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.

(more…)

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Part 1.

I had a craving the other night. It was a very specific craving that, not surprisingly, involved chocolate and I wanted it in cookie form. I knew that I wanted it to be buttery with a texture that crumbles in your mouth as sand would except not as repulsive as the idea of eating sand. Not chewy or crispy nor too complex rather it must be soft and sweet and as fragile as the Christmas ornaments that my 1 1/2 year keeps on shattering.

My craving ceased as I bit into a *store bought* (?!?!! – sometimes I like it when someone else does the baking for me). The texture was perfect and the mini chocolate chips studded throughout provided a depth and rich sweetness that brought me much delight. The peppermint ice cream that I used to wash down the cookie also added to my enjoyment.

It was a shortbread cookie. Traditionally shortbread is made from one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour. Classically the flour was oatmeal flour but today it is more common to use white flour. Some people go real crazy and throw in ground rice or cornflour to give the cookie an interesting texture.

The high amount of fat (in this case, butter) gives these cookies their soft and crumbly texture. The butter generously coats the flour limiting gluten formation. The resulting cookie is unbelievably tender and simply melts in your mouth.

The next day the craving returned. My husband kindly sought out the mini chocolate chips from the grocery store while I began to mix. (more…)

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