Sweet Sage Cookies Recipe

Fresh herbs give flavor to these cookies, a specialty of The Inn a Jackson in Jackson, New Hampshire. Reprinted with the permission of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups of all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. Snipped fresh sage or 2 tsp. dried sage or lemon thyme or rosemary, crushed

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

3 Tbsp. Milk

1 egg white

Preparation:

Stir together flour, sugar and cornmeal in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. Stir in snipped or crushed herbs. Add milk and stir with a fork to combine. Form mixture into a ball and knead dough until smooth.

Divide the dough in half. Roll half of the dough at a time on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch round or oval cookie cutter. Combine egg white and 1 Tbsp. of water in a small bowl. Brush cutouts with the mixture. If desired, place one or two small, fresh sage leaves on each cutout, and brush the leaves with egg white mixture.

Sprinkle cutouts with sugar, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375-degree oven about 7 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool. Makes about 32 cookies.

Why sage recipes?  Our neighbor has been passing along the herbs he is growing in his garden and I needed  few recipes to try.

Pork Tenderloin Scaloppine Perugina

Original Recipe Yield 8 servings

Ingredients

20 ounces boneless pork tenderloin, cut into slices about 3/4 inch thick

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained

2 ounces very thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch strips

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon flour

1 1/2 cups dry white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon rind

1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage

4 cups hot cooked fettuccine pasta

Directions

Place each piece of pork between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap, pound each piece to 1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Combine 1/4 cup flour and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge pork in flour mixture and set aside. 

Heat 1 tsp oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add capers, prosciutto, and garlic. Saute 3 minutes. Combine broth and 1 tsp flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add broth mixture, wine, rind and sage to the pan and cook 10 minutes, stirring on occasion. Pour sauce into a bowl and keep warm. Wipe pan clean with a paper towel. 

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in pan over medium high heat. Add pork to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Add sauce to pan; cook 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly. Remove pork from pan. Add pasta to pan and toss well to coat. Place pork back in pan, combine and plate. 

Note:  Thought this also might go well with roasted potatoes and a side of green beans instead of pasta.