Almond Cookies, Mushroom Gulyas

Just two recipes this week, but both are exceptionally tasty!

Mushroom Gulyas, Co-Op Style
Gulyas -- or Goulash -- is a Hungarian/Czech dish that migrated to American and suffered a "sea change" (as did many European dishes).  Normally made with beef or pork, onions and peppers, in a tomato-based sauce spiced with paprika and other spices.  

This version is closer to the original Central European dishes, but with mushrooms substituting for the meat. We got a Mushroom Sampler of locally grown 'shrooms the other day, and I thought this would be the perfect vehicle to showcase the tasty fungi.

8 oz or so Assorted Mushrooms I had Crimini, White Button, Portabello, and Oyster 'shrooms
1 Heirloom Tomato, diced
8-10 oz Pasta of your choice -- traditionally Egg Noodles, but I used some Orecchiette I had on hand
Zucchini -- I used 20, 1/4" thick disks, quartered
1 Florida Sweet Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, sliced
2-3 Tbsp Goulash Spice*

Cook your pasta according to package directions.  Reserve.  Chop the mushrooms into 1" pieces or thick slices and reserve.

* If you can't find a commercial goulash spice blend, start with 2/3 Sweet Paprika, 1/3 Hot Hungarian Paprika, and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper.  Mix together, taste, and adjust to your taste.  Forget salt, garlic powder, onion powder or those kinds of things.  Try a bit of ground caraway seed.

Sweat the onion until it just starts to darken.  Add the garlic and cook a couple minutes more.   Add the tomato, zucchini, goulash spice blend and perhaps a 1/2 cup of water.  Continue simmering until the zucchini pieces are almost tender.

Add the mushrooms, cover, and reduce the heat, and cook until the mushrooms are tender.

Re-heat your pasta by dunking it in fresh hot water,  and plate, topping with the goulash.

Almond Cookies
Not just almond flavored, these are gluten-free almond flour bites of heaven!  Just sweet enough.  Simple, easy, and oh so tasty!  Sally got me a bag of Almond Flour at Costco the other day.  Something I've not messed with before.  Then she comes up a couple days later and says she's 'volunteered' me to make a gluten-free dessert for one of her work potluck parties.   These cookies fit the bill exactly!

2 cups Almond Flour or Meal
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 cup Maple Syrup or Cane Syrup, I made one batch with each sweetener
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.  While that's going on:

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sweetener and extract.  Use a wet fork to stir everything together until well blended.  This is sticky stuff!

Parchment line a baking sheet.  Spoon out tablespoon sized dollops of dough spaced about an inch apart.  This recipe will make about 24 cookies.  When they're all laid out, use a wet fork to press the cookies down in two directions to no more than 1/4" thick disks.

Bake for 15 minutes or so, until golden brown on the edges.  Cool them in the pan for  few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Light and airy with a bit of crunch and a bit of soft center; there are EXCELLANT!!!   Excuse me while I go make some more...