Rich Rolled Cinnamon Cookies

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Eid, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Traditionally, Muslims go to the mosque for a quick prayer in the morning and celebrate afterwards by eating with family and friends.

This year I made these cut out cookies for Eid, following a recipe that we used often when I was growing up. These cookies are thin and rich, but not too sweet, with a hint of cinnamon. There is something about their simplicity that makes them addictive.

I have so many childhood memories attached to these cookies. As kids, we painstakingly cut them out and decorated them, carefully adding details like a nose and eyes, as if they wouldn't be eaten hot out of the oven in 10 minutes. These days, I just use decorative sugar to add some color to the cookies.

The key to getting these cookies right is rolling the dough out to the right thickness. Too thin and they will be crisp and hard. Too thick and the cookies will not cook through. If you aren't sure that you have the right thickness, you can always try a few out before making a full batch.

I prefer to use plastic cookie cutters whenever possible, since I find them to be more durable and easier to maintain than the metal ones. Also, I've found that the cookie cutter shape actually makes a difference in the finished product. Choose a larger shape with fewer thin, sharp projections and it will result in a cookie that has a more even texture.

These cookies are perfect for any holiday and are especially fun for kids to decorate. Hope you enjoy!


Here is the recipe, adapted from Joy of Cooking:

Rich Rolled Cinnamon Cookies
(makes about 40 medium sized cookies)

For the cookie dough:
1 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

For making the cookies:
cookie cutters
rolling pin
decorative sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for several minutes until the butter lightens in color and becomes fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

Sift together the flour, salt, and cinnamon, or mix so the cinnamon is evenly spread throughout the flour. On low speed, add the dry ingredients gradually, mixing until just incorporated.

The dough should be rather thick at this point. Divide into two pieces, form them into flat balls, and cover them with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, until hard. If you don't chill it long enough, it will be sticky and the cookies will be difficult to cut out.

Place a piece of chilled dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll out to about 1/8 of an inch thick. Use your cookie cutters to cut as many cookies as you can from the dough, and then place each one on your cookie sheet. You should try to work rather quickly to cut them out, as the dough will become more difficult to work with as it warms up. Gather the remaining dough scraps, roll them into a ball, and return them to the fridge to keep chilled. Once the cookies are on the sheet, you can take your time to decorate them.

Alternate to the other dough piece still in the fridge, and repeat this process until you finish all the dough.

Bake for 6-9 minutes, until the cookie feels firm when you push on the top. If you can see visible brown spots around the side, you've taken it too far and may need to adjust the thickness of the dough or the cooking time.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Fennel and Dates

When I wrote about Moroccan Style Chicken and Chickpeas, I promised to tell you more about tagines. The word tagine refers to both a North African stew-like food, as well as the cooking vessel it is made in. Tagines are easy to make and full of exotic flavor, so if you haven't made one yet I highly recommend it.

The tagine pot is ideal for slow cooking. It has a cone shaped top, which allows liquid to condense and drip back down into the stew, creating a moist, flavorful dish. These days, mainstream brands like Le Creuset and Emily Henry have come up with their own westernized (and pricy) versions of the tagine.

I first started making tagines when my mom got me the Le Creuset tagine for my birthday last year. At first it was pretty amazing to me that something which looks so decorative can actually be used on the stovetop like any other pot. One of the few things that is different about cooking with a tagine is that you generally want to keep it over low heat after putting the top on.

Usually in tagine recipes there is some kind of sweet ingredient (like honey, dates, raisins, or other dried fruit) which contrasts with spices (like cumin, coriander, and ginger). The practice of cooking savory food with fruit is thought to have been brought to Morocco originally by Arabs who migrated to the country long ago. Tagine recipes traditionally call for slow cooking, which produces some fantastic aromas and allows the sweet and savory flavors to blend.

This recipe is taken from the Le Creuset website and uses dates, fennel, and lamb as the primary ingredients. While the original recipe calls for several hours of cooking, I've found that you can often get away with somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, while still producing a tender stew. If you don't own a tagine of your own, I think this recipe would work just fine cooked in a regular pot. However, I love the visual appeal of serving the finished product in such a beautiful dish! :-)

Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Fennel and Dates
(serves 3-4)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, sliced thinly
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
1.5 lbs lamb, cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes (I usually ask the butcher for a piece of lamb that would work well in a stew. Also they are generally willing to cut into cubes for you if you ask.)
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup broth, or water
cilantro

Heat olive oil in the base of the tagine over medium heat. Add the fennel and red onion and sautee until translucent. Remove onion and fennel to a bowl.

Add the lamb pieces to the tagine base and cook a few minutes until just browned on all sides. Then add the spices and salt, stirring to combine evenly.

Finally, return the onion and fennel to the tagine, and add the dates and broth. (Depending on the tagine you are using, you may want more or less broth. It should be covering the ingredients most of the way, but should not be so close to the top that it will overflow during cooking.) Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 1 to 1.5 hours, until the meat is tender and soft.

Serve over a bed of couscous and garnish with cilantro.

Chopped Dates in Milk

It's been an exciting time for me lately. My husband and I just bought a condo and we've been spending the last couple of weeks unpacking. I really love the new place and can't wait until we finish settling in.

There are some things that I miss about our old place, like the view from the balcony, but let me tell you, I don't miss the stove. It was electric, and really small - just big enough to fit a cookie sheet. It was the kind that has one full size burner, with three that are smaller.

And now for the exciting part. Check out our new stove!


I'm really excited to start experimenting with it.

Another thing that has been keeping me busy lately is Ramadan, the month of fasting that Muslims observe once a year. The fast lasts during daylight hours, so traditionally you wake up before sunrise to eat a meal called suhor and break your fast after sunset with a meal called iftar.

I have a lot of food related memories surrounding Ramadan, since there are certain dishes that my family makes during this time. For example, one traditional food to break fast with is dates and milk. My mom likes to let the dates sit for few minutes in the milk before eating, so the sweet flavor of the dates seeps into the milk.

I've seen variations of this that include nuts, but for me the plain version is great as is. It's the perfect refreshing snack to have at the end of a day of fasting.

Chopped Dates and Milk

(appetizer/snack for 4)

12 dates, about 3 per ramekin
4 ramekins
milk, about 2 cups
couple dashes of cinnamon, optional

Chop the dates into bite sized pieces, removing the seed. Divide evenly between the ramekins and then fill to the top with milk. Sprinkle with some cinnamon if you'd like. Allow to site for at least 5 minutes before enjoying.

Slow-Cooked Shrimp with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Remember the kifta kebab, and how I said that was my favorite meal to request when I visit my family? Well, this shrimp dish is my husband's favorite when we visit his family. The texture of this shrimp is unlike any I've ever had before. It's extremely soft and almost falls apart when you cut it. A spicy tomato based sauce really seeps into the shrimp, and the occasional olive provides a tart contrast in flavor.

The secret to achieving the soft texture of the shrimp is cooking the crap out it. This was a little bizarre to me at first, since I had always heard that you generally cook shrimp briefly. I thought anything more than a few minutes and you would end up with overcooked shrimp. However, it turns out that as with other slow cooked foods, you really can achieve a different texture in the shrimp by giving it plenty of time to cook.

Let me tell you, the first time I tried to make this at home it was a disaster. We got the recipe from my husband's mom by asking her over the phone. We didn't get it right. For example, she said to let it cook for "awhile" which we interpreted as 15-20 minutes, when in fact she meant more than an hour! We also added far too much tomato paste, which obscured all of the other spices in the dish. The shrimp turned out tough and flavorless. Let's just say that the food didn't remind my husband of home :-)

As is often the case with recipes like this that have never been written down, it turned out that the best thing to do was to wait until we visited the east coast again and watch over her shoulder as she made it. She was really excited to show off her recipe, and we all had a good time cooking together.

My husband's mom uses Adobo seasoning and Sazon Goya packets, but I wanted to be able to make it from the spices that I always have on hand at home, so I've modified the recipe a bit. Instead, I use spices that are found in those Goya mixtures in my own combination.

Also, this recipe calls for jumbo shrimp, but my husband's mom says she substitutes regular shrimp sometimes and it works out just fine.

Slow-Cooked Shrimp with Spicy Tomato Sauce
(serves 3-4)

To marinade the shrimp:
2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled, tail removed, and deveined (See this video for tips on how to devein, or you can buy them already peeled and deveined.)
1 lime
1/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 tsp oregano
black pepper, several generous grinds
4 cloves garlic, mashed or finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt

For the sauce:
2 Tbsp refined corn oil, or other high heat oil
cilantro
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp achiote, (see the pinon post for information on achiote)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
handful of green olives, with pimento (optional)
broth, or water, about 2-3 cups

Put the peeled, deveined shrimp in a large bowl and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Leaving a little water in the bottom of the bowl, squeeze the juice of a full lime all over the shrimp, mixing with the water as you go. Add more water and rinse the shrimp once more. Finally, drain all of the water.

Add to the bowl the wine, oregano, black pepper, garlic, and salt. Mix everything together thoroughly. Optionally, you can let this sit for up to 30 minutes to marinade.

Put a large pot on medium-high heat and add corn oil. After the oil is hot, lower the heat to medium and prepare to spoon in the shrimp. Use a lid to cover the top as you spoon in the shrimp gradually, to prevent splattering. Finally, pour in the remaining marinade. Add a handful of cilantro, stems included. Stir the mixture to combine and cover. At this point, the liquid should be simmering/boiling.

Let it cook like this, covered, for about 45 minutes to an hour, but make sure to check it regularly and add broth or water if the liquid starts to dry up.

After cooking for 45 minutes to an hour, push all the shrimp to the sides making space in the middle of the pot. Add the onion, red and green pepper, coriander, achiote, and tomato paste. Let that cook for awhile in the center, stirring occasionally. When the onion starts to become translucent, stir everything together and add olives if desired.

Add another cup and a half of broth or water and cook for another 15-20 minutes. At this point, you can uncover and let the sauce dry up a bit, to the desired consistency. The sauce should be relatively thick. Don't forget to check your seasoning too.

Enjoy the shrimp over a bed of rice. I, of course, like to garnish with cilantro too. :-)

Mini Banana-Peach Cakes

Let me just start out by saying that Alton Brown is a genius. I don't necessarily think he's the best chef out there, but he knows how to teach about cooking in a way that grabs your attention and sucks you in. His show Good Eats is unique, fast paced, and full of interesting information about food. The depth of his food knowledge is also demonstrated weekly when he hosts Iron Chef America. He's got to be the smartest person on the Food Network today.

There are also things about his philosophy on food that resonate with me. For example, let me share my favorite Alton Brown quote with you:
"You know we fixate on the food so much itself: 'Oh, the ultimate brownie or the ultimate this or that' -- well, let me tell you something: It’s all poop in about 12 hours, okay? The real power that food has is its ability to connect human beings to each other -- that’s the stuff right there and, to me, everything else is secondary to that."
Amen. I have to agree that this is exactly why food is such a powerful thing.

Anyway, back to the recipe. This cake is based on Alton Brown's Individual Peach Upside-Down Cake, a recipe that I picked up from an episode of Good Eats. I like it because it's really easy, but it looks great and it's pretty healthy for a dessert. Each cake is an individual serving, cooked in a ramekin. After baking, the ramekin is flipped upside down, and the vibrant orange of the peach makes for a pretty top to the dessert.

The juicy peach sits on top of a fluffy vanilla flavored cake. In my version, I added banana as a second layer of fruit under the peach, to add a bit more variety. I also used cinnamon instead of candied ginger, since its an ingredient I'm more likely to have around the house.

Another substitution I made was using yogurt and milk instead of buttermilk. I rarely use buttermilk in my cooking, and it's always annoying to have to buy an ingredient just for one recipe. So, after a little searching online I found that yogurt, thinned with a bit of milk can be a buttermilk substitute. I had some yogurt leftover from making pancakes so I decided to give it a try. It made the batter a little thicker, but worked great!

I like to eat the cake by itself, but it would also be great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Mini Banana-Peach Cakes
(makes 4 cakes)

Fruit layer:
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 peach, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch slices
1/2 tsp cinnamon, or enough to generously sprinkle each ramekin
1 banana, sliced into 1/3 inch thick rounds

Cake layer:
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp milk
5 Tbsp yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Divide 2 Tbsp. of the butter evenly between 4 ramekins, cutting into small pieces to cover the bottom. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the butter, dividing evenly between the ramekins.

Lay peach slices on top of the sugar, forming a layer of peach on the bottom. Remember that the peach slices will shrink when cooked, so make it a generous layer, overlapping as necessary. On top of this, sprinkle some cinnamon into each ramekin. Then add the banana on top, forming another layer.

For the cake, in a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl (I usually just use a liquid cup measure), mix together sugar, melted butter, milk, yogurt, and vanilla. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. At this point, the batter should be relatively thick, but thin enough to pour. If it seems too thick, add some more milk until it's the right consistency. Pour evenly into the ramekins, filling just up to the top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until top is beginning to brown and juices are bubbling. Warning: be sure to put something under the ramekins, since they are likely to leak fruit juice. I like to use a piece of tin foil on the rack below.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the outside edge to loosen and flip upside down on a plate. Enjoy alone, or with ice cream.