Ingredients
|
Instructions
Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. In a dry skillet, roast the unpeeled garlic and chiles over medium heat, turning them regularly until soft and blotchy-blackened in spots, about 10 minutes for the habanero, 10 to 15 minutes for the garlic. When the garlic is handleable, peel off the papery skin. In a mortar or small food processor, combine the garlic and habanero. Pound or process to as smooth a mixture as possible. Add the oil, honey and salt and pound or process to incorporate thoroughly.
In a large bowl, combine the macadamias and flavoring, stirring to thoroughly coat the nuts. Spread the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until the nuts are toasty smelling and the flavorings have formed a shiny, dryish coating, about 20 minutes. Cool.
I brought this as an appetizer at a family reunion and I got many compliments. I used maple syrup instead of honey, 3 small scotch bonnet peppers instead of the habanero, and high-oleic safflower oil instead of olive. I used an ungreased glass baking dish, and the seasoning stuck to the dish quite a bit in the oven, so I lost some of the seasoning, which is maybe why the nuts were not salty enough for me. After they had cooled, I sprinkled salt from a shaker to make them saltier. Also, after 20 minutes in the oven, many of the nuts had darkened, but they were great anyway, maybe even better like that.