Mm, Butter: Crumbly Shortbread with Orange Zest

Can we just take a moment to be grateful to whoever is responsible for butter? I mean seriously good job, whoever you were. Really stellar work.

Butter is fantastic. Full-body massage kind of fantastic.

Yes, okay, the stuff has a sort of love-hate relationship with my waist-line. But we're adults here, we can take responsibility for our life choices. And if my life choices occasionally involve half a cup of butter, some fresh orange zest, and a little hero worship, who's to judge?

And trust me, if you have just a bite of this shortbread, you'll be sending some silent thanks toward the butter progenitor yourself. Because butter is awesome.

Recipe:
Crumbly Shortbread with Orange Zest
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick or 113 grams, cold but not frozen)
zest of one orange

Mix together the flours, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until the mixture has the texture of course sand. Add the orange zest and combine it well. Begin pressing the mixture flat with your palms, kneading it gently 5 or 6 times. The dough will still be fairly crumbly (mine didn't even come together in a lump). Chill it in the fridge for about thirty minutes (this will give the moisture a chance to disperse somewhat).

Preheat the oven to 250º F (121º C)

Once the dough has chilled, turn it out into an ungreased 9 inch cake pan and press it into the pan in an even layer. Using a fork, score the dough into wedges. Bake for about an hour in the preheated oven (the shortbread shouldn't brown at all so don't worry that it's not done). Allow the shortbread to cool in the pan and then cut it into wedges.

Consume in moderation.

Happy Valentine's Day: Truffles and Kitchen Magic

As does much of life, cooking sometimes happens incidentally, through a series of--occasionally unfortunate-- events. Sometimes your fridge breaks and you find yourself stuck with several pints of rapidly warming cream that you just can't let go to waste. Sometimes you end up throwing things in a pot, hoping it all works out in the end. And sometimes it does.

Cooking without a recipe can actually be one of the most relaxing and zen-like experiences. You're not bound by expectations-- fantastically unrealistic expectations based on cookbook photography. It's all about flavor and texture. Discovering what you like and how to make it happen.

Of course, it doesn't always turn out well. Plenty of kitchen experiments result in unsalvageable disaster. But that's what makes the successes so sweet.

So, there's no recipe. Too much distracted kitchen experimentation and not enough writing things down.

It started with chocolate. And cream.

And tasty kitchen magic happened.

They're not the prettiest but they pack a flavor punch. And that's the important thing.

Happy Valentine's Day!