Rosemary Pinenut Shortbread

I like being surprised.

A little while ago, I visited the newly installed Blue Bottle Coffee storefront in the Ferry Plaza Marketplace, SF for a cup of drip coffee before attending the Rising Tides Competition displayed in the same building. The coffee was somewhat too strong for my taste, necessary perhaps for the patient but tired-looking bankers and business people queuing for a cup on Wednesday morning. Instead of the much-talked-about coffee, good but not surprising, I was impressed by the $1 pinenut rosemary shortbread displayed in the glass bakery counter under my coffee-stained paper cup. What a first bite, "savory more than sweet," with a pleasing crunch of fleur de sel.

I tend to like my baked treats lightly sweet, to join an afternoon cup of tea or coffee. However I'm intrigued by unexpected combinations and having tasted the savory-salty version of shortbread I've been meaning to give it a go in the kitchen ever since. I've also been working my way slowly through the epic Tartine Bakery cookbook for oh 3+ years or so now and I decided to work from their shortbread recipe.



Pinenuts are a bit unusual in the pantry and I'm not always immediately inspired by them beyond the usual basil pesto... they do crop up occasionally though. A few days back I had a flavorful and unexpected sardine ragu filled with chunks of fresh sardine, sweet dried currants, and pinenuts in a heirloom tomato-based sauce. Very very good. But where was I?

For the shortbread I mixed some fresh, minced rosemary from the herb patch into the softened butter as I would do to make an herbed butter. I also toasted a handful of pinenuts in a mini cast-iron skillet with a drop of olive oil and folded them into the dough as the last step. Dry roasting would also work well I imagine. The nuts have a lot of natural oils so they take on a golden hue quickly, less than 5 minutes shaking the pan constantly. Other than these two additions, I cut back on the sugar slightly and sprinkled coarse sea salt on the top of the dough before baking. I cut the original recipe in thirds (experimental) so the baking was done in two mini aluminum loaf pans (5-3/4 x 3). Pressing the buttery dough into the pans is a bit awkward, the dough tended to stick to my hands rather than the pan. Damp hands help a bit. Remember to cut the cookies into squares or rectangles while they are still warm otherwise they will crumble. Delicious but somewhat less elegant.



I'm ready for my cup of tea.

Jelly Tots and Other Novel Sweets: For My Irish Girls

Just three months ago a troop of six Irish ladies arrived on our doorstep, encouraged by our handmade "Summer subletters - Rooms for Rent" sign in the window. I recall our first conversation with the lot of them to be lively, overwhelming, draining, and slightly confusing all due to their excited energy of being abroad coupled with their unfamiliar accents. We all laugh about it now when I recently confessed to them that I swore that half of our first conversation was actually conducted in Gaelic.

Within this short span I've been educated in a few things Irish: sweet little sayings I've unconsciously adopted, the proper ways of Irish tea (milk but never sugar), reaffirming how HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) manages to hide in all things edible (on that note the girls inform me that our beloved American milk is unnaturally sweet for their palate - I can't wait to try the milk in Ireland), and finally in the form of numerous care packages from home, a jackpot of Irish snacks and sweets.

From Tayto crisps AKA chips to creamy Cadbury chocolate Moments, which are rather less sweet and smoother than the American Brand (how can this be so?!) there are a host of similar yet distinctive treats to choose from. Best of the bunch for me has been Jelly Tots, (jellies for toddlers or toddler jellies?). The sugary gummy dots come in a variety of fruit flavors like green apple and black currant. I've requested a king-sized pack of these in MY care package from the girls when they return home. In return I'll be sending over some Thin Mints and Samoas when Girl Scout season rolls around.

(Green) Coriander?

Yes, green coriander, and I'm not talking about cilantro, the first stage of the Coriandrum sativum plant. Cilantro is quite common and pops up in a variety of cuisines, in the fresh bunch of herbs accompanying Vietnamese dishes, chopped into a stellar guacamole, as garnish for a salad and so on. Coriander, which is less commonly known, is the later stage of the same plant, after the leafy cilantro turns yellow and the plant develops seeds.

Since D. planted coriander in the garden I was able to follow the entire life cycle of the plant, which meant for me...the discovery of green coriander. You can't find fresh coriander seeds in the market, due to the short lifespan of the fresh seeds so it was a novel experience for me. Even on the plant, the seeds quickly dry into a nutty, brown striped seed that is typically ground into powder.

After checking online to make sure that the green seeds are not poisonous (doubtful, but D. wanted to be sure), I popped one between my molars and it erupted in a bright, tangy spray of flavor. It was a shocking discovery, combining the freshness of cilantro and the mellow toasty warmth of dry coriander. I'm absolutely hooked. We played around with different uses for this new secret ingredient, my favorite was lightly grinding it in a mortar and pestle with oil-packed anchovies and mixing it with olive oil as a savory dip for bread. The saltiness of the fish was balanced by the sharpness of the seeds' green flavor. We also pickled a cucumber with whole garlic and some blanched green beans from the garden in a spice combination of dill flowers, green coriander seeds, salt, sugar, and vinegar. It makes a great side to a sandwich. (Or for snacking on before making the sandwich when I'm starving).

I started writing this post a week ago and was distracted from finishing. In that time, the green coriander has pretty much disappeared. D. has tied up a large bunch of the seeds to dry under the back porch and the seeds are drying out nicely.