Episode 23: Florence, Tuscany Continued Part 5 - Padova to Paris Journey and the Art of Tuscan Biscotti/Cantucci Making
Welcome to Episode #23.......
I begin with a light serenade to December 2020 sitting out in the morning sun and then share the fifth installment of The Family Trip....
Wandering the streets of Florence from the Duomo to Piazza San Marco, a favourite walking tour
Part 2 Florence, Tuscany....Firenze and the little adventure continues.
The magic of Florence on a winters day inspires a reflective share on the ups and downs of travel, and realising that one must book a ticket to The Duomo even on a cold winters day (it needs to be booked two days in advance we discovered) but we made some hay while the sun began to shine and took a bus up to Fiesole. We had a delightful lunch and savoured the views of the Tuscan Villas and the ancient olives on the terraced hillside. Fiesole dates back the Etruscans, you can find a the Church of Saint Francis, an Etruscan Museum (with an Egyptian Mummy too!) and Roman ruins up on the hill to see if in that kind of mood. A nice little side trip you can make from the Piazza of San Marco (the bus is across the street from the convent of San Domenica) .
Piazza Mino Fiesole, Toscana
We spent the afternoon admiring the beauty of the Arno River, enjoying gelato and wandering the streets of the Florentine neighbourhoods around San Niccolo, a wonderful area in the Centro Storico of Firenze and certainly the heritage of this area was exciting visually for the curious traveler. There are lots of restaurants and cool vibe cafes to see. The wonderful Giardino Bardini is nearby and has lovely hill top views of the city. Next time I see the Boboli Gardens!!!
Shownotes:
My Italian Heart: Recipes from an Italian Kitchen by Guy Grossi
Cucina Povera: Tuscan Peasant Cooking by Pamela Sheldon Johns
Recommended Reading List...
My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prudhomme (Great on Audio)
Provence 1970: MFK Fisher, Julia Child,James Beard and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr (Great on Audio)
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertolle
Images and Shadows: Part of a Life by Iris Origo
Tea With Mussolini (film 1999) directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Across from the Gelateria, perfect scene, winter light / Michelle Johnston
Twice Cooked -
It make sound crazy but I take making biscotti very seriously. Getting it right has taken me a number of years and feel I have it down to a fine art. This makes a wonderful gift or a great little side biscuit for an afternoon tea, or just a great way to enhance coffee time in the morning (my personal favourite.........)
The original recipe came from Guy Grossi but I have tinkered with this as I like lots more almonds etc and slightly less sugar as I really feel we over sugar our treats, most recipes I halve.
Biscotti means twice cooked in blessed Italiano......Biscotti is a Tuscan biscuit that tend to be dunked in Vin Santo or after dinner drinks that the town of Prato in Tuscany is renown for or so I have read. I will visit there one day just to taste test their biscotti!!
*Set oven temperature to 160 degrees
Ingredients for Biscotti:
1 & 1/2 cup of almonds (can mix with other nut favourites, see below)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of bi-carb soda
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract (does taste better with it but don't over do it)
2 cups of unbleached flour/white plain flour (add extra if seems to wet)
1/2 cup of sultanas (or what ever added ingredient you would prefer, if an xmas treat use glazed cherries up to 3/4 cup chopped)
bake paper or grease your baking tray
*(Alternate fig, hazelnuts, lemon zest, apricot your choice) bake paper and extra plain flour for bench top
Perfect mid morning coffee break
Method:
*Bake your almonds/mixed nuts on bake paper and tray for 7 minutes (you can omit this if you have roasted almonds instead)
*When done it is an option to chop them up with a knife or if you are lazy like me I just leave them until they are ready for other ingredients....
*Change oven to 180 degrees or 170 degrees if fan forced
*Get a decent sized mixing bowl
*Beat with a mixer the eggs, vanilla, sugar, almond extract and baking powder, mix until nice and frothy.
*Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon until mixed through, then add almonds and sultanas. The mixture should be heavy and hard to mix if a bit too wet add a few teaspoons of flour until a good balance, this will depend on the quality of the flour.
*Sprinkle a decent coating of flour on the bench and grab a third of the mixture and roll out into a log. I like to sprinkle flour all over the log, it just makes the whole process less sticky and finishes the log. Flatten the log until its about 1cm high and 4cm wide and put on the bake tray. Repeat with other two logs, you may need two trays or just wait until after the first bake. You can have them sitting there on bake paper until you are ready to bake next.
I like to bake each log for 15 minutes and then turn over for another 5 minutes. You can have two logs in at once if you have a good sized tray.
The original recipe with glazed cherries, always a hit at Christmas and generally anticipated off the family and the neighbours..
*Once completed take out of the oven the first tray and add the second. Quickly put the log onto a bread board and cut with a sharp thin knife into slices. **This part is key, it will be very hot but please persist, if you wait for the log to get cooler it is much harder to cut and usually ends up crumbly.
Guy Grossi did not mention this I had to learn the hard way (I just find it easier when the log is still hot, rather than cold) It took me some time to learn this trick so I am happy to pass it on. You can hold them with a tea-towel if too hot.
*Once the logs are done and sliced place the cut up biscotti back on to the bake paper facing down and bake for 8 minutes at 150 degrees, and then turn over and bake again for 8 minutes so each side is done and then let cool on a wire rack. Presto, you are done.
More Options for blessed biscotti....
You can also add lemon zest, choc chips instead of sultanas, figs or apricots, there are many options, I have tried them all. I prefer my biscotti to be less sweet. Obviously you can swap the nuts for hazelnut and a mixture of walnut and almond or my personal favourite almond and hazelnut. Again I have tried them all, but almonds are the best. At christmas time you can add glazed cherries for a wonderful festive biscotti, these are a dream and always a hit (you can can thank Guy for this tip the original recipe is with glazed cherries).......
Lastly, this is one of those processes that is nice to do when you are in the kitchen and or in the house doing odd jobs, it seems a bit fussy but as long as you have a spare hour or two to play it is worth the effort.
“Italy, like the olive tree, is ever-green”