Pistachio-Crusted Shortbread + Saffron-Orange Blossom Ice Cream = Appreciating Everything

Do you ever notice how beautiful food is? Its such an intrinsic part of our lives that we often forget to look at it. Pause for a moment and observe what a beautiful shape an ordinary egg has, or what how beautifully colored raspberries and blueberries are. It is quite amazing, that such small wondrous beauty is available to so many, that something so functional is beautiful to so many of our senses.
For example, I've failed to appreciate how lovely pistachios are. I think there are a few stashed away in every room of my little loft - my cat has noticed what carryable, rattling toys they make, and she especially loves to keep me up by swatting and chasing them at three in the morning - but I never noticed their peculiar magic. I believe pistachios are the prettiest, most girlish of all nuts, with their mauve-fuchsia skins and spring green flesh. I snapped several photographs of those pistachios because they were so similar to the food-grade rosebuds I use sometimes - in both shape and color... As for their taste, I can't really describe them...they taste like a nut, like an almond or a cashew does, but a little green, very faintly herbal, and smoother and more mellow than an almond or cashew.


Pistachio-Crusted Shortbread
makes approximately 2 dozen cookies
-1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
-1/4 cup sugar
-pinch of salt
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-2 tbsp rice flour
-1/4 cup pistachios, chopped in a mini food chopper or food processor
Beat together the butter and sugar. Incorporate flours and salt until just combined. Roll into a log with a diameter of about 1 inch. Sprinkle pistachio pieces on a clean surface, and roll log in the crumbs until the log is covered in pieces.
Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for one hour. During the first 15 minutes of freezing, rotate the log to ensure that the cookie log with not be flattenend on the side it was lying on.
Unwrap the roll, and cut into slices of 1/4 inch. Place on a parchment-covered (or greased) baking sheet. Put cookie-covered baking sheet in the freezer for approximately 20 more minutes.
In the meantime, preheat oven to 325 degrees f. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until just golden-brown.
Allow the cookies to cool to room temperature before removing from baking sheet.
~
And of course, it must have already occurred to you that food is also quite lovely in terms of scent as well as sight and taste. What inspired me to use a pistachio for food is this ice cream. I really liked the thought of using saffron to flavor ice cream - something of the warm golden color of saffron reminds me of the custard-like ice cream base. Not to mention that saffron goes exquisitely well with orange blossom. Orange blossom, or neroli, is a gorgeous scent...so gorgeous that is a very common addition to perfume. Orange blossom water, which I used to flavor this ice cream, is what is left after the best bit of the scent is reserved for perfumery...it comes from 'second pressing' of the blossoms, you could say...and its a beautiful addition to food and dessert. Not to mention that floral taste of the blossom water cuts through the this rich and very creamy ice cream in a way that is just heavenly.
When I paired these pistachio-crusted cookies with the saffron orange-blossom and little glasses of cool Moroccan mint tea, the boy said the look of everything reminded him of the little 'sweets' tables laid out at Middle Eastern weddings. Which made me smile.
Saffron + Orange Blossom Ice Cream
1 cup milk


A pinch of salt
1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp crumbled saffron strands
1/8 tsp orange-blossom water
6 egg yolks


1 3/4 cup heavy cream
Heat the milk, salt, sugar, saffron in a saucepan, at the lowest temperature possible for at least 10 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil or simmer.
Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
Strain the custard into the heavy cream, and beat to combine. Chill for 10 minutes. Then, beat the custard for on low speed for 2 minutes (or beat with whisk for about 3 minutes). Chill for another 10 minutes. Then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

-------------------------------


Taste

Stranded


Sonnets/Unrealities XI
The above photographs - or more correctly, Polaroids, which fall into a distinct category of their own - are from the supremely talented Charlene W. She has a gorgeous collection of work, of just the type that I enjoy...with cozy yet lovely photographs that give you an impression of peace and beauty....
--------------------------------------