1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup lard
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp anise seed, finely crushed
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Directions
The 3rd place winner in the Chicago Tribune's 1996 Annual Holiday
Cookie Contest; by Marilyn Cahill of Chicago, Illinois.
1. Heat oven to 350'F. Beat 3/4 cup of the sugar, butter and lard in
large bowl of electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy;
about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Beat in
flour, cinnamon, anise seed and salt until well mixed. Stir in pecans.
2. Roll walnut-size pieces of dough between palms to make round
balls. Put remaining 1/4 cup sugar in pie plate; roll dough balls in
sugar. Place balls 5 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press
each ball with bottom of a glass dipped in sugar to about 1/4-inch
thickness.
3. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 300'F and continue baking until
lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove to cooling rack.
Test Kitchen Note: An additional 1/2 cup butter can be substituted
for the lard. Also, you may bake the cookies at a constant 325'F;
cooking time should be about the same.
Source: Chicago Tribune, December 4, 1996.
Servings: 3 dozen
1996 3rd Place Winner: Pecan Cookies (Polvoro Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cookie; Nut; Pecan
The History of Recipes
Food historians have proved the existence of recipes back into distant history, in fact as far back into recorded history as the early Egyptians, and maybe further still. Interesting though that maybe, generally, these old recipes were just very basic pictorial recipes for preparing food.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to experts is a series of clay tablets in Sumerian which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel blissful. During the time of the Romans a roman called Apicius wrote a number of documents which described recipes enjoyed by wealthy Romans. In his works, Apicius recounts how the meals were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and afters, something that is very familiar to us today. This early Roman chef recounts how the ancient Romans were skilled in the use of a wide range of aromatic flavours, including many that are still in use today like thyme, mint and asafoetida. Over the next few hundred years, the powerful and rich houses tried to serve the most extravagent meals, and consequentially the best chefs and their recipe collections became highly prized. Even so, it wasn`t until the 19th century the formal cooking and recipe publications really came of age. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the USA, spent years to assembling, trying out, and recording recipes to help cooks of their time. The arrival of TV gave us celebrity chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the internet revolution, permitting everyone to access thousands of recipes just like those on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this 1996 3rd Place Winner_ Pecan Cookies (Polvoro recipe.
