Spicy Toasted Snack Mix
This snack mix will take your taste buds on a new snack adventure! The toasted ingredients transform a familiar favorite into something new, complex, and memorable. The toasted elements (Maillard reaction) also give you an array of colors that visually speak to us.
One of the essential flavor-producing reactions in cooking is the Maillard Reaction. It does cause browning, yet it’s the flavor impact that leaves us wanting more. In addition, the molecules it produces prove the potent aromas responsible for the characteristic smells of baking, frying, and roasting. The Maillard Reaction gives us a whole sensory experience when it comes to cooking.
Chemists have discovered the Maillard reaction develops thousands of flavors on foods and, with that, matching aromas to follow. Adding a Maillard reaction component to your recipe could be just what it needs to take the dish from simply edible to something worth remembering.
Breads develop a darker and thicker outer crust. Beer malts are roasted and added to the brewing process. Even your daily cup of java involves the Maillard Reaction. Coffee beans are roasted to achieve various coffee notes! Think of the best-seared steak you’ve had—a grilled brat versus a boiled sausage.
Once you start paying attention to the process and how it positively alters the taste, look, and smell of your food, you can quickly take your cooking to the next level.
Spicy Toasted Snack Mix
Ingredients
Mix:
- 4 cups cheese nips toasted variety
- 4 cups Pretzels extra dark, broken into large pieces
- 2 cups sesame sticks toasted
- 2 cups croutons organic large
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup peanuts oven roasted
Sauce:
- 1 sticks Butter
- 1 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce ensure it is Gluten free, French's makes theirs gluten free!
- 2 Tablespoons Tobasco
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- 5 grinds sea salt hickory smoked
Instructions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Add the stick of butter to the roasting pan and place in the oven until it is melted.1 sticks Butter
- Remove the pan from the oven and add the additional sauce ingredients, mixing to incorporate them equally.1 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tablespoons Tobasco, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon celery salt, 5 grinds sea salt
- Add the dry ingredients and mix to coat evenly with the sauce from the pan.4 cups cheese nips, 4 cups Pretzels, 2 cups sesame sticks, 2 cups croutons, 1 cup pecans, 1 cup cashews, 1 cup peanuts
- Put the pan back in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and stir to distribute the sauce. Place back in the oven and repeat 2 more times.
- Cool on a paper bag or towels before storing the mix in an airtight container.
Kitchen Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
De Froid Tip: Serving Vessels
You’ll hear me talk a lot about serving vessels that help create memorable moments. Presenting this spicy toasted snack mix to your guests in an iron roasting pan gives that toasted goodness an extra visual appeal. Add into the mix (no pun intended ; ) wooden spoons that have deepened in color from years of use and a wooden tree slice trivet, and you’ve created an environment that elevates your toasted snack.
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If you love real food, take pleasure in eating, and strive for mouth-watering flavor, you have come to the right place. Here the star of the show IS the food, presenting it in a way that makes it shine.
Tasting Experiences
We feature many appetizers and individual-sized recipes as a purposeful way to experience and share food.
Our mouth reacts to flavors in a transitional way. That first taste creates an exciting experience with the food’s intense flavors, textures, and visual appeal. Yet after the first few bites, our mouths and minds adjust, and that experience deadens.
Thus, the tasting experience! We served 14 consecutive courses at my last tasting party. Each was purposely selected to bring new flavors, textures, and presentations, creating surprises and wow moments throughout the night.
The Recipes
The recipes are documented with ingredients we love. Yet my greatest hope is to have you understand why the recipes work and eventually make them into your personal version using your favorite ingredients and presentations.