Never trust a skinny cook!: No Shortbread Shortage

Hope you had a good Memorial Day. For most of us, it’s a 3-day weekend, but I hope you took the time to remember all the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for all of us. They deserve our respect and admiration. Having volunteered at the VA hospital here in Atlanta, it still slays me that the place is effectively closed on Memorial Day – including the cafeteria. I wish I was kidding.

If you want some perspective, take a look at this:

http://www.onemarinesview.com/one_marines_view/2011/06/brothers-fighting-for-brothers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+onemarinesview%2FmZTC+%28One+Marines+View%29

That said, this is not another Liz Lorber rant.

Instead, I’m going to tell you about two stupid people who decided to go kayaking on the Chattahoochee River on Memorial Day. Now, we love kayaking and think we’re pretty good at it, having done it in frequently, even in various exotic places like Vietnam. We are no strangers to sea-kayaking either, and have battled our way through some pretty rough waters. Oh, but a river? Haha, it brought us down.

First of all, what are the odds that you encounter someone you know while paddling down a river? Not likely, but it happened to us and turns out they were experienced kayakers. They out-distanced us in no time flat. Whatever. It wasn’t a competition, right?

At the end of the 5-mile trip, we spotted the take-out point. Unfortunately, there were underwater rocks, minor rapids and shallow water between it and us. You know what’s coming. We crashed sideways into one of those hidden behemoths, tipped to the side and in came the water. Oh no! My iPhone!

Fortunately, it survived.

The irony is that I brought it along in case of emergency!

Long story short, I managed to hobble to the shore over large rocks and rushing water, iPhone held securely (yeah, right) above my head and Henry began towing our water-logged kayak to the dock. Fortunately, one of the tour folks figured out what was happening and waded in to help. Henry is yelling at him “Rescue her, not me!” and I’m yelling back “I’m fine, help him!” Yep, we’re ridiculously polite down here in the South.

We finally made it to shore and observed our friends calmly hefting their kayaks on top of their car. We slunk away, hoping they wouldn’t see us but they waved blithely as they drove off. I can only imagine what they thought about the debacle that was Henry and Liz. Actually, I choose not to think about it.

Drying it out!

The good news is we were invited to a fantastic BBQ at the home of some good friends. We hung around in their pool, ate great food, drank amazing wine and danced like idiots to Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.” Think I'll let this be the good memory for the weekend.

As usual, I could not show up empty-handed, so I brought a ginormous platter of seven different kinds of homemade cookies (see photo above). They were a huge hit, if I do say so myself. We placed them on the food table and everyone grabbed them up along with the barbecued pork shoulder, jalepeno slaw and smoked salmon. Eat dessert first? Apparently so.

There was a spirited debate about which cookie was best. Decide for yourself.

CINNAMON SHORTBREAD

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar, divided
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 T. ground cinnamon, divided

Place butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed 1 minute, then gradually add ¾ cup of the sugar and the salt. Continue beating, scraping down bowl several times, until mixture is smooth and creamy and well-blended. Beat in vanilla.

Combine flour and 1 T. of the cinnamon in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add half to the butter mixture and blend on low speed until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour, then stop mixer and finish combining by hand, using a large spatula or wooden spoon.

Place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to ¼-inch or desired thickness. Place on a tray and refrigerate until well-chilled and firm.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325-degrees. Cut dough into desired shapes, using a fluted cutter or knife. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes then rotate pan and bake for 6 to 8 minutes more. Remove cookies to a rack and cool slightly.

Combine the remaining 1 cup of sugar and the 1 T. cinnamon. Roll the baked cookies in this mixture, then return to rack to cool completely.

Yield: 38 3 x 1-inch rectangles (1/4-inch thick)

COCONUT MACADAMIA SHORTBREAD (adapted from Martha Stewart’s “Cookies”)

1 cup macadamia nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons plus ¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cups sweetened, shredded coconut, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cream of coconut
2 teaspoons coconut extract
2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1 egg white, lightly beaten

In a food processor, combine macadamias and the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Process until finely ground and set aside. Process 1 cup of the coconut until coarsely ground and set aside.

Place butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed 1 minute, then gradually add the ¾ cup of the sugar and the salt. Continue beating, scraping down bowl several times, until mixture is smooth and creamy and well-blended. Beat in cream of coconut and coconut extract, then add the reserved macadamia mixture and coarsely ground coconut.

Add half of the flour to the butter mixture and blend on low speed until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour, then stop mixer and finish combining by hand, using a large spatula or wooden spoon.

Place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to ¼-inch or desired thickness. Place on a tray and refrigerate until well-chilled and firm.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325-degrees. Cut dough into desired shapes, using a fluted cutter or knife. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Lightly brush each cookie with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes then rotate pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes more. Remove cookies to a rack and cool completely.

Yield: 44 2 ½-inch round cookies (1/4-inch thick)

SALTY SHORTBREAD

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
Fleur de sel (French sea salt) or other good salt for sprinkling

Place butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed 1 minute, then gradually add the sugar and the salt. Continue beating, scraping down bowl several times, until mixture is smooth and creamy and well-blended. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add half of the flour to the butter mixture and blend on low speed until just combined. Repeat with remaining flour, then stop mixer and finish combining by hand, using a large spatula or wooden spoon.

Place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to ¼-inch or desired thickness. Place on a tray and refrigerate until well-chilled and firm.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325-degrees. Cut dough into desired shapes, using a fluted cutter or knife. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Dust each cookie with a sprinkling of the fleur de sel.

Bake for 8 minutes then rotate pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes more. Do not let cookies brown. Remove to a rack and cool completely.

Yield: 24 2 ½-inch square cookies (1/4-inch thick)

* I have a lot of pictures of the process that I didn't post here, because I didn't think they were necessary. If you disagree and want to see it step-by-step, please let me know and I will post them.

* What I have essentially given you is a basic shortbread recipe that you can adapt according to your taste by adding cocoa powder, citrus zest, ginger, pecans or anything else you can think of. If you come up with something scrumptious, by all means please share it with me!

* One other thing: it's okay to re-roll the dough after you cut it out the first time. It's cool to re-roll it once. You can re-roll it again (I do), but be warned that those cookies will brown much more quickly.