Chef Mik's Biscotti

Today I’m baking biscotti which is the plural, the singular being biscotto an Italian cookie whose heritage can be traced to the Northern Port city of Genoa. The city itself is also famous for giving the world pesto and salami and the Italian sea captain turned explorer Cristoforo Colombo or Christopher Columbus in English. The name biscotti refers to the cookie being twice baked or cooked much like ricotta which derives its name from the cheese curd having been cooked twice. Biscotti similar to the English term biscuits which refers simply to cookies themselves

Biscotti is quite similar to the Yiddish or Eastern European cookie mandelbrodt or almond cookie in English in so much as they are both crispy, often filled with a wide verity of varying ingredients and they are both prepared and baked first as a loaf before being sliced much like bread then baked again

The cookies themselves are quite easy to prepare and lend themselves well to interpretation which is great for the more advanced and avid risk takers or those with certain food restrictions that may dictate what ingredients can be used.

We here at FoodPerfected offer a wide verity of biscotti, however when I bake them for myself I like to keep it simple. That said some bakers I know like to beat their egg whites to stiff peeks before incorporating them into the batter which is fine but by no means mandatory, others are very particular about the type of flour used as well as the fillers. While still others dip them in chocolate or decorate them after they have been baked. My advice as always is stick to the basics first and master them before biting off more then you can chew.

Shopping List

Almonds

Sugar

Butter

Eggs

Galliano

Vanilla extract

Flour

Baking powder

Anis seed

Salt

My Mad Method

Ready to serve!!!

Cream together 2.5 dl sugar and 115g butter

Add two eggs, one at a time and whisk until fluffy

Add wet ingredients: 2 TBSP Galliano and 1 tsp vanilla extract whisk until well incorporated

Add dry ingredients: 6 dl flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 TBSP anise seeds (crushed) and ¼ tsp salt mix until you have a good semi moist cookie dough

Fold in 2 dl toasted cracked almonds

Form a uniform loaf on a sheet pan that has been covered with well greased parchment paper

Bake 30 to 40 minutes in a 175c preheated oven, when done allow it to rest 20 to 30 minutes before slicing it, reduce the oven temp to 150c

When you have sliced the loaf arrange the cookies on the same parchment paper and bake 10 minutes flip the cookies and bake ten minutes longer or until golden brown and crisp 

 

Chef Mik's Take on Key Lime Pie

Today I am baking Key Lime Pie, as the name would suggest it is derived from the Florida Keys. It is a quite popular pie here in the States as well as abroad and is very easy to prepare. The standard recipe for Key Lime Pie are all pretty much the same, as for presentation which I will elaborate more on below but will say they also work well as bars or squares

Two of the key ingredients (if you will) may need a little explanation. The first of which The Key lime sometimes referred to as the Mexican lime or bartenders lime is a smaller somewhat tarter, yellow skinned lime with seeds. Although in a pinch the standard Persian verity found in most any grocery store will do just fine.

As mentioned Key limes have a yellow peal or skin, while many times the Key lime pie is green, which has nothing to do with the lime itself even if you use a green lime it will still not be green, the simple reason is the color is artificial. If you like you can add a couple drops of green food dye.

As for sweetened condensed milk variations of which trace back several hundred years not unlike evaporated milk were most likely designed as a means of storing milk considering there was no refrigeration. Modern improved versions can be found at most grocery stores and will last for years if unopened. Another option is to prepare your own at home simply with a reduction of water, butter and sugar finished with the incorporation of powdered milk.

Due to the fact condensed milk is so sweet no extra sugar or sweetener is required for the preparation of the filling, though typically the pie is served in one of 3 ways, topped with a meringue, served with whipped cream or crème fraîche / sour cream all of which can and maybe sweetened as well  

Shopping List

Key limes and 12 to 15

Eggs

Sweetened condensed milk

Graham cracker crumbs

Butter

Sugar, caster (granulated) or baker’s is fine

My Mad Method

Ready to eat!!

These are what Key limes look like, these are from my fathers family home and when they are ripe they will drop to the ground

Measure 1.25 dl Key lime juice and 1 ½ tsp zest, set aside

Mix together 3 dl graham cracker crumbs, 2 TBSP sugar and 100g butter melted

Pour the crumb mixture into a pie form and work until evenly and uniformly distributed throughout

Bake for 10 minutes in a 175c preheated or until browned, then cool so the pie shell sets, reduce the heat in the oven to 150c

Whisk together 4 egg yokes for about 3 to 5 minutes until they have emulsified and a sufficient amount of air has been whipped into them  

Slowly pour in 1 400g (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk while the mixer is set on low

Pour in the reserved lime juice a little at a time mixing to combine

Add the reserved zest and mix quickly just to combine

Pore over into prepared pie shells and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until filling sets, be careful not to get to much color on the pie shell

When baked chill for at least 4 hours or over night

Ready to serve!!!

 

 

Chef Mik's Cabbage Soup with Sausage and Zucchini

I love cabbage soup and there are just so many variations sometimes it can be mind boggling. Be it vegetarian, with meat or ground meat, with fish, with sausage, with frikadeller, with beans, with potatoes, with rice, with wine, with beer, with whiskey, or spicy with chili or horseradish, served with bread, aioli or crème fraîche. However you like it there is a recipe somewhere out there that’s got your name all over it! Add to that they are so easy to make and are perfectly suited if you need to make a last minute substitution. Today for example I am using zucchini but you could easily use cauliflower instead which like cabbage is in the cole crops belonging to the species Brassica oleracea as do broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi to name but a few. all of the above you add or combine in some fashion or other to suit your fancy. In essence using the same base you could change up your cabbage soup to fit whatever season holiday or occasion you want!

Shopping List

White or green cabbage

Onions

Celery

Zucchini

Cabbage

Garlic

Cannellini beans

Kielbasa or other smoked sausage

Vegetable broth or stock, homemade or store bought are fine, you can also use chicken

Diced tomatoes, store bought is fine

Spices: thyme, cumin, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, bay leaves

Salt and black pepper

My Mad Method

Ready to eat!!!

Infuse about 3 sliced garlic cloves in 2 or 3 TBSP olive oil

Add onion diced and 3 stalks sliced and sauté for 5 minutes

Add 3 medium sized potatoes and 2 medium zucchinis diced and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes longer

Add spices: 1TBSP dried thyme leaves, 1 TBSP cumin, 1 TBSP granulated garlic, ½ tsp cayenne pepper and sauté 2 minutes longer

Add 1.2L vegetable broth, 1 can diced tomatoes and 2 bay leaves, bring to light boil skim the surface for impurities, simmer 15 minutes

Add 1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed, 1 kielbasa sliced, and 2 hand fulls shredded cabbage, simmer 15 minutes longer until cabbage and potatoes are done

You will know the potatoes are done and the cabbage will be done when it has wilted becoming softer

Ready to serve!!

 

 

Swedish Flat-Bread (Tunnbröd)

Bread is one of our oldest communal foods dating as far back as 10,000 years or longer when we began to harvest grasses such as wheat and barley as agriculture began to shape our future. 

In many parts of the world flat breads are quite common many of which tracing their roots as far back as the written records themselves. Examples include the Jewish bread matzah or matzo which ever way you care to spell it, enjoyed during the week of Passover. Others include lavash, pita bread, Indian naan, native American mountain bread and Swedish tunnbröd which is the one I am baking today. Sweden boasts several quite popular flat breads many of which can be found the globe over such as the Wasa brand a verity of hard bread offering many flavors to choose from. Beyond those most all Swedish breads are whole grain almost of which containing some form of rye regardless of whether they are hard breads or fresh.

This is a very easy bread to bake and versatile as well! I am using a combination of white, rye and graham flour which is a whole grain wheat flour invented by 18^th century minister Sylvester Graham who also invented the Graham cracker. In Sweden many people use hjorthornssalt or baker’s ammonia (ammonium carbonate) though baking power makes a good substitute. That said I am simply using instant yeast, which as the name would suggest doesn’t need to be diluted in water first. The bread can be prepared on the stove top or in the oven, and the longer you bake it the crispier it will get

Shopping List

Unbleached all purpose flour (AP flour)

Dark, medium or light rye flour

Graham flour

Butter or margarine

Milk, I am using full fat organic

Light syrup

Instant yeast

Sugar

Salt

My Mad Method

Ready to use or eat!!

Melt 50g butter, add 5dl milk and heat to 40c pour into mixer and add 1 TBSP syrup

Mix 460g (7dl) AP flour, 100g (2dl) rye and 110g (1.5dl) graham flour together with 20g instant yeast, ½ dl sugar and ½ tsp salt. Add to the mixer   

Mix to a cohesive dough, it will be ready when it just cleans the bowl and is soft to the touch

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and proof for about 30 minutes

When it has proofed 30 minutes and doubled in size it will be ready to work

Fold out onto a clean work surface and divide into 12 circa 110g pieces

Roll out flat and perforate with a fork or spiky roller as shown here gently mark the dough

Transfer to a 300c preheated oven, I am using a pizza stone which has been in the oven sense I turned it on, and bake the bread for 2 to 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned and cooked through

This is a Swedish style “tunnbrödsrulle” or Swedish wrap as I call them prepared with this wonderful flat bread!!