Bon Appetit « Angelnina’s Cottage

Chocolate Orange Biscotti

December 9, 2010 at 9:29 pm | Posted in baking, Cookies, dessert, Food, Holiday cooking, Home Decorating, Italian food, my life, photography, Recipes | 5 Comments
Tags: angelnina, baking, biscotti, Bon Appetit, Christmas, Christmas Cookies, cookies, epicurious, Food, holiday, Italian American, Italian cookies, orange chocolate, orange chocolate biscotti, photography, recipe

Oh my goodness, it’s almost Christmas. I am not as prepared as I’d like to be, because Mother Nature decided this is as good a time as any to send the Mother of All Life Changes and give me the gift of, a somewhat early, menopause! (As if dealing with a spinal nerve cyst and surgery wasn’t enough in one year!)

I think the Universe gives me more credit than I deserve, by thinking I can handle so many changes at once. Oh well, it is what it is and life is too precious to whine and complain (not that I haven’t), so now you know why I’ve been absent for so long, and I thank those of you who have missed me and expressed it in email or by phone.

I haven’t been doing a whole lot of cooking or baking. My husband has been forced to learn to cook, and I must say, he is doing quite well. As a matter of fact, I’m feeling a bit threatened by his ability to make spaghetti sauce that tastes so much like mine. It’s a good thing I didn’t tell him how to make the cassata. That cassata recipe is going with me to my grave.

Life is a mystery, kind of like the box of chocolate Forrest Gump talked about. It’s also like trying a new recipe. Sometimes you get a prize winning dish, sometimes it’s mediocre, and other times it’s an absolute disaster. That pretty much sums up my year. The thing to remember, is when you get the disaster, you must never forget that a prize day is sure to follow. It always does. Always.

Speaking of a prize–I found an amazing recipe for biscotti, on Epicurious.com. I made a few changes, and now I have the best biscotti I’ve ever made in my life! I want to share the recipe, and the changes I made, with all of you.

Chocolate-Orange Biscotti RECIPE

Click on link above for recipe.

The following are my ingredient changes:

I added 2 Tbsp coarsely grated orange zest, instead of 1 Tbsp

3 Tbsp Orange Contreau- instead of 2 Tbsp Orange Liqueur

1/2 tsp orange extract

6 ounces Chocolate Chunks (60%), instead of bittersweet chocolate

Angelnina’s NOTES:

I do not like my biscotti rock hard. I baked the first baking for 20-25 minutes and the second baking about 15 minutes. My family prefers them lightly toasted on the outside, but still tender.

Bon Appetit hit the jackpot with this recipe!

Toasted pecans cooling

I love how pretty the dough looks with the orange zest, chocolate, and pecans!

Pre-shaped dough ready for first bake

After first bake

The flavors of this cookie take me back to when I was a child, visiting my Italian grandparents in upstate New York. Orange and chocolate in a cookie, is like a bit of heaven, or nirvana, or whatever blissful place you wish to visit!

Happy baking and Happy holidays!

Lemon Cornmeal Cake w/ Lemon Glaze and Texas Sheet Cake (kinda sorta)

March 27, 2009 at 9:57 am | Posted in baking, Desserts, Family Fun, Food, photography, Recipes, Uncategorized | 5 Comments
Tags: Art Smith, Auntie's Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Pecan Frosting, Back to the Table, baking, Bon Appetit, cake, chocolate cake chocolate frosting, cooking, cornmeal cake, Food, lemon cake, lemon cornmeal cake, lemon glaze, pecan chocolate, Texas Sheet Cake

April’s Bon Appetit has a great recipe for a rustic cake that is now one of my favorites!

After a long day, I decided to roast a lemon chicken from a recipe in “Cook’s Country” magazine–which was wonderful!–I roasted asparagus and cooked some basmati rice, but I needed a dessert. Just about the time I had decided to ditch making dessert, Olivia arrived, walked into the kitchen and asked what she could do to help? I mentioned the lemon cake, and discovered she had been wanting to bake the very same cake –yes, I gave the kids a subscription to Bon Appetit– I love that magazine! –With Olivia’s help, we tore through that cake recipe and boy, let me tell ya, I am sure happy we did!

A Slice of our Lemon Cornmeal Cake w/ Lemon Glaze

Angelnina’s Notes to first time bakers: In this recipe is very important to gently fold liquid into flour mixture-don’t be tempted to start stirring.

RECIPE Can be found here on BON APPETIT’S site

Prior to the lemon cake, I showed Olivia how to bake a chocolate cake from Art Smith’s cookbook. I have baked many Texas Sheet Cakes, and this is pretty much a TSC to me. They are simple to make and yummy to eat! As a matter of fact, I only have photos of Olivia frosting the cake because we all kind of jumped into this one without wasting any time. I mean, come on people, it’s chocolate!

Auntie’s Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Pecan Frosting

From Art Smith’s “Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family”

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , cut up
8 tablespoons (1 stick) margarine , cut up
1 cup water
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , cut up
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 pound (about 4 1/3 cups) confectioners’ sugar , sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans , toasted

To make the cake:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour a 13 x 9-inch baking pan, tapping out the excess flour. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, margarine, water and cocoa to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the butter and margarine. Pour into the flour mixture and whisk well. Add the sour cream, then the eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Spread evenly in the pan. Bake until the cake springs back when pressed in the center, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack.

To make the frosting:
Bring the butter, milk and cocoa to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the butter. Gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar, then the vanilla. Stir in the chopped pecans. Pour over the warm cake. Cool the cake in the pan on the rack. Cut into pieces and serve directly from the pan.

ABOVE: Olivia Spreading the Chocolate-Pecan Frosting

Chicken Parmesan- From Mario Batali’s “Otto” and Bon Appetit

August 18, 2008 at 7:26 am | Posted in baking, cooking, Food, my life, photography, Recipes, Uncategorized | 12 Comments
Tags: Basic tomato sauce, Bon Appetit, Chicken Parmesan, cooking, Food, foodies, Italian, Italian cooking, Italian food, Mario Batali, Otto Restaurant recipe, recipe, tomato sauce

Chicken Parmesan w/ Mario Batali Simple Tomato Sauce

The cover dish on September’s 2008 Bon Appetit–one of my favorite cooking magazines.

Found in the section titled “The First Seating”–A section dedicated to recipes chefs cook for themselves and their staffs before their busy shifts begin. Recipe by Otto sous chef Antonio Maldonado.

Otto New York

Chicken Parmesan

ANGELNINA’S NOTES: You can click on the link directly above to find the recipe.

I did make a few changes:

-I used 1 cup chopped onions-not 1 3/4 cups.

-2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme–not 3

-6 chicken breasts not 10 (6 was plenty as when they’re pounded they’re huge)

Also, in the end I sprinkled the chopped fresh marjoram, but not the entire Tablespoon–I wasn’t a huge fan of the marjoram and will leave it out next time. Leave up to your own personl preference.

I served the Chicken Parmesan to Mark, Sean, and Olivia. We had too much food, and it was very good! We served this with an Italian salad and fresh baked artisan bread. Everybody cleaned their plate, and commented on how great the sauce tasted.

Another winner from Bon Appetit.