I Tweeted that the search field almost auto-filled when I Googled “Covid symptoms negative test,” but it was only half a joke. Both of us were ailing when we were due to host a dinner party but decided to proceed. My subconscious must have been thinking “capsaicins boost immunity,” though, because I built the menu around spicy food, centered on jambalaya.
I dragged out Susan Spicer’s excellent book (reminder that “celebrity chefs” once dominated cookbook publishing before influencers came along, decimating the whole flack industry, but that’s another story). And found two recipes worth sharing, for company or just for your sad selves, home watching Oscar-nominated movies in the living room cuz theaters are so disgusting.
Easiest spicy pecans: Heat the oven to 325. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 cup pecan halves, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon each cayenne and salt and toss to combine. Spread out on a baking sheet and toast 7 to 9 minutes, until crisp. (The second time I made this I cut the cayenne in half to accommodate friends’ low tolerance but added 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.)
Even better was Spicer’s pumpkinseed pesto, which I served as a dip even though it separated as any pesto would. Even though I amped up the feta and cut back the oil here:
Warm 1/2 cup olive oil in a small saute pan and add 3 sliced garlic cloves (1 if you’re using Greenmarket garlic). Raise the heat to medium and saute until the garlic is lightly tanned and aromatic. Transfer to a paper towel with a slotted spoon. Add 1/2 cup pumpkinseeds to the pan and raise the heat to medium-high, stirring, until they start to crackle and pop. Transfer with the slotted spoon to paper towels. Save the oil.
Shift the cooled garlic and seeds to an immersion blender jar and add half a cup of crumbled feta cheese + 1 washed supermarket-size bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems chopped, and process still smooth. Then add 1/4 cup olive oil while processing. Stir in juice of half a lime (or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar) and season with salt and Aleppo or other crushed red pepper to taste. Spicer adds fresh basil, but this ain’t the season.
FITTOC 