Friday, September 30, 2011

Dried cherry walnut biscotti


This recipe is adapted (& tweaked) from the May issue of Bon Appetit magazine:


Ingredients

  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. lemon zest
  • 1 vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. almond extract
  • 1 cup dried cherries (I use Montmorency dried cherries, avail. @Trader Joe's)
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or shelled, chopped pistachios

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Fold in cherries and nuts.

  • Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; divide in 4 sections. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 8-10"-long log. Brush off excess flour; transfer logs to prepared sheet, spaced 5" apart. Flatten each log into a 2"-wide strip (these will spread/flatten out so don't flatten them TOO much). Have oven racks set (top 1/3 and bottom 1/3) and place one baking pan on each rack. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until lightly golden and set, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool for 15 minutes.

  • Line 2 more baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer biscotti to a work surface. Using a sharp knife, cut each strip diagonally into 1/2 - 2/3"-thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on baking sheets.
  • Bake biscotti, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until crisp, about 12-15 minutes (or longer, depending on how dark you like them). Transfer baking sheets to racks; let cool. Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Lasagne 'cupcakes'



Daina showed me a recipe for lasagne cupcakes, so I altered it a bit and made my own version. To make them, you'll need 1-2 dozen wonton (or gyoza) wrappers, ricotta filling, parmesan & shredded mozzarella cheese and your favorite pasta sauce.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees (a little lower if you're using dark-nonstick cupcake pans) & spray cupcake pans with nonstick spray. Trim the wrappers (cut to make them round) to fit into the cupcake pan, making sure the wrapper comes up to the top (and then some) & pat down firmly on the bottom & sides of each section.

Spoon a heaping teasp. of sauce onto the bottom of each wrapper. Place a heaping tblsp. or two of ricotta filling (one lb. ricotta, a beaten egg, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese) onto the sauce. Spoon a little more sauce on top of the ricotta filling, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and top liberally with shredded mozzarella. Bake these little lasagna bites for 20-30 minutes, until the tops are golden. They're quick & easy to make and are tasty & fun appetizers!!