Time: approximately 90 minutes from start to finish

• 20 minutes to prepare and mix the ingredients
• 30 minutes to chill the dough
• 20 minutes to prepare the cookies on the sheet
• Approximately 10-14 minutes to bake

Serves: makes about 45 cookies

Inspired by: I was hosting a Spanish wine tasting one evening and scrambled to come up with some interesting tapas and desserts. I found several recipes on the web for cookies called “Perrunillas” – typical of Extremadura in Western Spain. I have since fine tuned the recipes and experimented a bit. If you use white flour, they are similar in taste and texture to almond biscotti. Whole-wheat flour makes them a bit denser, but also softer. Almond flour is heavier and causes them to flatten out so you will likely bake them a couple of minutes less, and they may turn out slightly chewy.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour (If you substitute wheat-flour the recipe doesn’t change. If you substitute all or part almond flour, use an extra 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of almond flour substituted – for example, if you use three cups of almond flour then you will use 1 teaspoon of baking soda instead of 1/4 teaspoon in the original recipe.)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (you can substitute raw sugar, but this will make the cookies heavier, they will flatten out more, and you will bake them a couple of minutes less – see picture at the end of this post)
• 1 cup lightly flavored olive oil (extra virgin olive oil is also fine)
• 1-2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
• ½-1 teaspoon crushed/ground aniseed (I’ve only found seeds so I hand grind with a mortar and pestle)
• 1 cup sliced or slivered raw almonds
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with a few drops of water
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup granulated white sugar to sprinkle over top

Preparation:

• In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• In a large bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beat in the oil, and then add lemon peel and aniseed.
• Begin stirring in the dry ingredients until a soft dough has formed. Fold in the slivered almonds.
• Chill the dough for 30 minutes (I’ve found that when using the whole wheat flour, the dough is easier to work with unchilled or very slightly chilled).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll dough into 1 ¼ inch balls and flatten them slightly to a thickness of ¾ inch. Place on an ungreased, nonstick baking sheet about 1 inch apart. (Do not flatten if you’ve used raw sugar or almond flour as substitutes – they will flatten more rapidly while baking on their own.)
• Brush tops of cookies with beaten egg yolk, sprinkle generously with sugar.
• Bake until cookies are just lightly golden – approximately 12 minutes, but I usually start checking them at 10. It is very easy for the bottoms to burn quickly once they are done so check frequently and immediately remove them from the hot cookie sheets with a spatula to cool on a wire rack.

Notes: I’m classifying these as “moderately healthy” only because they are relative to most desserts/cookies! Except for the sugar, the ingredients aren’t that bad – especially if you substitute almond flour. If you use whole-wheat flour, the dough will be more crumbly so you’ll have to squeeze the cookie dough together harder when you are making the round shapes – but they will stay together. They also stick a bit more to the cookie sheet. Per my notes above, if you substitute almond flour, don’t forget to use an extra 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of almond flour to help make up for the heaviness of the almond flour. Also, I’ve found that when I use almond flour, I use just a bit less than a full cup of olive oil so the batter doesn’t get too runny. Lastly, if you substitute raw sugar for the white sugar in the cookie dough – this will also weigh them down a bit so they will become flatter (spread out a bit more) and may cook a bit faster.

Wine Recommendations: These cookies are nice with wine because they aren’t super sweet. It should be easy to find a white dessert wine that is nice, but not over the top sweet, and has some oxidized and almond nuances that would match fabulously with the cookies! An aged Sauternes would be perfect, but try a Vin Santo, late harvest Riesling, Muscat or Amontillado Sherry. If you must go red… perhaps a Tawny Port?

Gluten-Free Almond Cookies

Time: approximately 2.5-3 hours from start to finish

• 15-30 minutes to melt and clarify butter, chop nuts and make syrup
• 60-75 minutes to assemble and cut
• 60 min to bake and cool
• 15 min to put into pastry cups

Serves: yields 30-50 pieces – depending on how you cut them

Inspired by: my Armenian grandmother. I grew up with “Paklava” as she pronounced it. I’ve since adopted “Baklava” since that is how I hear the rest of the world pronounce it. It was always one of my favorite desserts around the holidays. Although I never learned to make it from her, my mother did so I was able to learn from her. I have since modified the recipe a bit. I prefer pistachios instead of walnuts. There also used to be a cup of hot Crisco poured all over it halfway through cooking, but after trying the recipe with and without, I can’t figure out what it was meant to do so I removed it. I’ve seen some recipes that combine the clarified butter and the Crisco. Perhaps it is supposed to hold it together better, or perhaps some marketing person at Crisco years ago told all of these Armenian and Greek women that it was a key ingredient that they needed to start using!

Supplies:

• Damp dish towel and plastic wrap (to keep the dough from drying out while working with it)
• Pastry brush
• Baking pan, approximately 13” x 9” x 2”
• Small sauce pan

Main Ingredients:

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 box frozen phyllo dough (thawed according to package instructions)
• 3 cups finely chopped unsalted pistachios – raw or dry roasted (my grandmother used walnuts, and my mother has added cinnamon to the walnuts which is awesome, but pistachios are now my favorite)
• ¼ cup sugar

Syrup Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ¼ of a lemon

Preparation:

CLARIFY BUTTER: Melt butter over low heat or in microwave. Let sit for 10 minutes and then skim creamy foam off the top and discard. If you also find creamy residue at the bottom, try not to use that part, just dip the pastry brush into the clear butter at the top. Clarified butter won’t spoil – this way the baklava won’t go bad sitting at room temperature for a couple of weeks. (If you run out of butter while assembling, cover everything and make some more or start with an extra stick – you can never use too much butter on baklava!)

PREPARE NUTS: Chop the nuts very fine in a food processor and add a little sugar for flavor depending upon how sweet you like them. If you are using walnuts, consider adding in a bit of cinnamon like my mom does – yum!

MAKE SYRUP: While you are waiting for the butter cream to rise, make the syrup. In a small sauce pan, mix the sugar and water and the ¼ of a lemon and simmer for about 10 minutes. By the time you are done the butter will be ready to be clarified.

PREPARE DOUGH: After you have clarified your butter, open out the dough and cut in half. Ideally your sheets of dough will be approximately the size of the baking dish. If they are smaller, then alternate where you layer them so the dough is fairly even when you are finished. If the sheets are larger than the pan, after every 10-15 sheets of layering, you can cut the excess away around the edges with a knife. To keep the dough from drying out while you are working with it, you can cover it with plastic wrap and lay a damp towel over the plastic.

LAYER DOUGH WITH BUTTER AND NUTS: Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Dip your pastry brush in the clarified butter and butter the bottom and sides of your pan. Lay the first piece of dough in the pan and brush it with butter, then the next, and do this until you’ve used a little more than half the dough. Be generous with the butter – brush over all the dough, but not so heavy that you’d have excess butter standing in the pan.

Then layer on the chopped nuts with sugar (if you feel the layer is too thick with nuts, you don’t need to use them all).  Then start again with layering the dough again on top of the nuts, brushing with butter in between. But don’t butter the very top layer of dough or it will burn when baking!

Alternatively, you can layer one third of the dough, half the nuts, another one third of the dough, the other half of the nuts, and then the last one third of the dough. I’m finding that after it’s finished, it may hold together better this way. Some even separate this into five layers of nuts with dough in between.

CUT INTO DIAMONDS: You can cut these into squares also – but diamonds look pretty and from what I’ve been told, it is one of the most traditional for Armenian “Paklava”. To cut diamonds, start first by cutting lengthwise down the baking dish, about 1 inch a part or a bit less – probably about 7-8 rows. Then, cut across those cuts on a diagonal – again 1 inch or less apart. Start by cutting a small corner on a diagonal and then just keep going until you get to the other corner. Cut thicker strips for big pieces. I prefer the smaller pieces because they are so rich and because it makes it easier for one pan to serve a large group of people.

BAKE: Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. It will turn a light golden brown. Watch it carefully in last 5 minutes or so to ensure it doesn’t get too dark.

When Baklava is still slightly warm, and syrup is lukewarm and thickened, pour syrup to cover and soak down into the grooves. I have found that you might want to use about half the syrup while drizzling it very slowly – wait a little bit before drizzling on the rest to ensure it gets into the top layers as much as the bottom. You might not need to use all the syrup. There shouldn’t be a lot of syrup just sitting in the bottom of the pan, but a little is okay.

SERVE: Serve in pastry cups or cupcake papers. It will keep well for a couple of weeks. In a very dry climate, it helps to lay a loose piece of plastic over the top, but in a moist climate, wait until they are thoroughly cooled and cover loosely with wax paper to let air or they will get soggy.

Notes: I have found that when the layer of nuts is too thick the baklava falls apart more easily in the middle where the nuts are. I’ve only recently started layering the dough so that there are two or more thin layers of nuts and it does seem to hold together a bit better. I think in this photo the dough was split into thirds. The top layer will always look puffier.

Wine Recommendations: This is a sweet dessert! I’d recommend skipping the wine, but if you are trying to find a dessert wine to enjoy this with, try to find a white that is sweeter than the dessert – I love most anything with botrytis.

Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 1

Inspired by: One of my favorite breakfasts – a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1 tortilla
• 4-6 thin slices of smoked salmon
• 2 tablespoons spreadable goat cheese
• 2-4 thin slices of cucumber (1/4 x 1/4 inch slices – this keeps them crunchy but also easy to roll)
• 1 teaspoon of dill (dried or fresh)

Preparation:

• Lay the tortilla in front of you and spread the goat cheese on the bottom third
• Sprinkle the dill over the goat cheese
• Add the salmon over the dill
• Add the slices of cucumber in a narrow band across
• Starting from the bottom, roll the tortilla tightly with all the fillings
• Spear with a toothpick through the middle to help hold it together, or wrap in foil

Note: For party sandwiches, cut into 4-5 slices. You may need to cut off a tiny bit of the ends. This is awesome dipped in a yogurt dill sauce.

Wine Suggestions: Good matches with the smoked salmon include off-dry wines such as Viongier, Condrieu, Riesling or light bodied reds such as a California Pinot Noir or Red Burgundy.

Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 10-12 as a dip

Inspired by: various yogurt sauces used in combination with spicy cooking – I was looking for a nice flavor balance with some curried chicken kabobs and have since found that this sauce is fabulous with so many different things!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2-3 tablespoons dried dill (dried dill infuses much more flavor than fresh)
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced (optional – I often skip this and almost always skip it when I’m making the dip a day or two ahead as the garlic tends to get too strong)
• 1-2 teaspoon lemon juice
• dash of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (optional – but I love pepper – it goes in most everything!)

Preparation: Mix all ingredients well in small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: Lasts for a while in the refrigerator but the garlic gets stronger over time so if you plan to keep it for a while, I suggest using little or no garlic.

Serve With: Curry chicken kabobs, any other spicy meat or poultry, fabulous on salmon or as a dip for a smoked-salmon wrap, and great alone as an appetizer dip with raw veggies or bread.

Yogurt Dill Sauce with Smoked Salmon Wraps

Time: Approximately 30 minutes of prep time and 3 hours of cook time.

Serves: 8-12

Inspired by: I’ve always enjoyed lentil soups and they can be so healthy. Many Armenian and Turkish versions of lentil soup include apricots. I love the concept of that, but often find they use too many and overpower the soup. After experimenting a bit, I like this version because it adds some depth and interest to the flavor without throwing it out of balance.

Supplies: Large soup pot

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions (2 small onions or one large onion)
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• 6-8 medium tomatoes chopped (or 1, 28 oz can organic fire roasted diced or crushed tomatoes)
• ½ cup chopped dried apricots
• 2 cups lentils (any color)
• 6 cups water to start (you may add another 3-6 cups while it’s cooking)
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• ½  teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon cayenne (could use a curry powder instead or for part of this to change flavor a bit)
• ½  teaspoon crushed ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt

Garnish – Finishing Touches:

• Fresh parsley – chopped
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste (I typically add another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice

Preparation:

• Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
• Add lentils, tomatoes, apricots, water and spices.
• Simmer for 3 hours, or until the lentils are completely soft. Add hot water as needed to keep the soup to your desired thickness.
• Add additional salt & pepper if still needed.
• When serving, squeeze some lime juice over the top, and garnish with paprika and parsley.

Note: You can of course skip the lime and the other garnishes, but I love lime juice drizzled on this lentil soup – I think it brings out a beautiful flavor.

Wine Suggestions: This soup has a spicy kick to it, but also a hint of sweetness. A medium bodied red with some nice fruitiness and/or a bit of spice on it would be perfect such as the 2006 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel (45% Mourvedre, 28% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 5% Counoise) or a similar Southern Rhone blend. I’d probably also try a Rioja or a lighter-style Zinfandel (something like Hartford Court is nice). If you prefer white, the best match would be something off-dry such as a Kabinett Riesling. I had an inexpensive Riesling from Washington recently that was actually a very good pairing – Eroica from Chateau St. Michelle. What I enjoyed about this one is that it’s only slightly off dry. Eroica is the result of a winemaking collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Bob Bertheau and famed Mosel winemaker Ernst Loosen.

Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 1

Inspired by: Trying to make a pretty “finger food” for a party and knowing that this mustard makes everything taste fabulous. I think this wrap has pretty holiday colors (red and green) when cut into small sandwich bites.

Ingredients:

• 1 tortilla (I prefer the green spinach tortillas or something like these made with roasted bell pepper and chili)
• 4-6 thin slices of peppered turkey from your local deli
• 1 – 2 slices of provolone cheese
• 1 handful of spinach leaves
• 2 thin strips of roasted red peppers (roast your own or from a jar is fine)
• 1 teaspoon yummy mustard

Preparation:

• Spread the mustard on the tortilla – leave the top inch mustard free (so it doesn’t squeeze out when you roll it).
• Add the following in layers so they are spread evenly across the bottom third to half of the tortilla – spinach leaves, turkey, cheese, roasted red pepper.
• Then roll the tortilla and all the fillings starting from the bottom.
• Spear with a toothpick through the middle to help hold it together, or wrap in foil

Note: For parties these make great bite-sized sandwiches if you cut the wrap into 4-5 slices and secure each with a toothpick. You may need to cut off the ends.

Wine Suggestions: To balance the spiciness of the mustard, the best matches would be an off -dry or fruity white such as a Viognier, Torrontes, and possibly a Pinot Gris or Chenin Blanc, or a medium bodied spicy red with some good ripeness such as a Southern Rhone Syrah-Grenache blend.