Intro
Part 2.
I realize that it has been weeks and quite possibly longer since I’ve posted something savory. ‘Tis the Season! But don’t worry mom, I have been eating my vegetables – it’s just so fun to talk about sugar.
That changes today. Sort of. There is still sugar in the recipe but there is also an ingredient that you may be unfamiliar with – fennel pollen.
Thanks to the lovely Jennifer Perillo from “In Jennie’s Kitchen”, I was gifted a generous supply of this sweet spice.
Peggy Knickbocker wrote, in an article for Saveur, “If angels sprinkled a spice from their wings, this would be it.” I couldn’t agree more. Anything that resembles fennel in its sweet anise flavor is a winner in my book but fennel pollen goes above and beyond anise. It’s as if it takes all that is good with that subtley sweet licorice essence and makes it a thousand times better. The aroma is floral and intoxicating. One smell and I suddenly wish I was a bee so I could cover myself in it. I guess I don’t have to be a bee to do that but it would be quite expensive as fennel pollen is nearly as costly as saffron.
The recipe for these fennel pollen cookies is nearly the same as yesterday’s chocolate chip shortbread with a touch more salt and minus the vanilla. I served them with a tart and sweet onion jam and a smokey blue cheese from Rogue River Creamery and let me just tell you the angels were singing. In one bite I tasted sweet, salty, smokey and a soft vinegar bite. The finishing taste was the fennel pollen as it lingered on my tongue, hanging there for a bit – I begged it not to go but once it did I popped another one in my mouth.
If time allows I hope to give all those I love dearly a little jar of onion jam and package of the fennel pollen shortbread. They will be happy.
Continue along for the recipes.
Onion Jam
adapted from Food & Wine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 medium sweet onions, julienned
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup dry red wine
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup grenadine
Salt
Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add the onions and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until soft and just translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the sugar, wine, vinegar, grenadine and a pinch of salt. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the liquid thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 35 minutes. Transfer the onion jam to a bowl and let cool.
Note: I doubled the recipe and it worked beautifully. The cooking time was 45 minutes to 1hour.
Fennel Pollen Shortbread
Wild Fennel Pollen 
adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients
3/4 pound butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fennel pollen, plus more for rolling
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the fennel pollen. In a medium bowl, sift together, with a whisk, flour and salt; then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Roll into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle a generous amount of fennel pollen to cover the the log. Cover in wax paper or parchment. Chill until firm.
Carefully slice the log into 1/4″ cookies. Place the cookies on an sheet pan covered with parchment. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
I cannot wait to try this. Need to order the fennel pollen BEFORE even showing this recipe to my hubby, because he will want to make it immediately.
everywhereist – order lots!
mmm…these look delish , I’ve never had savoury shortbread but I might try a gluten free version of this for our family christmas this year! I love the photos too!
Twas perfection. what about that jam recipe? The combo of the three is a perfect Christmas appetizer that requires no day of prep and has total wow factor.
Julie – Click the ‘read more’ at the end of the post to see the recipes. So glad you got to enjoy this snack with me.
This looks gorgeous. I’m not really an onion fan or an anise fan, but everything about this looks so beautiful and elegant that I want to make this right now. This could be what converts me to like those things. Thanks for the inspiration!
Very cool! I love the idea of a sweet version and a savory version. I might lean towards the sweet, but both are worth a try. Thanks.
I am in LOVE with onion jam although I must say when I make it it doesn’t have so much sugar….really none at all since I can’t eat sugar but it does have some maple syrup!!!
That all looks amazingly tasty
I’ve wanted to make onion jam for ages – onions are my favorite vegetable! That recipe looks great.
Beautiful pictures, as always!
I just made a double batch of the onion jam for christmas gifts, and it tastes delicious. I added a couple of fresh bay leaves while it reduced. I look forward to giving it out. At a very low simmer however, mine took a LONG time to reduce to a thick jam. maybe an hour and a half (for a double batch)… did you have a similar experience?
Grenadine in onion jam. So interesting!
The onion jam makes a great christmas gift, I bet. Thanks for the tip.
what a perfect gift. my neighbors are going to love you for this!
My aunt (who’s a fantastic cook) actually made these when we visited last month. I asked her where she got the recipe and she told me “Tastespotting”. It only just occurred to me to check the ultimate source and here you are! They were fantastic. Love the combo.
this makes my mouth water! I am feeling I’m not dearly loved, as I don’t have a jar of this or the shortbread…boo hooo
Wow. What a great and delicious food. It takes my mouth watery too.
Very nice blog, this gave me what i am looking for in
the libraries that i can’t find anywhere else. Good
job, keep posting things like this