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Grex Kitchen Item 230: Holiday recipes
Entered by edina on Thu Dec 21 19:57:50 UTC 2006:

A place to post stuff you (generally) only make during the holidays...

2 responses total.

#1 of 2 by edina on Thu Dec 21 19:57:59 2006:

Indian-Spiced Cashews and Pistachios with Currants

Makes about 2 cups and can be stored in an airtight container for up 
to 5 days.

1 and 1/4 cup (6 oz.) raw cashews (I did use roasted and was fine)
1/2 cup (2 oz.) raw unsalted shelled pistachios (I did use roasted and 
was able to find them at Trader Joe's unshelled, so I saved myself 
some work)
2 TB currants (I substituted 1/4-1/3 cup cranberries, as it's hard for 
me to find currants)

Indian spice mix
1 TB sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground coriander

Simple glaze
2 TB water
1 tsp light or dark brown sugar
1 TB unsalted butter

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 
350 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and 
spread the cashews on it in an even layer; roast for 4 minutes, rotate 
the pan, and toast for 4 minutes more.  Add the pistachios, spreading 
them in an even layer; continue to toast until fragrant and the color 
deepens slightly, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the baking sheet with the 
nuts to a wire rack; add the currants/cranberries.

2.  For the spice mix:  while the nuts are toasting, stir the sugar, 
salt, curry powder, cumin and coriander together in a medium bowl; set 
aside.

3.  For the glaze:  bring the water, brown sugar and butter to a boil 
in a medim saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly.  Stir 
in the nut mix and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 
until the nuts are shiny and almost all the liquid has evaporated, 
about 1 and 1/2 minutes.

4.  Transfer the glazed nuts and currants/cranberries to the bowl with 
the spice mix; toss well to coat.  Return the mixture to the parchment-
lined baking sheet to cool.


The only change in procedure I made was to mix the spices up in a 
small bowl and sprinkle the mixture over the nuts as I stirred.  It 
allows for better coverage.  

Everyone who has these loves them (even my husband who doesn't like 
Indian food), and they are easy as pie to make.

#2 of 2 by denise on Thu Dec 28 17:01:35 2006:

The no-bake cherry cheesecake recipe that I made for the family Christmas:
Mix together 2 [8 ounce] packages of softened cream cheese with 1/3 cup of
sugar. I used a mixer for this part but did the next part by hand]. Add an
8 ounce container of Cool Whip, stirring gentley. Pour into a graham cracker
crumb crust. [I had used one of those premade ones but next time, I'm going
to make my own crust, it'll taste a bit better]. Refridgerate for 3 hours or
overnight. Before serving, pour a 20 ounce can of cherry pie filling on top.
Refridgerate any leftovers [if there IS any. :-) ]. I had made 2 pies and most
of it was eaten, the other desserts we had were hardly touched.  :-)  In this
recipe, there was an option to mix in some melted chocolate in with the
cheese/sugar mix, but I forget what the amount was since I didn't use the
chocolate [I wanted something closer to what my Mom used to make, though I
think thee chocolate would've been a nice touch.]

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