It got me thinking. I've made savory biscotti in the past, but not for a long time. As I started to look around for inspiration, I came across this recipe which very much reminded me of the delicious cheese straws I used to make in my youth for all of our dinner parties. They were light, flaky, buttery twists filled with sharp cheddar cheese and spiced with cayenne pepper. They were also labor intensive and time consuming. My youth has long since passed, and I no longer spend my time twisting cheese straws. So I thought why not combine the flavors of those gorgeous flaky treats with the ease of biscotti?
Of course, me being me, I had to tinker with the recipe adding butter and playing with the amount of flour. They didn't turn out as expected, so I went back to the original. These biscotti lack the buttery flavor, and I do think a bit more tinkering may be in order. But they hit the spot when you want something uncomplicated with a touch of heat.
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Hi Michele. Thanks for stopping by. That chicken dish looks amazing. I love connecting with people from all over the country. How interesting that your name is spelled like my sisters. You must be French? The biscotti looks like its worth a try too. Beth
ReplyDeleteBeth: Thanks. Alas, I'm not French, but Italian-American through and through. The story goes that I was named after a character in a novel my mother was reading while she was pregnant!
ReplyDeleteYou are like a biscotti making pro! Are biscotti a traditional thing you grew up baking?
ReplyDeleteMichele - Thank you for your kind words on my blog. We have a shared passion for sharing food with friends, I see - and BISCOTTI! I make a ton of it every year during the holidays, but the savory recipe caught my attention. Strange, as I just stopped at my favorite "veggie lady" stand on the way home from Italian class, and she had these huge Pugliese olives for me to try - hence, sitting here munching them, catching up on blogs, and drooling over the thought of black-olive biscotti...Nice to "meet" you!
ReplyDeleteStacy: Thanks. I started to make biscotti when my son was young, about 20 or so years ago. I guess I like them because they lend themselves to any flavor combination.
ReplyDeleteVal: A passion for food and friends is a very nice thing to have in common. If you come up with a good recipe for black olive biscotti, I hope you'll consider sharing.
ReplyDeleteI, too, had forgotten about how tasty the savory style biscotti can be.
ReplyDeleteAnd, the black olive does give them a kind of fruitiness. Your cheddar ones look delicious--an Italian version of cayenne cheese straws that I have made for catered parties.
I love savory biscotti and cheese straws myself, they are perfect at dinner parties, so I experiment with them pretty often...
ReplyDeleteI know I had a link to a really good cheese straws recipe somewhere. they were made with store bought pastry dough...easy and super delicious, I'll send it to you as soon as I find it.
and, if you're missing this buttery flavor, here is something yummy:
http://crumpetsandcakes.blogspot.com/2010/02/lemon-thyme-and-sea-salt-shortbreads.html
Nancy:
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'll bet those cayenne cheese straws were a big hit at the parties you catered. When I made them, I made them really long. Although they were fragile, they always looked spectacular piled high in a basket.
Monika:
Your lemon, thyme, sea-salt short breads look wonderful. They are something I will sure to love. Hope I have time to make a batch this weekend!
Savory biscotti has never been on my radar before...NOW IT IS! And I really can't wait to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteTracy: You could try so many variations like pumpkin and parmesan, perhaps ; )
ReplyDeleteSavory biscotti, what a great idea. It's never occurred to me. I completely understand your tinkering. Is there anything that cannot be improved with a little tinkering? Maybe, but it won't stop me.
ReplyDeleteDenise: Yes, sometimes tinkering is in order. I heard that a cold, snowy winter is predicted for the northeast, so I'm guessing I'll have some time to perfect more savory biscotti ; )
ReplyDeleteWith colder temps shortly at our doorstep...I visulaize a few biscotti being made in my kitchen too. I love cheddar in both savoury and sweet recipes. I like your logic about changing things up a little. I'll go check out that recipe even though I would have loved to know exactly what you did to it ;o)
ReplyDeleteMichelle...your visit on my culinary blog was very welcomed...thanks for passing by.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Claudia: Thanks for stopping by! I just can't stop myself from tinkering, adding some butter here, some seasonings there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
ReplyDelete