We cook for many reasons. I certainly do. Those reasons will vary, but as long as the end result is to make you feel a little bit better than you did before you started cooking, they're valid. Period. Annalena so decrees.
She does so because she's not having the greatest of weekends. No great tragedies, just a sense of having to face the fact that things are changing, and the old modes for keeping balanced and even, will not work. Annalena knows what she has to do, and honestly, is ready to do it. So, we sail, blindly into the wind, unable to look both ahead and behind, and wait for what happens.
It is with this in mind, that I made cookies today - biscotti. Since Annalena has become a member of the gym going public ( a "champion Member" at NYSC, whatever that means), she has made cookies only for special occasions. The ones made today will be used for what qualifies as a special occasion in her mind: the wolfpack comes to dinner. The Wolfpack, and thoughts thereof, are part of what is now keeping Annalena balanced and even on that old balance beam. That and the support of friends who are NOT young enough to be Annalena's children. All praise gray hair.
It is somewhat ironic, then, and perhaps prophetic, that the biscotti in question, are a riff on some I had at Hearth on Friday night. The place was jammed. And for the first time ever, Annalena was not able to dictate what she wanted for dinner. The kitchen would not compromise. It looked like a disaster. But it was not. Our wonderful server friend Laura was a gem, the wine manager Eric, another, and the meal terrific, ending with a plate of cookies that included a slyly sweet, and spicy, and herbacious, biscotti. There were only two on the plate (with many other cookies), and Annalena was hard pressed not to run back into the pastry kitchen, distract the women working there and make off with the entire stash. Instead, today, as I went into MY hearth- my kitchen - I thought "let me give them a try."
You can do this. You can do it when you need the uplift, or just because. Which reason is better? Neither. Any excuse for cooking is good.
These are Italian style biscotti, which means they are not very rich. You start with two whole eggs, which you combine with a generous 3/4 cup of sugar. You also add half a teaspoon of baking powder, and the same amount of salt. Stir this all together until you have something that looks a bit like pancake batter. Now, add your flour - 2 cups of it. You may very well feel - as I did - that the mix is too dry. If you are having trouble incorporating all of the flour with your hands - the only way to do this, in my opinion - then add another egg (incidentally, use large or extra large eggs). The three of them should do it. Now, stir in a cup of hazelnuts that you have chopped fine, with the leaves of three large sprigs of rosemary. I know "what does large mean?" Use your judgement, the cookies are going to be terrific.
After you've mixed this all up, form two long, narrow logs on a parchment lined baking sheet. You will want to wet your hands to do this, and that's fine. Spread them out, and even them out, and then put the sheet in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes. You will get a lightly browned product. Let this sit and cool for another 30 minutes, at least, and if you don't get to it in 30 minutes, don't worry.
Use a serrated knife, and cut thin slices off the logs, at a diagonal, or not. (you choose, and choose how thick you want them, too, but no more than 1/3 of an inch). Lay them down on your sheet, and bake for another 30 minutes, this time at 325. You should watch them and if they are browning on the bottom, take em out after 20 minutes. Let them cool. They will be VERY crispy and dry. Perfect for adults.
Did making the cookies make me feel better? A bit. What made me feel even better though, was the thought that (i) I could replicate something I really liked and (ii) I will be serving them, to people I really LOVE. That's a powerful combination.
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