A COOKIE CONVERSION

I was after a crisp cookie, not overly sweet, sort of like galleta María, the Spanish breakfast cookie. But I wanted to make it vegan, omitting the egg and swapping olive oil for butter. Something was lost in conversion! I wound up with a crumbly cookie, tasty, but no good for dunking in a cup of hot chocolate, coffee or chai.

The results of my galleta experiment remind me of mantecados, typical Christmas cookies, that are usually made with lard. But some variations are made exclusively of olive oil, which probably makes them closer to their origin, Moorish or Sephardic, as, in those cultures, pig fat would have been taboo. 

Not for dunking, my olive oil cookies are soft and crumbly, not crisp. 

 

Chunks of crumbled cookies folded into whipped cream with strawberries--a lovely dessert.

Or, combine the crumbles with heavy cream whipped with chocolate. 

Serve the cookies alongside coffee or tea, with a medium-sweet Sherry or with snifters of brandy or anisette. Save any crumbled ones to crush as a base for custard tarts or cheesecake. Or, fold the crumbs into whipped cream with sliced strawberries. 

Grated lemon zest and cinnamon complement the subtle flavor of olive oil in these cookies. You could also try aniseed, typical in Spanish cookies of this type. Here’s my recipe.

Crumbly Olive Oil Cookies

Mantecados de Aceite de Oliva

Oat flour.

Makes about 40 (2X2 ½ -inch) cookies.

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 ½ cups oat flour

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour + additional to roll out the cookies

¼ cup almond flour (unsweetened)

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Powdered sugar to finish (optional)

In a bowl beat the oil with the two kinds of sugar and the lemon zest. In a mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, all-purpose flour and almond flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir to mix.

Soft cookie dough.

Make a well in the center of the flour ingredients. Pour in the oil and sugar. Mix into the flour to make a soft, smooth dough. Knead briefly to mix completely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Have ready 2 baking sheets and 2 sheets of baking parchment.

Roll and cut the cookies on baking parchment, then slide the sheet of parchment onto the baking sheet.

Divide the dough in half. Place one sheet of parchment on work surface. Place one half of the dough on it. Sprinkle rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Use a pastry wheel or knife to cut into rectangles. Slide the sheet of parchment with the cut dough onto one of the baking sheets. Repeat with the second sheet of parchment.

Place the sheets in the oven and bake 10 minutes. Reverse the position of the baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes longer. Remove the sheets from the oven and place them on racks. Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the sheets.

Cool cookies before removing them from baking sheet.

Sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar, if desired. Carefully lift them off the baking sheet and place on a platter. 

To make strawberry or chocolate whip: Crumbled some of the cookies. Chill heavy cream and whip it until stiff. Sweeten to taste with powdered sugar. For the strawberry whip, fold in sliced strawberries, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a handful of crumbled cookies. For the chocolate whip, whip  the cream with a big spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar to taste. Fold crumbled olive oil cookies into the mixture. Spoon into dessert cups and chill.

More cookies with olive oil:

Crispy Olive Oil Cookies (Tortas de Aceite).

Cookies for crumb crust:

Cheese-Custard Tart with Mantecados Crust.

Recipe for Mantecados (with lard) here.  

SIMPLICITY—WHOLE ROASTED FISH

Sometimes, the easiest way is the best. That’s certainly the case with fish. Why bother with fiddly filleting when it’s easier to cook the fish whole? Fish cooked on the bone stays moister and tastier than cut-up fish. And, once cooked, it’s a whole lot easier to separate the flesh from the bones.

I´ve got a whole bonito (Sarda sarda), a blue fish related to mackerel and tuna (not the same as bonito del norte, which is albacore tuna). The fish weighs about 2 ½ pounds (gutted, with head). The recipe would work with any whole fish of similar weight—bluefish, salmon, sea bass, grouper, snapper, bream—although roasting time will vary with the thickness of the fish. Single-serving-sized fish such as trout, mackerel or bass can also be roasted whole. In this case, there’s no need to fillet them after cooking—let each person de-bone the fish once served.

Whole fish is roasted on a bed of sliced onions, lemons and tomatoes. 

 

This is a two-step procedure. The onions, sliced lemons and tomatoes get 30 minutes of oven time before the fish is added. Their juices with the olive oil and wine make a delicious sauce for the cooked fish.

“Carving” a whole fish is easy, but messy, so do it in the kitchen and serve the fish plated. While filleting the fish, keep the onions, tomatoes and pan juices warm in the oven. Have ready a heated platter to put the fish on. 

Here´s how: If you’ve roasted the fish with head on, remove and discard the head. Scrape the skin from the top fillet. (Discard the lemon slices in the slits.) Use a knife tip to pull away the dorsal fins (all down the back). Slide the knife blade flat along the spine to loosen the top fillet. Divide it lengthwise. Use a spatula or large spoon to lift off the top fillets. (It’s fine to remove them in several pieces.) Place them on the heated platter. With the knife tip, lift the spine in one piece and remove it. 

For the bottom half of the fish, remove any obvious fins and bones (fingers are useful for this) and divide it lengthwise. Gently ease each half off the bottom skin and place the pieces of the bottom fillet on the heated platter. With bonito and similar fish, you may wish to cut away the narrow strip of much darker flesh, the “bloodline.” It is edible, but has a stronger flavor than the rest of the flesh.

Divide the onions, lemons and tomatoes between four dinner plates (preferably heated). Place the fillets on top. Spoon the juices from the baking dish over the fish. 

If you plan to serve the fish cold, de-bone it while still warm. Store the fillets covered and refrigerated.

Serve filleted fish on top of the roasted vegetables. Pour pan juices over the serving.

Roasted fish stays moist.

Roasted Whole Fish

Bonito al Horno

Serves 4.

2 onions

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, slivered

1 lemon

Salt

1 large tomato, sliced

1 bay leaf

1 whole fish, gutted and scaled (about 2 ½ pounds)

½ cup white wine

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Roast layer of onions first.

Cut the onions in half and slice them lengthwise. Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a baking dish or roasting pan big enough to hold the fish. Spread the sliced onions in the pan. Add slivers of garlic. Cut the lemon in half and slice it thinly. Add half of the slices to the onions. Sprinkle with salt. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil over the onions. Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Place sliced tomato on top of the onions and tuck in a bay leaf. Return to the oven for 10 minutes longer.

Place fish, with or without the head, on top of roasted tomatoes and onions. The slits in the flesh help the fish cook thoroughly.

 

While onions are roasting, cut deep slits in the skin and flesh of the fish. Sprinkle inside and out with salt. Insert lemon slices in the slits on one side of the fish. Place the fish on top of the onions and tomatoes in the baking dish. Pour the wine over the fish. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over the fish. Sprinkle with the parsley.

Roast the fish until the flesh easily separates from the spine, 25 to 30 minutes. (Use a thin skewer to test it.) Remove the fish from the oven and place it on a heated platter. Turn off the oven and leave the baking dish with the onions in the oven to keep warm.

Fish is easy to fillet once cooked. A messy job, so do it in the kitchen and plate the fish.

Remove skin and bones from the fish. Separate the flesh into fillets. Divide the onions, lemons and tomatoes between four plates. Place fillets on top, spoon pan juices over the fish and serve immediately.

Filleted bonito, enough to serve four.

Onions, tomatoes and wine make the "sauce" for the fish.

More recipes for cooking whole fish:

Horse Mackerel, Biscay Style

Fish Baked in Salt.

Fish Baked with Potatoes.

Baked Fish with Chermoula.

Mackerel in Escabeche.

Whole Trout Stuffed with Serrano Ham.

Grilled Trout Wrapped in Grape Leaves.

Roasted Red Mullet with Picada Sauce.

Pan-Fried Sole.

Another recipe with bonito:

Marinated Bonito with Olives.

FAREWELL TO FAVAS

The last of the fava beans.

Only a handful of fava beans remains to be picked in my garden patch. I’m usually inundated with them, but this year I only planted a few. There’s never enough maturing at the same time to make a satisfying serving. 

On a TV food show I watched a segment filmed in a tapas bar in Jamilena, a town in Jaén province (Andalusia). The cook was making a variation of pipirrana, a chopped “salad,” called “machacao,” that was finished with a scattering of raw fava beans. Machacao is Andaluz for “machacado,” meaning "crushed." The dressing is prepared by crushing egg yolks, garlic, green pepper, bread and olive oil in a mortar or in a wooden bowl called a dornillo.

The pipirrana of Jaén is more of a mojete or remojón—what I call “dunking salad,” meant to be served with lots of bread for sopping up the juices. Pipirrana is usually a summer dish, a relative of gazpacho, served chilled for a light supper. In the springtime, before tomatoes are in season, some of the tomatoes are replaced with oranges. The favas are another springtime touch.

Chopped salad is topped with chunks of tuna and fava beans. 

A "dunking salad," meant to be served with chunks of bread for soaking up the garlicky dressing and tomato juices.

With tuna and egg as well as bread, the salad makes a complete meal.

Blanch and peel favas.

Freshly-picked fava beans can be eaten raw with just a sprinkling of salt. However, they’re best if, after shelling, they are briefly blanched in boiling water and the outer skins of the beans are removed. No favas? Use fresh peas instead, raw, if they are freshly picked, or blanched if they’ve been waiting in a grocery store bin. 

Add the juices from chopping tomatoes and oranges to the salad. Allow the salad to stand 30 minutes to further draw out the juices. If desired, add a little cold water to make it even soupier. Serve the salad with a spoon and chunks of bread for dunking. 

The “mashed” dressing is really garlicky! You could decrease the quantity of garlic or blanch several cloves of garlic to make them less intrusive.

Use as much canned tuna as you like to top the salad. For this quantity of tomatoes and mashed dressing I used two 70-gram cans. 

For an authentic Jaén pipirrana, you would use a good Picual extra virgin olive oil, a fruity oil with a piquant finish.

Chopped Salad with Fava Beans

Machacao con Habas

Orange as well as tomatoes in this springtime salad.

1 cup shelled fava beans

1 slice bread

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon coarse salt 

2 hard-boiled eggs

1 green pepper

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes

1 cup chopped orange (optional)

½ cup diced cucumber (optional)

3 tablespoons chopped scallions 

Salt to taste

Water (optional)

Canned tuna

Bread, to serve

Blanch the fava beans in boiling water for 15 seconds. Drain them and refresh under cold water. Slit the outer skins and gently squeeze out the beans. Discard skins. Reserve the beans.

Soak the bread in water to cover until it is softened. Squeeze out the water and discard the crusts. Reserve ¼ cup of mashed bread pulp. 

Mash garlic, bread and egg yolks in mortar. 

Place the garlic in a mortar or wooden bowl with the coarse salt. Grind and crush the garlic until smooth. Peel the eggs and separate the yolks and whites. Add the yolks to the mortar and reserve the whites. 

Use a vegetable peeler to peel some of the green pepper. Cut a 2-inch piece of pepper, chop it, and add to the mortar. Reserve the remaining pepper. Add the pulped bread to the mortar. 

Mash the bread, egg yolks and green pepper with the garlic to make a paste. Using the pestle, stir a spoonful of oil into the paste until it is absorbed. Add another spoonful. Continue adding oil and stirring until the sauce is thickened and emulsified. 

Chopped tomato, orange, pepper and egg whites.

Chop the reserved egg whites. Chop enough reserved green pepper to make 2/3 cup. Place whites and pepper in a bowl. Add the tomatoes, orange and cucumber, if using. Add the scallions. Gently stir in the garlic sauce. Taste and add salt if needed.

Chill the salad, if desired. Otherwise, allow to stand 30 minutes. To serve, place the salad in a bowl and top with chunks of drained tuna. Scatter reserved fava beans on top. Serve the salad accompanied by bread. 

More recipes with fava beans here.

More versions of pipirrana:

Fresh Tomato and Pepper Salad.

Gazpacho Salad.

Moroccan Chopped Tomato Salad.

More "dunking" salads (mojetes) here.