for the dudes who kicked the most balls

Now, you may not be aware of this, but Spain just won the World Cup. Of football.

You know, the game where you kick a ball with your foot. And you're not allowed to use your hands. Because it's FOOTball.

I grew up in a household that put everything on hold during World Cup season. I'd find my step-dad watching tv at odd hours of the night so he could catch the games live. The guys at his office would not be able to talk about plays he hadn't witnessed himself. As a kid with insomnia, I suddenly had a lovely excuse to sit up at 3 am and watch tv.

I'm not a big soccer fan myself, but I know most of the jargon and I can understand the accents of the announcers. The guys at work though, they've had the tv on in the lunchroom all day so they wouldn't miss the games. Watching youtube vids of the latest plays at your desk is apparently entirely acceptable behaviour.

And I promised them that I'd make cookies themed to the winner of the World Cup. Of football.

Saffron Cookies

Saffron is the most expensive seasoning on the planet. It's practically worth its weight in gold.

Fortunately, you don't need much of it. I bought this little box for about 8 bucks at a specialty store, and it will last a while. This recipe only needs 1/8 of a teaspoon.

It's got a distinctly floral aroma and flavour (makes sense, it comes from a flower) but there's this underlying earthiness to it that can be overpowering if you use too much (maybe that's because it's the flower's reproductive organs).

And because I wanted to really make sure I had the mediterranean thing down, I decided I wanted to use olive oil in the cookies instead of butter.

Apparently some dude name Mark Bittman already came up with this combo and is regarded as somewhat of a genius for doing so. His is nearly the only recipe you can find using both saffron and olive oil. So his is where I started.

Here's my version:

What you need:

• 1/8 tsp saffron
• 1 tbsp milk or cream
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 c sugar (victory should be sweet)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• bit of salt

What you gotta do:

Start with the saffron. It's awesome.

Warm the milk or cream in a small bowl. I used the microwave for 20 seconds at 60% power. Add the saffron. At first it just sits there, looking kinda weird and out of place.

Give it a bit of a stir or shake and then let it sit while you do the next few steps.

Combine the oil, lemon juice, and sugar in a big bowl. It kinda smells like salad dressing.

Beat in the eggs. Definitely salad dressing-like. I mean, this is practically mayo! Mix this with a whisk, or your fancy batter beater for a good two minutes. You want it nice and golden. It won't ever really get 'fluffy' because the oil acts differently than softened butter does, but it does need a good beating. Kinda like Italy got.

Check on your saffron.

Holy hell is that yellow.

Artificial colours have nothing on this shit. Plus, the smell and taste of this... a tiny drop on your tongue. Seriously, you have to do it. It's strong, almost overwhelming, when its that concentrated, but it's amazing. Flowers, the earth, it's almost metallic, like the taste of blood in your mouth, but sweet and floral at the same time. It suddenly makes sense how this tiny part of a flower stands up to savoury dishes and adds delicacy to sweet ones. 

Pour your yellow gold into the oil and sugar mixture.

Sift on the flour, baking powder, and the salt.

You want to just barely mix these.

The dough is very soft, much more like a batter than your typical drop cookie. So I chilled mine for about 10 minutes. The consistency is perfect after a bit of time in the fridge. It's also freaking yellow.

I used a 1 tsp measuring spoon to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Smaller cookies means you can fit more on the sheet and they'll cook faster. It's way too freaking hot to have the oven on.

TIP: Put a big pot of cold water on the element when your oven vent is. Change the water with every batch of cookies. Cover the pot to prevent evaporation and you've got yourself a great little heat sink.

I recommend sprinkling a little sugar over the top of these. An extra bit of sweet. If you're feeling particularly generous, use the back of your wooden spoon to grind a pinch of saffron into a couple teaspoons of sugar.

The tiny threads make for a nice bit of decoration on what looks like a plain and bland cookie.

But oh my, they are neither plain nor bland.

It's a subtle, delicate flavour, but so distinctive, and almost surprising the first time you try them.

 What's your favourite sweet / savour cross over ingredient?

A Stirfry of Sorts

I love fast, one-pot meals.

In my travels through cookbooks and other recipe sites I've often come accross recipes for sausages and peppers. Now, I'm not a big fan of most Italian sausage (*Taneasha cringes*) because there's usually too much fennel for my taste. But there's a great Italian market on my way home from work that makes a spicy pork sausage with no fennel!

And spicy pork sausage can satisfy my cravings, fast! (*Taneasha rolls her eyes*)

Sausage Stir Fry

• 2 spicy Italian pork sausages
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 zucchini
• 4 mushrooms
• 1 small onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 small tomatoes (2 Romas would also work)
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 c Italian flat leaf parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Break the sausage up into the pan.

While the sausage browns, chop your veggies. Leave them a little chunky so they'll have some substance once they're cooked.

Add the onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, and zucchini. Shove this around in the pan for a few minutes.

Once the onion starts to look a bit transluscent, add the tomatoes and the vinegar. 

I hadn't been planning on the vinegar when I put together the ingredients pic, but I was feeling like this was going to need a bit more zip to it so I spalshed some in with the tomatoes. It worked. A bit of wine would work here too, but I'm kinda out of wine.

After a few minutes the tomatoes will be mostly obliterated.

Throw in the parsley.

There are a few different ways you can serve this. I had mine over a wild and brown rice mixture. Rice totally works. You could also toss some cooked pasta shapes, like farfalle or rotini, into the pan with the stir fry. This would make a great sub sammich filling as well, especially if you topped it with cheese and put it under the broiler. I'm also thinking it would be fun to put onto some pizza dough. Or into the dough! Calzone anyone??

Whatever you do though, make sure there's some cheese involved. On mine, I used some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Which makes me realize that a scoop or two of this stir fry on a plate next to Taneasha's Potato Parmesan Pie would be freaking tasty.

What do you like to top with cheese?