Mediterranean Rack of Lamb

Newly obsessed with mixing kalamata olives and fresh cucumber into everything imaginable, I thought about making some Mediterranean-inspired lamb chops with an olive, caper, and cucumber rice.  This is a quick, easy, and delicious dinner.  And since it's summer, you might want to grill the lamb on a warm night.

Don't know how to "french" a rack of lamb?  Don't worry.  It's actually pretty easy, and Alton Brown does a nice job explaining this technique.

Since the dish makes me think of the still waters of the glorious Mediterranean, it pairs nicely with Ferraby Lionheart's "Call Me the Sea."

Ingredients for the Rack of Lamb:
--1 tsp. ground cumin
--1/2 tsp. ground cloves
--1/2 tsp. salt
--1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped finely
--1/2 tsp. fresh English thyme, chopped finely
--1-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
--1 small rack of lamb, frenched (mine had 6 lamb chops)

Ingredients for the Rice:
--2 c. cooked basmati rice (any rice will do, of course--your choice!)
--1/2 c. chopped kalamata olives
--1 medium-sized cucumber, coarsely chopped
--1/4 c. capers
--3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
--s&p to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the spices and herbs to create a rub for your lamb.  Rub the olive oil over your lamb, and then press the rub in until the lamb is covered.  Place the lamb in a baking dish, fat-side up, for 15 minutes, or until your lamb has reached an internal temperature of 135 degrees.  If you have a larger rack of lamb, it'll need longer in the oven.

Remove from oven, cover with foil, and allow the meat to rest for about 15 minutes.  Once it has rested, slice the rack into lamb chops.

For the rice, just mix the ingredients together!  Serve a chop or two on top of the rice.  Delicious.

Kourabiedes (the Most Delicious Butter Cookies)

This is another recipe of my great grandmother's that made its way from a Greek holiday cookie to a Sicilian anytime cookie.  The spelling and pronunciation of these remained a wonderful mystery throughout my childhood.  In fact, for years as a kid, I assumed these must be spelled "could-a-be-eddie."  We usually make them at Christmastime, but they're too easy and delicious to eat only once a year.  Rich butter cookies with pecans: mmmmmmmm.  This time around, I made a Valentine's Day batch.  

Here's a secret: I actually have this recipe memorized.  (It's that easy, and, well, I've made it more times than I can count.)  There are a lot of cookies that are similar in texture and ingredient profile, e..g, Russian Tea Cakes and Mexican Wedding Cakes, but for me, this recipe is special because it's also infused with a lot of happy memories.

For Valentine's Day, here's the inimitable Frank Sinatra singing "My Funny Valentine."

Ingredients:
--1/2 lb. unsalted butter
--1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
--1 tsp. lemon extract
--1 tsp. vanilla extract
--2 c. flour
--1/2 c. finely chopped pecans 
[icing recipe to follow]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioner's sugar.  Add lemon and vanilla extracts, then blend in flour.  With a wooden spoon, fold in pecans.  Roll into 1" ball and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Flatten balls with the palm of your hand, and bake for 7-9 minutes, or *just* until the edges begin to look slightly colored.  If they're golden on top, they're overcooked!  Allow to cool.

Icing:
--1 tbsp. unsalted butter
--3 tbsp. whole milk
--2 tsp. vanilla extract
--1/2 to 1 c. confectioner's sugar
--sugar sprinkles (optional)

In a small bowl, melt butter, and whisk in milk and vanilla.  Add confectioner's sugar, whisking well, until icing is desired consistency (add more confectioner's sugar for a thicker icing).  Spread over cooled cookies.  If so desired, top with sugar sprinkles in the color of your choice (as you can see, I used red).  Eat 'em up!

Everybody's All-American Italian Wine Biscuits

Almost 100 years ago, my great-grandparents immigrated to America from Sicily, across the ocean and through Ellis Island.  My great-grandmother brought cookie recipes with her that, over three generations now, my family has baked and loved during holiday seasons.  For the 4th of July, I made her recipe for Italian wine biscuits: a soft, almond-flavored cookie, glazed in sugar and adorned in red, white, and blue.  

While July 4th often conjures images of baseball and apple pie, this recipe and its story aren't too far removed.  My great-grandfather loved watching baseball, a true-blue Pittsburgh Pirates fan.  And although America's history of immigration is much too fraught a discussion for a cooking blog, I still like to dream of an America defined amelioratively by comings, goings, and all of the traditions sowed in between.

The only song I could possibly pair with a 4th-of-July treat is Simon & Garfunkel's "America," one of my all-time favorite songs to listen to as I drive north on the New Jersey Turnpike, with signs for New York City coming into view.

Cookie dough:

**This recipe makes a LOT of cookies!  Sometimes I'll try to reduce it to a third, but for my great-grandmother, I'm keeping it in its original form here.  But be warned--you'll need a lot of counter and/or table space!

--12 c. flour

--1 1/4 c. vegetable shortening

--1 pint whole milk (you really need the richness of the whole milk!)

--4 1/2 c. granulated sugar

--3 eggs

--3 tsp. baking powder

--2 tsp. vanilla extract

--2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  

In a (very large) bowl, cream together sugar and shortening.  Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and almond extract.  In a separate (very large) bowl, sift flour and baking powder.  Slowly add, a bit at a time, to wet mixture until combined and a pliable dough has formed.

*If you're dying any of the dough, separate it and knead in your food dye color of choice.  At Christmastime, my family makes both red and green batches, for "candy cane"-style braids.

Now, you're going to braid the cookie dough.  You'll need three small balls of dough for each braid, approximate one large ice cream scoop of dough.  Roll into a long and thin dough log, and repeat with the two other balls.  Lay them next to one another horizontally and press together at the top.  Now carefully braid them together and press together at the bottom of the braid to attach them.  Using a small knife, cut the braid into 2" pieces and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Repeat until all dough has been used.  (Instead of braiding, you could also form the dough logs into shapes or designs of your choice.)

Bake for 10 minutes and remove promptly.  (*Note: If these have any golden coloring on top, they're overcooked!)  I usually place mine on sheets of foil when they're cool in preparation for the sugar glazing.  

Sugar glaze:

--1/2 c. water

--1 c. granulated sugar

--1/4 c. confectioner's sugar

In a small saucepan, boil the water and granulated sugar until thready (approximately 5-7 minutes).  Remove from heat and rapidly whisk in the confectioner's sugar until completely dissolved.  Using a pastry brush, lightly glaze each cookie.  If so desired, add sprinkles immediately after glazing.