Cocktail Pecans

Excerpted from The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life by Pat Conroy with Suzanne Williamson Pollak (Doubleday/Talese, 2004). © 2004 by Pat Conroy.

Makes 1 pound

It is a lucky yard that hosts a pecan tree. There are several things better than a pecan pie, but not many. There are several things better than roasted, salted, and buttered pecans, but not by much. In my youth, I would irritate my mother by pronouncing this as pee-can, which she considered redneck, and she would correct me with puh-cahn, which she thought more genteel.

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
• 2 large egg white
• 1 pound pecan halves

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, nutmeg, cumin, black pepper, cayenne, and salt.

3. In another, larger bowl, whisk the egg whites until barely frothy. Add the nuts to the egg whites and turn to coat. Pour the sugar and spice mixture over the pecans and stir to coat.

4. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and place in oven until browned, about 1 hour. Stir occasionally to prevent clumping.

5. Place the baking sheet on a rack to cool. Transfer the room-temperature nuts to an airtight container.

Warm and crisp the nuts in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes before serving, if desired.

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