Chillied Peanuts and Pumpkin Seeds

I Heart Cooking Clubs is currently cooking from Rick Bayless recipes every week for the next six whole months, starting from this week, with a different theme each week. Ever heard of Rick Bayless? I did, but have never tried his recipes before. I have always wanted to try Mexican food, but some ingredients is not easily available over here. Looks like I do have to substitute certain ingredients, I'm sure it would not be the same, but hopefully close enough. I will try to join in as often as I can.

For this week, the theme is Bienvenido Rick! (Welcome to IHCC Rick Bayless!) anyone is welcome to try out any recipe of Rick Bayless's . Since I am sort of busy this week, I decided to start off with a simple snack.

I have some peanuts (lots actually!), which I wanted to clear, and this snack seems perfect. This recipe calls for roasted peanuts which so happens, I have a cup that I have roasted several weeks before. I only did half a recipe as the rest of my household are not overly fond of peanuts, so I'll be snacking on this alone. The roasted peanuts are coated with about 1 tablespoon of lime juice, and sprinkled with ancho chile powder, since I do not have ancho chili powder, I used smoked paprika chili powder instead. These nuts are then roasted in the oven for about 20 minutes at 220C, I turned the peanuts every 5 minutes, until the chili powder has formed a light crust on the nuts. Salt are then sprinkled over the nuts. Meanwhile, toast the pepita (pumpkin seeds) in a skillet over medium heat, until pumpkins have popped and plumped up. Mix the pumpkin seeds with the peanuts and leave to cool. 

Once cooled, simply enjoy these as snacks to munch on. These spicy and salty snack would go well with a glass of cold beer! I'm not a beer person but I'll be munching on these while browsing for more of Rick Bayless's recipes to try! 

If you are interested to expand your horizon in trying out Mexican food, hop over to I Heart Cooking Clubs for more details and to see other delicious creations using Rick Bayless's recipes. 

Chillied Peanuts and Pumpkin Seeds
(source from : rickbayless.com)
2 cups roasted peanuts (preferably without salt)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons ancho (or guajillo) chile powder, plus a little arbol chile powder if you like it spicy
salt
1 cup hulled pumpin (pepita) seeds

Turn on the oven to 250 degrees and position a rack in the middle. In a medium bowl, toss the peanuts with the lime juice until all have been moistened. Sprinkle evenly with chile, then toss until the chile evenly coats the nuts. Spread the nuts into a shallow layer on a baking sheet. Slide into the oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the chile has formed a light crust on the nuts. Remove from the oven and sprinkle generously with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon.

In a large skillet over medium, heat, toast the pumpkin seeds; spread the seeds into the skillet and, when the first one pops, stir constantly until all have popped from flat to round, about 5 minutes. Scoop on top of the peanuts, toss the two together, then scoop the mixture into a serving bowl.