc?

[Toliver]

As I admit in this recipe for Dill Oyster Crackers, it's totally Sandra Lee-ish (or Paula Deen-ish, if you like), but they're so easy to make and the finished crackers are salty, crunchy and addictive.

[Lindacakes]

It comes out of a can, but I looooove wasabi peas with me 'tails.

[Chris Amirault]

We have a Ready to Eat salty snack topic. I'm interested to know what salty snacks you can make yourself, either at home or at work. I'm part of a team thinking about classic-cocktail-friendly bar food, in particular, at a new restaurant, so anything that marries nicely with gin, rye, rum, and so on would be particularly appreciated.

What salty, crunchy snacks are your (or your customers') favorites?

[bmdaniel]

I think truffled (i.e. truffle oiled) popcorn would be a big hit and fairly easy to execute. I think that flavor profile would go well with classic cocktails, especially on the dryer side.

[Chris Hennes]

I have a whole bunch of different spiced nut mixtures that I make, though most of them will pair well with only a subset of cocktails, they aren't exactly "neutral."

[Chris Amirault]

Drinking this new absinthe cocktail and tried a few Cheez-Its with it. You can't taste them. What works with potent cocktails, especially those with absinthe?

[Chris Hennes]

How about this recipe, from Fine Cooking Jan. 08?

Toasted Spiced Cashews

1 pound cashews

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar

4 tsp Garam Masala

1.5 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Beat egg until foamy, and toss with cashews. Add remaining ingredients, toss some more, until coated. Bake at 325°F 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

[bmdaniel]

Another idea is pickles - easy to make and delicious - I've never investigated them as cocktail pairings, but I think with certain drinks (probably the ones that are harder to pair with traditional snacks) they would work. Been enamored of momofuku pickles lately.

[Chris Amirault]

I love those Momofuku pickles, too -- but what drinks do you think go with them?

[Tri2Cook]

I love those Momofuku pickles, too -- but what drinks do you think go with them?

I'm no cocktail expert and I love me some pickles but I'm having a hard time pairing cocktails with vinegar in my head as well. The Bloody Mary and it's variations are about all I can come up with.

[JAZ]

Having eaten my share of bar snacks, I wouldn't worry too much about matching snacks to drinks. Your patrons won't think in those terms, and if you want to match food with drinks, you'll have a lot better luck with a limited menu of actual food.

The standards like potato chips, sweet-salty-spiced nuts, popcorn and sesame twigs can be great if made and served fresh. Avoid any kind of mixture, which only encourages pillaging by patrons who only like one element of the mix.

Possibly the best (and coolest) bar snack I ever had was at a dive bar in San Francisco. They had a Girolle cheese slicer behind the bar, and when asked, they'd shave off some cheese and serve it with a plate of saltines. Not only was the cheese great, but you got to watch the cheese shaving while you waited.

Whatever you do, serve water with the snacks, both because the snacks are salty, and because you don't want patrons trying to quench their thirst with your cocktails (or have them think you're serving salty snacks to make them drink more).