Limoncello Cookies

Hello and welcome to dessert of Lemon Christmas...Limoncello Cookies! 

Lemon Christmas started as the story of stuffed grape leaves (Domathes) passed down through the generations of my neighborhood, as told by my Aunt Connie. To my total elation, it became a five hour cooking spree with my Aunt Connie, culminating in a dinner of Domathes with Lemon Sauce, Lemon Risotto, Lemon Chicken, Lemon Roasted Broccoli, and Limoncello Cookies! 

Thanks to Uncle Dick for the Limoncello Cookie request, and thanks to in sock monkey slippers for the wonderful recipe!                                                     

The Recipe: Limoncello Cookies

·         1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon sea salt

·         1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         1/2 cup granulated sugar

·         1 large egg, at room temperature

·         2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or paste

·         1/2 Tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

·         1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

·         5 Tbs Limoncello

·         1 Tbs lemon juice

·         2 washed and sliced lemons (to make Candied Lemon Slice Garnish)

·         2 cups granulated sugar

·         2 cups water

·         2 to 3 large lemons, for 24 slices

The Process: Dough

1. Put salt and flour in a medium bowl.
2.  In another bowl, mix the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy (about 2 minutes). 
3. Add the egg and mix until combined.
4.  Next, add vanilla and lemon zest to the bowl with butter, sugar, and egg.
5. Slowly mix in the flour/salt combo. Don't overmix! 
6. Pour the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and tightly cover. Refrigerate overnight. 

   Candied Lemon Wheels (prepare the night before!!!): 

1. Wash and cut slices of lemon to about 1/8 inch (the smaller the better!!) and remove all seeds. 
2. Bring water and sugar to boil in a pot. Add a little lemon juice from the ends of the lemons. 
3. Fill pot completely with lemon slices and boil on medium-high for about 30 minutes. (Wait until they appear to be candy coated and somewhat orange. You'll find that the more slices you put in at once, the more they become saturated and the faster they will cook. )
4. Allow to dry overnight on parchment paper. 

 

Baking and Decorating:

1. PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees Celsius)
2. Allow dough to loosen. 
3. HEAVILY flour a sterile surface, your hands, and a rolling pin. 
4. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/3 inch thick. 
5. With a 2 inch diameter round cookie cutter, cut dough and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
6. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until the edges start to golden. Repeat with the remaining dough.
7.  Once baked, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before icing.

Icing: 

1. In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, Limoncello, and lemon juice. Stir until fluid but thick. 
2. Ice with a pastry brush. 
3.  Decorate with a candied lemon wheel.  Allow the icing to set for at least 10 to 30 minutes.

Calories:

Flour- 569 calories

Sea salt- 0 calories

Lemon juice- 0 calories

Powdered sugar- 700 calories

Limoncello- 30 calories

Granulated sugar- 1950 calories

Lemons- 45 calories

Butter- 815 calories

Egg- 72 calories

Vanilla Extract- 12 calories 

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TOTAL: 4193 calories

This recipe made about 40 cookies, so each cookie plus the lemon wheel had 104 calories. More comments on the lemon wheel below...

What went right:

            The cookies themselves were absolutely delicious!!! In my personal opinion, the icing was better when combined with the cookies and fully dried, but everyone else seemed to like it on its own as well. And as you can see, they are gorgeous on a plate ;) 

What went wrong:

            The lemon slices are ridiculously difficult to eat, so we ended up taking them off the cookies and tossing most of them. Additionally, the calories really should be edited because much of the granulated sugar was still in the sugar bath and tossed by the end of the lemon candying process. 

What I would do next time:

            As discussed in light of the candied lemon slice issue, we decided the cookies would look just as good if the lemon slice decoration only covered a portion of the cookie, as shown to the right. 

Would I do this in college:

             There are a few things keeping me from doing this in college. Namely being under 21. Also not having a lot of time. I would gladly make the batter, however! The plain cookies are just as good as the iced cookies, and would have a much lower calorie count as well. 

Overall, a great cookie and a delicious end to a perfect meal!! 

Lemon Roasted Broccoli

Hello and welcome!

This recipe is a take off of the classic Roasted Vegetables, adapted and matured for Lemon Christmas.

Lemon Christmas was a creation of my Aunt Connie and I for this year's Christmas dinner. What started as the story of Domathes being passed down through the generations of my neighborhood became a dinner of Domathes with Lemon Sauce, Lemon Chicken, Lemon Roasted Broccoli, Lemon Risotto, and Limoncello Cookies!

The Recipe: Lemon Roasted Broccoli

• Fresh cut Broccoli florets (as much as you would like to make, we had about 2 cups)
• about 3 tbsp Olive oil with Lemon (Trader Joe's)
• Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
• Lemon Zest, to taste (about 1 tbsp)

The Process: 

1. Set broiler to high, or bake to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C)
2. Spread broccoli out on a pan. 
3. Pour Olive Oil over broccoli. 
4. Sprinkle Salt and Pepper over broccoli. 
5. Use a spatula to "mix" broccoli, oil, salt, and pepper. 
6. Roast for about 5 minutes, or until browned. 
7. Enjoy!

The Calories:

Broccoli: 62 calories

Olive Oil: 357 calories

Salt/Pepper: 0 calories

Lemon Zest: 0 calories

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TOTAL: 419 calories

Never feel guilty for roasting vegetables. This is a large portion of broccoli meant to be shared as a side dish. It's not advisable to eat broccoli and only broccoli (especially this much) as a meal, as it can have some nasty stomach effects in large quantities). 

What went right: 

         Everything! These were quite delicious and a lovely complement to the rest of dinner. The Olive Oil with Lemon is fantastic and should be in every kitchen. It gave the broccoli a nice lemon taste without being overpowering. Love. 

What went wrong: 

         It's too good. If you have a child who doesn't like broccoli, make it like this and they'll love it! 

What I would do next time: 

         If I were trying to eat it by myself rather than with family as part of a separate meal, I would combine it with other vegetables as we've done in the past. 

Would I make this in college:

         5 minute prep time, 5 minute cook time? Of course! 

Overall, a lovely addition to Lemon Christmas :) 

Lemon Risotto (a la Giatta)

Hello and welcome!

This recipe comes from Giatta's cookbook, courtesy of my Aunt Connie, as part of our Lemon Christmas :)

Lemon Christmas began as the story of a neighborhood tradition, and grew from our love of cooking and food into Domathes with Lemon Sauce, Lemon Chicken, Lemon Risotto, Lemon Broccoli, and Limoncello Cookies. It was the best, most successful five hours of cooking I've ever experienced. This recipe is one I would love to make again, because it's fantastically addictive!


The Recipe: Lemon Risotto

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 2 large shallots, diced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine for cooking (can be found near the olive oil and balsamic vinegar)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesean cheese 
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

The Process:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth and half of the lemon juice to a simmer. Cover to keep warm. 
2. In another pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. 
3. Sautee the shallots in the butter for about 3 minutes. 
4. Add rice and stir. You do not need to cook the rice beforehand. 
5. Add the white wine and remaining lemon juice and cook for about 3 minutes, continuing to stir. 
6. Add small portions of the broth and lemon juice mixture in the other pot (about 1/2 cup each time) to the pan with the rice and shallots. 
7. Once each is fully mixed, continue slowly adding and stirring until all broth is in the mixture. 
8. Add in remaining ingredients: parsley, mint, parmesean, mascarpone, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. 
9. Stir over low heat until creamy. 
10. To serve in "lemon cups": hollow out lemon halves used for juice, but not zest. Cut off tip so it is flat. Fill with risotto. 
11. We recommend only serving the first portion in a lemon cup and keeping the remainder in a bowl on the table, to save time. 
12. Try to stop eating ;)

The Calories: 

Chicken broth: 77 calories

Lemon juice: 30 calories
Butter: 306 calories
Shallots: 14 calories
Arborio rice: 363 calories
Wine: 80 calories
Parmesean: 216 calories
Mascarpone: 146 calories
Zest of lemon: 11 calories

Salt: 0 calories
Black pepper: 0 calories
Parsley: 2 calories

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TOTAL: 1245 calories

This batch made quite a bit of risotto. We had enough for 6 lemon cups, plus maybe 2 cups in a bowl. This would make about 15 servings. That means each serving is only 83 calories! 

What went right: 

          This was absolutely delicious. We really nailed the risotto. Giatta, great recipe, and Aunt Connie, thank you so much for teaching me! I think I ate the most of anyone because I just couldn't stop. Even my little brother tried it and didn't hate it :) The consistency was fantastically rich, but still light enough to not densely clump. Love. 

What went wrong: 

         It's entirely possible that I now have a risotto addiction. Just kidding! But really, nothing went wrong with this recipe. 

What I would do next time:

         Risotto is something I would definitely love to make again. Mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients, so I would like to make a mushroom risotto. Weirdly enough, I just ate red pepper risotto at the Emory cafeteria (Dobbs University Center AKA the DUC) and it was...not terrible. I think they used white cheddar instead of mascarpone, which made it very dense, and there were no shallots (sad day!), but it was still more impressive than I expected and quite well-timed! It would also be fun to try putting squash in risotto. I've also seen caprese and saffron risottos that looked quite delicious!

Would I make this in college: 

         Given that it's essentially a single pan and single pot dish, oh yes! I would make a much smaller batch, because there's no way I could keep myself from eating it all, but it doesn't take very long to make and the marginal return on taste is enormous. 

Overall, an amazing second course to Lemon Christmas, and a simple base cooking technique that will definitely become some fun experiments in the future :) 

Ground Turkey Domathes: A Neighborhood Tradition

Hello and welcome!

This dish has an amazing story passed down through the generations of my neighborhood and was the inspiration (and appetizer) for Lemon Christmas :)

While shadowing my Aunt Connie -with whom I share a fondness for cooking and enjoying delicious, unique food- for a day, she told me the following story...

"On our block there used to live a Greek woman who was very close to Dorothy (fantastic grandmother, chef, knitting extraordinaire, and our lovely former next door neighbor, rest in peace <3). One day while I was visiting Dorothy, she brought out this recipe for Domathes (Greek traditional stuffed grape leaves) and told me about the Greek woman, who taught her how to make them. So Dorothy taught me to make them and gave me the recipe, and I would like to teach you how to make them if you'd like."

Naturally, I was very excited and honored to be a part of this tradition!

Once I learned the sauce for the domathes was lemon, I suggested that we have an entire lemon-themed dinner. Thus, Lemon Christmas was born :)

The Recipe:

Domathes:

• 1 Jar of Grape Leaves
• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 cup rice
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp mint flakes
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 box chicken broth

Lemon Sauce:

• 3-4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup of "hot liquid from pan" (referring to the juice from the cooked domathes pan)

The Process:

1. Brown the ground turkey. 
2. Mix in rice, salt, pepper, parsley, and mint. 
3. Cook onion with olive oil and tomato sauce in a pan. 
4. Add to ground turkey. 
5. Add egg to ground turkey. 
6. Mix the filling for the domathes and allow to cook together on low heat. 
7. Very carefully, remove grape leaves from jar and separate, laying each leaf on a section of paper towel to air dry. 
8. If you have leaves with holes, or leaves that are very small, you will want to combine a few small leaves to make a larger leaf. 
9. With a spoon, place some of the ground turkey in the center of a grape leaf. 
10. To fold properly, fold the stem up first, covering the ground turkey mix completely. Next, fold in each side. Finally, roll the leaf tightly away from you, securely wrapping the turkey mix. 
11. Place in a deep pan in a close, circular pattern (see photo). 
12. Once you have rolled all leaves, you will likely have a very large amount of ground turkey left. We probably used 1/3 of the ground turkey recipe, so you may want to make less or buy more grape leaves. 
13. Cover the wrapped domathes in the pan with chicken broth. 
14. Bring to boil and cook for 30-40 minutes. 
15. About 10 minutes before the domathes finish cooking, begin the sauce. 
16. Separate 3 large eggs. 
17. Beat whites until they are foamy. 
18. Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice slowly to whites. (We used fresh lemons for everything, so account for juicing time based on your personal juicing comfort.)
19. Add egg yolks slowly to the whites and lemon juice. 
20. Add 1 cup of hot liquid from cooking domathes to the mix. 
21. Plate rolls as desired. 
22. Slowly pour sauce over plated rolls. You should have plenty left over to put on the side. 
23. Share and enjoy :) 

The Calories: 

Turkey: 676 calories

Grape Leaves: 13 calories

Rice: 684 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Pepper: 0 calories

Parsley: 2 calories

Mint: 1 calorie

Onion: 46 calories

Olive Oil: 119 calories

Tomato Sauce: 70 calories

Egg: 294 calories

Chicken Broth: 60 calories

Lemon Juice: 30 calories

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TOTAL: 1995 calories

This recipe makes a ridiculous amount of domathes. Using 1/3 of the filling mixture and sauce, we made at least 60 domathes. The total for this batch alone comes to 674 calories, meaning each of the 60 domathes was about 11 calories. I probably ate 10 and that was a LOT of food. 

What went right: 

         These were absolutely delicious!! They're great appetizers, especially for cold weather. Domathes have a very real, timeless, warm taste. I have absolutely no doubt that love is a flavor integrated into every step of this recipe. 

What went wrong:

         The lemon sauce makes the domathes a bit too damp to eat by hand in more than one bite. Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't seem to eat one without drops running down my hands and forearms or a squirrel cheek. I probably should have just used a fork and knife but there's gotta be a way to serve these without the runny drops. Potentially keeping the sauce on the side the whole time but having it readily available for dipping would have alleviated this issue. 

What I would do next time:

         Aunt Connie and I decided that making a smaller batch of the filling and sauce would be better, since we only had enough grape leaves for about 1/3 of the batch. (Maybe grape leaves have gotten smaller since this recipe was made?) 

         There's nothing in the recipe itself that needs to be changed, but the serving/eating should have some alterations for the sake of etiquette. For a more formal gathering it would be nice to consider cutting them in half and serving them on small spoons for bite-size pieces that don't involve actual handling. For casual get togethers like ours, maybe keeping all the sauce on the side, readily available for dipping but not on the domathes, would have made it easier to handle. If I think of any other serving techniques/test these, I'll be sure to edit! 

Would I do this in college:

         This would be very difficult to do while in school. It takes a significant amount of time and specific ingredients that aren't in most other things. I would definitely make it again at home and will be making it in my future, but making it in school isn't time-efficient. 

Overall, a great start to Lemon Christmas! Keep checking for the next courses :)