Cran-Ginger Biscotti

Baking is always fun, especially during the holidays. It really doesn't matter whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or neither…it’s the joy of the season that is best shared with friends and family.

I had never heard of a biscotti until seeing them at a Starbucks, few years back. I fell in love with their chocolate biscotti and the seasonal gingerbread flavor. I also, of course, had to make it at home. And I did,Gingerbread Biscotti.

This cranberry biscotti has been in my head ever since I bought dried cranberries for my fruit cake about three weeks ago. I was just waiting for the right time. It is not very often that my husband agrees to take food items to share with his colleagues, and I was thrilled when he agreed (without any fuss) to take cookies to work. 

Ingredients (Makes 48 small cookies approx)

Vegetable oil – ½ cup

Eggs – 3

Sugar (white/brown) – 1 cup

All purpose flour – 3 ¼ cups (can be a blend of wheat and APF too)

Baking powder – 1 tablespoon

Ginger powder – 1 tablespoon

Freshly grated nutmeg (optional) – 1 tsp

Dried cranberries – 1 cup (can be substituted with nuts and other dry fruits as per taste)

Method

Preheat the oven to 375⁰F.

In a bowl, beat together the oil, eggs and sugar. In another bowl, combine flour(s), baking powder, ginger powder and nutmeg. Stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough.

Divide the dough into half and roll into the length of your cookie sheet. Press down to ½ inch thickness.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Once the cookies are cool enough to touch, slice them into ½ thick slices. The longer slices can then be cut into half or left as is.

Place the cut side facing down,  and bake for another 6-10 minutes or until both sides are crisp and toasty. Enjoy with a cup of coffee of tea. Bon Appétit.

Breakfast Blends

For the past few weeks, my husband and I have been trying new breakfast blends. No, I am not talking about coffee here…but more delicious and healthy blends. The inspiration? One of the Williams-Sonoma Free Technique Class that focused on raw food. Here are a few of our favorites.

Blend 1 – Green Delight

Pear – 1

Apple – 1

Spinach – about 2 cups (you can use kale/chard or any other greens)

Blend all ingredients together and drink up.

Blend 2 – Sunshine in a Glass

Carrots – 2-3 medium sized

Orange juice – About 1 cup

Ginger – 1-2 tsps (depending on taste)

Blend all ingredients together. Sieve if required and blend the pulp again with some water. Run through a sieve again and enjoy.

Blend 3 – Peach Blush

Cantaloupe – 1-1½ cups (you can use a melon of your choice)

Pear – 1

Blend together and your quick and healthy breakfast drink is ready to be gulped.

 

Note: For additional nutrition, add a handful of walnuts or almonds.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

We have had quite an extreme winter (for Southern California standards) and there have many chilly evenings when a bowl of hot soup has been the most comforting food. I have been wanting to make this soup for quite some time now, and one day last week I figured the day was auspicious enough (and cold) to finally make it. So here goes.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Roughly chopped carrots – 2 cups

Roughly chopped onions – ¾ cup

Finely chopped ginger – 3 tbsps(more if you like it stronger)

Olive/any cooking oil – 2 tbsps

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Chili powder – ½ tsp ( or to taste)

Salt to taste

Water as required

Method

Boil the carrots and keep ready. (I cooked them in the microwave. Alternately, you could cook the carrots along with the onions, spices, and some water). In a large saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions until slightly brown. Add the carrots, turmeric, chili, ginger, and salt. Sauté for about 5-6  minutes and keep aside to cool. Once it has cooled a bit, blend until smooth. Return to the saucepan, add the required amount of water and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro and a few slivers of ginger. Bon Appétit.

We wish all our readers and their families a very Happy and Prosperous 2013. Our holidays were extremely fun and we hope that yours were too. The best part of the season was that we got to meet each other…and we spent some quality time together. What could be better?? Well, we got to taste each others intoxicated cakes. They were absolutely delicious!

The new year usually brings with it hopes, aspirations, and resolutions. We of course do not believe in resolutions, because most resolutions are made to be broken. It is better to not make any, don't you think so?

Anyway, in this first post for the year, we would like to share some photographs of all the wonderful food we made/ate over the holidays. Bon Appétit.

Mashed Potatoes topped with Cheddar, Green onions and Mushrooms

Mini Pumpkin Cake (Left) Mini Chocolate Pie (Right)

Kacchi Biryani (Veg)

Intoxicated Cake Laced with Coconut Rum

Intoxicated Cake with French Vanilla Ice Cream

Celebration Punch (Raspberry Lemonade, Lemonade, Orange Juice and Club Soda)

Sea Breeze (Cranberry Juice, Grapefruit Juice, Lemonade, Vodka)

Maple Cream Roll with Hazelnuts

Ginger-Cinnamon Torte