Union Squre nods, Annalena begins thinking, and... gingerbread biscotti

You've all heard of Union Square Cafe' haven't you? All the hype, all the press, all the stories about it being New York's favorite restaurant.

Well, all of it is true. While I can report that, occasionally, Annalena has experienced a minor service lapse or two at the restaurant, there has never been a scrap of food served that was not absolutely wonderful. The high level and consistency of the cooking are some of the things that make it what its. A staff that is intelligent and HOSPITABLE, and frankly, downright attractive, makes it even better.

The Guyman and I don't go there as often as we might, but we went last night. The meal was wonderful... right up to the end. Guy was having a pumpkin pot de creme for dessert, which came with what were called "gingerbread biscotti." Now, I was not interested in the custard, but the cookies.. Hmmm. Gingerbread and biscotti at the same time. This sounds good.

Unfortunately, Homer nods and so does the pastry department at USC as it is sometimes called. It made me recall a time when they were serving carrot cake, with concord grape sorbet. I did not order it. In fact, my understanding is that no one did. The staff were embarrassed and it didn't come back. Still, I'm sure each individual component was wonderful.

Not so with these cookies. Overbaked to the point of being burned, with very little resemblance to gingerbread. Our wonderful waiter Max (the very FIRST time Annalena lusted after a man with dredlocks) asked about them. Politely, I simply said "Now I have to go home and see if I can make a better version."

Well, if I dare say so, I did. I am going to share it with you. It is a variation of the classic Italian biscotti recipe that I shared with you a long time ago. You should try this. It is super easy and, if you have recently assiduously edited and cleaned your spice collection (as I have done), it is even easier.

You will need 2 cups of flour, mixed with half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of baking powder. Also, two or three large eggs (more on this below), a cup of candied ginger, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, be it light or dark, a full TABLESPOON of dried ginger, plus an extra teaspoon, and also, a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Those are all your ingredients. Maybe. Did you notice that there's no butter? Not a mistake. Remember, these are Italian biscotti.

Pull out your mixer, dump this stuff together, using 2 of the eggs, and start blending. Chances are, the mix will be too dry. If you wish, add the third egg. OR, if you happen to have some left over egg whites around, which I did, add 2 of those (or, you can add water). Just add enough to get a cohesive, sticky mass.

When you have that, pour a little sugar onto a surface, put the dough on it, and either roll it into one, large log, or as I do, two smaller ones. Flatten the log or logs, and put it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Paint it with some egg white or a beaten egg if you want some shine, and maybe sprinkle some sugar on it, too. Bake the log or logs, at 350, for 25 minutes. You'll swear something is burning. That's the cinnamon, and don't worry. You're not.

After 25 minutes, take the baking sheet out, and let it cool down as long as you like. I usually wait an hour or so when I do biscotti. Then, bring the oven to 300, and slice the logs to the thickness you like. I like to make smaller cookies, but to each his or her own. Bake them for ten minutes one side up, and then turn them over for another five. And you're done.

If you make one log, and make big cookies, you'll get about 16, and they'll come in at about 91 calories each. That's right, 91 calories. Not bad for a cookie, huh? And if you do smaller ones... Well, you do the math. What I like to do with cookie recipes, since I never make them to full size, is figure out the total amount of calories and then do the division. But I never claimed that I didn't need a life.

This one is a keeper. Excpect it in the holiday tins this Xmas