World Tour of Food

I wish. But today, I made foods from Scotland, Japan, & India. That’s enough to keep me happy. These shortbread cookies are for both my sister, Smels (not her real name!), as well as my friend, Erin, whose birthday was yesterday. The picture is kind of blah, & they’re not my favorite cookies to make, but I love to give them to appreciative darlings.

Smels’ Shortbread

• 2 2/3 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup cold margarine
• pinch salt

Preheat oven to 325*F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, & salt. Grate the margarine into the dry ingredients, then knead it all together with your hands. Don’t worry, it’ll get there eventually. Once it’s gathered together, roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut it into any shapes, or just do the basic rectangles. I like to use a fork to poke holes throughout the cookies. Chill in the fridge for awhile, so they won’t spread all over the pan. Space them about 1/2-inch apart & bake until they are golden. My oven sucks, so it’s hard to give an exact time. It’s usually between 20-30 minutes. Cool before serving. These only improve with age, as long as they’re kept in an airtight container, & can be customized by using spices, nuts, citrus zest, loose tea, basically anything.

In other news…I love Kittee! There, I said it. Too bad she just got married, so she’s off the market. If you aren’t familiar with her, just know that she is an amazing vegan icon & overall goddess, whose talent can be witnessed here & here.

Today I made her Indian dal & chole,which are lentils & spiced garbanzos. The recipes are super easy to make once you stockpile the necessary spices. I’m waiting to “wow” Ethan tonight with this tasty goop & a heap of hot, toasty pitas to scoop it up with.

Now on to Japan. I made inari sushi, since my disaster the other night got me down. They turned out delicious! I used the sushi rice recipe from Veganomicon, but add extra sugar & some salt. Then I just tucked 1/8 cup of the mixture into each fried tofu pouch of goodness, tucked them under, & stacked ‘em up. They’re really refreshing & go well with pickled ginger on the side.

I think I’m done cooking for the day.