Parmesan Shortbread with Fennel and Sea Salt

Oh bright, beautiful, warm sun! After a dark and rainy weekend we are finally getting some sun here in Seattle so I jumped on the chance to take some good photos while there was still light in the house.  Today's recipe my boyfriend declared unequivocally "the best".  It is from Bon Appetit magazine.  Their most recent issue has a bunch of bread recipes that I am dying to test out.  If they all are as good as this one is we're in for an awesome month.  


Shortbread has always been one of my favorite (if not my absolute favorite) cookies.  It's also one of the first things I learned to bake.  In all this time though I have never encountered a savory shortbread recipe.  Oh man, I did not know what I was missing.    This recipe has all the sweet, crumbly, buttery-ness of a shortbread cookie, with the added savory deliciousness of parmesan cheese and the liquorice like taste of the fennel.  MMMMM.   

Parmesan Shortbread with Fennel and Sea Salt 

Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoons kosher salt

2 cups all-purpose flour plus more

1 cup finely grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces)

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt or other coarse salt (I used grey Celtic sea salt)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

• Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a medium bowl on low speed until smooth, 1–2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, pepper, and kosher salt. Reduce speed to medium and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until light and fluffy, 4–5 minutes. Add flour and cheese. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat mixture just until dough comes together.
• Wrap dough in plastic and flatten into a rectangle. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Dough can be made 5 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before continuing.
• Place fennel seeds in a resealable plastic freezer bag. Coarsely crush with a rolling pin or the bottom of a skillet. Alternatively, pulse in a spice mill until coarsely crushed. Transfer to a small bowl; stir in sea salt. Set fennel salt aside.
• Arrange a rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove plastic wrap from dough. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 10x8-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Cut in thirds crosswise, then cut each third crosswise into 6 rectangles. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Brush cookies generously with oil, then sprinkle with fennel salt.
• Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until cookies are golden brown (flecks of cheese will be slightly darker), 20–24 minutes. Let cool on sheets for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room tem-perature. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Notes:  I did all the mixing by hand and it came out just fine, you just have to do a bit more work and spend more time mixing.  I crushed the fennel and salt together in my mortar.  

Sundried Tomato Cheddar Bread

I adapted this recipe from Peter Ryan's Roasted Tomato Cheddar Bread. It has tomatoes, it has cheese- how could you not want it? Next time I have tomatoes I will definitely make it with roasted tomatoes instead of the sun-dried tomatoes. The sundried give a nice sweet flavor but I'm sure the roasted tomatoes would give a much richer, tomato flavor. I fudged a few other things on this recipe - I don't have a baking stone, and my crappy oven gave up halfway through baking and got down to 250 degrees before I noticed and turned it on again. I am also pretty sure I did not add enough cheese. But it still came out beautiful and tasty.



I halved Peter's recipe to make 2 1lb loaves.

Sundried Tomato Cheddar Bread
1.5 c lukewarm water
3/4 Tbsp yeast
3/4 Tbsp salt
3/4Tbsp sugar
3.5 c flour (unbleached all-purpose)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used Tillamook smoked extra-sharp)
about 10 slices sundried tomato (or more to taste) – see recipe below

1. mix the yeast, salt, and sugar with the water in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer). mix in the dry ingredients and the cheese without kneading, using a spoon or stand mixer. I would say that the amount of cheese and tomato you use can be varied according to your taste. I would have liked mine to be cheesier, so next time I plan on adding another half cup of cheese cut into cubes so there will be nice cheesy bits in the bread. Cover, not airtight, and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

* the dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. refrigerate in a lidded, but not airtight, container and use over the next 7 days.*

2. On baking day, dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 1 pound (grapefruit-sized) piece. dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 1 hour.

3. twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450F, with a baking stone (or unglazed quarry tiles) on the lowest rack. place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising bread. sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash across the top, using a serrated bread knife. leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before eating.

4. slide the loaf directly on the hot stone. pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. bake for about 25 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. small or larger loaves may require adjustments in baking time. allow loaves to cool before slicing and eating.



I will have to try this recipe again with more cheese and roasted tomatoes (and an oven that works properly.) My favorite way to eat this bread is with MORE cheese on top. Like I said, I wanted it it cheesier.