Appetizers Savory Shortbreads by bettina

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Appetizers Savory Shortbreads
Submitted by bettina on November 06, 2004 at 9:20 pm

DESCRIPTION
Appetizers: Savory Shortbreads

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Holiday & Party Recipes

INSTRUCTIONS
These guys were the first ones to sponsor KA's Baking Classes, in Richmond, and, I believe, the first to carry their flours, regionally. They're a smallish, family owned chain, and from what I understand from friends in this area, do an awful lot of community service oriented work. And, they have some DARN good recipes!

They call for Swiss Cheese, but I've subbed any number of various cheeses, all good!

"Notes: It may look like ordinary pie crust, but it isn't. It is a rich, short, and delicate wedge of goodness, fragile in the making and fragile in the cutting-but a joy to eat with coffee and tea even in crumbs and pieces."

Ingredients
4 ounces (1 cup) Swiss cheese, grated, room temperature

7 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour

Preparation
BAKING PAN AND SHEET

One 9" layer cake pan or flan ring on baking sheet, lightly buttered

PREHEAT

Preheat the oven to 400ý

BY HAND OR MIXER

10 mins.

In a medium mixing or mixer bowl combine the cheese with the butter, salt, and flour. Work the mixture with your hands until it is a soft ball. If too sticky, add a bit more flour; if too stiff, add a teaspoon cold water. This may be done with a mixer flat beater but the dough may be too heavy to thoroughly blend the ingredients.

BY PROCESSOR

4 mins.

Attach the steel blade.

Place all of the above ingredients in the work bowl, and process 3 or 4 times until a soft ball has formed.

SHAPING

15 mins.

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough between 2 lengths of wax or parchment paper until it is slightly larger than the bottom of the pan or ring. Peel back the paper with care, quickly invert the dough over the pan, and let it drop in. Press the dough snugly to the bottom.

Neatly trim around the circle of dough because shortly you will be giving it a new edge. Fashion the scraps into a long, thin roll-long enough to go around the inside of the pan. Press the new edge into the pastry, and flute it as you would a pie crust.

With a knife or pastry wheel, cut the shortbread 6 times across to make a dozen servings. If a flan ring was used, remove it and spread the wedges 1/2" apart on the baking sheet underneath. Whether the wedges are separated or not, the demarcations will remain and make it easier to cut after it comes from the oven.

BAKING 400ý

14 mins.

Bake on a middle shelf of the over until the shortbread is only faintly browned, about 14 minutes. Don't overbake; it can burn quite easily.

(If using a convection oven, reduce heat 50ý.

FINAL STEP

Remove the bread from the oven. When the shortbread has cooled, cut down the lines again and remove from the baking pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Delicious.

Notes THIS RECIPE IS NOT ONLY VERY GOOD, it's very easy. Sure, grinding all that pepper is a little tiresome, but you can just think of it as finger exercise. And speaking of pepper, don't omit the salt sprinkled on top of the shortbread before baking. For some reason that I'd probably have to be a biochemist to understand, it makes a huge difference.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour

5 ounces parmesan, cut into small chunks

1 tablespoon or more freshly ground pepper

1 "shake" of cayenne

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 16 slices

Salt for sprinkling on top of the shortbread

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor, process the flour and the Parmesan until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the pepper and cayenne and process for a few more seconds.

Scatter the butter slices over the flour mixture and process with on-off pulses until the mixture forms a ball. Press it into a 9-inch pie pan. With a fork, pierce the dough all over, right down to the pan. Lightly sprinkle salt all over the dough.

Bake the shortbread for 45 minutes, or until it's a rich golden brown. (Sweet shortbread isn't supposed to brown, but it's okay for this one to.) Let the pan cool on a rack for 10 minutes. With a sharp knife, cut the shortbread into 16 to 20 thin slices.

Allow the shortbread to finish cooling completely before you remove it from the pan. I take it out by upending the pie pan onto a cookie sheet so that the shortbread slides out upside down. Then I re-upend the shortbread onto a serving plate. If I'm really feeling fancy, I fan out the slices and place a bit of parsley or a few peppercorns between each slice.

Yield
Makes 16 to 20 shortbread wedges

Ingredients
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 pound Cheddar or Gruyere cheese, grated

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup chopped pecans

Preparation
Sift together the cayenne pepper, salt, and flour and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the cheese and butter until well blended. Gradually add the dry ingredients; if the dough becomes too thick, use a wooden spoon to stir it. Add the chopped pecans. Divide the dough in half and shape into logs approximately 1-1/2 inches in diameter and 9 inches long. Wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter several baking sheets, or line them with parchment paper.

Using a sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/4 inch slices and place the wafers on the prepared baking sheets. Bake just until slightly colored, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

Yield
APPROXIMATELY 6 DOZEN WAFERS

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