Cappuccino Biscotti

December 3, 2014 by 22 Comments

cappuccino biscotti Tis the season to start your Christmas baking! Each year you can count on me to make my two favorite biscotti,  Fig and Pistachio and traditional Anise flavored. Biscotti are wonderful crunchy treats to have on hand when friends and family stop by and you need a little something to go with your coffee.

cappuccino biscotti This year I wanted to add another one to my list especially since I have a deep love for all things coffee, so I decided to make Cappuccino Biscotti.  How could I resist, these crunchy little gems have two of my favorite ingredients, espresso and Kahlua liqueur, plus pecans and mini chocolate chips!

cappuccino biscotti dough The dough comes together quick, one bowl with no mixer, which really appeals to me.  Form your logs, place on parchment, bake, then let them cool down before slicing.

cutting biscotti Have I told you how awesome it is to slice your biscotti with an electric knife? This was a tip my sister-in- law gave me a few years ago and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Don’t get me wrong you can still use a serrated knife, but you have to go nice and easy and you might get more crumbles if you have a lot of fruit and nuts inside,  but if you have an electric knife in your pantry somewhere, dust it off and give it a try, I promise you will use it every time, it makes a beautiful sharp clean cut and the slicing process goes really fast!

twice baked cappuccino biscottikahlua and biscotti Since I had the kahlua out I mixed myself up a vintage Kahlua and cream like I use to drink in the old days. Wow, I forgot how good it was, and the biscotti was  the perfect compliment!

cappuccino biscotti and espresso But I still think the absolute best way to enjoy these is when they’re sitting alongside a nice cup of hot coffee or espresso.

Happy Baking!

Cappuccino Biscotti
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 2 cups AP flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp instant espresso
  • ¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
  • ½ cup of mini chocolate chips, semi sweet
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 tblsp kahlua liqueur
  • ½ cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
  2. In a large bowl combine sugars, flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and instant espresso, use a pastry cutter to blend in the cold butter until the mixture is fine and crumbly.
  3. Stir in chocolate chips, pecans, eggs and Kahlua until dough gets nice and moistened, knead on a floured surface until dough is soft and slightly sticky.
  4. Divide dough into quarters and with floured hands shape each quarter into a 9" long roll. Place 2 rolls 4" apart on each baking sheet. Gently flatten each log into a 2' wide slab.
  5. Bake in oven for 15 to 30 minutes, mine took 15 but check to make sure the tops of the slabs are firm and dry and watch bottoms so they don't burn.
  6. Remove and reduce oven to 325F, set the slabs on a rack to cool down for about 10 minutes.
  7. Cut slabs crosswise into ½ " thick slices. Place slices cut side down on baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes, turn them over to the other side and bake another 10 minutes.
  8. Transfer to rack to cool down completely. Store in cookie tins.
  9. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM CRUMB; A FOOD BLOG

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Signature
22 Comments Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Drinks Tagged: , , , ,

Brussels Sprout, Kale and Corn Pie

November 21, 2014 by 3 Comments

brussel sprout, kale corn pie With Thanksgiving less than a week away I’m sure all of your menus are pretty much planned and now the cooking and prepping begins!

I don’t know about you, but until then I’m not cooking anything very elaborate, in fact all these ingredients for this luscious pie were just sitting in my fridge, and I bet most of them are in your fridge right about now.

I went easy on myself, I had a store-bought pie crust handy, some brussels sprouts that I bought way too much of, and kale, I always have kale, but spinach or swiss chard would work equally as well. Oh, and frozen corn, we all have some of that don’t we?

brussel sprout kale, corn pie I added a small leek, but an onion would do, and one clove of garlic. Then you whisk up a custard of eggs and cream and add some wonderful melt-y cheese and the end result is a wonderful, savory pie/ quiche/tart, call it whatever you want, I call it delicioso!

brussel sprout leaves I prefer pulling the looser outer leaves off of my brussels sprouts then slicing what’s left, I think it looks prettier, but it is time consuming so you don’t have to do that, you can just shred or slice them up or even use leftover cooked sprouts.

pre cooking pie crust Roll out your dough, then pre-cook it for 7 minutes until set using pie weights.

ingredients for brussel sprout pie Saute the brussels sprouts and kale until they start to wilt, adding them in raw is not good, then crisp up your leeks or onion.

ingredients for brussel sprout pieThen a mixture of  grated parmesan or romano and a shredded cheese of your choice, maybe a fontina or chedder, something that melts nice, I had a package of Gruyere that I wanted to use up.

After the piecrust is precooked add all the sauteed veggies, top with the cheese and pour on the eggy custard.

brussel sprout kale, corn pie I like to reserve some of the veggies to place on top after you add the custard and cheese because it tends to cover everything up.

brussel sprout kale, corn pie

 

You can add a salad to this if you’d like, or just cut a nice wedge and pour a glass of wine like I did, it’s a quick eat when you’re busy, like prepping for the holidays, and you’ll be very happy to have leftovers for the next day!

I probably won’t be posting much until after Thanksgiving, but if you want to see what I’m up to, pretty much on a daily basis, follow me  here on Instagram!

Brussels Sprout, Kale and Corn Pie
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 1 9" piecrust, homemade or store-bought
  • 3 cups of slightly cooked and wilted brussels sprouts
  • 3 leaves of kale cut chiffonade style sauteed, slightly cooked and wilted down
  • ½ cup, frozen corn,
  • 1 small leek, or onion, sauteed and caramelized
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 3 branches of fresh thyme
  • 1 cup of shredded cheese, Gruyere, fontina or chedder
  • ⅓ cup grated parmesan or romano
  • 3 whole eggs
  • 1¼ cup of heavy cream or half and half
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees, roll out piecrust and place into a 9" pie plate that has been brushed with olive oil.
  2. Add a piece of parchment on top and some pie weights, or dry beans. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 7 minutes, then remove and cool and reduce oven to 375.
  3. Saute the brussels sprouts, kale just until it starts to wilt, you could add the frozen corn also, then let it cool down.
  4. Saute the leek, garlic and thyme in a drizzle of olive oil until nicely golden, let cool, then mix all the veggies together.
  5. Whisk up the eggs, the grated cheese and the heavy cream together.
  6. Arrange all the veggies on the precooked and cooled piecrust, reserve some for top after egg mixture is poured.
  7. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top.
  8. Pour the egg custard all around.
  9. Place some of the reserved veggies on top.
  10. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, let it cool down, then cut.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Signature
3 Comments Filed Under: Greens, Pies, Savory Tarts Tagged: , , ,

Stuffed Cabbage Cake

November 13, 2014 by 36 Comments

stuffed cabbage cake I have to say right off the bat that this post was solely inspired by a photo I saw in the beautiful new cookbook by Mimi Thorisson, A Kitchen In France. In fact the recipe name she calls it is, Chou Farci.

Instead of individual rolls of stuffed cabbage like most of us are use to seeing, her recipe was made and molded into a cake-like form by building layers of meat and vegetable filling and then wrapping it all into a beautiful little package of lacy savoy cabbage leaves.

After reading her recipe, which I’m sure is  quite delicious, I thought it would be fun to make my Italian style version of this stuffed cabbage cake just the way I make my own stuffed cabbage.

unmolding stuffed cabbage cake You’ll need a round, deep souffle or casserole dish because you’re going to layer the bottom and sides with the cabbage leaves as well as each layer of filling and the top. After it’s baked together you let it rest a bit, then invert it onto a serving plate.

unmolded stuffed cabbage cake All the filling stays neatly contained inside the wrapped cabbage leaves. It looks like there’s a cute little tree on top doesn’t it?

stuffed cabbage cake But I just couldn’t keep it unadorned, so I decided to embellish it with warm marinara and freshly grated parmesan cheese, just like frosting on a cake!

stuffed cabbage cake This way of presenting stuffed cabbage takes a simple meal and elevates it to something very special. You can try Mimi’s version, or use a filling that your own family would like, the sky’s the limit!  Just follow the directions for the cabbage layout and you’re good to go.

NOTE AND UPDATE

For some reason I’m not able to edit my recipe but please note to add in the rice along with the meat, #4 in the instructions.

Here’s my Italian style version.

Stuffed Cabbage Cake
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 1 head of savoy cabbage, it has pretty lacy leaves
  • 1½ pound of good quality ground beef or turkey
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 small red pepper, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¾ cup of grated romano or parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup of marinara sauce plus extra for topping mold and plating
  • 1 cup of cooked rice
  • 1 egg
  • olive oil
  • fresh chopped basil and parsley, a small bunch of each
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Core and separate the leaves from the savoy cabbage, then cook them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, pat dry and set aside.
  2. Grease the bottom and sides of a deep souffle type dish and then arrange the prettiest and largest leaf on the bottom. Place another leaf on top of that and up the sides of the dish all around.
  3. In a large saute pan cook your meat until you see no pink, if it needs to be drained of added grease do so and set aside.
  4. Add olive oil to the pan and cook the onions, carrots, garlic and diced red pepper until soft, then toss it all together with the cooked meat.
  5. Add the grated cheese, marinara and fresh herbs, toss til well coated, let it cool then toss in the egg.
  6. Put your first layer down, about ½ inch then layer a cabbage leaf on top. Repeat until you reach the top or run out of filling.
  7. Finish with cabbage on top making sure to tuck it in the dish all around.
  8. Drizzle the top with olive oil, salt and pepper and a sprinkling of romano cheese all over.
  9. Bake at 350 for around 40 minutes.
  10. Let it rest then invert a serving plate over the souffle dish, then flip it over.
  11. Cut into slices and serve with additional warmed marinara and more grated cheese.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Signature
36 Comments Filed Under: Meats, Rice and Risotto, Vegetables Tagged: , ,