Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Biscotti from the Latin word biscoctus, meaning "twice-cooked or twice baked" refers to goods that are baked twice, so they are very dry and can be stored for long periods of time….that is if you can keep them around.

Filled with red cranberries and green pistachios these are wonderful Holiday cookies. They’re crisp and crunchy with soft and chewy cranberries. I make these every year for the holidays but they should be enjoyed year- round because they’re so delicious! So now that the craziness of the holidays is over these are perfect to enjoy with your morning coffee, cup of tea or hot chocolate as you enjoy the snow.







Dylan



This is Giada’s recipe. She dips them in white chocolate but I think they’re perfect plain.


Holiday Biscotti

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 large eggs

• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

• 2/3 cup dried cranberries

• 12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped

• Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

New Spice Drawer

I’m not big on making New Year’s resolutions. This year however, I’ve made a made a commitment to tackle a couple of projects that I’ve been avoiding forever.  The first project has been rattling around in my head for over a year.

Last year, shortly before Christmas, I decided that I needed to organize my spices. I announced to my husband that I wanted clear -top, square ,tin containers for my spices like this :

His first question was … Are the airtight? I called a company that made these specialty containers and to my dismay the woman said they weren’t really airtight. Since I had my heart set on a certain look for my new spice drawer I wasn’t happy with this set back. On Christmas day my husband handed me a package containing 50 glass spice jars from Crate and Barrel. My daughter also handed me a package of prefilled spice containers. I thanked them both but my heart was still set on square tin containers. My poor husband headed back to the mall to return his 50 (very heavy) containers to Crate and Barrel.

Over the past year I’ve looked at tons of spice containers. I decided that I didn’t like the idea of the tin containers after all. I didn’t want to worry about whether or not they were “food grade” I didn’t want to worry about air -tightness, rusting or lead-contaminated products from China.


So after a year of scouring the chef stores , the Container Store and every imaginable internet site I announced to my husband that what I wanted were Libbey Vibe spice jars……the very same jars he had bought at Crate and Barrel a year ago. Since my husband is a saint and appreciates an occasional home cooked meal he headed off to the mall to buy 48 Libbey Vibe spice jars from Crate and Barrel. The jars cost $1.98. Since I didn’t have to pay for shipping, the cost was basically the same as ordering them online.

My spices are finally on the way to being organized.  The labels were made on the computer using address labels . All the jars had to be washed before filling which was a bit of a chore since you have  to remove the plastic seal before washing and make sure that they are completely dry before filling. Here are the before and after photos:

I absolutely love these jars! They're really too pretty to hide away.