Almond and Hazelnut Cookies

It's possible that in my recent attempt to cut back on sugar and white flour, I'm actually baking more. We're funny creatures, aren't we? Needing to fill some kind of self-imposed gap, I'm constantly thinking of ways to make cookies, cakes, loaves and others desserts with sugar and flour substitutes. My plan to cut back on sweets may be backfiring. Here's another no white sugar, (*almost) no white flour recipe. And in case you are one of those devotees of old fashioned baked goods who is thinking, "I'm not interested in some substitute for a real cookie", I shall include this short quote:

My tester/husband, always happy to taste and give his honest opinion, said, with unrestrained enthusiasm, the following: "This is possibly one of the best cookies I've ever eaten!"

I said, "Can I quote you on that?"

He said, "Yes, and you can also quote me as saying I'll have another one" as he turned and made his way back to the kitchen.

(He has to dilute with 'possibly' and 'one of' because his mom is a MASTER baker and he's a good son.)

Wanting follow up praise and fodder for the blog, I pushed for more compliments..."What do you like about them?"

His reply: "They're only as much of a cookie as they need to be to get the job done."

Well, I consider that a success, because "the job" was satisfying our sweet teeth in our "no sugar" universe. Mission accomplished.

Almond and Hazelnut Cookies     

(recipe inspired by Algerian Almond Cookies)

Makes 16 cookies

1/2 cup of ground hazelnuts (about 1 cup whole)

1 cup of ground almonds (about 2 cups whole)

2/3 cup of honey
2 tablespoons of lemon zest
1 egg white
1/2 cut of all-purpose flour for rolling out cookies (*almost flourless)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In batches, grind hazelnuts and almonds in a blender or food processor until you have the correct amount of ground nuts. In a medium bowl combine nuts, honey and lemon zest. Add slightly beaten egg white and mix well. If the mixture seems too wet, grind and add more nuts until you have a thick paste.

Generously sprinkle a work surface with the flour and roll the dough into two long thin logs (about 8-10 inches long and about an inch in diameter). Use just as much flour as you need to stop the dough from sticking. Press each log to about 1/2 inch flat. Cut cookies about 1 1/2 inch wide on the diagonal. (Your cookies will be roughly diamond shaped.)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust the cookies with flour.

Bake at 350 degrees F until just browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Your finished cookie will be chewy and can keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

 

Polenta with Rapini

So easy and yet so good. If you can handle stirring for 10 minutes straight, you can make this. That's really all there is to it. It's one of my favourite make ahead dishes. You can add any vegetable you like, but I love it with rapini (aka broccoli rabe) because rapini is just so mean and cranky. Just kidding...I mean bitter.

It's really tasty warmed up with some spicy tomato sauce on top, but a cold wedge straight out of the fridge is good, too.

Polenta with Rapini

1 cup of organic cornmeal (I like organic 'cause it is untreated with pesticides and non-GMO)

1 head of rapini

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 cup of cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Wash and chop rapini, removing the woody ends of the stalks. In a large frying pan, sautee the rapini in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, just until wilted, but not crisp. Sprinkle with a bit of salt to taste. Set aside.

Grease a pie plate with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and set aside. Bring 2 3/4 cups of water to boil in a medium sized pot. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cornmeal and 1 cup of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Slowly add cornmeal to the boiling water, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and continue to stir, until mixture is very thick...at least 10 minutes. Add rapini to the cornmeal mixture and immediately pour into the pie plate, spreading as evenly as you can. (The mixture will start to get thicker and harder to work with as it cools.) If you like, brush a bit more oil on the top and bake for about 20 minutes, until the polenta is hot and set. If you add the oil to the top, it will start to get just a bit crispy, too. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Serve hot or cold.