Good Food

Ciao a tutti!  Hi Everybody!

I will be a weekly food blogger at Amy Dickinson’s site at www.askamydaily.com

This a great opportunity and wanted to thank everybody for their love and support!

I look forward to sharing my blogs on this site too!

Here’s a photo of my Amaretti Bouquet’s:

un abbraccio,

CelebratingMother'sDayAmaretti

maria !

White Chocolate Biscotti Soldiers

cookie soldiers

White Chocolate Biscotti Soldiers ready to be eaten!

Just dipped my cranberry-pistachio biscotti with an armour coat of white chocolate! The cookie war begins!

a presto,

maria !

Easter Amaretti, Biscotti, and Pizzelle!

Strike a biscotti pose….Here’s a festive version of my amaretti, biscotti and pizzele. What do you think? The recipes are in my book Breaking Bread in L’Aquila.

amaretti, biscotti and pizzelle

Step aside, amaretti showing off with pastel almond confetti (sugar coated almonds). Sulmona (in the province of L’Aquila) is the city that these famous hard candies are produced. I added the confetti when I removed the amaretti from the oven.

amaretti

I shaped the pizzelle with festive Easter designs: butterflies, eggs and baby lambs. When you remove the hot pizzelle from the press, stamp the cookies right away before they get hard. A great way to be creative during the Holiday! I drizzled powder sugar and sugar crystals.

pizelle designs

White chocolate dip for the biscotti and sprinkles of mint green sugar crystals! I made the biscotti bite size minis!

You can see me on CHCH TV 11 on Friday, April 22nd @ 8:20am. for my segment “What’s cooking in your Easter Basket”.

a presto,

Maria

Amaretti, Biscotti, Pizzelli….Oh my!

xmas cake i
Hi Everybody,

As a rule breaker…..I decided to create my version of the Gingerbread House with my delicous cookies from Breaking Bread in L’Aquila. I baked the cookies and with the help of my sister in law Maria, a brilliant and creative baker put the house together. I presented the Pizelli Palazzo on my monthly TV appearances on CHCH TV 11, Hamilton Canada.

Maria created the Pizzelli Palazzo, with the cookies and added a few more touches with chocolate torrone for the walkway. We added almond confetti (silver and white) for stones around the house. As Maria worked on the house, my gorgeous nephew Stefano and beautiful niece Amelia and I bonded over kareoke disco tunes “Funky Town” and “YMCA” ….wearing our funky hats, sunglasses and costumes. ps – I think Auntie Mary was having too much fun!

Maria and Gianni Bardini

I also brought the Pizzelli Palazzo during my book signing at the Italian Canadian Chamber of Commerce (ICCO) XMAS Party. Gianni Bardini, Console Generale D’Italia was very impressed with the design and I’m honored to have a copy of my book at the Consolate Office in Toronto!

Before I forget…..I want to acknowledge Stefano’s suggestion to seal some of the holes with the icing sugar glue – thank you Stefano! Of course, Amelia helped with the snowmen designs……forgive me for not mentioning on TV !

This house can be made with your favorite cookies! Have fun and be creative!

a presto,

Maria

Biscotti Dunking!

A great way to drink your favorite liqueur or dessert wine is dunking biscotti. In Forence, we dunked biscotti in a sweet dessert wine. For breakfast, we dunked in our espresso….Whatever you decide, these biscotti are absolutely delicious!

A few suggested pantry variations 1) lemon and trail mix (nuts, raisins), 2) cranberry and almond and 3) cranberry and walnut. I have a photo on 3-5-2010 of the biscotti and also featured in my book “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila”.

Makes about 3 dozen

1/2 cup vegetable, canola oil, or unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of the addition of your choice, like coarsely chopped nuts (pecans, pistachios, or walnuts), cranberries, or chocolate chips (it can also be a combination!)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the oil (or cream the butter) and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the vanilla, and the eggs one at a time and stir until well blended.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring constantly. Add your nuts or any other addition. Continue mixing until well blended (don’t over mix). The dough will be slightly sticky, so you should flour your hands to work with it.

Divide the dough into either 2 logs (12 x 2) or 4 logs (6 x 2), depending on the size of your baking sheet. Make sure you place them several inches (at least 3 inches) apart because they will expand.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the logs are light brown. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Then turn the heat down to 275ºF. Cut the logs, using a sharp, serrated knife, into diagonal slices, about 3/4-inch long. You can place them on their sides (or stand them up-right on the baking sheet) to bake them for an additional 10 minutes. (This is why they are called twice-baked!) Cool before serving.

Tip: when you are cutting the biscotti logs before baking for the additional 10 minutes, you end up with little bits and pieces of the biscotti. If you are not planning to eat them right away, I would freeze them.

You can cut them in smaller pieces and serve with ice cream or dip the ends in coffee liquor and add a dolup of Mascarpone cheese and sprinke cocoa. A few examples but I’m sure you have other creative ideas too.

Don’t forget….The net proceeds of this book will be donated to the restoration efforts of the earthquake of L’Aquila.

a presto,

maria