Are you goofing off and not cooking? I am in the process of making linguini with white clam sauce topped with Rock Shrimp (Lagastinos) (sp). We will see if anyone makes it out alive.
Thanks drgilll000. I am going to the farmer's market for some dried cots. You are welcome 481110---I like it far too well also. Anytime PG! Yellowgal caster sugar is superfine. I make mine in the Cuisinart with regular sugar.
{ Rosemary, apricot and almond shortbread } With scissors in tow, Julia popped outside to the garden and eyed off the selection of home grown herbs, courtesy of Mr Mélanger. The ever expanding rosemary bush caught her eye. After cutting a handful of sprigs, she started to ponder their use as she returned inside. Back in the kitchen, with the collection still in her hands, she was still undecided how to include this fragrant herb into a shortbread. While she mulled over the idea, she pulled a selection of dried fruits and nuts from the pantry ? to find some little friends for the rosemary ? and quickly settled on apricots and almonds. As she gathered the remainder ingredients to make the shortbread, she also reached for her spice grinder. She took one look at the sugar on the counter, and then the rosemary and immediately set to whizzing the two together. The result was a soft pale green sugar, the consistency of icing (confectioners?) sugar. Perfect to incorporate the flavour of rosemary without the texture. With the crunch from the almonds, as well as the additional sweetness from the apricots, this little rosemary flavoured cookie turned out to be delicious experiment. { Rosemary, apricot and almond shortbread } Original recipe by Julia Tuomainen @ Mélanger
* Ingredients * 1 ¾ cup flour 1/8 teaspoon salt Leaves from ¼ sprig of fresh rosemary 1/2 cup caster sugar 1 cup butter, at room temperature ¼ cup finely chopped dried apricots and almond flakes 1 egg
* Directions * Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl, and add the dried fruit and nuts. Set aside. In a spice grinder, process the rosemary leaves with ¼ cup of the sugar until it resembles the consistency of icing sugar. (It will be a pale green colour.) In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter, rosemary sugar and remaining caster sugar until creamy. Mix in the egg until combined. Then mix in the flour mixture gently until just incorporated. Do not over mix. You can do this step by hand if you prefer. Turn the dough out onto some cling film, and using the cling film, form into a log shape. Depending on the thickness of your cookies, you will make approximately 3 logs around 20-30cm in length each. Refrigerate the logs for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. However, after around 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge, remove the logs and fine-tune the shape if necessary. Then return to chill. To bake the logs, preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper. Slice the log into 75mm-1cm cookies. Place the cookies on the baking sheet, leaving space between each. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the size. Be careful not to over bake. remove them. Once you have removed them from the oven, cool on a wire rack. The cookie dough can remain in the fridge for 3 days, or can be frozen for a month. To bake the cookies from frozen dough, do not allow the dough to defrost, simply slice and bake for a minute or two longer.
:: Plain cookie variation :: This recipe is equally good in its most simple form. Replace the apricots and almonds with an additional ¼ cup of flour, and simply beat the 1 cup of butter with ½ cup of unprocessed caster sugar. Mix and bake in the same way. Alternatively, experiment with other fruit, nut and aromatic combinations of your own!
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