Figgy Cookies

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Ground figs and ground pecans give these cookies unique flavor and texture.

These cookies are fig-tastic.

Oh, they’re not like your familiar Newtons with an abundant filling of sticky fig paste. Nope, instead the dried figs in these cookies are ground up and incorporated into the cookie dough, itself.

As a result, the figs take on a more subtle quality, especially when mixed with ground pecans.

The recipe is from “The Gourmet Cookie Book” (Houghton Mifflin), of which I received a review copy last year. The book features the now defunct magazine’s best cookie recipe of each year from 1941-2009. These “Fig Cookies” hark back to 1964. A true oldie but goodie.

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A Gift of Sweet, Syrupy Clementines

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A sweet, delicious DIY gift.

I don’t know about you, but a gift at this time of year of something precious and sweet, all tied up with a bow in a glass jar is as wonderful as something in a familiar little blue box.

OK, almost as wonderful.

“Honey-Preserved Clementines” could not be easier, either, especially for a can-o-phobe like myself, who admittedly gets a little nervous around water-bath equipment.

But since these jars get stored in the refrigerator, you can skip that sort of, kind of scary step.

This recipe, published in the Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010 issue of Fine Cooking magazine, comes from my friends and prolific cookbook authors, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

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Hankering for Juicy Steaks? A Food Gal Giveaway

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How's this for a meal? And it can be yours. (Photo courtesy of Snake River Farms)

Then, you’ve come to the right place.

Wouldn’t you love to sink your teeth into a meltingly tender Wagyu sirloin from Snake River Farms? Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about — deeply marbled American beef that’s like buttah.

You can. Here’s how:

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a free “Steak and Espresso Brava Salt” holiday package, courtesy of Snake River Farms. Valued at $100, this gourmet gift comes complete with six hand-trimmed, 4-ounce Wagyu petit sirloin steaks, a 4-ounce container of Espresso Brava salt (a mix of sea salt and espresso), and cooking directions.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Dec. 17. Winner will be announced Dec. 19. How’s that for a holiday present?

How to win?

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Cabernet Wine — In Flour

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Cupcakes made with flour milled from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes skins.

You can find flour milled from most any grain these days.

Now, you also can find flour with red wine in it. Cabernet Sauvignon, to be exact.

Earlier this year, when I was strolling through the Tyler Florence Shop in Napa, I spied bags of Cabernet Wine Flour and Cabernet Cocoa Powder, both of which I just had to buy. After all, it’s pretty hard to resist their striking reddish-brown hues.

They’re made by Marche Noir Foods of Irvine, CA. The wine flour is made from the pomace (skins) of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes after they are crushed. The skins are dried, then milled into a powder, which apparently is high in iron, fiber and Resveratrol (a natural anti-oxidant). The Cabernet Cocoa Powder is just dark cocoa powder mixed with the Cabernet Wine Flour.

The beautiful color of the wine flour.

A 10-ounce bag of the Cabernet Wine Flour was $14.95 at the store; a 10-ounce bag of the Cabernet Cocoa Powder was $9.95.

I couldn’t wait to try baking with them. The Marche Noir Web site is a good place to start for recipes. I zeroed in on the one for “Cabernet Velvet Cupcakes with Ganache Glaze,” which incorporates both the wine flour and cocoa powder. The recipe also calls for red food coloring, but I left that out.

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