Gluten Free Biscotti

This is the chronicle of my first foray into gluten free baking. 

The finished product.  Anyone have a cup of coffee I can have?

My cooking gal pal from last summer is back!  We got a later start this summer (she's quite the jet-setter with a busy schedule), but at least we got started.  She has discovered that she is gluten intolerant and wanted to experiment with some gluten free flour.  We wanted to start out with something simple so she chose biscotti.  We had lots of success with biscotti last summer and since it doesn't have the typical bread/chewy texture we figured it would be more forgiving. 



Doing some gluten-free baking research.

Basically, we followed this recipe for Lemon Poppyseed Biscotti and just swapped gluten free flour for regular AP flour.  We had both tried (unsuccessfully) to find xanthan gum at HEB and ended up just deciding to leave it out and hope for the best.  Halfway through the batter making process (prior to adding the lemon extract and lemon zest) we split the batter in half and made half of them orange, cranberry and almond flavor instead.



Oops!  After the 1st round of baking the two ran into each other. 

Although the batter was a little more wet than normal and we had to increase the 2nd baking time by 5 minutes, the final product ended up very similar to biscotti made with AP flour.  The verdict: A great substitute for those who are gluten intolerant.  Texturally, you can't tell the difference.  The Hubs thinks they're great.  But I'm not going to lie, in my opinion they have a slightly "off" aftertaste.  I think I'll be attempting the recipe again later week, but with AP flour.

Hotel Aranjuez

What would your life be like if you could start every day with a breakfast like this?

...In a setting like this?

...With people like this?

Life would be very nice.

The only way it could be any nicer is if my kitchen had tile like this:

Yes, I seriously love this tile.  I know most people probably hate it and think it's hideous but I adore it and would give my eye teeth to get it put in my kitchen.

Meat and Potatoes

One of my favorite hearty cold-weather dishes is Shepherd's Pie.  I think last winter was the first time I even tried it and all summer I longed for the cooler weather just so we could have it for dinner again.  I love the rich gravy and the luscious layer of potatoes on top, especially when they get a quick blast from the broiler. 

Perfect for a rainy evening.

Maybe another reason I absolutely love it is because the flavors and the richness remind me of the pasties a friend and I enjoyed in a cozy little joint called The West Cornwall Pasty Company.  We (the girls) took the day to shop at Harrod's and the boutiques around Covent Garden while our husbands toured Stonehenge.  A wise decision considering it ended up sleeting and snowing that day. 

It was so cold and windy on the Thames!
The Hubs doing his job as trip photographer.

That was such a fun trip!  And so was our trip to Mexico the following March, in fact, none of us wanted to come home. 

We were going for the 'sun-kissed' look that week.
One of the most relaxing trips ever!

After taking a year off in 2010 we are on the move again with a trip planned to Costa Rica this spring break.  Booked the tickets last night and the countdown has begun!

Where does the time go?

I love New Year's Eve.  It represents the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.  It's the promise of a fresh start, a new beginning.  2010 was a year of high highs and low lows, both personally and professionally.  While I so enjoyed the bright spots in the year and will treasure those moments, I am ready to move on.  My last post made me really think about taking time to enjoy the little things in life that bring me pleasure, so I decided to make that my New Year's Resolution for 2011.
   

A gift from our guests, a champagne-like beer.  Delicious!

Two of the things that bring me pleasure are good food and time spent with dear friends, so that's how we began 2011.  I also really like pretty things, so using our china and crystal was a must!  (I think I have only used it two other times since we got married back in 2005.)  This dinner was going to serve as a "Last Supper" of sorts before we began our attempt to shed some of our winter weight, so it needed to be decadent.  The Hubs was kind enough to chronicle the evening through the eye of his lens for me. 


Beautiful dishes, glasses and cutlery always make food taste better



Why we do what we do...

Yesterday the Hubs let me tag along on an "Old School" reunion he had with 2 of his former students.  He had these students their freshmen year (his first year of teaching) and then again their senior year (his last year at that school).  This group has always had a special place in his heart and he has kept in contact with quite a few of them over the years.  (In fact, one of them is now a teacher at our school!)  This is an incredibly talented bunch.  Many of them have successfully pursued professions in the art world.  More about them in a minute...


 Since we were heading in to town to meet them later in the afternoon for coffee we decided to make a day of it and visist Niko Niko's for lunch.  Yum.  We ate out on the patio and had a really nice time.  Tried to visit the CAMH after lunch, but since it was Monday it (along with the MFAH) was closed.  Good thing the Cullen Sculpture Garden is (almost) always open!  The weather was perfect for just walking around, being silly and getting a stern warning from the 80+ yr old 'security' guard while killing an hour. 

Shopping, Cooking and Eating Local

A few weeks ago my friend K and I took a cooking class at Sur La Table.  The title of the class was "Eating Local: Casual Summertime Dinner", based on the book Eating Local by Janet Fletcher. 

It ended up being a tiny class with only 4 four students, so we got a lot of hands-on opportunities.  Carlos was our instructor for the day and did a great job. 

He is very passionate and knowledgable about eating local foods grown in sustainable ways.  We had tons of questions and he patiently answered each and every one. 

The menu for the day included a Yellow Tomato Gazpacho,

Grilled Country Pork Chops with Bourbon Basted Grilled Peaches,

and a Summer Squash Carpaccio with Arugula, Pecorino and Almonds.
 

 
I ended up eating all of this, plus a little more of the salad. 
 

To say the meal was delicious would be an understatement. 

For dessert it was a Cornmeal Shortcake with Farm Stand Berries - which I did not get pictures of because I was too busy stuffing my face.  Ooops. 

Because of this class (and Carlos' passion) we dragged brought our husbands along with us to the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market at Eastside yesterday.  Although it was a little warm outside, the trip was well worth it! 

R just a new camera this week (Canon 5D Mark II) and was itching to play with it.  This market provided the perfect opportunity.  Check out his handywork below...

M and S: Rockin' the Baby Bjorn

She loved that Mint Limeade! 

So many to choose from and they all look good.

The passion each of the farmers/vendors had for the food they were bringing to market was amazing. All of the food was beautiful and quite tasty.

We ended up purchasing some tomatoes, cucumbers (to pickle this week), a watermelon, aged goat cheese, cured pork belly, andouille sausage, free-range chicken tenders and a dozen free-range brown eggs.

The egg, bacon and cheese sandwiches we had for dinner last night were phenomenal.  It's going to be a great week!

Peachy Keen

(The Hubs so kindly agreed to professionally document our session this morning.  All photos in this post are his work.  I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due.) 

Meet my friend Shannon.  She's the girl on the right.  That's me on the left.  No, we weren't mad at each other, we were simply "divinding and conquering".

No, we weren't mad at each other, we were simply "dividing and conquering".

Shannon really likes to cook too.  That makes it really easy to be friends with her.  Well, that and the fact that she is one of the kindest (and funniest) people I know.  This girl has a heart of gold. 

The last 2 Wednesdays we have gotten together to cook and it's been a blast!  Last week was biscotti, homemade nutella and nutella panna cotta.  So basically, chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. 

This week Shannon wisely suggested we be a little healthier and chose this fabulous menu:

Peach and Brie Quesadillas  

Served with Grilled Peaches over Arugula with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto.

(For dessert I picked another recipe from Real Simple - Irene's Peach Surprise...but more about that tomorrow.)

Anyone picking up on a theme here? 

Since we really didn't vary from the way each of the recipes were written, I won't worry with typing in detail about steps and procedures.  Instead, I will let the Hubs' pictures explain it all.  Enjoy!

The Prep Work:

Of course there were peaches to deal with.  Lots of peaches.

There were also ingredients other than peaches to prep -

Chives

Brie

Limes and Eggs

And sauces / dressings to make -

Honey Balsamic Syrup

Honey Lime Dipping Sauce

Cooking and Assembling:

Quesadillas first -

Now for the salad -

 

(a sprinkle of crispy prosciutto)

(a drizzle of honey balsamic syrup)

I'm not sure if there was more laughing or cooking going on -

Lunch is Served:

My favorite Taste-Testing Neighbor joined us for lunch.  (She is a professional taster, you know.) 

Both dishes paired nicely with the Riesling I had chilling in the fridge.  The recipe also said a Chenin Blanc would work well. 

All 3 of us agreed there was not a thing we would change about the salad.  To say it was delicious would be an understatement.  A definite keeper. 

We also all agreed that while the quesadillas were good, they fell a bit flat in the flavor department.  Even with the dipping sauce (which was very good) they still lacked pizazz.  Georgia suggested adding cinnamon to the peaches mix and Shannon suggested cilantro.  Either (but not both at the same time!) would make a delightful addition.

Coming tomorrw: Dessert re-cap and why we re-named it Baked Georgia.

Baking Biscotti

While making peanut butter cheesecake brownies last week I stumbled upon a recipe (on the same blog) for Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti. 

I love a good biscotti in the morning with my coffee.  It incorporates easily in to my morning newspaper-reading routine.  What I hate however, is paying through the nose for pre-packaged biscotti that has an 'industrial' flavor.  In the past I have been hesitant to try to make my own biscotti at home because surely, anything that tastes that good with that kind of delicate texture has to be difficult to make.  WRONG.

This recipe could not be more simple (or delicious).  Over the past 4 days I have made it 3 times. 

Yes, THREE. 

The first attempt was at home, by myself and I followed the recipe exactly.  The 'bang for the buck' factor was off the charts!   I took some to my neighbors down the street and another friend as well.  I got good reviews from all of them and from R. 

Well, that's not entirely true.  Initially the review from R was less than stellar.  I think his comments were something along the line of "the flavor is good, but these are really dry".  I kindly informed him that biscotti is meant to be dunked.  So after trying them with a tall glass of cold milk, he was singing a different tune. 

Attempt #2 was at my mom's house yesterday.  I helped her make some granola bars and then we attacked the biscotti.  She likes to try making new things, but I think she can be overwhelmed by them sometimes, so I like to step in and help.  And I just love spending time with my momma!

Here is a quick run-down of the process:

After pre-heating the oven to 350 F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper, cream 6 T of softened butter with 1 cup of sugar for about 2 minutes, then add in 2 eggs.  Combine thoroughly.  It should look something like this:

Next add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 t of salt and 1 t of baking soda.  Mix on low until just combined.  The dough is incredibly thick.  **This is where my mom and I switched things up and added in 2 Starbucks VIA packets to achieve a mocha flavor**

Finally, gently add in 1 cup of peanut butter chips and 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips by pulsing the mixer a couple of times. 

Divide the dough in half and make two 12"x 2" logs on the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar (this is optional) and then bake the logs for 35 minutes.

After 35 minutes, pull the pan out of the oven and let the logs cool 3 minutes.  Transfer them to a cutting board and cut each log in to 1/2 inch slices. 

Places the slices back on the baking sheet, sliced side down.  Bake for another 8 - 10 minutes.  Cool thoroughly on a wire cooling rack. 

We called our version Mocha Peanut Butter Biscotti. 

Attempt 3 was at my house this morning with a sweet friend, Shannon.  I had given her some of the biscotti from attempt #1 and she wanted to learn to make them for herself. We had an absolute blast and even got a little creative.

In addition to making the Mocha Peanut Butter version, we also made a Mocha White Chocolate version by swapping white chocolate chips out for the peanut butter chips.  So good.

Finally, we made our own Homemade Nutella by following this recipe, which we promptly used to make more Nutella Panna Cotta. 

One of our Best. Neighbors. Ever came down to taste test a little later on.  She approved... and took a few more home for later. 

While I have certainly enjoyed eating the biscotti, I think my favorite thing about it is how it has provided me with so many opportunities to spend time with people that are special to me over the last few days.