Amaretto Almond Biscotti

It's real talk story telling truth time and I have an embarrassing confession to make… I'm not quite what you would call a "sweets" person. Which is weird because one of my all-time favorite activities is baking (one could only assume after perusing around on my blog for even just a minute). Nothing melts away stress or puts a smile on my face faster than being elbow-deep in dough and listening to the whirling of my stand mixer whipping together fat and sugar.

It still doesn't mean I would pick it over a crusty loaf of bread with some goat cheese. Or peanut butter. Or figs. Or really, really, dark chocolate. Or… I've better stop myself now. Just know that the way to win me over is with bread and spicy curry. Not a candy bar.

But if you brought me some biscotti? Game over. I'm done, all yours for the taking. Biscotti is my biggest weakness - it's a crispy crunchy not-really-sweet dessert breakfast item. I love brunch. I love crunch. Put those two together and you got biscotti. My kryptonite. 

As I lean towards indecisiveness, I presented "A" with two options earlier this week: biscotti or cookies. This post kinda hints at what he chose. To keep my ravenous self at bay, I sent him off to work with a good sized Tupperware filled to the brim and told him to share. I hope he's at least getting popular...

If you want to be the coolest chap at the office, I recommend you make some too! Or just give them to me and I'll do your (evil) bidding.

Amaretto Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almonds
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon amaretto or 2 tablespoon rum with 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa nibs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the almonds in an even layer over a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until toasted, carefully stirring once halfway through to prevent burning. Let cool for 10 minutes.
3. In the bowl of your food processor, combine 1/2 cup toasted almonds, 1 tbs sugar and pulse until finely ground. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse three times to mix.
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, vanilla, amaretto and remaining sugar on high until fluffy and thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Fold in the whole almonds and cocoa nibs.
5. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
6. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Wet your hands with water, divide the dough in half and form into two loaves, about 2″ by 10″ (the dough will be thick and sticky). Smooth the tops to create a flat surface and bake for 40 minutes, until golden.
7. Remove the loaves from the oven. Using a bread knife or a very sharp chefs knife, diagionally slice the loaves into 1/2″ cookies and bake for another 20 minutes, flipping cooking halfway through, until crispy.
8. Cool the cookies completely before stacking or storing. To retain crispness, put the cookies in an airtight container as soon as they are completely cool. Biscotti may be stored airtight for several weeks.

Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Almonds & Chickpeas

Toto, I don't think we're on the West Coast anymore! Move a bit to the east, a bit more… yep, right there in Wisconsin! That's right folks, "A" and I landed in America's Dairyland a little over 2 weeks ago and have been attempting to set up our apartment ever since.

I could go on and on about the trials and tribulations of moving, but I'll save your eyes. I assume most of you have moved at least once and know how it goes. Live on the third floor of an older house, discover you have a slight bat problem for the first week and live out of boxes for an unreasonable amount of time. You know, that ol' schtick. Since we moved our boxes in last week, we have managed to set up a bed, I finally put away my clothes and the kitchen. Oh the kitchen. It was the first thing we focused on and currently the only room worth cleaning. While we're still working out some storage issues, I am proud to announce that after being kitchenless for almost a month, I am back in business.

I don't know if I've ever told you why I moved to Madison in the first place. I decided to be a bit cliche and move with my boyfriend for his job. Yes, there were a lot of tears at first. Yes, I miss Seattle every day and probably will for a while. But you know what? Madison is a pretty great town. The area we live in reminds me of SE Portland and people here really care about their food. I recently was offered, and accepted, an exciting job that I think will bring me down a perfect career path. To top all this off, I get to see the guy I love every day.

To celebrate "A's" second week of work, I got down in the kitchen for the first time. Getting into a cooking project before you know how accurate your oven temp is or how the burners work is an experience. Definitely wouldn't recommend something fancy and French. Yet as we are all classy people here, it still needs to have a touch of elegance. Enter the tagine. Starts on the stovetop, ends in the oven, low n' slow throughout.

As we don't have a ton of counter space, I couldn't recommend prep bowls more. While no recipe demands them, I always think it makes whatever I make turn out better. Instead on frantically fussing around with prepping the next add-in, I can focus on how my food is cooking. You may already know this, but until last year (GASP!) when my mom bought me some prep bowls, I woefully was in the dark.

Now that the world turned up the heat in the Midwest (again), I would recommend making this in the fall as the stovetop and oven need to be on for quite some time. But when you decide to make it, know you'll be walking into a Moroccan, apricoty, fall-of-the-bone-chicken goodness!

Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Almonds & Chickpeas

Serves 6 to 8

Adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 3 pounds chicken legs and thighs (about 4 each)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup dried couscous
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 2 cups (1 15-oz can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, optional, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°.
2. Warm one tablespoon of oil in a large Dutch oven (at least 5 1/2-quarts) or tagine over medium-high heat until the oil flows easily and you can see it shimmering. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and place as many as will fit into the pan without crowding (I had to do two batches of chicken).
3. Sear for 5 to 8 minutes, flipping once, until both sides are golden brown. Remove to a clean plate and continue searing the rest of the chicken pieces. If necessary, add more oil to keep a thin film on the bottom of the pan. If the oil starts smoking, turn down the heat.
4. Pour off all but a teaspoon of oil and return the pan to medium heat. Sauté the onions and carrots with a half teaspoon of salt until softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle the ginger and spices over top and cook until fragrant, another minute.
5. Stir the chicken stock and apricots into the pan, scraping up any seared bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan. Nestle the chicken pieces into the pan; try to fit them in a single layer, but it's ok if some pieces overlap.
6. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and transfer the covered cooking pot to a 300° oven. The tagine is ready when the chicken registers 165° on an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and when its juices run clear. This should take approximately 90 minutes.
7. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the couscous and set aside.
8. Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean plate and tent with foil. Add the honey, almonds, and chickpeas to the pan with the apricots and onions, and cook at medium-high on the stovetop. Bring the stew to a rapid simmer and cook until it has thickened slightly. Taste the sauce and add salt if necessary.
9. To serve, spread the cooked couscous on a serving platter and arrange the chicken pieces on top. Ladle the stew over top, making sure the chicken pieces each get a good coating. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
10. Leftover chicken tagine will keep refrigerated for up to a week.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

I don't know about you, but I was pretty excited when the Packers won the Superbowl last night.  I mean, I guess I didn't really have a preference because the Seahawks didn't make it and the Lions will never make it, I just liked the Packers more than the Steelers.  However, now I am bedridden with some iconic form of the flu and thought "well, if I can't get out of bed, I might as well publish a blog post."  Ta da!

I've actually been doing a lot of cooking and baking recently, so be looking forward to some new recipes.  Right now I am uploading and editing photos from my camera and I forgot exactly how much food I made!  Quinoa salad, brownies, macarons… and the Superbowl food.  Oh dear, the Superbowl food.  As can be expected, I willingly volunteered to cook for the big game and did not take my task lightly.  I had been cooking since last Tuesday (making ahead as much as I could & freezing) and woke up early on Sunday (8am) to finish everything in time.

Now I feel like I'm leaving you all hanging by not posting a recipe from the Superbowl!  Alas, these cinnamon almonds are just as delicious and (hopefully) a little healthier.  When my roommate came home from Christmas break, she had a big bag of the cinnamon roasted almond you find at fairs, outside of Uwajimaya and the like.  I wanted what I couldn't have and instantly started craving almonds.  As luck would have it, I had a pound of almonds in the back of my pantry and about 3 jars of cinnamon - I was prepared.  When cooking these, make sure to stir the almonds regularly.  I found that it gives them the "crunch" that you find with more mass produced cinnamon almonds.

Maple Cinnamon Walnuts & Roasted Cinnamon Almonds

These were actually made for, and eaten on, Christmas Eve... well, the one's that were left anyways.  After they were all cool, I put the nuts in a tupperware and stuffed them in a corner in the kitchen.  However, throughout the day, whenever anyone in my family walked past them... we just had to grab a handful.  By the time we were settling down to have pre-dinner snacks and trying to find our copy of It's a Wonderful Life, there was only one small bowl left.  Regardless, they were delicious and easy to make!  If you have these ingredients on hand, whip up a batch and set them out at your New Year's Eve party tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

Cinnamon Maple Pecans

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pecan halves 
• 1⁄4 cup real maple syrup 
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 2 dashes salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Spread pecans out on a baking sheet. Place the pecans in the oven and toast for 8–10 minutes, or until fragrant.
2. Remove pecans from oven and set aside to cool. In a small saucepan combine the maple syrup, vanilla, butter, cinnamon and salt. Stir until combined and butter is melted.
3. Add pecans to a medium sized bowl. Drizzle with maple syrup mixture and toss to combine. Spray a baking sheet with spray oil, such as PAM. Spread pecans on greased baking sheet. Return to oven and roast at 300°F for 20–25 minutes.
4. Spread parchment paper on a cookie cooling rack or counter. Place nuts on top of the parchment, spread- ing so they don’t stick to each other while they cool. When cool, package as you’d like.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• 2 cups whole almonds
• 3 T white sugar
• 3 T brown sugar
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Beat the egg white and water until frothy with a whisk in a medium bowl. Add the almonds, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugars, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. Stir the nuts until they are well coated.  Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.
2. Roast the almonds for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so. Your house will smell amazing!
3. When cool, package as you’d like.

Russian Snowballs

Last night I went over to the boy's of 505 house and made THREE different types of christmas cookies.  These russian snowballs are easy to make (very few ingredients) but it was really beneficial to have a food processor to finely chop up the almonds - I can't even image doing that by hand....  These cookies have a nice little "crunch" on the outside but are SO smooth and buttery on the inside - flecked with bits of almonds... mmm.  This would make a great addition to any holiday cookie platter because they don't take long to make and only use one bowl.


Ingredients: 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar and vanilla. Work in flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet.
2. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set, but not brown. While warm, roll in confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

Dark Chocolate Almond Biscotti

My mom, dad, and I went to the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market this past weekend and picked up some biscotti when we were there. While the biscotti was good.... it left us wanting more and something a little bit different. So, late last night I decided to make Dark Chocolate Almond Biscotti. I brought it into work today (Bivouac), gave it to a neighbor (Mrs. Michaels), and donated some to my parents and it got rave reviews! So if you have a jones for some biscotti and chocolate... and have a little time on your hands, I recommend you make this! As always, I am available for questions on biscotti making and such.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for the almonds
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp dark cocoa powder
• 2 ounces dark chocolate, melted
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup raw unsalted almonds, chopped and toasted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Chop almonds into small pieces using a chef's knife.
3. In a saute pan, on medium heat, toast almond pieces in one tablespoon of olive oil for approximately 2 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar. Mix in the vanilla, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and eggs.
5. Add 1 cup of flour, then salt, and baking powder, then final 1/2 cup flour.
6. Mix the toasted nuts into the batter.
7. Divide dough in half. Form two logs on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 35 minutes, or until logs are slightly golden. Remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 275 degrees.
9. Cut logs at a diagonal angle (approximately 30 degrees) into 3/4″ thick slices.
10. Lay cookies on their sides on parchment cookie sheet. Bake 10 more minutes, flip over and bake for 10 more minutes, remove from oven, cool, and serve.

Makes about 24 biscotti.