Anyone who loves coffee knows that it is very important to find something delicious to dip into it! I have to confess to a life-long love of Biscotti… and, unfortunately, Biscotti loves me a bit too much! In the past, I viewed boxes of Biscotti as single servings — but at 100 calories a piece — it was not great for my waistline . However, being careful, one biscotti makes for a great addition to coffee a couple of times a day ( 10am and 3pm for me) and helps keep my diet on track!
However, if you are looking for a great recipe on-line be a bit careful. Some of the recipes are good but I think they try too hard to be low-fat, low sugar, and end up low taste. What is impressive is the variety of biscotti flavors … and they are mind boggling: almond, chocolate, hazelnut, ginger bread, pumpkin, cranberry and pistachio ( I think not!), Peanut butter, Oats and more combinations than you can imagine.
My goal is a simple one: to see how muchPeters Chocolate I can use and keep the recipe colorically reasonable , yet delicious, for me.
Stay Tuned.
Roger
Coffaro’s makes a great qualitycommercial product.
I have found that few things transform you in time quite like an old cookbook. We get wonderful hints as to what it was like to live and dine in another era. Recently, I came across a fascinating little book that you can still find a few recent reprints if you look around. “The Virginia Housewife or, Methodical Cook” was first published in 1831. The author wrote her book:
‘from the want of books sufficiently clear and concise… to reduce every thing in the culinary line, to proper weights and measures… for, when the ingredients employed were given in just proportions, the article made was equally good.”
This was in an era when the culinary skills were truly a ‘learn by doing’ activity and normally little was ever written down and everything committed to memory. It appears that this cookbook was a widely reprinted reference well into the civil war.
We all wonder what recipes might be popular enough with ingredients commonplace enough to be placed in a cookbook of that time? Many of the recipes are very basic: on how to clean and dress various animals, sauces, puddings and desserts, preserves, pickling and the making of beer and cordials. But what it does include that might surprise you is a nice recipe for ‘Curried Chicken’. As you know curry powder is a blend of spices and she even includes a recipe for her ‘curry.’ Who knew?
TO MAKE A DISH OF CURRY AFTER THE EAST INDIAN MANNER
Cut two chickens as for fricassee, wash them clean, and put them in a stew pan with as much water as will cover them; sprinkle them with a large spoonful of salt, and let them boil until tender, cover close all the time, and skim them well; when boiled enough,take up the chickens, and put the liquor of them into a pan, then put half a pound of fresh butter in the pan, and brown it a little; put into it two cloves of garlic, and a large onion sliced, and let these all fry till brown, often shaking the pan; then put in the chickens, and sprinkle over them two or thee spoonfuls of curry powder; then cover the pan close, and let the chickens do till brown, often shaking the pan; then put in the liquor the chickens were boiled in, and all stew together until tender; if acid is agreeable squeeze the juice of a lemon or orange in it.
CURRY POWDER
One ounce turmeric, one do. coriander seed, one do. cumin seed, one do. white ginger, one cayenne pepper; pound all together, and pass them through a fine sieve; bottle and cork it well — one tea-spoon is sufficient to season any made dish.
Tiramisu is a nice, delicious and easy to make dessert that comes across very nicely on Valentine’s Day. Besides the eggs, cheese, sugar, chocolates and liquors… the other major ingredient is ladyfingers. You can buy ladyfingers almost anywhere, or you can make them yourself… or substitute a wide variety of prepared products… such as Pepperidge Farm’s Milano cookies.
Like many wonders of nature, some times things that look so imposing are actually quite simple.
Laura enjoys her Tiramisu... yes, I had a few spoonfulls myself!
Do you know what I love about many professional recipe makers, chefs and test kitchen cooks? In truth, I have a great deal of respect for many… but few tell their ’secrets.’ My grandmother was far more blunt, she would often say,” when it comes to disclosing our recipes, we all lie!” Anyone who has tried to make a good meringue by following a cookbook recipe knows exactly what we mean!
When so many recipes try to discourage you from making your own ladyfingers, I should have known that something foul was afoot!
Obviously, I had to play around with all the of the self described ‘classic’ recipes to find something that would be acceptable. In addition, I planned to use these in my own Tiramisu so I wanted something nicer than store bought. The basic physical techniques for making ladyfingers are all very similar regardless of the recipe; however, it is the proportions and the fact that the recipes are incomplete that is so interesting.
"A house is not a
home unless it
contains food and
fire for the mind
as well as the body.”
Benjamin Franklin
_____________
"Without the culinary
arts, the crudeness
of reality would
be unbearable."
Kate & Leopold
_____________
"Tell me what you
eat, and I will
tell you what you
are."
Anthelme
Brillat-Savarin
_____________
"I think it is a
sad reflection on
our civilization
that while we can
and do measure the
temperature in the
atmosphere of Venus
we do not know what
goes on inside our
soufflés."
Nicholas Kurti
_____________
The truth is that
with a gentleman I
am always a gentle-
man and a half, and
when I have to deal
with a pirate, I
try to be a pirate
and a half.
Prince
Otto Eduard Leopold
von Bismarck
_____________
Honesty is not so
much a credit as an
absolute prerequisite
to efficient service
to the public. Unless
a man is honest, we
have no right to keep
him in public life; it
matters not how
brilliant his capacity
