Kansas City Blog

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:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Throw the bacon strips in a frying pan. While they get sizzling, lay the almonds flat on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil (so the almonds don't stick to the bottom). When the bacon gets good and frying, turn it and there will be a lot of bacon grease in the bottom of the pan. Pour that grease onto the almonds until they are lightly and evenly coated. Stick the pan back on the stove top to keep the bacon cooking and throw the almonds in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes depending on how toasty you like them.

While the almonds are toasting, the bacon should begin to get nice and crisp. You want it very crispy so it breaks apart easily. Once it's crispy, chop it into the size of the almonds. Don't throw away the bacon grease. When the almonds finish roasting, take them out of the oven and put them into a pot. Add the bacon pieces, bacon fat from the pan, mustard powder and stir. Once the almonds are evenly coated, add the maple syrup and put the pot on a stove top on low heat (I just turned off the stove top I had used for the bacon and by the time I put the pot on it, it was down to the right temperature). At the low heat, the maple syrup will start to thin out and coat the almonds. Get the syrup evenly over the almonds and take off the heat.

At this point I put the mixture back on the tray I had used to cook the almonds. You can leave the mixture in the pot. It doesn't matter. Just add a little salt, let it cool and you're done. You now have maple and bacon roasted almonds!


Even though the almonds are covered in syrup, once they cool they aren't sticky at all, making this a great finger food. The initial taste is a smoky kettle-corn flavor followed by the almond and then the pow of the mustard, finished with more sweetness. Also, definitely err on the small portion size with this snack because it is so rich. The 1/2 pound of almonds made more than enough for six people but be warned. These things are addicting.