The Greatest Pistachio Nut Ever!

Yesterday I was out in Milwaukee, WI for the in-store tasting of my caramels at Outpost Co-Op (a great local alternative to Whole Foods) Once again, the local favorite was our Ginger and Pistachio caramel. So I wanted to give a shout out to our pistachio supplier: The Eagle Ranch, home of wine and the plumpiest, most green and delicious pistachios.
Eagle Ranch a family owned business located in new Mexico and their pistachios are called Heart of Desert. George and Marianne Schweers have owned and operated this largest pistachio grove since 1970's and now they not only have the greatest pistachios ever, but they also now have a vineyard with 18,000 grapevines.


Eagle Ranch has a very impressive state of the art processing facility and their products are Kosher-certified.
Roasting Heart of Desert Pistachios
Before using Heart of Desert pistachios I roast them lightly in the nut roaster with some Sel Gris or (even better) Fleur De Sel and just a few drops of the vegetable oil (to ensure that salts sticks to the nuts). In just a few minutes, when the nuts warm up, a sweet fragrance fills the air: it's so hard to resist tasting just one or two nuts, just to be sure that they 're done :)


Pistachios burn easily, so constant stirring is required (especially if you're roasting them on the skillet at home!). Allow for about 5 min roasting time: they're done when the outside of the nut becomes golden brown.


After pistachios are done, I crush them a bit and add to liquid caramel at the end of cooking.

Other ideas for roasted pistachio flavors
(all recipes are for 1 lbs of pistachios)
Lime and Chile: add a few drops of the lime juice and 1 tsp of ancho chile powder (or a hotter chile- you pick!) and roast as outlined above
Chinnamon and Sugar: add 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar or (even better) Demerara sugar (can be found in specialty stores or on-line) and 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon (I prefer either Mexican or Indian cinnamon, which I also use in my Chocolate and Walnut Caramel because it is more spicy and potent)
Masala Pistachios: add 1-2 tbsp of Garam Masala (can be found in Indian specialty stores or see recipe below).

Garam Masala recipe
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds7
peppercorns
1 bayleaf
4 cloves
Roast each of the above till they turn aromatic
Powder to a fine powder using a coffee grinder and use as required.
This will keep well for 3-4 months in a airtight container.

Maccha Salt Pistachios
Mix 1 tbsp Sel Gris with 1/4 tsp Maccha green tea powder (can be found in Asian supermarkets- it's expensive but will last you for a long time!). Start with 1 tsp of Maccha/Salt mixure and add more as necessary to the roasting pistachios.