Suzen’s cooking school in New York City is Cooking by the Book. For almost 30 years we have been doing events for corporations and private parties. People come together here, cook together, and eat the feast they have prepared. Thirty years is a long time and the key to that success is Suzi’s staff, most of whom have been here 20 years or more. Our program is unique because we don’t provide one chef with some assistants to help people cook. A large group is broken in teams, one team for each meal of the dish, and every team has seasoned professional chef.
Charmaine, aka Lady Charmaine, is the dessert maven. She’s a lovely lady, with the grandest smile you could imagine, but with the eyes of a perfectionist. We were going to serve ice cream with madeleines and Charmaine felt that combo needed more. She wanted an elevated dessert experience, so on the fly she prepared the ice cream, and the madeleines and then added these candied pistachios.
The dessert team was applauded last night. Not for the Guinness ice cream which was remarkable, or the divine vanilla madeleines. No the dessert team won “best dish of the night” for this incredible candy. It’s sweet and subtle and the flavor just builds in your mouth in what, excuse me, can only be described as a candy climax. Everybody smiles. Everybody is satisfied.
Make this and enjoy your own smiles.
Oh, yes, it is addictive.
Charmaine’s Candied Pistachios
Yield: enough to cover a half sheet pan
Ingredients:
- Butter for a sheet pan
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 4 ounces butter
- 2 ½ cups roasted pistachios
Preparation:
Butter a half sheet pan. You can have a silicon liner on the pan for easier cleanup, but you will still wish to butter the surface.
Put the sugar and corn syrup in a 12-inch sauté pan. Turn up the heat and melt the sugar. When the melted sugar reaches 280 degrees, add the butter and slowly but constantly stir. When the butter has melted, add the pistachios and quickly mix until coated in sugar. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring to avoid sticking or burning. Pour the liquid onto the prepared sheet pan. Work quickly with a wooden spoon to flatten out the mixture over the top of the sheet pan to a uniform thickness. You may score the candy at this point or wait until it is cool to the touch and simply break apart by hand.
Source: Charmaine at Cooking by the Book, 2015
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60 mm Macro Lens, F/3.5 for 1/40th second at ISO‑1000