Salted Butter Break-ups [my version]

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After cooking for more than thirty years, I’m still amazed how some of the most simple and unpretentious ingredients can come together and yield something amazing.

Case in point…

Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic plus Olive Oil = the best tomato sauce for a plate of pasta. Or replace cooking all of the above and add some burrata mozzarella and you got the best Caprese salad this side of Italy. Dough, tomatoes, basil, olive oil – Hello pizza!

I can go on and on…

So it was no surprise that this weeks choice for our French Fridays with Dorie was one of those recipes that with something as simple as combining butter, flour, water, sugar and salt you get one the most addictive cookie we have eaten in our house to date.

How addictive?

Well, the first time I made it was Monday.  Since then, I have made it a total of six times – SIX, in less than FOUR days.  If you do the math, it will tell you how popular that cookie was around these parts.

We cannot keep it around long enough to make it pass the day it was made!

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ABC: Maple-Pecan Medjool Date Rugelach

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The first time I came across Rugelach was at the Epicure Market, a local gourmet market, that has been a staple in Miami Beach for over 65 years.  These crescent pastries are a traditional Jewish food which is eaten any time of the year, but are really popular and traditional during the Hanukkah holiday. Epicure (as the local refer to it), which catered to the large Jewish population in Miami Beach, made sure to have a whole case dedicated to these pastries.  It was the mecca of Rugelach. I can not remember how many types there were but the combination of filling were numerous - raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, marzipan, poppy seed, dry fruits even preserves.  I don’t think there was any type of combination that Epicure had not tried.

My favorites were the ones filled with chocolate and marzipan.  When I lived in Miami Beach, I would make sure to get there early on Saturday to fill a bakery box with this sweet treat and then spend the whole weekend munching away at the treat.

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Palmeras {Palmiers – Elephant Ears}

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In Venezuela there is a bakery in every single corner of every single neighborhood.  Most of these bakeries are owned either by Portuguese and/or Italian immigrants that came after the war – and in some cases pass down form generation to generation.  Do you know what that means right?

European pastries and breads.

I know, I know, I’m a total snob when it comes to my sweets.

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