1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 lb unsalted butter, softened
1 lb confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp cognac
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Directions
Bess Gallanis Hayes of Winnetka, Illinois won an honorable mention in
the 1996 Chicago Tribune Annual Holiday Cookie Contest with these
Greek almond shortbread cookies.
1. Heat oven to 350'F. Spread almonds in single layer on baking sheet.
Bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven; cool, then chop coarsely.
2. Beat butter in large bowl of electric mixer on medium-high speed
until very light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of the
confectioners' sugar; continue beating 3 minutes.
3. Add egg yolks, Cognac and vanilla; beat until smooth. Beat in
almonds, flour and baking powder until mixed well. (If dough is too
soft to handle, add additional flour.)
4. Shape scant tablespoons full of dough between palms into round
balls or crescents. Bake on ungreased baking sheets until set and
very pale golden in color; 15 minutes. Remove cookies to cooling rack.
5. Place remaining confectioners' sugar into sifter. While cookies are
still hot, sift confectioners' sugar over tops. Repeat twice at
20-minutes intervals.
Source: Chicago Tribune, December 4, 1996
Servings: 4 dozen
1996 Honorable Mention: Kourambiethes (Almond Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Nut
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as a concept can be observed back into antiquity, certainly as far into history as the early Egyptians, and potentially, even further back. However, in the main part, these ancient recipes were just very basic hieroglyphic instructions for meal preparation.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to historians are a few 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 `wonderful`. During Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes cooked by his fellow Romans. In his works, he tells us how the roman meals were separated into appetizers, entrees and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius tells us how the ancient cooks were skilled in the use of many different aromatic flavours, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens for example bay, rue and parsley. During the succeeding few hundred years, the upper-class families of Europe strove to offer the best banquets, and because of this chefs and their recipe collections were much in demand. Nevertheless, it was during the 1800s that formal cookery and cookery books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the USA, devoted much of their lives to collating, trying out, and recording the recipes of their peers. Like it or not, the introduction of television brings us TV chefs and the spin-off recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing us all to access massive numbers of recipes like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this 1996 Honorable Mention_ Kourambiethes (Almond recipe.
