Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Simple gifts - shortbread

Order my new wine book as a holiday gift for wine-loving friends, or for yourself, and your purchase through this link will help support this column and our other publications at WineLoversPage.com.

In This Issue

 Simple gifts - shortbread
It's Christmas time, and I wouldn't say no to a chocolate or a few homemade cookies. Today my wife, Mary W. Johnson, puts on the chef's toque to offer us a recipe for classic shortbread.
 Let us hear from you! You're invited to talk back.
 Last Week's FoodLetter and Archives Links to previous articles.
 Administrivia Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe.

Simple gifts - shortbread

Now that I've sent out more than 300 editions of the 30 Second Wine Advisor's FoodLetter since we started this publication back in 2002, you may have noticed that only a few of them have featured desserts. Okay, one of them, but who's counting?

Frankly, I love to cook, and I love to eat, too; but I don't have all that much of a sweet tooth. It's just as well, because I'd surely be a blimp if I enjoyed making dessert dishes as much as I do savory fare.

Still, it's Christmas time, and I wouldn't say no to a chocolate or two, or better yet, a few homemade cookies. Today, then, I'm turning the chef's toque over to my wife, Mary W. Johnson, who normally prefers to eat what I cook but takes charge of the kitchen herself when dessert's the thing.

All the best of the holiday season and the new year to you all. Here's Mary with a recipe for a simple, classic cookie that's good at any time of year: Shortbread, so called not because it's short in stature but because it's long on shortening. Preferably pure creamery butter.

Shortbread cookies were often called "Scottish" shortbread, back when we were growing up. Today some folks turn this simple recipe into drop cookies, or dip them in chocolate or flavor them with coffee and adorn them with all sorts of other things. Some recipes call for brown sugar, but I think that's a deviation and not a good one.

You don't need any of this fancy stuff, though, not even vanilla extract, to make the simple and classic recipe. It's a small, unadorned bar cookie that involves just a few ingredients in proper proportions: one part sugar, two parts butter, four parts flour and a little bit of salt. We always used used confectioner's sugar, which makes a smoother dough and more delicate finished product.

You can find shortbread packaged in groceries - Walkers shortbread is a well-known quality brand from Scotland. It's easy to make your own, though, and it doesn't get any fresher than that. Here's how I made a small batch last weekend. Please use the best quality butter available and don't substitute margarine. These simple, delicate cookies shine with the best quality ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes about two dozen small cookies)

1/2 cup (120g) confectioner's sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter

PROCEDURE:

1. Sift the sugar, flour and salt together.

2. Allow the butter to come to room temperature to soften. Then put the butter in a bowl and "cream" it by beating it with a hand mixer for a minute or two until it's pale and, well, creamy. Continue mixing as you gradually add the sifted sugar, salt and flour mixture. This will make a stiff dough.

3. Line a 9-by-9-inch or similar-size pan with parchment paper. Press the dough into the pan with your fingers. There's no real need to roll it out, but try to ensure that it's fairly even in thickness and goes into all corners of the pan.

4. Use a fork to prick the dough all the way through, about every half inch, repeating in rows so the entire surface is pocked with little holes.

5. Bake at 325F (160C) until the dough starts to brown. Keep an eye on it, as this may take as little as 20 minutes to 30 minutes or so.

6. Remove the cookies from the oven and remove them from the pan by lifting them out on the parchment paper, transferring the cookie square to a cutting board.

7. While they're still warm, cut into small "finger size" rectangles, pushing apart each row as you cut to allow a little cooling air space around each cookie, Move the cut cookies on the parchment paper onto a wire or wooden rack to cool. They'll keep best in a tightly sealed tin container, but they're not likely to last long, at least not around our house.

Simplest, as I said, is often best. If you want something just a little more adventurous in a bar cookie, though, check out this Latino beauty from our FoodLovers Discussion Group:

A Quiet Little Mexican Bar (Cookie)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=12706

WINE MATCH: Wine with cookies? I think these go best with hot coffee or tea or, if you indulge, a tall glass of cold milk. As a wine-matching challenge, though, I think the simple delicacy of shortbread wouldn't be badly served by a Tawny Port, sweeter-style Sherry or a Tokaji.


Talk About Food and Wine Online

If you have questions, comments or ideas to share about today's article
or wine in general, you're always welcome to drop by our online
FoodLovers Discussion Group:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewforum.php?f=5

Everyone is free to browse. If you'd like to post a comment, question or reply, you must register, but registration is free and easy. Do take care to register using your real name, or as a minimum, your real first name and last initial. Anonymous registrations are quietly discarded.

To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.

PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE
Here's a simply formatted copy of today's FoodLetter, designed to be printed out for your scrapbook or file or downloaded to your PDA or other wireless device.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/food/2007/12/simple_gifts_shortbread-print.html



Last Week's FoodLetter and Archives

Last week's Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Umami mia! (Dec. 13, 2007)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/food/tsfl20071213.php

Wine Advisor FoodLetter archive:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/food/archives.php

30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/archives.php




LET US HEAR FROM YOU!
If you have suggestions or comments about The 30 Second Wine Advisor's FoodLetter, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a coming edition and recipe, please drop me a note at wine@wineloverspage.com. I really enjoy hearing from you, and I try to give a personal reply to all mail if I possibly can. And of course you're always welcome to join the conversations with fellow foodies on our online FoodLovers Discussion Group,
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewforum.php?f=5

SUBSCRIBE:
 WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free)
 30 Second Wine Advisor, daily or weekly (free)
 Wine Advisor FoodLetter, Thursdays (free)

CONTACT US
E-mail: wine@wineloverspage.com

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
For information, E-mail
wine@wineloverspage.com