Christmas dinner 2010

Wishing everyone happy holidays!
On our table tonight: prime rib for the carnivores, salmon (marinated in oj, cherry jam and mustard), roasted Yukon potatoes, cauliflower, beets and carrots, and apple/candied pecan salad. I used egg white to bind the sugar to the nuts instead of butter and they are crispy without being cloyingly rich:

CANDIED PECANS:

spray olive oil
1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water
3-4 drops vanilla
1 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 pound pecan halves
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Spray a baking sheet lightly with oil.
Whisk together the egg white and water in a mixing bowl until frothy. Add a few drops of vanilla and whisk to mix in. In a wide, flat bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add pecans to egg whites and stir to coat them evenly. Remove the nuts with a slotted spoon, and roll them in the sugar mixture until coated--this is easiest to do in small batches. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet so they do not touch each other and put into the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool before serving or tasting--they are hot inside when they come out of the oven!