Zaleti (p. 450)

Zaleti are Venetian Cornmeal Cookies, often made for Carnival or pre-Lenten festivities. They can be made with a variety of fruits or nuts in them though I chose the most basic -- raisins -- for mine.

The raisins (or currants, or candied fruit) are set in a bowl with a liquor to soak up the flavor. I chose rum because we have a bunch of it, but you could also use vodka or grappa. While the raisins are absorbing the alcohol, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl. The recipe calls for about the same about of cornmeal as it does flour, which gives the cookies a unique consistency.

In a third bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, and butter, and then combine this with the dry ingredients until it creates the cookie dough. At this point, you can drain the remaining liquor from the raisin bowl and add the fruits to the batter as well. The recipe also calls for pine nuts, but I didn't have any, so I left them out.

Place spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet, and bake for about ten minutes, and out come lovely golden cookies with crispy brown edges.

I enjoyed these cookies. They're definitely not as sweet as traditional American cookies, but the rum soaked raisins give them a nice flavor, and I liked the consistency that the cornmeal provided

eggs -- $2.49 (I have 9 left for making frittatas later this week)

raisins -- $2.59 (lots left for snacks)

Total Cost of Zaleti: $5.08 for about 20 cookies