cajun cashews

this recipe was given to me by a colleague's wife and i quickly adopted it as my holiday gift to family and friends. this year i made 20 pounds! these are easy to put together, the recipe can be adjusted to your heat preference and they are highly addictive. you'll need raw cashews. they can be found at trader joe's (best value), whole foods (organic) or krema nuts (big, beautiful and expensive).

cajun cashews

2 tbs butter
2 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs tabasco or other hot sauce
1 tbs cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp salt
4 cups raw cashews

preheat oven to 350 degrees. incorporate all ingredients except cashews in a saucepan on medium heat. when butter is melted and mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat and pour in cashews. stir until cashews are completely coated. pour cashews onto a foil lined jelly roll pan and bake for about 12 minutes or until nuts begin to turn golden brown. let cool for 5 minutes on pan and then scrape into mixing bowl and toss.

this year i used frank's red hot sauce but if you wanted more heat you could use something from cajohn's. you can also use more or less cayenne pepper to adjust the heat level. they taste great with my favorite beer.