Cornmeal Cookies with Pastis Glaze

These cornmeal cookies are a staple on my list of "go-to" cookies. The original recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living and is flavored with lime zest. I've modified the recipe several times to use different citrus flavors and herbs. I've also changed the baking method to make it a slice and bake cookie (instead of rolling little balls of dough and squashin' them as the original recipe requested).

When Cookthink made Pastis the subject of a Root Source Challenge, I thought this cookie would be a good candidate for "pastis-ification."

I used freshly ground anise seed to pump up the pastis flavor without making the cookie too boozy. My tasters and I were pleased with the results. These would be great with fresh fruit or vanilla ice cream - or both!

Cornmeal and Pastis Cookies
Makes about three dozen cookies

• 1 cup room-temperature butter (2 sticks)
  
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons pastis (I used Ricard Pastis)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground anise seed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup cornmeal

Glaze:

• 1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
• 2-4 tablespoons pastis
• crushed anise seed for sprinkling
  

Make the cookie dough:
With a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg, pastis and anise seed.

With the mixer on low speed, blend in the salt, flour and cornmeal.

Divide the dough into two portions and roll each into a log (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches) wrapped in parchment or wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours, preferably overnight (you can also wrap the dough and freeze it at this time).

Bake the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350.

Slice the cookie dough into 1/4" slices. Lay them 1 1/2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 10-14 minutes, until the cookies are browned on the edges and bottom.

Let the cookies cool while you make the glaze.

Make the glaze:
Stir 2 tablespoons of pastis into the confectioner's sugar. Stir in more as needed to bring the glaze to a pourable consistency.

Spoon or drizzle the glaze over the cookies and sprinkle with crushed anise seed.

White Gazpacho

It's been really hot and uncomfortable here, by New England standards. 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity is just lousy cooking weather.

I heard a story on NPR over the weekend about a white gazpacho recipe and my interest was piqued. After some additional web research, I pulled together a version I wanted to try.

White Gazpacho, or Ajo Blanco ("White Garlic") is a soup from the Andalusia region of Spain. Traditionally it is made of bread, almonds, oil and garlic (raw) and is garnished with grapes and a drizzle of oil.

Since I wasn't sure how we'd like the soup, so I garnished very simply with toasted breadcrumbs, parsley and oil. The results were very successful. One one caveat: due to the raw garlic in the soup, our breath was horrific. Really garlicky. So this may not be a good first date or working lunch recipe. We each chewed a huge handful of parsley and that helped a bit.

I served it for dinner with a salad and hard boiled eggs topped with smoked trout and paprika (I was actually going to stuff the eggs, a la deviled eggs, but said "the hell with it" and went basic). The soup is more filling than you might expect, so we ate well.

A rough approximation of what I made is below. Look here, here, here and here for other versions. The really nice things about this soup (other than it being delicious) are that you can make it ahead, you never turn on the oven or stove (Look Ma, no heat!), and you can make it different every time with the garnishes you select.

White Gazpacho / Ajo Blanco

• 2-4 cloves of garlic (I used 3 cloves, for us that was more than enough - will try fewer next time)
• 2 cups of blanched almonds (Taste your almonds before you start this recipe - they should taste fresh and nutty. If they taste stale or rancid, take a pass on this recipe and make something else for dinner.)
  
• 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs
• ~4 cups water
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
  
• salt to taste
• garnishes: toasted breadcrumbs, minced parsley, fruity olive oil, grapes (sliced in half), cubes of ripe melon, cubes of green apple, etc.
  

Put the garlic and almonds in a blender (better) or food processor with about 1/2 cup of water and whirl them about until you have a peanut-buttery (almond-buttery?) paste. Add the breadcrumbs, olive oil, vinegar and a little more water and spin everything again.

When you have a smooth liquidy paste, pour everything into a bowl. Whisk in more water to loosen the soup to the consistency you like. Add salt and more vinegar (if needed) to taste. (If in doubt, it's better to hold off on salt until the soup is cold. Before you serve it, check the salt and acid one more time.)

Chill until very cold (over night is best) and serve with garnishes of your choice.

Summer Squash Fritters with Herbs

These fritters are a nice way to use up some of the bounty of summer squash that's in every farmer's market and garden. They can be served hot or at room temperature and they reheat relatively well.

They are great on their own with a squeeze of lemon juice. If you are one of the lucky ones getting ripe local tomatoes, make a fresh tomato salsa to serve alongside.

This recipe is inspired by Laurie Colwin's fritter recipe (published in one of her Home Cooking collections) and by Greek zucchini fritters called kolokithakia keftedes (translation: "little zucchini meatballs". All names aside, they end up looking like little squash pancakes.

Summer Squash Fritters with Herbs
makes 10-18 fritters - depending on size

• 2 summer squash (yellow squash, zucchini, etc.) - about 8 ounces
• 1 egg, separated
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of cayenne
  
• about 1/4 cup (total) of chopped dill and mint
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt and pepper
• oil for frying
  

Grate the squash on a box grater or on the grating disc of a food processor. Roll the grated squash in a clean dishtowel and squeeze out some of the liquid. The shreds don't need to be bone dry, but you want to get rid of some of the water.

Put the squash in a bowl with the egg yolk. Stir in the flour, baking powder, cayenne, herbs and some salt and pepper to taste. Add in the milk and stir to combine. The squash mixture will look like rather dry pancake batter.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until it forms stiff peaks. Fold the egg white into the squash mixture. Now the squash mixture will look like damp pancake batter.

In a large skillet, heat about 1/4" of oil until hot and shimmering. Drop spoonfuls of fritter batter into the oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown - this will take 3-5 minutes a side, depending on how well-done you like your fritters

Drain on paper towels and serve with a sprinkle of salt and some lemon wedges.

Note: Ths is recipe is very adaptable. Use fresh corn kernels or cooked chopped spinach in place of the zucchini - just adjust the amount of milk depending on how damp your ingredients are. Try adding some grated hard cheese (like cheddar or parmesan) to the batter. If you make the fritters very small (drop teaspoons of batter in the oil), you can use them like blini and top them with a dollop of tomato salad or shreds of ham or pulled pork.

Week of July 6

Is July to early to be called the dog days of summer? All I know is we'll be cranking up the air conditioning for the second time this summer.

High heat and humidity mean that I'll be putting the grill into heavy rotation. I also heard a story on NPR yesterday about garlic, and the interviewee described a cold garlic soup. Sounds great for a 90-degree day, doesn't it?

Menu for the Week
Sunday
Ethiopian Dinner inspired by the April 2008 issue of Saveur
Doro Wot - Chicken Stew
Misr Wot - Red Lentil Stew
Ayib be Gomen - Greens with Cottage Cheese
Injera - Grilled Flatbread

Monday
Chicken meatballs with mint
Tsatziki (garlic-cucumber sauce: like you get on Gyro sandwiches)
Squash fritters
Zuke/cuke salad
Beet salad

Tuesday
Cold almond soup (Ajo Blanco)
Hardboiled eggs with smoked trout
Green salad

Wednesday
Grilled pastis-marinated shrimp
Grilled eggplant
Cherry tomato salad
Grilled feta
Garlic toasts

Thursday
Seared gnocchi salad with vegetables

Friday
Hot dogs
Baked beans
Cole slaw

Drink of the Week: Frozen Watermelon Margarita

Happy Independence Day to all!

A holiday like the Fourth calls out for a festive summer beverage and is a great opportunity to break out the blender. If you've been reading my Drink of the Week posts for any period of time, you know that I'm usually a gin/bourbon/straight-up cocktail kind of gal. However, a holiday weekend like this one is a great time to make a blender drink.

I'm usually not a fan of blended drinks because of all the ice that gets thrown into them: if the drink base isn't fairly sweet, the drink tastes very icy to me. This version works well because the watermelon *is* the ice. I freeze 1.5" cubes of watermelon and then build the drink using them. The happy result is that you can still taste tequila (in a good way) and the drink is refreshing, not overly filling. Plus it's a great way to use up the rest of that watermelon you bought for the barbecue.

Frozen Watermelon Margarita

For each drink:

• 1 rounded cup of frozen watermelon cubes*
• 1 to 1.5 ounces tequila
• .5 to 1 ounce of triple sec
  
• squeeze of lime juice
• simple syrup, grenadine or sugar, if needed
  

Put the watermelon cubes in a blender and add the rest of the ingredients (except the sweetener). Blend until smooth (you may need to add a few tablespoons of water to keep things swirling). Taste and see if your watermelon was sweet enough - if not, add a little sweetener and reblend.

Serve in a margarita glass (or a plastic Solo cup) with or without a salted rim.

* The watermelon doesn't have to frozen solid but it should be cold as it is the sole chilling agent here.

Zucchini Pasta with Fresh Ricotta

This dish was totally inspired by Deb's Zucchini Stand Pasta over at Smitten Kitchen. Of course, she was inspired by Michael Chiarello, so we're all just passing along a good thing for every one to enjoy.

Small changes I made to Deb's adaptation: I had fresh chive oil in the refrigerator (who doesn't?) so I used that and I also thought it would be pretty snappy to steam some chive strands and let them mingle through the pasta (they're in there, I swear, but I'm still working on my food styling skills). Finally, I had some home made ricotta, and I thought it would be pretty wonderful to drop a dollop on top.

Zucchini Pasta with Fresh Ricotta
serves two

• 8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (I like Bionature brand)
  
• 8 ounces zucchini
• handful of chives
• 3-4 tablespoons of chive oil (or another flavored oil - see below)
• 1/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese

Cut the zucchini into julienne strips. This is easiest if you have a mandoline, but you can do it by hand if you don't.

Boil the pasta in heavily salted water. After about 6 minutes, place the zucchini and chives in a steamer basket and steam them over the boiling pasta (alternatively, steam them in a separate pot for about 2-3 minutes). Drain the pasta, reserving a little cooking water, when it's cooked al dente and toss with the zucchini, chives and chive oil. Add up to 1/2 cup of cooking water to make the dish saucier, if necessary.

Serve in individual bowls, topped with a spoonful of ricotta. Twirl a little ricotta into each bite as you eat the pasta or stir the ricotta into your bowl instead.

Chive Oil

• 1/2 cup grapeseed, canola or some other mild-flavored oil
• 1/4 cup chopped chives

Put the chives into a blender and add the oil. Puree until the oil looks smooth. You can strain this to make it very smooth and silky or just leave it as is. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days before using. The oil may separate, if so, just shake or stir the oil to reblend.

The Milkmaid's Kitchen: Ricotta

Cheesemaking at home sounds scary and/or exotic to many people. I am not going to tell you that it's easy to produce an English farmhouse cheddar in your kitchen (although you could do it if you wanted to), but there are many simple projects that you can tackle without too much (if any) special equipment. This is one of them.

Cheesemaking is a fairly basic process: milk is heated to a specific temperature and a coagulant or starter is added to cause the milk to form curds and whey (remember Little Miss Muffet?). What kind of cheese you end up with depends on the type of milk, the type of starter, the temperature(s) you use and whether you use the curd or whey.

Ricotta was traditionally made as a way to use up the whey that is produced when other cheeses (like mozzarella or parmesan) are made. Cheesemaking is a great way to use up excess milk, but you will end up with more whey than curds. (See the picture below to see how much ricotta I got vs. how much whey I was left with.) A whole group of whey-based cheeses was developed to use up all that whey. Take a look at the supermarket dairy case sometime: any mozzarella manufacturer (Dragone, Polly-O, Sargento, etc.) also produces ricotta. That's not just because they want to be your one-stop-shop for lasagna ingredients.

Now for those of us who are working on a smaller scale, like you and me, ricotta is best made from milk, not whey (because you need a lot of whey to get any useful yield). So, technically, what we are making in this recipe is more like queso fresco or fresh paneer. But, it looks like ricotta, behaves like ricotta, and tastes like ricotta. So there. You wanna call it something else, that's fine with me.

Now, finally, the recipe (totally lifted from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks). To make more, just double, triple, quadruple the recipe - the technique is the same, the only major differences will be the length of time is takes to come up to temp and to drain sufficiently. The only special pieces of equipment you need are a thermometer (deep frying or candy thermometer are fine) and cheesecloth or a very fine-mesh strainer.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Yields about 2 cups of ricotta and 6-7 cups of whey

• One-half gallon milk (Use good quality milk - there isn't much else providing flavor to this cheese, so it's worth paying extra for local, fresh milk. I have used both whole milk and 2% milk, you could try skim or 1% if you want, but I can't vouch for the results)
• 2 cups buttermilk
  
• salt to taste

Put the milk and buttermilk in a pot large enough to hold them. Heat over a medium heat. You will see curds start to form. Occasionally, gently stir the pot, making sure the milk isn't scorching on the bottom of the pot.

When the milk reaches 175 degrees (this takes about 15 minutes), you will see the curds floating in the whey (you'll know it when you see it - no worries). Turn off the heat and let the milk sit for a few minutes.

Now you need to drain the ricotta: Moisten your cheesecloth and lay it into a colander or strainer over a bowl (if you want to use the whey - see below) or in the sink (if you don't want to use the whey). Gently ladle the contents of the pot into the cheesecloth lined strainer. Tie the cheesecloth into a bag and let the ricotta drain. Do not squeeze the bag to speed things up. You'll just squeeze your beautiful ricotta through the cloth. If you have a super-fine strainer (the kind that looks like cloth made of metal strands), just ladle the curds directly into it and let them drain.

I like a drier ricotta, so I let mine drain off for at least 30 minutes, although 15 minutes should give you a nice, creamy ricotta. Add salt to taste. Leave it unsalted if you're going to use it for sweet dessert like cheesecake or cannoli.

This whole process, not counting draining time, takes about 20 minutes and most of that is watching your milk. Easy and delicious.

Now, what to do with all that whey?

You can just throw it out (I will confess to doing that myself), but you can also use it in a few ways:

• Use it in place of water in yeasted bread recipes.
• Use it in cold soups (this whey tastes a bit like buttermilk) like a cucumber soup or a vichyssoise.
• Water your patio plants (there's a calcium in there - tomato plants like calcium).
• Use it as a buttermilk replacement for pancakes or quick breads.