lemon-scented olive oil cookies with almond glaze

I love food blogs. I can only hope that I will be as good as some of those awesome food blogs out there one day. One of the ones I love is Joy the Baker. Mostly because I love sweets and breads, she is the gal for me. I was looking through her archives the other day (stalker?) and found these cookies. Doesn’t the name alone seem interesting and exotic? It does to me. Lemon, olive oil and almond…mmmmm. I had to try these.

They came out beautifully. They are just as exotic-tasting as they sound. That comforting taste of olive oil and the kick from lemon zest. And the almond glaze. Oh, the almond glaze. But if you don’t care for almond flavor, the cookies are great on their own too! Not too sweet….almost like a tea cookie in texture…they’ll win you over like they did me.

Lemon-Scented Olive Oil Cookies with Almond Glaze

Pretty much taken directly from Joy the Baker :) She’s awesome.

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon of pure almond extract

2 tablespoons of milk, more as needed to create desired thickness

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

Generous pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

1 lemon

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup good quality olive oil

¾ cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350˚.

Whisk the powdered sugar, almond extract and milk together until smooth. Set aside.

Zest the lemon and rub the zest into the granulated sugar, until you can smell the lemon.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla extract, olive oil and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Batter will be very wet.

Drop by tablespoonful onto a Silpat- or parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack. When cooled completely, drizzle with almond glaze.

cream of summer squash soup

Oh, I remember a time when I had an abundance of squash. Coming out of my ears, people. That time was last summer. I had pounds upon pounds of squash and I had run out of recipes. But I then I had a great idea. Shred the squash in huge batches in the food processor and freeze it for a winter night when I want a creamy soup!

Great idea! And it worked perfectly! I froze them in little zip locks, in one pound increments.

Need soup on a cold January night? BAM! Soup.

Cream of Summer Squash Soup

Serves 6-8.

Keeps in the fridge for about a week.

6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 lb yellow summer squash, shredded
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 potato, any starchy kind, diced
4 cups chicken stock

½ cup heavy cream

Pinch of cayenne

Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onion until softened, about 8 minutes. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.

(You see zucchini in this picture…I had about ½ a zucchini left over from something and I threw it in. Feel free to do the same.)

Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Return purée to cleaned pot and add cream and cayenne to taste; simmer 3 minutes to heat through. Do not boil. Season to taste.

cauliflower with toasted breadcrumb sauce

We are going old school today. Old school Italian, that is.

My lovely Aunt C gave me the most beautiful book on Italian cuisine. It is over 200 pages of gorgeous pictures of the Italian countryside and the dishes that are unique to them. I actually use it as a coffee table book. Anyway, I digress…

Most people don’t think of vegetables when they think of Italy. They think of cheese and pasta and tomatoes. But in reality, when you go to Italy, if you stay away from the big cities and eat in the countryside, you’ll find that most of your meal consists of different types of veggies. In the country, the people aren’t as wealthy so you get dishes that are more humble. Don’t let that fool you; these dishes are packed with flavor and the way these Italians achieve this flavor is awesome.

Grinding up leftover stale bread into fluffy fresh breadcrumbs.

Taking the unassuming anchovy and concentrating the flavor.

Mincing a ton of cheap garlic and melting it into butter.

Plain boiled cauliflower turns into something absolutely extraordinary when you have just a few ingredients that make the flavors pop.

Transport yourself to the Italian countryside and stay awhile. You won’t regret it.

Cauliflower with Toasted Breadcrumb Sauce

Adapted from Italy: The Beautiful Cookbook.

2 big servings.

We didn’t even divide the head into servings! We just stuck it in the middle of the table and dug in with forks :)

1 head of cauliflower, trimmed of all green leaves

¼ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

4 cloves of garlic, minced

6 anchovy filets, mashed

¼ cup fresh breadcrumbs

Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Season liberally with salt. Lower to about medium high and add cauliflower. Cook until just done – crisp tender. Set aside and keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add garlic, anchovies and breadcrumbs. Cook for about 3 minutes or until garlic is getting toasty.

Pour sauce over cauliflower and dribble down the sides. Enjoy!