In my kitchen, December 2019

12 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art projects, Mangiamo!

Tags

Dolci di Natale, Espresso cookies, Fiat Cinquecento, In my kitchen, Natale, Panettone

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my kitchen! The traditional dolci di Natale baking is not until next week, but here is what has been happening in my kitchen so far this month.

Once again, I had a bancarella at the Italian Christmas Mercato, selling handpulled original prints and handmade cards. A few days before the event, I decided to make another new Christmas card. My kitchen table turned into a ‘studio annex’, full of sketches and linoleum carving tools for a few days!

I carved a Fiat Cinquecento (500) carrying a tree on the roof. The prints barely dried in time, but were very popular! More photos are on my instagram feed, which is linked in the sidebar. This is the original 1957 Cinquecento model, with porte di suicidio-suicide doors that hinge on the left. Find out more in the post The Original Cinquecento. Many of the purchasers had personal stories to tell me about what attracted them to it. A subject for another post!

As usual, I made cookies to offer friends who came to visit me at the mercato. This time I made espresso cookies. Recipe available in Espresso Cookies.

Saturday was Papà’s birthday. He had urgent heart surgery in September, so we were very happy to celebrate this birthday! Mamma and I made his favourite pasta, tagliatelle the week before and froze them in little nests on cookie sheets. They were dropped into boiling water straight from the freezer.

Last Christmas a friend brought Baci made with ruby cocoa beans from Italy. This year I received a box as a gift, purchased from my local Italian deli. What is ruby chocolate? It is not white chocolate with pink coloring! It is milk chocolate made with Brazilian cocoa beans that are a dark purple colour. They are only fermented for a few days, so they do not turn brown, then citric acid is added to keep the pinky colour. This is the same idea as squirting lemon juice on apples when making apple pie, to keep them from going brown. The taste is very slightly berryish and lemony-because of the citric acid. There are no other ingredients or flavourings added. Is this just a marketing ploy? Yes! But since raspberry and lemon are my 2 favourite flavours, I like them anyways. Have you tried Ruby Baci?

Panettone is plentiful in December, and I love panettone french toast. The panettone already has so much flavour that all you really need to do is soak it in eggs and milk then cook it on the stovetop, or even bake it. I added a bit of orange zest and topped it with fresh ricotta and a drizzle of maple syrup-I do live in Canada after all! Do not use expensive or homemade panettone for this. The cheap cellophane wrapped ones are good for french toast.

I made my favourite winter salad, Insalata Purtuall’ with fennel and oranges. Since the oranges had to be peeled, I candied the rind to use later this month for panettone or biscotti.The only Christmas baking so far in my kitchen are cranberry pistachio orange biscotti. It was my first time making them and will definitely make them again.

Read more about my family’s traditional Christmas baking in a previous post Dolci di Natale. Links for my recipe for Panettone with Orange Walnuts and Figs and for Crustoli can be found in this post. We will be making Cauzuncill’ and Cartellate in a few days.

Thanks Sherry from Australia for hosting the monthly food blogging event, In My Kitchen (IMK). Read about what is happening in other world kitchens in December by clicking the link to Sherry’s Pickings.

Buon appetito, Cristina

Espresso Cookies

13 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Dolci di Natale, Espresso cookies, Espresso shortbread cookies, Maccinacaffè

I make these yummy biscottini often, and receive a lot of requests for the recipe, especially at this time of year. They are not a traditional Italian dolce, but they have been ‘italianizzati’ 🇮🇹 by the espresso. I have been making them for over 25 years, so I don’t remember where the original recipe came from. It may have been an article in the local paper? Really, any shortbread or butter cookie recipe can be adapted by adding vanilla extract and instant espresso powder.

These espresso cookies are perfect with a caffè and freeze very well. They even taste good congelati -straight out of the freezer. For best results, freeze before dipping the ends in chocolate. The espresso must be ground to a very fine powder in a macinacaffè, a coffee grinder. Instant espresso is too coarse and chunky to add straight from the jar. Grinding espresso beans does not work well, as they do not grind fine enough. Using real caffè does not work either, as the batter will be too liquidy. Espresso powder is the best option. I use Medaglia d’Oro® or Bar Italia® brand instant espresso. Last time I made them, I accidentally doubled the caffè (oops!). My coffee loving amici thought they were even better than usual, so ‘double shot’ works too.

Espresso Cookies

10g (20 ml, 4 teaspoons) instant espresso

225g (240 ml, 1 cup) butter, at room temperature

100g (120 ml, ½ cup) sugar

3 ml (½ teaspoon) pure vanilla extract

230g (415 ml, 1¾ cups) all-purpose flour

30g (¼ cup, 60 ml) cornstarch

120g (4 ounces) good quality chocolate, melted

Grind instant espresso in coffee grinder to a fine powder. Mix together butter and sugar. Add espresso powder and vanilla extract. Sift flour and cornstarch together and add to the rest of the ingredients. Roll into 2 cm balls then flatten into palm of hand to mould into oval coffee bean shape/American football shape. Place on a baking sheet. Before baking, make a shallow indent lengthwise down the ‘bean’ with a knife. Indenting too deep will make the cookies spread. Bake at 180⁰ C (325⁰ F) for 15-20 minutes. When cool, dip both ends in melted chocolate and place on wax or parchment paper to dry. Makes 36 cookies. Buon Appetito!