Guest Post, Evan Baltazar: Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I was really excited when Evan of swEEts by e contacted me about guest posting. I just recently started reading her blog because my huge sweet tooth got all excited when she made Swiss swirl ice cream, red velvet cupcakes and bite-size s'mores. Chick knows the way to my heart. And her creations are pretty. She just made a wedding cake (her first, of many I'm sure!) for her friends and it was gorgeous. Consider me officially impressed.

I also read the first line of her post, where she mentions loving coffee. Sold. You can be on my blog anytime you want Evan! Anyway, here she is with a bangin' biscotti recipe! Take it away, Evan...

If you're anything like me then you love coffee and if you love coffee, well then you (should) adore biscotti.

It is my firm belief that every good cup of coffee deserves a delicious baked good to be paired with, but unfortunately, with the hustle and bustle of our busy work week we often forget this and let our morning cup of joe go without… but fear no more!

Although muffins, scones and rolls are wonderful breakfast baked goods, they don't keep very well throughout the week. Day one of a muffin is great...day two, OK… but much longer than that and you're not getting much. The great thing about biscotti? they can be kept for a week or more in an air tight container! A delicious, dunkable, dippable, little breakfast cookie that can be made in one batch and munched on all week long- fabulous.

One of my favorite baking books, 'A Passion for Baking' by Marcy Goldman, has a whole section dedicated to this delectable little treat, which is where this recipe comes from. She has recipes for everything from Cafe Late Caramel Biscotti to Blueberry Biscotti Bones and these Double Chocolate Biscotti (I added the almonds). These biscotti were actually baked with Mountain Man (my boyfriend) in mind who requested something chocolate-y for breakfast that he can bring camping with him. Since biscotti can be easily packed and kept a while, they seemed the perfect choice. With two different kinds of chocolate chips and a chocolate base, this is sure to get him the chocolate fix he needs.

A word of warning, there are a few steps involved when making biscotti- a lot of removing, cooling, and returning to the oven. Biscotti gets its crispy texture from the second baking, making the extra steps crucial for their texture...I swear it is totally worth it!

Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Total bake time: about 1 1/2 hours

Makes 1 1/2 dozen biscotti (I halved the recipe)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup plus 6 TBS sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 TBS cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla.

Mix dry ingredients into butter/sugar mixture, making a thick batter.

Fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and almonds.

Let dough sit for a few minutes in order to thicken and firm a bit.

Spread dough into a large log on prepared baking sheet.

Bake 35-40 minutes until set and log is firm to the tough.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.

Reduce for the temperature of the oven to 325.

Using a large serrated knife, slice the log diagonally into 1/2 thick slices.

Because of the size of my log I actually cut each slice in half as well.

Arrange slices, inside facing upward, on baking sheet and return to oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then turn slices over and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove from oven for good and allow to cool completely.

Optional finishing touch- melt 1 cup chocolate chips in microwave for about 1 minute(stop at 30 seconds and mix) and mix until smooth.

Drizzle over cooled biscotti or dip one end in melted chocolate.

Biscotti are just like muffins- the flavor possibilities are endless… so figure out what you like and give ‘em a go :) Your coffee will never be lonely again!

Applesauce Brownies

I am really tenacious. Or persistant. Or annoying?

One of the three. Pick your poison. Point is, when I want something, I get it. Not in that way. It’s not like I snap my fingers and all my dreams come true. I get an idea in my head and I cannot rest until it is achieved. Even silly things. Like for instance, today, I just had to make brownies.

I had to.

Remember I can’t walk? Let alone stand over a mixing bowl.

Doesn’t matter. I’m gonna make my brownies. My alter ego kicks in and suddenly I have one mission and one mission alone. Brownies.

I didn’t have any eggs. There are plenty of substitutes! Problem was, not all of these ingenuous recipes had such high reviews. I’m not setting out to make  a brownie I won’t eat. I also found a brownie recipe that used Crisco instead of eggs. Well what a lovely solution! Let’s take out the cholesterol and add a bunch of lard.

No thanks. No offense to Crisco, but it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Eventually, I stumbled on a vegan recipe. I scoffed. Heavens no. Me? Not hipster enough to make vegan. Love meat. Love animal products. No way. But I read on. This recipe received rave reviews. Probably from weirdo vegans, I thought. Nonetheless, these Vegans had an egg-less, Crisco-less, animal-less brownie recipe, and that’s what I needed!

So, now that I’m a Vegan, I’m hopping from pantry to fridge to counter to dinner table scooping up ingredients, checking the recipe and sitting down to take breaks. I have all the ingredients! Who knew Vegan cooking was such a cinch?

Oh damn.

Applesauce. I used all the applesauce. Well, this is the part where most of us would pack up our knives and go.

Not I. We had apples. How hard could it be to make your own applesauce? Not very, I assumed.

I was right! I chopped up two big apples, sprinkled some cinnamon and a little less than half a cup of water into a saucepan and let it simmer on medium for about 20 minutes. A few mashes later and voila! Homemade applesauce. It was good too! Almost good enough to help subside the brownie craving. At this point, I was so fixated on the applesauce I almost forgot my entire purpose. Not quite.

Now, I love and respect all Vegans, but I’m all for a little self expression. So here is my take on a Vegan brownie recipe. It's healthy with mostly whole wheat flour, and I used mini chocolate chips because they spread more, thus you use less than regular chocolate chips. Before you bake these, the consistency is a little strange but don't give up! After they are baked they have the same consistency as a regular ole' Betty Crocker (with a lot less fat/more fiber/more protein!). Your non-vegan friends won't even be able to tell the difference.... that's a promise!

Applesauce Brownies

What ya need:
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup unbleached white flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

¼ cup Light Caramel Sauce

What ya do:

1.Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray or oil an 8 x 8 baking pan.

2. Mix applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and pinch of cinnamon together.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce mixture. Mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips

4. Spread in prepared pan and pour caramel sauce over top. Bake 25-30 min, until center is firm and not sticky. Cool completely before slicing

Polly Motzko’ Farfalle Bolognese with Zucchini and Fresh Basil for Garnishing.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the well wishes you've been sending my way! I'm feeling much better with every passing day, so whatever you're sending, keep it up! Today, I have another guest post, from Polly Motzko, the creator of Cooking Up a Storm All Over the World, a foodie website dedicated to her recipes and traditions. Polly contacted me about my request for guest posts, and sent a yummy looking dish my way. So without further ado, here comes Polly!

Polly Motzko’ Farfalle Bolognese with Zucchini and Fresh Basil for Garnishing.

Adapted from “Bolognese Meat Sauce” by Marcella Hazan

Text & recipe greatly adapted from the original by Marcella Hazan,

Copyright November 5th, 1992

New text and forward by Paulette Le Pore Motzko, Copyright ©, June/July 2010

http://www.CookingUpAStorminCA.ning.com

I was going through my many bookshelves of cooking books and ran across this wonderful new edition of Marcella Hazan’s that is a combination of her first book and the second and then 50 more wonderful recipes. This printing is dated November 5th, 1992. (My parent’s anniversary is on that day, only quite a few years before in 1949. So, when I make this dish for them it will be special because the book was printed on the day when my mother Ramona Hart and dad, Ernest Le Pore-became an item!

Rather than watching this on the stove for hour on end, I have streamlined it for modern day busy people like me, who want to make something wonderful up in advance and have it on hand to use in countless wonderful recipes. I am not sure if Marcella Hazan realized how the crock pot could come in handy for slowly simmering this sauce and in braising more economical cuts of meat; I don’t think she would object to my adaption here.

You can leave the minced garlic out if you want and be true to Marcella’s original recipe, or you can add however much you like in it..and some fresh basil if you feel inclined. 

I was raised in a house where a marinara didn’t “taste right” without it in it…so this version reflects my personal tastes, and since I am going to make this for me and my “family” then this version it is.

I am going to use a huge, multicolored Farfalle pasta that I got from The World Market. It is the most vivid multicolor pasta I have ever seen in my life. I also added a sauté of chopped zucchini and yellow squash to the top of it, because I love zucchini and I am opting for more fresh veggies in my diet, plus I think it goes nicely with the colors in the pasta I chose.

Ragu, as the Bolognese call their celebrated meat sauce, is characterized by mellow, gentle comfortable flavor that any cook can achieve by being careful about a few basic points.

• The meat should not be too lean a cut to extract its juices for the subsequent benefit of the sauce.

• Add salt immediately when sautéing the meat to extract its juices for the subsequent benefit of the sauce.

• Cook the milk in milk before adding wine and tomatoes to protect it from the acidic bite of the latter.

• Do not use a demiglace or other concentrates that tip the balance of flavors toward harshness.

• Use a pot that retains heat. Earthenware is preferred in Bologna and by most cooks in Emilia-Romagna, but enameled cast-iron pans or a pot whose heavy bottom is composed of layers of steel alloy is fully satisfactory.

2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon to toss pasta with.

½ cup chopped onion

2/3 cup chopped celery

2/3 cup chopped carrots

4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced-Polly Motzko’s addition

¾ pound ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup whole milk

About ¼ teaspoon or more freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup dry white wine-pick your choice here.

4-1/2 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, with juice. I increased this substantially because I made almost exactly to the recipe and the dish didn’t look or taste right-to me. (Everyone is different of course, which is what makes the world great. In my world I added garlic, increased the tomatoes to more of a “meaty marinara”, cut the butter back and that is about it.

The rest of the dish is my invention entirely.

1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups or more of pasta-I used jumbo multicolored Farfalle here.

1. Marcella Hazan’s choice of pasta is tagliatelle or tortellini and green lasagna goes really well with this sauce.

2. Put oil, butter chopped onion in a pot and heat to medium. Cook and stir until translucent then add celery and carrots and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat well.

3. Add ground beef, large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of black pepper. Crumble meat with fork, stir well and cook until beef is not raw and no longer pink inside.

4. Add milk and let simmer gently stirring frequently, until milk has bubbled away completely.

5. Add the wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn heat down. Simmer sauce at the laziest boil.

Or

PUT IN A CROCK POT ON 250 DEGREES FOR 3 HOURS OR UP UNTIL 6 HOURS, STIRRING AFTER 2 HOURS.

While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out, and the fat will separate from the meat, unless you use a very lean meat like I did-Polly Motzko, that is. 

To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding ½ cup of water whenever needed. In the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt if needed.

Toss with cooked, drained pasta, adding the tablespoon butter and some of the freshly grated Parmesan on the side.

******************************

Polly Motzko’ Farfalle Bolognese with Sautéed Zucchini & Basil & Garlic Topping

Created on June 29th, 2010

Paulette Le Pore Motzko,

Copyright © July 6th, 2010

(Inspired by Marcella Hazan’s “Bolognese Meat Sauce”)

Make pasta sauce at least 3 to 6 hours ahead of time and arrange making the pasta after the sauce is through simmering for its total time-3 hours is recommended.

Cook pasta of choice until al dente and then put some in a shallow pasta bowl, then arrange some of the cooked farfalle on top of the sauce. Put enough sauce in the bowl so that you can “sop up the sauce” and you can also drizzle some more on top. I did this type of presentation because I wanted to show off the colors and shape of the jumbo multi-colored farfalle…you could use penne here and it would work out great too! This multi colored pasta-I bought at World Market-was one of my all-time finds in the pasta world. (Even my friends in Italy hadn’t seen anything like it!)

Take 2 finely chopped zucchinis and about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh basil, along with 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced. Sauté in a little olive oil and a little more minced garlic, if you like. Sauté until the squash is nicely tender. Add enough fresh basil cut in a chiffonade style to the vegetable mixture and top the cooked pasta on the sauce with this. This doesn’t take long because you don’t want to cook the zucchini til their mush, just a little tender. It is really great! If you spoon some of the Bolognese sauce on the pasta, the vegetables give it a nice texture and flavor.

Top the zucchini/squash/garlic mixture on top of the pasta of your choice.

Grate some fresh Parmesan and put on top to crown the dish…and lastly ENJOY! The Parmesan gives the dish the extra SALTY flavor that it needs, so don’t make the dish without it…or substitute something very similar like Romano.

If you have made variations of this dish, email them to Paulette Motzko at:

CookingUpAStorminCA@gmail.com

Polly Motzko will include them in her upcoming cookbook, with your permission, that is.

Happy Cooking!

Yours truly in food and all that is wonderful on your plate!

Jason Phelps Guest Post

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you're all out and about and not stuck in like I am. This mammoth of a splint is slowly sinking me into my big blue couch. The upside? I have time to do all the mindless things I'd like to do when I don't have time, like read a million blogs. The downside? I'm bored out of my mind. The worstside? I can't cook or bake!  

Good thing I've established some relationships in the blog world, or else you'd be in Messie Kitchen drought.

Jason Phelps was so generous as to offer up a guest post. He is the author of Ancient Fire Wine Blog, where he writes of his homemade wines and beers, travels and experiences. Jason's posts have opened my mind to some wonderful pairings and great recipes. In this post, he writes of great summertime bites, or spoonfuls, if you will. Read on, and thank you Jason!

Summertime Enjoyment – Cold Soups

Twice this week I came across two cold soup recipes tuned just for summer. I am not a soup person. I have enjoyed all sorts of soups in my life, but I don’t ever crave it and don’t often think about it. Both of these recipes caught my attention though.  With lots of fresh veggies around we have been working up dinner menus with medium-sized serving of proteins with lot of grilled and steamed vegetables. Needing a lot of variation to get us the whole way through summer the idea of cold soup made from vegetables warranted attention.

The first recipe I saw was for a Chilled Avocado Tarragon Bisque at the Taste With The Eyes blog. The subtle flavors of both the avocado and the tarragon were easy to imagine. Served cold I almost thought it would be a like herbed avocado milkshake!

In celebration of the Tour de France the Gastronomic Duo are preparing dishes to pair with the regions and towns of the stages routes. For stage 16 the route took the riders from Luchon to Pau. This area is crossroads of cultures and food. Spanish cuisine was selected and a wonderful Spicy Gazpacho was offered.

I made both of these soups for dinners this week.

First up was the Spicy Gazpacho.

I had to back off on the spicy for Margot’s well being, but I could see how some minced jalapeno would really pop. I also used heirloom tomatoes of all sorts of colors and my soup was more brown and yellow than red. We kept the avocado, but swapped out the crabmeat and served some hickory grilled chicken on the side.

Preparing this dish from almost entirely fresh ingredients and no cooking offers benefits of its own during the hot summer months. I am sure the variations on this dish are boundless.

The fresh garlic was pungent in this dish. The heirloom tomatoes infused some wonderful flavors into the soup. The fresh vegetables in the finished dish were crispy and fresh in the broth. The creamy texture of the avocado against the acidity of the vinegar was excellent. Margot loved it and said she could eat it all summer. The version with the crab meat was requested!

The Chilled Avocado Tarragon Bisque  starts with a warm milk base in which the tarragon is steeped. I could smell tarragon in my entire kitchen as it sat and infused the milk with flavors. I didn’t change anything about this recipe and I haven’t really considered any twists, but I am sure they are there.

I thoroughly enjoyed this soup. It is very creamy and has the subtly of flavors that I had imagined.  Margot didn’t find the flavors to be her style, but thought the presentation was nice. I did add freshly cracked black pepper to my soup. I like a little zip, and the earthy spice in the pepper blended with the other flavors nicely. I paired this with a 2008 Viognier from my own collection and a tarragon infused spritzer using the same wine. The flavors blended very well with fresh herbs and creamy apricot and citrus. Pretty neat.

The rest of dinner was grilled chicken, corn on the cob and steamed broccoli. Summer enjoyment for sure.

Cheers!

--Jason

 

Blog Awards

I'm pretty much going to be a browse blogging junkie for the next week, so please bring on your best posts! 

During my exploration of the normal blogs I read, I saw Le's Little Kitchen had given me blog awards. Stylish Blogger and A Blog With Substance. Thank you so much Leanne! 

Praise from your peers never gets old. It leaves me feeling very encouraged, too.

On the flipside, if any of you have any suggestions or constructive criticism, go ahead and tell me! Although I must say, I had one commenter the other week tell me my food blog was unorganized and had poor pictures. That comment no longer exists! But, if you have something that would help you enjoy my blog more, please tell me! 

I'd also like to thank The Mom Chef, who gave me a shout out on her site. She and I share a lot of the same taste, and her food looks wonderful. Plus she gets my humor. What more could I ask for?

Anyway, I won't be posting many recipes this week or next, so I apologize in advance. I hope you're all having a wonderful week!! 

Ta-Ta

Day Five: Back to Boston and Home to DC

So where were we? Oh yes, the final days of vacation.


By day five, you should have seen my nose. That was Saturday, and today (Wednesday) people are still coming up to me and literally calling me Rudolph. Oh, how original. I put sunscreen on! I really did.


Meal upon meal of heavy food was really starting to get to me. Fruit and vegetables were absolutely on the bottom of the totem pole, and I'm not the type of person to be on vacation and order the healthy things on all the menu; that would be just a waste. So, Saturday night, Vanessa and I chose the lightest dinner fare we could think of-- sushi.

I could eat it everyday, and my mom says that's okay! Oh wait, that's goldfish. Well, you get the idea. Six bitesize cream cheese filled munchies. Okay, I know the Philly roll isn't the healthiest or exciting, but I knew I liked it and you don't want to dislike your sushi. That's a crime, my friends. I ordered a seaweed salad which I adored, and had a few nibbles of my sisters boiled tofu. Try that for a real treat. Sarcasm. It was good, but rather, what's the word? Bland. Let's put it this way, as my dad says, "I hope this is healthy."

Anyway, afterward we went to her friend's going away party. It was a barbecue-- a Korean barbecue. I've never had bulgogi before, so I had to try it. Slightly sweet and spicy. Awesome. I've got to try it. My friend Chris told me he'd show me some mighty fine Korean bbq, so I'm going to hold him to it. We headed home and I suffered from major cat allergies for one more night.


I ran out of eye drops on Saturday. Not one more little drip of liquid. I squeezed and squeezed but to no avail. I woke up the next morning and I looked like a drug addict who was coming down hard. My eyes were completely blod shot and puffy. It was bad. Stupid cat. He actually slept on my face. Cat on the face is not good for one allergic to cats. Remember that. Still slept well, minus one nightmare-ish like moment where Monty was giving me the stink eye at 3:00 in the morning.

Sunday morning rolled around and I was excited. Want to know why? It was crepe time. Vanessa and I were supposed to get crepes on Tuesday night from this adorable little place in Harvard Square. After having our minds set on it all day, we ventured over only to find it was closed early. Unbelieveable. Needless to say, the buildup and anticipation of Arrow Street Crepes was intense.

The place is a hole in the wall and as you walk in, you can see the two chefs whipping things up. There were a bunch of options, and though the Crepe Ridiculous was calling my name with it's layers of chocolate and fruit, I went with the California, because I cannot say no to avocado. It had avocado, mozzarella, basil walnut pesto, turkey bacon, tomatoes, greens and balasmic. I liked it. I didn't love it. I wish I got one with chicken, mozz and garlic butter, but next time I suppose. I think what got me was that the crepe was a little too sweet and the filling was a little too savory. I can only imagine the heavenly goodness of their sweet crepes. Oh my lanta. But, the place was charming; the options were plentiful. I was a happy camper.

Vanessa headed back to work and I had just one more afternoon to soak up the city I love so much. I drove around with my Dad and we reminisced about all the great things we saw, ate, and experienced. When can I move here, I thought.

Because it was our last night, this only meant one thing. We had one more meal to do it big. It was like our Last Supper. That important. And, if you've been keeping up with The Messie Kitchen, you saw how much I enjoyed Boston's North End, so this was the only logical choice.

We headed away from busy street entertainers by Quincy Market, and toward the small slice of Italy a few blocks away. It was early enough that we could sneak right into just about any restaurant.

My sister recommended Florentine Cafe, which was a classy looking restaurant with big windows overlooking the busy streets. I loved the setting. The food was a little pricey, but that's only because I'm a cheapo. And guess what? Daddy paid! Perks of living with your parents shining through! Unfortunately, I think what we ordered must not be regular menu items but I'll try to remember all the yummy ingredients. And I should warn you, my pictures do not do the food justice. It was delicious authentic Italian food and I loved every bite. 

Vanessa and I split a side salad with fresh mozzarella and cracked pepper. Fresh ingredients make an average salad great, in my opinion. That's it!
Oh please, you know we got more than that.

Dad ordered a Gnocci al Pomodoro. It was cute little potato dumplings with tomato basil sauce. I sopped up his last few bites with a piece of crusty bread. So good. 

Vanessa ordered a Pumpkin Ravioli in a Cream Sauce. Now, I associate pumpkin with fall, but it was paired with a sweeter filling which was tasty, especially with the sauce.

 

 It made me crave the cool breeze of autumn, and I hope I can make it back up to Boston that time of year-- it's my favorite.

I ordered something that I've never had before: Rigatoni D'Anatra, which translates to roasted duck. It was in a white wine sauce with cremini mushrooms and it was delectable. It was filling but not heavy, and I learned that I loved duck. It's like chicken but way more tender and flavorful, leading me to believe it's fattier. It was moist and went perfectly with the mushrooms. A definite "go" in my book. 

The combination of all three covered all my bases. It was a great dinner. Know what makes a great dinner better? Knowing that you're just a few steps away from some of the best bakeries around.

Now, Cooking with Coley has recommended Modern Pastry. Well Coley, I checked it out! And I am so glad I did. First of all, when you're in Mike's it is an all our elbow throwing battle to make your way to the counters. Modern... not so much. A nice line formed along the display cases filled with cheesecakes, cookies, canolis and cupcakes. 

It was tough to decide, but I used my eyes completelty. 

Vanessa choose a chocolate covered cheesecake and I went for  a chocolate mousse. 

Beautiful, no? If you taste with your eyes, these are for you. I must say I preferred the cheesecake, but I did love the creamy mousse filling of my sweet treat.

I do have a giant sweet tooth, but I could muster up only a few bites of each before I could have no more. It seems as if my hunger for New England cuisine and rich food has faded.


At this point, I could almost taste my high fiber maple and brown sugar oatmeal calling my name. And just when we were ready to head out... our flight got cancelled!


Another night in Boston! 


Well, not really. We managed to find another flight and it brought us home to good old Fairfax. Though it was nice to sleep in my bed and get back into my routine, I will miss the feeling of the streets in Boston, and the windy evenings of Maine.


One day, I will make it up there again. And this time, I will live there. I hope you enjoyed my trip up the east coast as much as I did.


Now, I'm laying down on my couch for the next week for so after my surgery. I cannot cook and I cannot bake. This means I need your posts! So keep them coming.


Ta-Ta!