Fried Candied Pecans

Now don't everyone go running from that word "fried." If you live in the south for any period of time, you've had some fried food. 

Fried Okra, Fried Chicken, Fried fish-nothing beats a good old fashioned fish fry. 

Country Fried Steak,  Fried Ham, Fried Green Tomatoes-they even named a movie after it. 

Fried Apples, And if you go to the fair, you'll find fried twinkies, fried cheesecake, you name it and they'll drop it in some hot oil. 

And of course Fried Turkey. Have you ever had deep fried turkey? It's to die for. So juicy and tender, not at all greasy, full of flavor. We become like ravenous dogs fighting over the skin on a fried turkey. The only reason we don't have a fried turkey every year is I want the drippings from an oven roasted turkey to make the gravy. Nothing better than gravy made from drippings. 

So since we got new pecans in, I wanted to clean out the freezer of last year's pecans. I still had 2 big gallon bags of them left. I immediately thought of Fried Pecans. Every time I've had them, they've been fried in Peanut oil, usually right before frying up that turkey, to help season the oil. I didn't have peanut oil in the house and didn't want to run to the store just to buy oil. Google to the rescue. What surprised me was not that I could use regular vegetable oil but every search result was coming up for a recipe that used sugar. This was not what I was used to. 

I can't tell you how glad I am that I did that search. We now have a new treat in this house. A little sweet, a little salty, I've got so many ideas to use these pecans! So here are 2 recipes for Fried Pecans, The way I was always used to, just fried and salted and our new favorite, Fried Candied Pecans!

Fried Pecans-this is what we've always had 

4 cups pecans

oil for frying (vegetable, corn, canola) 

Sea salt

In a medium pan, fill with oil about 2 inches deep. Heat over medium low. 

Blanche your pecans. Fill a large pot halfway full with water. Bring to a boil and add pecans. Boil pecans for one minute then drain in a strainer. Rinse pecans with hot water. 

Turn oil up to medium. Heat to 350 degrees. Test oil with 1 pecan. If, when you drop the pecan into the oil, bubbles form around the pecan, your oil is ready. Add 1-2 cups of pecans to your hot oil and fry for 4 minutes. Remove pecans from oil to drain on paper towels. Salt to taste. Repeat with remaining pecans. 

Fried Candied Pecans-our new family treat

4 cups pecans

oil for frying

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Sea salt

Heat oil as above and Blanche pecans as above. Once pecans are rinsed, toss hot pecans in sugar to coat. 

Fry pecans in oil heated to 350 degrees for about 4 minutes. Remove from oil to drain on a rack above paper towels. (pecans will stick if placed directly on the paper towels.) Salt to taste. 

And if you really want to take Fried Pecans to a new level, dip them in some chocolate. I just used chocolate bark. 

I can see all three varieties making the perfect gifts during the holidays this year. 

I'm sharing at some of these great parties.