A Gift for Eating

A gift of home-cooked food is a meaningful personal gesture. It’s convenient too. Consider this trio: spiced pecans, cranberry curd and English butter toffee. To make them, you don’t have to spend lots of time in the kitchen, and no special skills are required, only an accurate candy thermometer and a heavy pan. Best of all, they hit a responsive chord with most people. The recipes are among my favorites.

What’s more, none are highly perishable, so they can be enjoyed when life settles down a bit after the holidays.

Part of the fun in giving home-cooked food comes in the packaging. Colored ribbons and bows, pine cones, clumps of herbs, cinnamon sticks, seasonal greens or little ornaments are a simple way to spiff up a package without elaborate wrappings. Decorative tins, baskets, boxes and jars add a touch of permanence to edible gifts. You can even partner a gift of food with an appropriate utensil or serving piece. Add a pretty serving plate for the toffee or nuts, a spreading knife for the curd.

And don’t stop there. Thoughtful pairing with other foods or beverages makes the gift more significant. Find an interesting aperitif wine such as Sherry to give with the savory pecans. Give scones, poundcake or shortbread cookies with the ruby red curd, freshly ground espresso beans with the toffee.

ENGLISH BUTTER TOFFEE

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

4 ounces milk chocolate

1/2 cup minced pecans or walnuts

Combine butter, sugar, water and salt in heavy 2 1/2-quart pan. Cook over medium-high to high heat, stirring often, until candy thermometer reads 305 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Immediately pour onto heavily buttered 9-inch-square jelly roll pan, spreading to fill pan. Cool completely.

Melt semisweet and milk chocolates in top of double boiler or in microwave oven on MEDIUM (50%) power, stirring until smooth. Spread 1/2 of chocolate over 1 side of toffee and sprinkle with 1/2 of nuts. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Reheat remaining chocolate until flowing. Turn toffee over and spread other side with chocolate and sprinkle with remaining nuts.

Refrigerate until firm. When chocolate is set, break toffee into pieces. Store in airtight container in cool place. Makes about 1 1/3 pounds, or 3 dozen pieces.

Each piece contains about:

110 calories; 38 mg sodium; 14 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.08 gram fiber.

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These cocktail nuts are the perfect nibbles with a pre-dinner drink. They’re crisp, not too sweet and extremely munchable. There’s just a suggestion of cumin to make them unusual. Double the recipe (be sure to use two baking sheets--don’t crowd them on one) and keep them on hand in the freezer. Buy the largest pecan halves that you can find.

SPICED PECANS

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon salt

Scant 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pound large pecan halves

Combine butter, corn syrup, water, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper in 2-quart microwavable bowl. Bring to simmer in microwave oven. Alternately, heat on stove top until simmering. Add pecans to hot mixture. Toss gently to coat with mixture.

Spread pecans in single layer in jelly roll pan lined with foil. Bake at 250 degrees until crisp and dry, about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes with wooden spoon. Remove nuts from oven. Immediately transfer to clean piece of foil. Spread nuts out, breaking apart any clumps that stick together. Cool completely.

Nuts can be kept in airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks or frozen as long as 6 months. To refresh nuts as necessary, spread on baking sheet and bake in 250-degree oven 15 minutes. Makes 1 pound, or about 16 servings.

Each serving contains about:

221 calories; 115 mg sodium; 6 mg cholesterol; 20 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.49 gram fiber.

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Lemon curd is a familiar English spread brought out at teatime in little crystal bowls to spread on scones or thin slices of tea cake. Since it’s rich and vibrantly flavored, a very thin coating goes a long way. Instead of lemons, I’ve used cranberries to contrast with the sweet, rich flavor. This curd shimmers like rubies.

FRESH CRANBERRY CURD

1 (12-ounce) bag cranberries

1 cup sugar

5 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, boiling hot

2 tablespoons Kirsch, optional

Cook cranberries and 1/2 cup sugar in 1 1/2-quart non-aluminum pan, stirring occasionally, until very tender, about 15 minutes.

Puree cranberries in food processor or blender and press through fine sieve to remove seeds. Return puree to processor or blender and mix with remaining 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks (save egg whites for another use) and lemon juice. Add hot butter and mix until smooth.

Return to pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in Kirsch. Cool completely, then refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving. Can be stored in refrigerator up to 2 months or frozen as long as 4 months in airtight container. Makes 2 cups.

Each tablespoon contains about:

65 calories; 2 mg sodium; 50 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.13 gram fiber.