Spinach Fatayer

Off late I have been cooking a lot of Middle eastern food. All from Sally Butcher's book The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan. I borrowed it from the library a month ago and have been meaning to tell you about it but didn't know where to start. The book is divided into ten broad sections. bread, salads, soup, rice, vegetables, pickles and so on.. and i have been religiously cooking my way through them throughout the month. while the rice dishes and the street food sections are our favorites, we also fell for this stuffed bread last night. Spinach Fatayer. 

In the book Butcher credits the recipe to Mrs Haddad who is her Lebanese bread supplier. Apparently it is Mrs Haddad's family recipe. While the original recipe with sumac and pomegranate paste must be brilliant, I had to make do with substitutes like capers and chana masala in my version. Nevertheless we loved it. It made a happy meal along with a bowl of Mediterranean Chickpea Salad and yogurt seasoned with mustard and green chillies. Think Mr MN liked them much for he even took some for lunch today. I suppose the little one also liked them for he kept juggling between his kichudi and the Fatayer throughout dinner last night.

Spinach Fatayer Adapted from New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan

ingredients        for the dough 1 1/8 tsp bread machine yeast 1/2 tsp sugar 2/3 cups warm water 1 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cups whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp salt 3 tbsp, olive oil 2 tsp lemon juice for the filling 10 oz spinach(i used frozen) oil for frying 1 medium onion chopped 1/4 cup pine nuts, chopped 1 tbsp capers, chopped 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp chana masala salt and pepper to taste for glazing 1/2 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tbsp olive oil salt to taste -   what i did for the dough, i stirred in the yeast and sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and set it aside for 10 minutes. once the yeast solution became foamy, i sifted the flours and salt into a big bowl, added the yeast solution and 1 tbsp of oil to it and tried kneading with my hand. at this point the flour mixture flour mixture felt very dry. so i added the remaining water and oil to the bread machine pan along with the flour mixture and set the machine on dough cycle.  15 minutes later, when the dough looked smooth and felt soft, i switched off the bread machine and turned the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. then covering the dough with a plastic cling wrap i put the bowl in a warm corner of the kitchen and let it double itself. it took the dough about an hour and quarter to double. in the meantime, i made the filling. for the filling, i heated the oil in a saucepan and added the onions to it. once the onions softened, i added the spinach (thawed and drained), capers and the nuts to the pan and cooked for about 4-5 minutes. i then added the chana masala and lemon juice to the spinach, seasoned it to taste and let it cook for a few minutes more till the spinach was well cooked.  switching off the heat, i then set it aside. once the dough doubled, i preheated the oven to 375 degrees F, lined 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and working with little portions of it at a time, i rolled it into a 1/8 inch thick ovals. the dough was soft. so to ease the rolling process i dabbed it with enough flour before rolling. then using an upturned glass i cut out 7 cm circles off the dough, placed 1 tbsp of the filling in each of them and folded the sides to meet in the center like a pyramid pastry. then placing the pyramids in the lined baking trays i baked my first batch of small Fatayers for 22-25 minutes, until they were lightly browned. the Fatayers did not grow too much in size after baking, so using a upturned bowl, i cut out 10 cm circles out of the remaining dough, placed 2-3 tbsp of the filling in each of them,  then folding them as before and glazed them with the solution of lemon juice-oil and salt and baked them for 28-30 minutes, until they were lightly golden. then transferring the Fatayers to a bread basket, i covered them with a cloth and left it that way till dinner time.

Though this recipe was fairly simple to work through, I kept longing for the ladies in the house while i was stuffing the dough. because, somehow even a tedious task as stuffing  the dough becomes fun when you do it midst your sisters and friends..

I am sharing the Fatayers with Bread Baking Day #61. Bread Baking Day is a monthly event created by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte aka kochtopf and Anusha of Tomato Blues is hosting it this month and she has chosen Stuffed Breads. as the theme for the month. 

Also Yeastspotting this and sharing it at the following weekly food events

These nibbles were featured in...

Recipe Sharing Monday #57 

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop 160: 7/15/2013  

Made with Love Mondays , Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Meatless Monday @Veggie Mama's,  Meatless Monday My Sweet and Savory, Just Another Meatless Monday @ Hey What's for Dinner Mom, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Mop It Up Monday, Mealtime Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Maniac Monday Linky Party

Tuesday Food:  Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with Grace, Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations,  Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home,  Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop 

Wednesday Food : What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked Mom, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain ,  Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on , Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2, Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network
Thursday Food:Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage  
Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes

Stuffed Whole Wheat Naan

I made these whole wheat naan a week back. Had planned to put it on the blog sooner.. but this week everything just went out of sorts. anyway... now that i am here let me quickly tell you what i did. how they were. and how well they compared to their bread flour(BF) counterparts. 

Adapting the recipe from Beth Hensperger's Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook, I made the dough for the naan in my bread machine and stuffed it with mashed potatoes and spinach. then buttered them generously and baked them in the oven. even though wheat is considered a healthier choice, in our opinion the BF ones taste much better. however with the stuffing these taste pretty good with a side of dal and yogurt. like their BF counterparts these are quite heavy, so unless you have a big appetite you'll probably not manage beyond one and a third for a meal. at least i find it difficult to have more, though Mr MN chomps down at least three every time i bake them..

Greek Inspired Meatless Monday : Pasta with Yogurt and Mushroom-Fenegreek Fritters

Pasta with yogurt is what we had for dinner last night. and we LOVED it. it was so delicious and went so well with the mushroom-fenugreek fritters that i had made to go with it. both the preparations were inspired by Greek recipes from the book The Glorious Foods of Greece ~ Diane Kochilas that i had picked up from the local library last Saturday. The recipes that inspired our meal were

Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onions from Kassos  & 

Wild Mushroom Fritters Seasoned with Cumin from Masari in Rhodes.

Just to adapt to our food habits I slightly modified both the recipes and the result was DELICIOUS. I had ever imagined that i'll sing such praise for a  non-cheesy pasta-dish. but this one was so good that i had to share...   

Zabaglione with fresh peaches, raspberries and mint..

Zabaglione is a simple and lovely Italian dessert that we had with peaches, raspberries and mint the other night. It was light and tasty. and the plate with its variations of colors and textures was an absolute delight.  The Gourmet Sleuth writes that ' Zabaglione or Sabayon as the French refer to it,  is said to have been invented in the 16th Century in Florence, Italy in the court of the Medici.   This dessert is  classified as a "caudle" rather than a custard. That is, it is a sauce used as a custard to fill pies or tarts.  The original pre-sixteenth century version was a drink made or wine or ale thickened with egg yolks.' However the version I cooked is from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen. It is easy and can be cooked and served in less than 10 minutes.

now the recipe and a snap to drool over :) 

Recipe adapted from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen

ingredients 

1 peach

2 large egg yolks

3 tablespoon Cooking Marsala wine

2 teaspoons sugar

5-6 raspberries

few mint leaves for garnishing

what i did.

• i first boiled a small pot of water, dunk the peach into the boiling water for a few seconds, then plunged it immediately into cold water. this made it easy to peel the peach off its skin. once its skin was peeled i halved it and after removing the pit set it on the serving plate.
• next placing a small saucepan over a large skillet filled with 1 inch of water, i brought the water to simmer. then adding the egg yolks,  Marsala wine and sugar to the small pan, whisked the mixture continuously until it was thick and creamy, around 2-3 minutes. then removing it from the heat, i poured it over the peaches that had been plated. and after garnishing with few raspberries and mint leaves served and relished this eggilicious dessert.

note. 

i also tried whipping the zabaglione using white grape juice in place of Marsala wine. that version tasted  sweeter and more like the custard that we usually have. whereas with the cooking Marsala wine there was a nice vino touch which i preferred.

Tasty Tuesday @ 33 Shades of Green,  Cook like a Celebrity Chef - 5 @ Food Corner,  What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked Mom,  Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain ,  Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on Wednesday, Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Friday Favorite Finds @ Finding Joy in my Kitchen, Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Friday Food Fight @ Run DMT, Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club

Chicken Piccatta

Chicken Piccatta is a quick, simple and tasty preparation which i adapted from Lucinda's Veal Piccatta recipe. It is a light chicken preparation with wine and lemon. Over the weekend we actually had it for dinner on two consecutive days. not because there were leftovers. but because my sister and brother-in-law came over at a short notice and this was the quickest recipe i could think of that would blend well with the other Indian preparations that i had in mind. Everyone at the table actually enjoyed it. It was light, flavorful and citrusy and the slight browning caused by the wine rendered a nice visual appeal to the dish. 

now over to the recipe...

Recipe adapted from Lucinda's Rustic Kitchen

ingredients
2 pieces of chicken tenders, butterflied and marinated
salt to taste
ground pepper
all purpose flour spread on a plate for dredging the chicken
1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons of Cooking Marsala Wine
1 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/ 2 lemon thinly sliced, crosswise

For the chicken marinade
2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste 
2 teaspoons vinegar 
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons of cornflour


what i did

4 hours prior to cooking i  cleaned and  butterflied the chicken tenders, whisked the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl, poured it into a resealable plastic bag and added chicken pieces coating them evenly with the marinade. then sealing the bag i marinated the chicken in the refrigerator till i was ready to cook.

for the Chicken Piccatta,  I heated my iron skillet over medium heat, added both oil and butter in it.  once the butter melted, i dredged the butterflied chicken tenders in flour, i added them on the skillet. then turning the heat to high i sauteed the chicken for 3 minutes on each side. when the chicken pieces began to brown, i poured the wine and swirled it around the pan, turned the chicken pieces over in between. then i added the lemon juice and slices and swirled them around the pan after switching off the heat and dishing it out with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

note

in the original recipe 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of best quality White wine or dry vermouth is recommended for 4 thin-sliced veal scallopini. i however used Marsala cooking wine because that is what i had and since i thought 2 tablespoons of lemon juice might overwhelm the other flavors i scaled it down to 1 tablespoon for 2 chicken tenders. with all the adjustments made the chicken tasted  good and citrusy and the lemon flavor was not overwhelming. however if you like the lemon flavor to rule your dish, you may add a tablespoon more of lemon juice.. after i cooked this one, i checked out  Chef Giada's chicken piccatta recipe. it had way more lemon juice than that...

i thought i'll mention here it is not a good idea to cook Piccatta in an iron skillet. since this vessel is heavy and not very easy to swirl. so if you have a choice, use a large but light skillet.

Happy cooking !! see you soon with some more dishes from my kitchen.

sharing this in the following parties..

Iron Chef Mom-lemons @ Lemons for Lulu, Cook Like a Celebrity Chef @ Food Corner

Tuesday Food:

Hearth & Soul Blog Hop @ Premeditated Leftovers
Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with GraceTotally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SS& GS, Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home
Tasty Tuesday @ 33 Shades of Green, Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training
Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings,  Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles
Wednesday Food:
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked MomCast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain 
 Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on Wednesday Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2, Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's NetworkThursday Food:Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations
Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Spicy Thursday @ DC in Style
Friday Food:
Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home
Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Friday Favorite Finds @ Finding Joy in my Kitchen
Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , I Freakin' Did it Friday @ Miss Information
Friday Food Fight @ Run DMT, Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss
Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes

Escarole Pizza

Pizza or "Pithza" as my little one says is always in my weeks menu. i make the basic pizza dough every other Saturday and dividing it into 4 almost equal portions freeze it till we get our pizza craving... so last week when we got  'the craving' i decided to try the Escarole Pizza from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen. of course, because Mr. MN cannot imagine his pizza without salami and mozzarella, so we accommodated those two and some feta into the crust and delightfully gorged our way through our new  

favorite pizza, "Pizza Escarole with lots of Mozzarella, Feta and Salami. " 

Just for the record, I might as well mention here that the topping was delicious enough to be served as a stand alone side-dish.. so even if you are not a big pizza fan, you might still like to try out the topping (minus the mozzarella and salami, if you wish) as  a side-dish with your meal. it is tasty and healthy. and certainly a keeper for me..  

now the recipe.... 

ingredients *

(Recipe Adapted from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen, )

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 medium sized onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, grated

10 Kalamata Olives, cut into four pieces lengthwise

1 tablespoon Tiny Capers

1/2 dried red chilly, cut into small pieces(i used kitchen scissors  to cut it)

1 bunch fresh escarole, sliced 3/4 inch crosswise and washed with water still clinging to the leaves

1 Basic Pizza Dough (I make mine in the bread machine following recipe from here)

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella

Salami (we used 15 small slices)

4 tablespoons of crumbled Feta Cheese (I used like a garnish)

1/3 cup yellow cornmeal

what i did.

• at the very beginning i must mention that i do not have a pizza stone. however we like our crust crispy. and we are able to get it using the tip here. so i started by preheating the oven to 500 degrees F and placing a large enough baking sheet in the oven. I left the sheet in the oven for over 15 minutes while i made the escarole topping and readied the pizza dough according to the instructions from the book.
• for the topping, i began by heating the oil over medium heat and adding the onions and salt to it and then letting it sweat. once the onions became soft and translucent i stirred in the olives, capers, and red chilly flakes into it and cooked till the flavors were well combined, 2-3 minutes.
• next i added the escarole to the pan, a little at a time, as the leaves wilted and made space for more. i let it cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the leaves became tender. then switching off the heat, i proceeded to top the pizza dough with it.
• to prepare the pizza, i sprinkled the cornmeal over a aluminium foil, placed the prepared pizza dough over it and lightly brushed the dough with olive oil. then leaving 1/2 inch border of the dough around the edge, spread a thin layer of the escarole. then arranged the salami over it, spread a little more of the escarole on top and finally finished by spreading the grated Parmesan, Mozzarella and Feta over it.
• then turning the oven temperature to 425 degree F, i baked it for 11-14 minutes, until the crust was golden and the cheese had melted and was bubbling.

after taking a few shots, we then instantly sat down for our pizza dinner :)

* i should mention here that we had actually made two 6 1/2 inch diameter-ed pizza's. and the measurements of the first  7 ingredients was enough for both of them.

If you have never had escarole before, i insist that you try it out with this recipe. We really liked it. 

Happy Cooking and here is a tip for choosing escarole, in case you have never done it before.

Sharing this with:  

St. Patrick's Day Recipe & Craft Linkup @ Jam Hands

 Bon Vivant #13 - Kids Delight @ Sumee's Culinary Bites

Tuesday Frugal Tip @ Learning the Frugal Life, Wednesday Frugal Days Sustainable Ways @ Frugally Sustainable

Friday Food:

Foodie Friday @ Simple Living and Eating

Monday Food:

 Melt in Your Mouth Monday @ Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms

On the Menu Monday @ Stone Gable, Hunk of Meat Monday @ Beyer Beware, 

Mealtime Monday @ Couponing & Cooking,  Mop it up Monday @ I should be Mopping the Floor

Tuesday Food:
Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with Grace,  Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box
Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations , Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SS& GS, Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home
Tasty Tuesday @ 33 Shades of Green,  Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Hearth & Soul  Tuesday Blog Hop @ Premeditated Leftovers 
Wednesday Food:
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked Mom, Whatsit @White Lights on Wednesday , Fresh Foods Wednesdays @ Gastronomical Sovereignty, Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wednesday Extravaganza @ Hunger Little Girl

Espresso Granita

In spite of many a lofty plans, this 14th of Feb, all I ended cooking up for dinner was our regular  pizza and Espresso Granita from  Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen. In fact I did not even make the pizza. i just got the dough ready and Nishi topped it, as he always does and got the dinner ready while i was hanging out with Pradyot. and it was only after our little boy fell asleep that i felt a compulsive desire to make something sweet to mark our love and friendship of ten years. i flipped through the recipe books that were on the kitchen counter and decided on Espresso Granita as the dessert for the evening. why Granita on a cold chilly night you ask. well, because we are crazy like that. also,  once upon a time... several moons ago, it was coffee that had tied a strong silent bond between the two of us.... so celebrating with coffee  always seems befitting no matter which form it is in.

I followed the recipe from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen word to word, just sizing it down to serve two. and this is how it went.

ingredients.

2/3 cup freshly made espresso

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

shaved bittersweet chocolate

what i did.

while the coffee was still warm, i stirred in the sugar until it dissolved and next added the water. i then poured the mixture into my 9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 inch bread loaf pan and placed the pan in the freezer. after 45 minutes, when a thin layer of ice had gathered on the surface, i racked it with a fork to dislodge and distribute the ice crystals... and kept repeating the raking-dislodging-redistributing business every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours to form a granular texture.

in the meantime,  Nishi whipped the cream and remaining sugar in the mixture until it formed soft peaks.

finally we scooped out the granita into two ramekins, topped it with a dollop of whipped cream and shaved chocolate and dug into it right away....  hmm... that felt good...  slurp ... slurp........... 

Sending this to

"Flavors of Series 4 around Europe" by simply.food hosted at Divya's Culinary Jouney

the event Walk Through  Memory Lane announced by Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot and hosted at Merry Tummy 

Marsala Wine Valentine Taralli

A few days back i happened to stumble upon the cooking event "Flavors of Italy for the month of February" at Divya's Culinary Journey and got all charged up. you see other than pizza, pasta, lasagna, gelato and biscotti... my knowledge about Italian cuisine is limited. so i saw this event as an opportunity to  explore the unknown terrains.. and though i consult the internet for every new dish i try... for this event i decided to cook from the book.  that led me to the culinary aisle of our local library where amongst all other books on Italian culinary i picked up Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen. well my choice of the book was determined by two things... 

one. it wasn't as fat as most others in the rack... 

two. because somehow rustic appeals to me much more than fine dining... 

The book with its little introductory anecdotes before each recipe is a nice read by itself. the style of cooking she mentions is very simple and non-intimidating. so after a quick browse... i decided on a few dishes that i would  like to try.. and Marsala Wine Taralli happened to be one of the firsts.

According to the chef Lucinda Scala Quinn, Taralli were typically a savory cookies which varied from  region to region and were often enjoyed with wine. Apparently some recipes of Taralli called for briefly boiling the dough before baking them. However the recipe in the book is simple and straight-forward and only involves kneading the dough, looping the dough and baking them. She says that her recipe was passed down to her from her Great Aunt Lina (Carolina Scala)... and this recipe yields taralli which are quite different from the ones she had had in Italy. 

While I tried to stay faithful to the book as much as possible there were some changes i made here and there. the chef uses eggs in her recipe. but since we are not too fond of the eggy smell so i made an eggless version. also because I could not get Marsala wine, I used the cooking Marsala wine that was available at the neighborhood  grocery store. I guess the substitutions might have meddled with the authentic taste of these cookies... but since i have not tasted the real thing.. i cannot say.  we however liked the version we had in hand. in fact Nishi and i popped in a few even before they were glazed because they were just so good.. not too sweet... not too hard.. something similar in taste to Starbucks madeleine..but slightly harder in texture. the other liberty that I took with the recipe was in shaping my loops like hearts, x's and o's.. but then it is the 14th of Feb. you can't blame me for that.

in  the book, the chef mentions that these cookies were her dad's favorite and he recalls them with a thin lemon glaze which she hadn't found in her Grandmother's files but had incorporated in her recipe.  however since i realized late at night that i had run out of lemons so i created two alternative glazes both of which tasted good... but as i said... these cookies are lovely just by themselves...

Recipe adapted from Lucinda's Rustic Italian Kitchen. 

ingredients :

for the cookies

1 7/8 cups all purpose flour*

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup Marsala Cooking wine

paste of 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 2 tablespoon water (substitute for 1 egg)

for the Marsala wine -honey glaze :

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons of Marsala cooking wine

1 1/2 tablespoon of honey

for the white grape juice glaze :

1/8 cup confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons white grape juice

1 teaspoon of milk

what i did : 

I started by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F and lining 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

For the cookies I combined the flour, baking powder and salt and sifted the mixture. In a separate bowl I whisked together the sugar, wine, olive oil and cornstarch paste, adding them in the order mentioned. I

then i folded in the flour mixture until well combined and kneaded it slightly until the dough was easy to handle and medium-soft.*(see my notes).

Next, using my hands I rolled the dough into cigar-like rolls and shaped them into heart-loops and x-o s like this....

then placed them on the prepared baking trays and baked the cookies until slightly golden, about 17 to 20 minutes.

For both the glazes i simply whisked the ingredients together. and after cooling the cookies overnight, i dipped them into the glaze coating both sides and let the glaze settle on the cookies in the refrigerator for about 6 hours. **(see my notes).

notes: 

*initially i had sized down all the ingredients to 2/3 of what the recipe in the book said. by that calculation i started off with 2 cups of all purpose flour and the rest of the ingredients as stated above. but while kneading i felt that the dough was becoming tough while 1/8 cup of the sifted ingredients were still to be kneaded in. so i left it like that. while writing down the recipe i realized that while i had sized down the quantity of all-purpose flour I had not done the same for the rest of the dry ingredients. if you try this recipe you might want to size those down slightly.

**as you can see here, the original recipe says that the icing should be of the consistency of thick whipping cream. since I had used only 1/2 cup instead of 1 cup sugar mine was not so thick. however we liked the mild sweetness that it rendered.

i should also mention here that my choice of alternative glazes was determined by this piece on the internet that i found while looking for non-alcoholic substitutes for Marsala Wine. 

so that was that.... if you stop by do fill me with your comments and thoughts. I'll love to hear.. till then

Happy Baking and happy Valentine's day !!

Sending this to

"Flavors of Series 4 around Europe" by simply.food hosted at Divya's Culinary Jouney

Vardhini's event Bake Fest # 16-Cooks Joy hosted by Surabhi of  My Cook Book 

Vardhini's event  Sweet Luv 2013: Event Announcement (CJ #4) at Cooks Joy

Bon Vivant #12 - Quixotic Fixes at Summee's Culinary Bites

Cook like a Celebrity Chef at Food Corner