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
It is quite possible to prove the history of written cooking instructions way back into antiquity, in truth as far as ancient Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that is, generally, these ancient cook books were just basic pictorial recipes for meal preparation.
In fact, the most ancient recipe found, according to experts in ancient history are some clay tablets in the Sumerian language which show the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel exhilarated. Progressing into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a few documents which described recipes prepared by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and desserts, something we still use today. This early Roman chef tells us how the ancient chefs used a wide range of aromatic flavors, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens like basil, fennel and parsley. Later on, there were two interesting cookery books which date from the fourteenth century : a book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, these books are unconnected to the indian curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather descriptions of the types of meals prepared by the chefs of the nobility of those days. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought us many new spices and herbs from the East, including spices like parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new culinary ideas caused an eruption in books on cookery, many of which still exist in academic collections. For the centuries that followed, the rich and powerful families of Europe tried to lay on the most exotic meals, and as a result the best chefs and their collection of recipes could command a high salary. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cooking and recipe collections really came of age. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted their lives to assembling, trying out, and recording recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. By the advent of the twentieth century, cookery publications are increasing in popularity mostly due to increased literacy, people having increased spare time and a general increase in wealth. The introduction of the TV brings us celebrity chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting us all to access thousands of recipes just like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this 1996 3rd Place Winner_ Pecan Cookies (Polvoro recipe.
