Hazelnut Shortbread With Bite

August 12th, 2009  |  14 Comments

I’m not naming any names, but my boyfriend Scott has a way of eating that illustrates how much he doesn’t care about food. When a plate is set before him, say, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, he eats all the meatloaf first, THEN all the mashed potatoes. It’s all very mechanical. He gets the food in. The end. Needless to say, to me, it’s like he’s ripping a limb off a torso—not only is it painful but he’s taking apart that which is meant to be whole. A dish, in my humble opinion, should be enjoyed as a medley of flavors and textures, where a fork might meet a different food with each stab.

When I used to work out a dish for a restaurant menu, I’d think of how the components would play off each other. That’s a good time to catch me talking to myself, surely sounding like a typical, neurotic New Yorker. Is there something warm on the plate? Maybe a cold sorbet will make a good contrast. Is the dessert very creamy? Then why not add a crispy garnish. Does it get too cloying and monotonous? Add something that has some acidity to cut through the sweetness. Or maybe the portion is too big. Do none of the flavors stand out? There’s probably too much stuff on the plate, so time to cut back. I was always striving for balance.

Once I decided a dish was ready for it’s debut, I’d make up a plate in the exact way I’d want it to go out to the guest, sit down in a quiet corner and eat the entire thing. This might sound like what dreams are made of, but this wasn’t just for gluttonous purposes. This was bizness. My purpose was to refine. If you’ve ever been to a chain restaurant and got one of those heaping brownie bowls for dessert, you might have encountered what I call flavor fatigue. The first few bites are gooey and sensational, but by the 100th bite, (and there ARE at least a hundred bites in those monsters, aren’t there?) the romance is long over. My goal was to make sure the dessert was interesting through and through, and, like the best “massage parlors”, leave the guests with a happy ending and a smile.

Yes, I like a little more excitement out of my food. Call me a food slave driver. This doesn’t necessarily mean things have to be complicated. Take something like these chocolate and lemon mousses. Though they ARE great on their own, I can only eat a few bites before I start to feel like I’m gumming baby food.

That, my friends, is where these shortbread cookies come in. They have just the right amount of crunch for needed contrast, yet are buttery enough to disintegrate away, prepping the palate for another bite of custard. A ying and yang of flavors. The hazelnuts can be substituted with almonds, pecans, or whatever nut is calling out to you that day.

And if there is no custard around,  I admit I’d still eat ‘em in their pure, unadulterated glory.

Hazelnut Shortbread
makes 16

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup hazelnuts
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, left to rest out for about 10 minutes. You want it slightly softer, but not room temp
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
powdered sugar (optional, for dusting)

1. Los ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking pan and toast. About 15 minutes.

3. If they don’t have skins on, you’re golden. If they do have skins, take a clean dish towel and roll the nuts back and forth, till the skins fall away.

Let the nuts cool completely before proceeding. Grinding warm nuts (ahem, excuse me) will turn them into paste, and we want powder.

4. Dump the flour and the cooled nuts in a food processor.

Grind until a sort of meal forms.

5. Next, get the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl.

Mash them into a paste. You can use a pastry cutter or your hands.

6. Add the flour/hazelnut powder…

… and mix until just combined, not any longer. Your dough will still be crumbly and that’s ok.

7. Grab a 9″ fluted tart pan and give it a little spritz of nonstick cooking spray first (you can use whatever shape pan you have on hand: square, non-fluted, etc., as long as your dough ends up about 1/2″ high when pressed.) Evenly press in your dough.

8. Before baking, lightly score the dough to mark where you’ll cut the cookies later.

And prick ’em decoratively with a fork, if it’s your heart’s desire.

9. Bake in your preheated 350 degree oven until just golden in color. Mine took about 25-30 minutes.

10. Let them cool for 5 minutes, and then slice them where you scored them while they’re still warm. This keeps them from crumbling as much.

11. Optionally, you can lay them out, and sprinkle them with powdered sugar (place powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve and shake over the cookies.)

Buttery cookies.