fbpx

Features

Paris Market Shopping

Paris market
DG

Dorie Greenspan

Dorie is a five-time James Beard Foundation award-winner, columnist for the New York Times and author of 12 cookbooks.

Rosemary-Parm Cookies

It’s hard to decide what’s best about this cookie. The texture’s a definite attention-grabber: It has a slight flakiness at first and then it’s all melt. The flavors of the rosemary and Parmesan, one of those meant-to-be matches, are front and center. For the crumbliest texture — a good thing here — the cheese should not be very finely grated. A word on the nuts: When I began making these, I used toasted almonds, and the cookies were very, very good. If almonds are what you’ve got, use them. You won’t be disappointed.

Recipes adapted from Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

 

Preparation

1. Working in a small bowl, rub the sugar and rosemary together until the sugar is moist and aromatic.

2. Put the flour, pecans, Parmesan, salt and rosemary-sugar in a food processor and pulse to blend. Drop in butter and pulse until the mixture turns crumbly. Add beaten yolk a little at a time, pulsing until you have a moist dough.

3. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into a disk. One disk at a time, place between two pieces of parchment paper and roll to a thickness of .6 cm (¼ inch). Slide the dough, still between the papers, onto a baking sheet — you can stack the slabs — and freeze for at least 1 hour.

4. Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 177°C (350°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Have a 4 cm (1½ inch) diameter cookie cutter at hand.

5. Working with one piece of dough at a time, peel away the top and bottom papers and return it to one piece of paper. Cut cookies and put them on the lined sheet, leaving about 2.5 cm (1 inch) between them. Gather the scraps, re-roll, freeze, cut and bake.

6. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the midway mark, or until they’re golden and set. Rest them on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough, always starting with a cool baking sheet. The rolled-out dough can be wrapped well and frozen for up to 2 months; cut and bake directly from the freezer. The baked cookies can be kept in a covered container for up to 1 week at room temperature.

Goat Cheese and Chive Cookies

These cookies are nice with champagne or white wine as an aperitif. Alternatively, they’re great alongside soup. The best cheese for these cookies is a soft, mashable fresh goat cheese, often sold under its French name, chèvre. Chives are my first choice, but if you can’t find them, you can use the pale green parts of slender scallions or even the scallions themselves.

Recipe adapted from Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

Preparation

1. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, cheese, salt, pepper and chives together on medium-low speed until light and well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and honey and beat for 2 minutes. Liquid will pool on the bottom of the bowl — it’s not pretty, but it’s okay. Turn off the mixer, add the flour all at once and pulse to start incorporating it. Then mix on low speed only until the flour disappears and the dough comes together. If you have some dry ingredients on the bottom of the bowl, stir them in with a flexible spatula.

2. Turn the dough out and press it into a disk. Place between pieces of parchment paper and roll .6 cm (¼ inch) thick. Keeping the dough between papers, slide it onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour.

3. Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 177°C (350°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Have a 3 cm (1¼ inch) diameter cookie cutter at hand. Peel away the parchment paper from both sides of the dough and return it to one sheet. Cut out cookies and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving at least an inch between them. (If the dough gets soft as you’re cutting, stop and put it and the already cut cookies in the freezer to firm briefly.) Gather the scraps together, flatten them into a disk, re-roll and freeze.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the cookies are browned on the bottom, lightly golden and firm to the touch on top. As the cookies bake, you’ll see butter bubbling around the tops and edges — it will settle into the cookies as they cool. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and allow the cookies to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving, or let them cool completely.

Note: The rolled-out dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; cut and bake the cookies directly from the freezer. The baked cookies are best served within hours. If you keep them overnight, warm them in a 177°C (350° F) oven for a few minutes before serving.