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Devilled Almonds
2 ozs. blanched and shredded almonds Butter 1 tablespoon Chutney 2 tablespoons chopped pickles 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce 1/4 teaspoon salt Few grains cayenne Fry almonds until well browned, using enough butter to prevent almonds from burning. Mix remaining ingredients, pour over nuts, and serve as soon as thoroughly heated. Serve with oysters.
A hot savoury of fried almonds in a sharp, spiced dressing, meant to be eaten in small quantities alongside oysters. It takes about ten minutes and depends almost entirely on how carefully the nuts are browned.
- Watch the almonds, not the clockShredded almonds go from pale to burnt in well under a minute once they take colour. Fry over medium heat, stirring constantly, and pull them off the heat while they are a shade lighter than you want, since they keep colouring in the hot butter.
- The butter is deliberately unmeasuredThe original gives no quantity because you need only enough to keep the nuts moving in the pan. Two teaspoons to a tablespoon for 2 oz of almonds is ample; more and the dressing turns greasy rather than clinging.
- Almond quantity2 oz of blanched shredded almonds is roughly 1/2 cup, or about 55 g. The recipe gives no yield, but as a savoury rather than a snack bowl that would stretch to several people.
- Chutney of the periodThe chutney here is most likely a sweet, sharp mango type rather than a fresh coriander or tomato chutney, though the recipe does not specify. Chop any large fruit pieces so the mixture coats the nuts evenly.
- Chopped picklesProbably small sour cucumber pickles or a mixed pickle, finely chopped and drained. Sweet gherkins push the whole thing toward candied and unbalance the cayenne.
- Heat through onlyOnce the dressing goes into the pan the nuts begin to soften. Ten to twenty seconds of stirring over the heat is enough; anything longer and you lose the crispness the dish exists for.
- ServingBring it to the table hot, in a small warmed dish, with a spoon rather than fingers. Alongside raw or grilled oysters it works as a foil, the salt and cayenne cutting the brine.