Tag: Julia Child

Herb and Lemon Shortbread with Straus Family Butter {Sponsored}

Herb and Lemon Shortbread // Serious Crust
Herb and Lemon Shortbread // Serious Crust
Herb and Lemon Shortbread // Serious Crust
Herb and Lemon Shortbread // Serious Crust

I love butter. Let’s be clear here, I don’t like to grab a stick and eat it like a candy bar, the way my mother used to. Certainly not. But there is something to be said for a good piece of sourdough covered in melty butter. Or a roast chicken that’s been slathered in butter and salt and pepper. You know what I mean?

Recently, Jonah and I have become more interested in buying “good” butter. Butter is butter – it’s good. But we were wanting to buy butter made with milk from grass-fed cows. It started a couple months ago when our roommate’s dad, Bruce, came to visit. Bruce is very knowledgeable about diet and nutrition, and while he was here we had many conversations about foods that people think are bad for you (aka butter) but aren’t really if you eat them well. Good fats are good for you, guys! Things like good olive oil, good butter, even chicken livers (fatty, yes, but full of nutrients), are things we can enjoy without feeling guilty about it.

So when I was sent some coupons for Straus Dairy products, I knew immediately I wanted to try their butter. I started with ye old piece of toast. What better way to judge a butter’s character? It was good. It was richer and creamier than your average butter. So I took things to another level. I had bought some chicken livers the day before, so I made some chicken liver paté (Julia Child’s recipe, in case you were interested). And let me tell you, it was some incredibly creamy paté.

Let’s talk for a second about Straus Family Creamery. After spending a fair amount of time on Straus’s website, perhaps one of the things I find the coolest is that they were the first 100% certified organic creamery in the country. For real! Evolving from a family dairy farm, Straus Family Creamery was officially founded in 1994, when Albert Straus saw going organic as a way to differentiate himself and save the state of local family farming. The butter has 85% butterfat content, and is less moist than normal butter. What does this mean for us bakers? It means it’ll brown more evenly and be more flaky. And for the cooks? It doesn’t burn as easily. Now I know, this butter ain’t cheap. But when you’re making butter heavy things like paté or shortbread, I think it’s worth spending the extra few dollars. You don’t skimp on a pork shoulder or buy cheap-o chocolate for your chocolate chip cookies, do you? I thought not.

Enough waxing poetic about butter, Annie. Let’s get on to this recipe for herb and lemon shortbread. On our front steps, we have a little pot of herbs that we carried with us from our last home. Our thyme isn’t looking so hot, but the sage is coming back strong this spring. And every time I walk by that pot, I start thinking of things I could do with those herbs. This week, I had an idea for this herb and lemon shortbread. And lo and behold, I had one stick of this beautiful butter left. It was perfect.

Herb and Lemon Shortbread

Note: I used solely sage for this recipe, but any combination of sage, rosemary, and thyme would be great, I think.

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbl plus 1 tsp sugar
1-2 tsp freshly chopped herbs (I used 1 tsp of freshly chopped sage, and wish I had used more)
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 stick (8 oz) Straus Family butter, unsalted, at room temperature

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl, set aside. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbl sugar plus chopped herbs and lemon zest. Rub these ingredients together with your fingers – this will make sure the sugar absorbs the oils from the herbs and lemon, making it perfectly aromatic. Add the sugar mixture to the flour, and stir until combined. Cut the butter into chunks, and combine it with the flour/sugar mixture with a fork or a pastry knife, blending until you’ve got a beautiful soft dough.

Gently press the dough into a 9×9 baking dish or a 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of sugar over the top. Bake until it’s golden brown around the edges. Once you’ve removed it from the oven, carefully cut it into wedges or squares or whatever shape you like while it’s still hot. Allow to cool before separating it. It helps to run the knife along the lines again.

I think this shortbread would make a fantastic base for lemon bars or rhubarb bars or any kind of bar topped with curd. Just saying.

This is a sponsored post. I was given coupons for Straus Dairy products, and all of the opinions below are my own.

Friday Finds 7:19:13

I apologize for the lack of posts this week, but I promise I have a good reason: we moved! We found out on Tuesday when our plane home from Chicago landed in Portland that we finally had a house, so the next few days were crammed with packing, UHauls, Priuses packed to the brim, and oh, a couple gigs. It was nuts. But I’m back, I swear! Here’s this week’s Friday finds.

1. Teriyaki Eggplant with Cashew Herbed Coconut Rice

Teriyaki Eggplant with Cashed Herbed Coconut Rice by The First Mess // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Teriyaki Eggplant with Cashed Herbed Coconut Rice by The First Mess

This teriyaki eggplant and cashew herbed coconut rice looks awesome. I love anything Asian, I love when rice is made into something bright and interesting, and I love eggplant. This dish fits the bill!

2. Espresso Granita with Whipped Cream

Espresso Granita by Smitten Kitchen // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Espresso Granita by Smitten Kitchen

Smitten Kitchen’s take on a traditional affogato freezes the coffee instead of the ice cream, and the pour over is more of a dollop. But this one is even better for the hot days we’ve been having in Portland.

3. My Life in France by Julia Child

My Life in France by Julia Child // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
My Life in France by Julia Child

When we were in Chicago, Jonah took me and Alison into Myopic Books in Wicker Park, where I found a used copy of My Life in France by Julia Child for about half its usual price. So of course, I sat in a comfy chair in the corner and started reading, and couldn’t put it down. I brought it back to Portland, and am still savoring each page. It’s so neat to read about someone else’s discovery of their passion for food and cooking.

4. Butcher block island

IKEA Butcher Block // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
IKEA Butcher Block

While my new kitchen is wonderful, it certainly lacks some counter space. We’ve put a long dresser that’s about 3 feet tall along one empty wall (and we’re hoping to cover it with butcher block if we can), but for the time being, this IKEA butcher block island that used to reside in Jonah’s and my old bedroom has been a life saver. It’s small enough that it doesn’t take up our whole kitchen, but has the added benefit of storage (we’re using the shelves for pots and pans) and cutting board space.

5. Lauretta Jean’s Pie

Lauretta Jean's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Lauretta Jean’s Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Last Saturday morning we played an early morning set at the PSU Farmers Market. It was really fun, and afterwards I treated myself to a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie from Lauretta Jean’s stand. I considered it fuel for moving day. They had just made a fresh batch of whipped cream to top my slice, and man oh man, it was good. Their crust was fantastically crispy and flaky.