Preparation:
Heat oven to 250F. In medium bowl, whisk egg white with 1 tablespoon water, then add pecans and stir until well coated.
Combine sugar, orange rind, seasoned salt and curry powder in small paper sack or plastic bag. Add pecans to bag, close neck of bag and shake vigorously to coat them with spices. Spread nuts out on 2 baking sheets and place in oven.
Bake pecans 20 minutes, then remove from oven, stir and spread out on pans again. Turn off oven, place pecans back in oven and crack oven door. Let them remain for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are crisp. They should not continue to cook during this drying period. If your oven runs hot, you may need to let it cool down before placing pecans back inside.
When pecans are completely cool, store in airtight containers. Will keep several days.
Notes: At the Salute to Southern Chefs in Charleston last spring, one event was a tasting of Southern products. With seafood and fancy dishes all around me, I couldn't pull myself from the big bowl of these pecans, which Tennessee food writer Anne Byrn had made for the Georgia Pecan Commission. I've made them several times since then for parties and the effect is the same. The orange flavor and the mix of sweetness with the curry is a twist on regular roasted pecan |
