Roasted Maple Chai-Spiced Cashews

Thirty minutes before friends were set to arrive, I heated maple syrup in a skillet until it was sticky. I was making this salad from Saveur Magazine. No more than five minutes later, the cashews were candied and slowly disappearing while they cooled. (Who? Me? Steeling cashews from the pan? Never! 😏)

The cashews from that salad reminded me of the honey sesame cashews Trader Joe's sells in it's trail mix section. But better, because maple syrup. All things maple syrup are better, right? 

Those cashews sat in my mind for the next week. My eyes had been opened to something new: homemade maple cashews, and the flavor possibilities were endless. Maple Cayenne Cashews. Maple Cinnamon Cashews. Maple Rosemary? It could work. 

But the flavor profile that really got me excited was Maple Chai (you know how I love all things chai-spice). 

And now? Now I don't think I'll ever go back to Trader Joe's honey cashews. These homemade puppies are easy to make (we're talking a 10 minute recipe) and I find the maple flavor, with a bit of warm spice, SO. MUCH. BETTER. I couldn't stop eating these once they were made. 

And while I did no gifting of these cashews, and we ate most of them while they were still warm, they would also make a pretty little gift. Can you picture a mason jar filled with Maple Chai-Spiced Cashews tied up with a festive bow and a little name tag? Cute! And so sweet, in more ways than one. 

P.S., I did also try the Maple Cayenne idea but with pepitas instead of cashews. After they were candied they needed something else, so then I drizzled them with dark chocolate. They were good, but I liked these cozy cashews more. 

Roasted Maple Chai-Spiced Cashews

Published November 30, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 8   |    Total Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups roasted, unsalted whole cashews 
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 
• 1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/16 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/16 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch ground anise
• 1 pinch ground cloves

Directions:

1. Prepare a baking pan with parchment paper or a Silpat (affiliate link!). Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine cardamom, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, anise, and cloves. Stir to combine.
3. Heat maple syrup in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 1-2 minutes, stirring, until it begins to thicken. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add spice mix to syrup, stirring to distribute.
4. Now, add cashews to skillet. Stir using a spatula or wooden spoon until all cashews are coated. Scrape cashews with maple syrup onto lined baking sheet and spread out into a single layer, breaking up large clumps. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes.

Green Chile Smother Sauce

This green chile smother sauce was created for a good friend after we went to a Mexican restaurant and fell in love with their smother sauce. The Mexican restaurant is a little hole in the wall across the street from the DMV. You wouldn’t think much of that little restaurant if you were just driving by, but those that know it love it. The burritos come stuffed full of ingredients, making them bigger than anyone person could ever really need. And key to this story, each burrito gets coated in smother sauce.

What is smother sauce, you ask? Well, it’s a sauce, for smothering. But it can be used in a kajillion ways (I’ll share some ideas later in this post). Mostly, it’s a spicy sauce that you can pour over burritos, tacos, eggs—really anything. 

After eating at this restaurant, we realized smothered burritos didn’t have to be restaurant-only food. Why not make our own smother sauce? That’s how this happened. Introducing Green Chile Smother Sauce.

This green chili sauce is really similar to what you would use in my Pork Chile Verde. The difference is that this smother sauce can be used in 1,000,001 ways. It is a dip for chips when you want something zesty and tangy. It is the drizzle your eggs need in the morning. It is the sauce to smother every burrito, tamale, and taco with. Basically, it is everything. Still need ideas for how to use it? 

• Green enchilada sauce (do you have leftover turkey still? Enchiladas are the answer)

• Green eggs in purgatory

• A hot sauce for your breakfast (fried eggs or omellete)

• Serve as a salsa

• Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde (use this sauce in place of the tomatillo, onion, garlic blend that the recipe calls for: they are pretty much the same thing)

• A starter for guacamole

• A smother sauce for burritos

...just to name a few.

The secret to making the sauce is roasting the tomatillos, onion, and garlic before you blend it up. That gives it a slow cooked smoky flavor that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve. It cuts some of the tartness of the tomatillos. Then all you have to do is throw it in the blender and purée it. I use this blender (affiliate link)! And then you eat it, however you damn well please. That’s it! Easy peasy. 

Green Chile Smother Sauce

Published November 21, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 8 medium sized tomatillos
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 2 cans hatch green chiles (I use the hot ones, but feel free to use mild if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup cilantro 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 lime 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat your over to 475°F. Peel the papery outer skins from the tomatillos, wash them, and slice them in half. Cut the onion into 4 to 6 large wedges. Arrange them all on a sheet pan along with the garlic cloves. Brush with 1 tablespoon avocado oil, and place in oven. Roast until the tops of the tomatillos are browned, 10-15 minutes.
2. Add roasted tomatillos, onions, and garlic to a blender along with canned green chiles, cilantro, lime, spices (cumin, coriander, oregano, and optional cayenne), salt, and pepper. Puree. Mixture should be similar to a less chunky salsa.
3. Store sauce in jars until ready to use. Stays good in fridge for 1 week.

The Red River Gorge in Photos

This morning I am writing you from our rental cabin in Stanton, Kentucky. You can hear the quite patter of rain on the rooftop over the gurgle of the coffee machine behind me. I am always the first awake, and I like it that way. Only one light is on, and beyond the rain and the coffee machine there is a sense of stillness all around our cabin. 

The Red River Gorge sits just southwest of Lexington, and is surrounded by dense forests that are rainbow with fall foliage this week. This is only my second time here, but it's revered as one of the best places in the country for climbing and frequented by many climbers from around the world. The sandstone walls of the gorge are tall, and after decades of erosion they are covered in thousands of holes and pockets. It's as if they want to be climbed. 

This area of Kentucky is so different from my own home. For one, it’s wet. Even when it’s “dry,” things are humid. The forests are thick, mossy walls of deciduous trees, which are painted all colors of fall right now. (I find myself uncontrollably taking photos of this rainbow forest).

This last week was a learning experience of a new kind: I didn’t train for this trip as much as I would’ve liked to, so rather than setting my expectations high, I focused on the simple pleasure of being on vacation, unplugged and amongst the trees. When your goal is simply vacation, life feels pretty luxurious.

By day four I was starting to get used to climbing on a rope and was able to get into a groove (at home, I tend to boulder, so my head wasn’t prepared for sport climbing like it should have been). Now that we’re heading home, my motivation is renewed and I’m psyched to get training on both ropes and boulders again! There is no replacement for a weeklong adventure for getting your spirits high and your workout routine rejuvenated, whether that means going with a group of friends on a bike tour, paddling down a river, or backpacking!

Moonrise at dusk.