do you ever have one of those weeks where you eat exclusively licorice, waffles, and tarts, and at the end of it all you break your streak only to eat a taco salad? and then the next day, because you broke your streak and because your pistachio kitchen aid arrived, you convert your kitchen into a pistachio-themed wannabe french candy shop, or, how do you call it, bonbonnière, by way of nougat and calissons?
hi.
i am pretty sure that last week's cavity-free dentist checkup instilled too much confidence in me, but that is ok because today i am reliving the old euroextraviganza 2011, when maria and i ate our way through nice and other fun places. back when i had bangs and wore grey nail polish and a fugly red leather jacket.
one burning memory i have from that trip is having to resist too many calissons because, sweet cheeses, were they expensive. and for a college girl who perpetually saved up for marc jacobs bags and momofuku things? no. just no.
now i am swimming in them and i wish i could tell a 2011 molly that it's ok: in three years time you'll live in north dakota with hundreds of calissons and you'll eat so many that you'll feel too much like a blob to do anything other than wear your boyfriend's sweatshirt and watch girls for an entire afternoon.
(2011 molly would be like who's your boyfriend? ronan farrow? and i would be like no, nick the trombonist that you haven't seen in two years. and 2011 molly would run out of the room in disbelief and utter delight.)
umm.. where was i...
oh!
so i read about a thousand calisson recipes yesterday, whose ingredients ranged from shit i don't even want to try to find in north dakota to things i think i could safely substitute. most recipes called for candied fruits, mainly citrus, and/or apricot things, and a bit of orange blossom water or grand marnier, ground with almonds and sugar. i ended up using dried apricots and a splash of lemon juice with my pistachios. the result was not so much of a omg i am in nice, but more of a ooh! these are a new kind of tasty and the perfect way to celebrate eggboy's first welding lesson.
pistachio calissons
(gluten free + dairy free)
ingredients
1/4 c dried apricots
1/2 c ground toasted almonds
1/2 c ground toasted pistachios
6 tb powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp water
glaze: 1 egg white beaten with 1 c powdered sugar
clues
in a food processor, grind the apricots to form a paste. add the ground nuts, sugar, and salt, and process until you have an even crumbly mixture. with the processor running, drizzle in the lemon juice and water. once the mixture comes together to form a dough, roll it out on a surface dusted with powdered sugar.
cut out little shapes, spread the tops with glaze, and let dry.
enjoy with a french accent, real or fake.
-yeh!