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Two facts:

1. I LOVE good, flakey, moist, buttery shortbread.
2. I don’t LOVE anise (often associated with black licorice) but I’m challenging myself to find favorable ways to use flavors I don’t typically favor.

The combination of facts 1 and 2 made some of the most delicious cookies, ever… pair these with some Darjeeling or Irish Breakfast tea and you have a seriously tasty afternoon retreat.

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Ingredients:

• 1-1/3 cup all purpose, unbleached flour
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup white rice
• 6 Tablespoons salted butter
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup Baker’s (superfine) sugar, plus more for dusting
• ½ teaspoon Anise flavoring
• ¼ cup dried tart cherries

 

Preheat your oven to 325°.

Beat the butter and sugar

until it’s pale and creamy

add the anise and beat again.

 

Put your rice in a blender or food processor

and pulverize it until it’s quite fine.

And we still need to sift it.

The rice doesn’t cook to a soft texture, so if you don’t get the large clumps of rice out you’ll swear your teeth are going to break. That does not make for an enjoyable cookie.

You can test to make sure it’s fine enough by chewing a little bit. It should “pop” as you chew but not resemble eating a rock.

 

Mix your flour, ground rice, and salt in a bowl

Chop your cherries

and add them to the dry ingredients.

Coat them well in the flour mixture

and add the cherries and flour to the creamed butter and sugar. Stop as soon as it’s combined.

Switch to hand stirring

and then palm it together to make a ball.

You can spread it into a greased 9” flat circle on a cookie sheet, or I use an 8” cake pan.

Flatten it down as best you can

and then switch to a rolling pin or the back of a flat metal cup to smooth the top.

Poke holes in whatever design you like (this is the only way to prevent the shortbread from rising and bubbling so don’t skip this.)

Slice into 12 servings

and bake for 35 minutes, until it’s a golden pale and the edges are just starting to brown.

as soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the top with more fine sugar

wait for five minutes and re-cut your slices.

Let it cool completely.

Gently lift them onto a serving platter.*

These are seriously SO good. The anise is definitely not overpowering but you can detect it and it balances like a trapeze artist with the cherries. Yum. Black jelly beans, here I come…

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*To remove your shortbread from a deep cake pan as I have used, I place a small piece of cardboard on top of the shortbread, turn them upside down (fully supported on the cardboard), place a plate over them while they’re still upside down and then invert, right-side up.

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To me, the best part of Indian food is the Naan. Scooping up rice and sauce and meat in a hot, garlicky, salty, soft, fried bread and eating with your fingers is absolutely one of the best pleasures in life. And I’m going to show you how to make a killer version in your kitchen.

Ingredients*:

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 cups (10 oz.) all purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons sour cream
• 1 Tablespoon whole milk (not pictured)
• 2 Tablespoons garlic olive oil (or regular if you prefer)
• Ghee (clarified butter)
• corse sea salt

This recipe will yield 6 large naan and will take about 5 hours total. These are best served the same day or frozen and reheated. I always make a double batch and have them frozen for future meals.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 3/4 cup warm water and let it sit until it becomes frothy (about 10 minutes)

While you wait, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl.

Combine your sour cream and milk:

When the yeast looks like this:

add the yogurt mixture and the olive oil to it and gently whisk.

pour this over the flour mixture and gently fold with a wooden spoon.

Once the flour is coated,

switch to hand mixing. (I’m totally sure you can do this with a paddle, but this is the traditional method and I feel like I’m cheating if I use the machine…)

I mix (with my right hand) and throw a little flour in here and there (with my left) if it’s just too wet.

mmmmmmm….. goop.

as soon as it’s combined well, stop kneading.

Place it in a bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap or a damp flour sack cloth and leave it to rise 2-4 hours.

If you’re cooking the rest of the meal from scratch, now is when you’d make your main dishes (to be kept warm on a low simmer) while you make the fresh naan.

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Four hours later…

Definitely should have used a larger bowl.

Yeast-splosion. Love it.

Get a station set up with a bowl of flour, a bowl of water, your ground sea salt, melted ghee, and a rolling pin.

On a well-dusted surface, flop the dough out

and divide it into 6 even clumps (I’m making a double batch, here).

roll each section in flour to keep it from sticking and set it aside.

Roll each ball into a 8”- 9” teardrop. I use a rolling pin at first and then stretch and lift the dough with my hands.**

Okay, get your ready hats on, put the dog outside, and read the rest of the instructions 12 times, cause this is going to go fast and you’ll swear you’re going to burn the house down or set off every fire alarm in it. And you might. But the naan will be good. Stay the course.

With a large cast iron skillet on medium high/high heat, get it almost smoking.

Get your hands wet, pick up a rolled out naan and slap it between your hands like you’re playing “hot potato” to get the surface damp. Lay it in the skillet. Count to 60. The dough should start to bubble.

Flip it. Cover it. Count to 30.

Remove the naan, brush with melted ghee, and sprinkle with corse sea salt.

Repeat until all the naan are done. ***

Yes, yes, yes, this was good.

 

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*Other traditional ingredients to add  (if you’re so inclined) would be kalonji or nigella seeds, fennel seeds, minced garlic, and/or onion flakes.
**If you run out of counter space, wax paper is your friend. Just lay a sheet on top of each rolled piece of naan to keep them from sticking together.
*** This will take about 15 minutes, so I throw my cooked naan on a cookie sheet in the oven set to 175°-200°.

Afterword:

I have cooked Indian food completely from scratch only three times in my life. When done according to traditional methods, I have found it to be more challenging and more of a time investment than a thanksgiving dinner for 14. I’m guessing there are some short cuts or advance prep that I’m not privy to, but I tenaciously try again when I’m feeling the curry-yearn. Seriously, next time you have AWESOME Indian food, be sure to hug the chef. They earned it.

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