Persnickety: July 2014

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Cookie Salad

The inspiration was a "spoonerism" or if not that, I had a spoon in my mouth while trying to speak. What came out was "cookie salad". Cookie Salad - why not? Who would not be lured to a salad, paired with the name "cookie"! Fruit was the obvious choice to be paired with cookies and a few lonesome strawberries were still lounging on my counter, waiting for my inspiration of what to do with them. As they saw their siblings popped into hungry mouths, or pureed to a sauce for ice cream, or floating among clouds of cream on a meringue crown, they must have wondered what was in store for them. The flavor palette is reminiscent of trifle - strawberries, banana, orange for zing and blueberries. Which cookies? That was the fun part - and involved an excursion through the cookie isle. Shortbread is not too sweet and its buttery flavor affably combines with cake and cookies. The pecans in the shortbread and the coconut of the macaroons added a nutty crunch; the snap of ginger snaps sparkled as a spiced "crouton" topping. (Of course, if you have the time and inclination, homemade renditions of the cookies are perfectly acceptable.) What a fun salad for children to make! They will be doing "spoonerisms" of their own....the kinds where they spoon food into their mouths!

Salad:
      1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
      2 bananas, sliced in 3/4 inch slices
      1 cup fresh blueberries
      8 Pecan Sandie cookies cut into 6 pieces
      8 coconut macaroons, broken into large pieces
      6 gingersnaps, coarsely crushed

-Combine cut fruit and cookies in medium bowl and chill for 30 minutes.   Place about 3/4 cup salad on each single serving dish. Top with 1/4 cup dressing and garnish with gingersnaps. Serve immediately. (If salad sits at room temperature for long, the cookies become soggy. The salad is more visually appealing if the dressing is spooned on top rather than tossed with the salad.)

Dressing:

       3/4 cup cream, lightly whipped
       1/3 cup powdered sugar
       3 ounces softened cream cheese
       1 tab. grated orange rind

       -Combine ingredients until well combined and chill until ready to use.

Foreign Cuisine in Plain English

SPAETLZE - Soft noodles of Swabish origin, the name translates as "little sparrow"-isn't that precious! For years I prepared spaetzle by pulling off a minuscule amount of batter, half a teaspoon at a time and plunging each into boiling, salted water - time consuming with a soggy result. Last year while eating spatezle in Germany I determined there must be a better way, particularly since I wasn't willing to dismiss this culinary treasure to the back of my recipe box! An inexpensive, effective kitchen tool has since revolutionzed spaetzle making for me. In fact the simple tool is so miraculous, I bought one for each of my daughters. The dumplings come out uniformly sized and processed in one swipe of the hand! If you decide you love spaetlze, which complements most German entrees deliciously, it is a worthy investment!

TABIL - the essential Tunisian spice! Tabil is a spice blend used in many Tunisian dishes, including cous cous, tajins, salads and soups. Tabil is available at some Middle Eastern Grocery stores. You may create your own by finely grinding 3 tab. coriander seeds, 1 1/2 tab. cumin seeds, 1 tab. caraway seeds and 1/2 tab. crushed red pepper flakes. May be kept several months in the freezer or stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

HARISSA - Tunisians like it spicy!! The addition of harissa, the national condiment of ground hot red peppers, should be carefully considered and used in moderation until the palettes of your feasters let you know otherwise. The mountain of dried red peppers in the Nabul open-air market and the unheeded tears streaming down the faces of exuberant gourmands slathering harissaon their baguettes, convinced me that here was an appetite of a hotter temperament than mine!