We don't have persimmons in Maryland, as far as I know. I explained this to my family as they scowled at the very idea of using persimmons for anything other than eating. I doubt that at any point in the rest of my life I will have a persimmon tree in my yard, so why not use this opportune moment to give one chance to the dubious recipe for persimmon cookies? It couldn't turn out as badly as the frozen khinkali entrails...
This is a persimmon, in case you're unfamiliar. It tastes like honey, and it shows up in the late fall. The inside is flecked with black, which makes it look rotten and dirty. The seeds are large and smooth, like roaches without legs. Mmm, mmm!
In the name of world peace, American baking soda comes together with Iranian raisins to create something more beautiful and edible than either alone. Actually, the leftover raisins were quite edible.
If this is what creamed butter and sugar is supposed to look like, then I'm on the right track. There's no telling sometimes-- as my college roommates will gladly reveal, I've burned canned corn before. So after you end up with something that does or does not look like this, throw an egg in there, too.
Chop a cup of persimmon. Ignore the strange looks from your host family.
Dump the persimmon and Iranian raisins in with the mix of crap you already made. There's something so Food Network about being able to chop food from your yard and throw it into your recipe, something so mundanely exotic, like referring to your raisins as Iranian even though they don't taste any different. They really are Iranian, though.
Sift together the dry ingredients, one of which is unfortunately ground cloves. I had whole cloves. There might be a better way to grind cloves than the one pictured, but I couldn't really think of it (besides, it called for GROUND cloves, right?! HA!).
Dump everything into the same bowl. It actually looks like cookie dough! Fancy that. Tastes like cookie dough, too. By this point in your service, you're probably immune to samonella, so eat away!
Voila! Persimmon cookies. What really makes these cookies is the raisins; you can also add walnuts, but those are expensive here and I didn't feel like going to the bazaar. I'm not really sure what makes these Georgian enough for inclusion in the blog, other than the ingredients... maybe you could wrap them in eggplant. Or put cheese on top.
Icing would be good. Don't use this icing, though: it's been open and sitting in the cabinet for 3 weeks. Maybe it would be a good time to throw it away, but you got it at the Dollar Store! Who knows when they'll have icing again?!
Want to make your very own persimmon cookies? Here's the recipe, courtesy of the Simple Satchmeli cookbook.
NOT-REALLY-GEORGIAN PERSIMMON COOKIES
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup chopped or pureed raw persimmons
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350. Cream together the sugar and butter until light. Add the egg, blending well. Add the chopped persimmons, nuts, raisins; stir to blend. Sift the flour with the cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, ginger, and salt and add to the sugar mixture, blending until a thick batter is formed. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake until light brown, about 12 minutes.
2 comments:
Those collies look really tasty jennifer! What a good little baker you are. Did they taste good?
Love, Mummy
The work is "COOKIES"
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