Dessert - by Scarlett

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Biscuits - Dessert

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Biscottini Di Prato (Prato Cookies)

July 31st 2008 13:57

Biscottini Di Prato (Prato Cookies)

About Biscottini Di Prato

These crisp almond cookies come from Prato, a town on the outskirts of Florence. They are served with a glass of Vin Santo for dipping and sipping at the end of a hearty meal.

About Vin Santo

Vin Santo (holy wine) is an Italian dessert wine. This traditional Tuscan wine is made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, and is typically very sweet.
The grapes are hand picked and hung from the rafters of a well-ventilated room. Once dried, the grapes are pressed and the juice is poured into caratelli for fermentation. Caratelli are small cigar-shaped barrels. After the initial fermentation the caratelli are sealed and placed under the roof of the winery, sometimes as long as ten years. The wint developes a deep golden or amber colour, and a sweet, often nutty, taste.
Vin Santo is typically enjoyed as “cantucci e vin santo”, a glass of Vin Santo served with almond or hazelnut biscuits. These biscuits can be dipped in the Vin Santo to soften them and accentuate their flavour.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 6

2 cups sweet almonds, unpeeled
4 egg yolks
2¼ cups granulated sugar
4½ cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt

For the cookie sheet

butter, as needed
flour, as needed

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spread the almonds out in a shallow baking pan and roast for 4 – 5 minutes.

2. When cool enough to handle, skin and chop finely. Turn down the oven to 375 ºF.

3. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale and fluffy.

4. Stir in the flour, almonds and salt gradually, using a fork and then combining by hand.

5. Knead the mixture quickly but thoroughly on a floured work surface. Shape the dough into long cylinders about ½ inch in diameter.

6. Transfer to a buttered and floured cookie sheet.

7. Bake for 25 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and raise the temperature to 400ºF.

9. Slice the cylinders diagonally into pieces 1½ inches long, and return them to the oven for 10 minutes more, or until pale golden brown.

**From “The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**

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Anzac Biscuits

April 22nd 2008 13:47

Anzac Biscuits

About Anzac biscuits

Anzac Biscuits are a snack food most commonly made from the primary ingredients of rolled oats, coconut, and golden syrup.
Many myths surround the origin of the ANZAC Biscuits. It has been reported that these biscuits were made by Australian and New Zealand women for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers during World War I and were reputedly first called “Soldiers’ Biscuits” then renamed “ANZAC Biscuits” after the Gallipoli landing. The recipe was reportedly created teo ensure the biscuits would keep well during naval transportation to loved ones who were fighting overseas. However, those biscuits were shaped more like rock cakes and were made from entirely different ingredients.
Research carried out by Prqfessor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at Otago University in New Zealand, revealed that the first time the name “ANZAC” appeared in the name of the biscuit in a recipe book was in 1921, That occurred in the renaming of the “oatmeal biscuit” recipe to “ANZAC crispies”, in the ninth edition of the St Andrew’s Cookery Book. Subsequent editions renamed this to be “ANZAC Biscuits”.
Exactly the same recipe was included in contemporary recipe books as “rolled oats biscuits”, (and none of these recipes included coconut – not until 1927). The oatmeal or rolled oats biscuits were developed in the Scottish-influenced city of Dunedin as a variation of Scottish oat cakes.
Today, the ANZAC Biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale because of their military connection with the ANZACs and ANZAC Day. These biscuits are often used as a fundraising item for the RSA and the RSL veterans organizations. ANZAC Biscuits made using the traditional recipe are also carried by bush-bashers (bushwalkers) as a food of last resort; due to their tough constitution and good keeping properties enabling these biscuits to survive many days of rough travel.
The term ANZAC is protected under Australian law and therefore the word should not be used without permission from the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs; misuse can be legally enforced particularly for commercial purposes. There is a general exemption granted for ANZAC Bisxuits, as long as these biscuits remain basically true to the original recipe and are both referred to and sold as ANZAC Biscuits and never as cookies.
ANZAC Biscuits can still to this day be found in Australian CRIM military ration packs.
A British version of the ANZAC biscuit, supporting the Royal British Legion, is available in several major supermarket chains.

About Rolled oats

Rolled oats are oat groats that have been rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers. The oat, like some other cereals, has a hard, inedible outer hull that must be removed before the grain can be eaten. After the hulls have been removed from the bran-covered oat grains, the remaindere is called oat groats. Oat groats can be used as cereal, but since the bran layer makes the grains tough to chew and contains an enzyme that can cause the oats to go rancid, oat groats are usually steam-treated to soften them and denature the enzymes. It can be argued that this process removes the enzyme phytase which would otherwise serve to break down the high-phytate content of commercial oats which inhibits the absorption of iron by the human body. Steel-cut oats are oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces and retain bits of the bran layer.
Rolled oats that are sold as oatmeal usually, but not always, have had the tough bran removed. They have often been lightly baked or pressure-cooked. Thick-rolled oats are large whole flakes, and thin-rolled oats are smaller, fragmented flakes. Oat flakes that have simply had the bran removed can be cooked and eaten as “old-fashioned” oatmeal, but more highly fragmented rolled oats absorb water much more easily and therefore cook faster, so they are sometimes called “quick” or “instant” oatmeal. Oatmeal can be further processed into coarse powder, which, when cooked, becomes a thick broth. Finer oatmeal powder is often used as baby food. Rolled oats are also sometimes used in granola.
Oats are an excellent source of thiamine, iron, and dietary fibre. Fibre is helpful in reducing cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Oats are also the only source of antioxidant compounds known as avenanthramides; these are believed to have properties which help to protect the circulatory system from arteriosclerosis. Oat products also contain beta-glucan, which may help Type 2 diabetics control their blood sugar level, and might also help stimulate the immune system to fight off bacterial infections.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 25

100 gm / 3½ oz rolled oats
60 gm /2 oz desiccated coconut
175 gm / 6 oz plain all-purpose flour, sifted
125 gm / 4½ oz soft brown sugar
125 gm / 4½ oz butter
3 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1. Mix oats, coconut, flour and sugar in a large bowl.

2. Butter 2 baking trays and heat oven to 300ºF / 150ºC.

3. Heat butter, water and golden syrup in a saucepan, stirring, until butter melts.

4. Remove from heat and quickly stir in bicarbonate of soda until light and frothy.

5. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing quickly and thoroughly.

6. Roll mixture into balls the size of walnuts and place on trays, allowing room for spreading.

7. Press down gently with a spatula, and bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden and still slightly soft.

8. Remove trays from oven and leave biscuits to cool on the trays for 10 minutes.

9. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely until crisp on the outside, but still a little chewy inside.

10. Store in an airtight jar as soon as biscuits have cooled.

**From “Favourite Food by Jill Dupleix” ** and ““Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**

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