Down to hEarth

Biscotti comes to us from Italy - old Rome, as a matter of fact - and the word originally derives from "Twice Baked" - because that's what you do with biscotti in order to get that dry, hard consistency - you bake it twice. The wonders of biscotti are not only the different types you can make - but also the fact that they tend to last longer.  Here's my all time favorite recipe -  White Chocolate with Dried Cranberries Biscotti ½ cup butter (room temperature) 1 ½ cup sugar 2 eggs 3 ouncess white chocolate – melted and cooled 2 ¾ cups flour 2 ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt ¼ orange juice 1 tsp almond extract 3 ouncess white chocolate chopped – or ½ cup of white chocolate chips ¾ cup coarsely chopped toasted almond slivers ¾ cup dried cranberries (apricots or cherries) Heat oven to 350.  Grease and flour  (or use parchment paper) 2 cookie sheets. When oven has heated - toast the almond slivers (spread on baking sheet, put in ...

Basic Pie Crust recipe: Makes One 9 Inch Crust 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 Tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled, unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces 3 Tbsp (or more) ice water. Preheat oven to 400 degrees I like a butter crust. I know some people swear by shortening - or add shortening with the butter... but why? A proper butter infused pie crust flakes and melts in your mouth, the perfect accompaniment to whatever filling you've chosen to use. Note: I double this recipe when I am making a two crust pie. Yes, there is some left over but how else are you going to make cinnamon shortbread pinwheel cookies? Blend flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter slowly while pulsing the processor on and off. The flour/butter mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Now add the three tablespoons of ice water and blend using the pulse on/off until moist clumps form. It might look too dry but check it first. Open the processor and pinch a goo...

Due to demand - and also a personal need to keep track of successful recipes - here's an easy to make bento main dish that could probably double as an appetizer too. 😊 Recipe Ham slices, sandwich thin  ~1.5" section of carrot, julienned   ~1.5" long pieces of raw green beans, ends trimmed Shredded cheese of choice 1 Tbsp light  soy sauce * 1 Tbsp mirin * 1 Tbsp cooking sake  Lay out a slice of ham (or overlap two small slices) and place 2-3 green beans near one end of the slice.  Add an equal amount of carrots and cheese, then starting from the closest end to the mixings, carefully roll contents up. In a frying pan, heat up a little bit of cooking oil spread across the bottom. Once hot, place roll-ups carefully in the pan and add soy sauce, mirin, and sake (it's a 1:1:1 ratio, so feel free if you need to increase the amount here - there should be just enough liquids to fully coat the bottom). Cover and let simmer for 4-8 minutes. Once most ...