If there is one recipe that I have made a zillion times and still not tired, it would be this Italian Almond Nut Biscotti. It was my number one selling item during my home catering business days. This recipe is very very special to me. I adapted this recipe from my very old autographed cook book, Dessert Circus by Jacques Torres . Jacques Torres in his book mentions that he learnt this recipe when he worked for Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque. He learnt it in Italy in a small town called Montecatini. Traditionally, the Italians bake biscotti two times to produce a hard cookie that they like to dip in sweet wine. This recipe has been adapted so the cookies are not quite hard and are great by themselves or to be dunked in coffee. I have made kilos and kilos of this biscotti for my clients. Just try it once and you will be hooked. This recipe is in grams. I like to weigh my ingredients for baking as its more accurate and gives consistent results every single time.
Here is how to do it. We will be using toasted nuts for the recipe. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Spread the almonds and pistachios evenly on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Toast for about 30 minutes, until they are golden brown. You will be able to smell the nuts when they are ready. A good test is to break a nut in half and check to see if it is light brown on the inside. Toasting the nuts brings out their natural flavor. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet on a wire rack.
Place the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, about 5 minutes; the mixture will hold together in a soft dough.
Chop the toasted nuts coarsely. Add the cooled, chopped toasted nuts and mix until they are evenly incorporated, about 1 minute. If you are using a hand-held mixer, you may want to knead in the nuts by hand to avoid burning out the motor of the mixer.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place on a plastic cling wrap surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Wet your hands and roughly roll each piece into a log with your hands.
Cover the dough with cling wrap and nicely roll the dough. Use the palms of your hands to roll to create an even log that measures about 12 inches – 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Each rope should be even and fit on your baking sheet lengthwise. Roll firmly to remove any trapped air bubbles.
Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of one hour up to overnight. I always refrigerate the dough overnight. I feel the flavor improves tremendously.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Place the biscotti ropes on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet.
Use ONLY a serrated knife to slice the biscotti on a diagonal into 1/2-inch thick cookies. If you do this while the biscotti are still warm, they will not crumble. The biscotti will harden as they cool. Place the slices on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F (150°C) for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three weeks.
- 100 grams Whole Almonds
- 50 grams Whole pistachios
- 100 grams Cold unsalted butter
- 150 grams Granulated sugar
- 250 grams All-purpose flour (Maida)
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 large eggs
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Spread the almonds and pistachios evenly on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Toast for about 30 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet on a wire rack.
- Place the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, about 5 minutes; the mixture will hold together in a soft dough.
- Chop the toasted nuts coarsely. Add the cooled, chopped toasted nuts and mix until they are evenly incorporated, about 1 minute. If you are using a hand-held mixer, you may want to knead in the nuts by hand to avoid burning out the motor of the mixer.
- Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place on a plastic cling wrap surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Wet your hands and roughly roll each piece into a log with your hands.
- Cover the dough with cling wrap and nicely roll the dough. Use the palms of your hands to roll to create an even log that measures about 12 inches – 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
- Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of one hour up to over night.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Place the biscotti ropes on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the biscotti on a diagonal into 1/2-inch thick cookies. If you do this while the biscotti are still warm, they will not crumble. The biscotti will harden as they cool. Place the slices on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F (150°C) for another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three weeks.
Notes
You can add 1/4 teaspoon anise seeds if you like the flavor of Anise.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 90 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Snacks, Sweets
- Cuisine: Italian
- 100 grams Whole Almonds
- 50 grams Whole pistachios
- 100 grams Cold unsalted butter
- 150 grams Granulated sugar
- 250 grams All-purpose flour (Maida)
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 large eggs
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Spread the almonds and pistachios evenly on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Toast for about 30 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet on a wire rack.
- Place the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, about 5 minutes; the mixture will hold together in a soft dough.
- Chop the toasted nuts coarsely. Add the cooled, chopped toasted nuts and mix until they are evenly incorporated, about 1 minute. If you are using a hand-held mixer, you may want to knead in the nuts by hand to avoid burning out the motor of the mixer.
- Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place on a plastic cling wrap surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Wet your hands and roughly roll each piece into a log with your hands.
- Cover the dough with cling wrap and nicely roll the dough. Use the palms of your hands to roll to create an even log that measures about 12 inches – 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
- Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of one hour up to over night.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Place the biscotti ropes on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the biscotti on a diagonal into 1/2-inch thick cookies. If you do this while the biscotti are still warm, they will not crumble. The biscotti will harden as they cool. Place the slices on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F (150°C) for another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three weeks.
Notes
You can add 1/4 teaspoon anise seeds if you like the flavor of Anise.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 90 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Snacks, Sweets
- Cuisine: Italian
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/biscotti-recipe-easy-almond-biscotti/
This recipe is from my friend Aparna. Appu is my batch mate from my post graduation days. She used to bring big bottles of Prawn Pickle every time she came to hostel after vacation. That was the first time I tasted Prawn Pickle. We all would devour on her bottle and it will be over very soon. Our senior Pramod would come to see Aparna at the hostel. He always brought flowers when he came to see her. The room would have some flowers all the time. I have this memory of Pramod bringing his pens, pencils and a ruler nicely packed in an empty Pringles box for semester exams. Pringles was not readily available those days at shops in India. It had to come from the middle east or USA when someone visited you. I used to save my empty Pringles boxes like a treasure and used it to store stationery. I was surprised to see another person doing the same thing just like me. Appu and Pramod are now married with two children. Wonderful memories. OK. Back to the pickle. This recipe is a flavor bomb. Here is how to do Kerala style Prawn Pickle.
Clean, Peel and de-vein the prawns. We use small prawns for this recipe. Add in the salt and turmeric and mix well. Set it on a strainer for the excess water in the prawns to drain. Let it marinate for 30 minutes.
Heat quarter cup of oil in a pan and add in the prawns and the red chilli powder. Fry on low flame for 5 minutes until cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
The ginger and garlic are 50% of the weight of the prawns in this pickle. I have used 250 grams of small prawns today. I used 60 grams each of garlic and ginger. Run the garlic and ginger in a small mixie jar without adding any water to coarsely crush them. Do not make it into a paste. Just coarsely grind. Set aside. Add the remaining oil in the pan and add in the ginger and garlic mixture.
Saute for two minutes. Add in the chopped green chillies and continue to saute until the garlic and the ginger are nicely roasted. About 5 minutes on medium flame.
Add in the masala powders and the salt and fry for a minute.
Add in the prawns, vinegar and quarter cup of water. Do not add all of the vinegar at once. First add the 1/4 cup of vinegar and taste it. Add more if you think you might need more. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, the mixture would become slightly dry and the oil would start to float on top completely. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool for an hour.
Transfer the mixture to a ceramic or a glass jar. Use only a glass or a ceramic jar for making this recipe. Metals and plastic containers tend to react to the pickle and hence using them is not recommended.
I refrigerate my pickle. You can store it refrigerated for upto a month.
For Marinating and Cooking Prawns
- 250 grams small prawns (w eight after cleaning)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon red chilli powder
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
For the Pickle
- 60 grams ginger
- 60 grams garlic (weighed after peeling)
- 20 green chillies, chopped
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup vinegar
Masala Powders
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon red chilli powder
- 2 tablespoon black pepper powder
- 2 teaspoon turmeric
- Clean, Peel and de-vein the prawns. Add in the salt and turmeric and mix well. Set it on a strainer for the excess water in the prawns to drain. Let it marinate for 30 minutes.
- Heat quarter cup of oil in a pan and add in the prawns and the red chilli powder. Fry on low flame for 5 minutes until cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the remaining quarter cup of oil in the pan and add in the crushed ginger and garlic mixture. Saute for two minutes. Add in the chopped green chillies and continue to saute until the garlic and the ginger are nicely roasted. About 5 minutes on medium flame.
- Add in the masala powders and the salt and fry for a minute.
- Add in the prawns, vinegar and quarter cup of water. Do not add all of the vinegar at once. First add the 1/4 cup of vinegar and taste it. Add more if you think you might need more. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, the mixture would become slightly dry and the oil would start to float on top completely. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool for an hour.
- Transfer the mixture to a ceramic or a glass jar. You can store it refrigerated for upto a month.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Pickle
- Cuisine: South Indian, Kerala
