Orange Pistachio Shortbread Food

ORANGE PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add sifted powdered sugar to the butter one tablespoon at a time. Cream mixture for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy and lightened in color.
• Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
• Add ground pistachios and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Don't forget to scrape your bowl at every step to make sure everything is getting incorporated.
• Add orange juice and orange zest to the bowl and mix. Add all-purpose flour and salt and stir with a spatula or on the lowest speed of your mixer for about 30 seconds just until the flour is incorporated.
• Your dough will be very wet and that's ok. I pat it into a disk and lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on both sides and wrap it in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight. This is a very important step. Leave dough in the fridge until it's been entirely chilled. Check by poking the middle of the dough. If it's soft, means the dough has to rest longer.
• Remove dough from the fridge and divide into 2 parts. Keep the part you are not working with in the fridge, covered with the plastic wrap.
• Roll the other half on a floured counter until it's 1/4" thick. Dough might be very hard at first. Give it a couple of minutes to soften up slightly.
• Cut into rounds, stars, or rectangles, whatever shape you want to work with. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or with a silicon mat.
• Place tray in the freezer while you pre-heat your oven.
• This step is also important because when you roll out the dough, the butter softens up. You want the butter to be very cold and solid before entering the oven. This helps your cookie retain a better shape and structure because the butter won't start melting immediately.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
• Bake trays anywhere from 10-20 minutes. It depends on the size of the cookies you are making. Speaking about size, if your cookies are very large, say, over 1 1/2 inches long or wide, you want to lightly poke the top of the cookies with a fork before inserting in the oven. If you don't do that, air bubbles will form and change the shape of the cookies.
• Remove cookies from the oven once center is lightly blonde and outsides are lightly golden. That's the perfect balance for looks and texture! Don't overbake your Shortbread cookies or they will be tough.
• Once cookies are cooled, melt chocolate over a double boiler. Dunk one end of each cookie in melted chocolate and scrape excess with a small spatula. Sprinkle powdered pistachio over chocolate and let it dry on a wire rack.

ORANGE PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Cream butter until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add confectioner's sugar, scraping down sides. If dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Add 3/4 chopped pistachios and zest of orange.
• Mix flour and kosher salt together and add flour to butter mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Don't over-mix!
• Flatten dough into a round or rectangular disk and chill 30 minutes. This is especially important on a warm day.
• Lightly flour a board and roll out the shortbread dough to a thickness of about 1/3 to 1/2". Cut into shamrock shapes, or if making fingers, roll into a large rectangle and cut into rectangles approximately 1" x 2".
• Bake on a silpat or parchment paper in center of oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a pale golden color.
• If desired, sprinkle shortbread with sanding sugar immediately.
• Cool completely on a wire rack
• Store shortbread in an airtight container.

CRANBERRY PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl whisk the flour with the salt and cinnamon.
• In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth (about 1 - 2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes). Beat in the zest and vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Fold in the chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. (Make sure that the nuts and cranberries are evenly distributed throughout the dough.).
• Divide the dough in half. Place each half of dough on the center of a 14 inch (35 cm) length of parchment or wax paper (plastic wrap will work too). Smooth and shape the dough into an evenly shaped rectangle that is about 10 inches (25 cm) long and 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Then thoroughly wrap the shaped logs in the parchment or wax paper, twists the ends of the paper to seal the logs, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours, or up to three days. (The logs can also be frozen for about two months. If freezing, it is best to defrost the logs in the refrigerator overnight before slicing and baking.).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) with the rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Using a thin bladed knife, slice the logs into ¼ to ½ inch (.5 to 1 cm) thick cookies. If dough is too hard to slice you may need to let the log set our for 5 minutes. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
• Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Check at 12 minutes - the type of pan you use can really make a big difference in cooking time.
• Note. The original recipe calls for unsalted butter, I prefer my shortbread with salted butter, so try it either way.

POMEGRANATE ORANGE TART WITH PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Place pistachios in a food processor. Process until almost ground. Add flour, powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt to processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter. Drizzle with oil. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. It will be slightly "sandy".
• Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9 inch removable bottom tart pan coated with baking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Cool completely.
• Place blueberries in a medium saucepan. Mash with a potato masher. Add juice, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a low boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat; simmer 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.
• Place egg yolks in a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup hot juice mixture to yolks, stirring with a whisk. Pour egg mixture into pan, bring to a boil over medium low heat. Cook 1 minute or until bubbly and thick, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat. Strain through a sieve into a bowl. Stir in rind.
• Place bowl in a larger ice-filled bowl for 20 minutes or until cooled, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into crust. Cover and chill 3 hours or until set.
• Place egg whites in a large bowl. Add vanilla, cream of tartar, and 1/8 teaspoons salt. Beat with mixer at high speed until soft peaks form.
• Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 250.
• Gradually pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating a medium-low speed, then at high speed until stiff peaks form.
• Spread meringue over tart. Garnish with pomegranate arils.