wednesday was one of those days that just went... right. the little man couldn’t wait to get to school, and from there the baby and i headed straight for the farmer’s market to load up on goodies. she was in a great mood so i gave myself the luxury of meandering the entire market -- something i rarely do anymore since i always feel a bit rushed with the kiddo’s morning food and nap schedule looming over my head.
well sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, and they say a happy mama makes happy children. so we wandered.... and there’s always so much to discover, i find, it a state of wander. like the DELICIOUS walnut oil in the very last stall at the very end of the market that i splurged on. and the little black truffle that became the inspiration for wednesday’s supper. like i said, it was good day.
so we get our bounty home and i decided to make good on some of the items that i’d prepared in past weeks and needed to use before they went bad. first: candied ginger.
i have been meaning to try alice water’s recipe for biscotti in The Art of Simple Food. her version calls for anise and almond, but i swapped it for some cherries and said ginger. holy moly. these guys are the REAL DEAL. i can’t encourage you enough to give them a try. throw anything you got in the pantry in there! the base for the cookie is super simple and quite easy to pull together. i totally recommend. next time i am going to slip in some flax seed and buckwheat flour to amp up the health factor a bit... i’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
so dessert was done, but it was already 1:45 and i had to get to school soon to pick up the boy. what’s for dinner? hmmm... i had a veg stock in the fridge from a couple weeks back that had a strong porcini mushroom base. i looked at my counter that was overflowing with produce and decided on a leek, fennel and potato soup. i quickly cut and washed everything, threw it in the stockpot with a bit of butter and garlic, and sauteed everything for about 10 minutes. then i poured the stock over it, brought everything to a boil, and then simmered for another 10 before i had to leave. turned off the heat, left it to cool, and voila... dinner!
needless to say, it rarely goes like this. and as a matter of fact, the boy was in the mood to terrorize me from the moment i picked him up until bedtime. but i had that soup. and those biscotti. and with a couple of glasses of wine to wash it down with and the company of a husband and a dear friend, i can say with a whole and happy heart that it truly was a good day.
CHERRY-GINGER BISCOTTI
(adapted from Anise-Almond Biscotti in
The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters)
* 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* a pinch or two of salt
* 3 eggs, at room temperature
(note: alice suggests warming them up in a
bowl of warm water if you need to speed it up.
i used this method and it worked beautifully.)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup dried cherries
* 1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar until the mixture forms a ribbon (it starts to look like meringue but doesn't get as stiff because of the egg yolks). This should take 3-4 minutes with an electric mixer. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just incorporated and then fold in cherries and ginger.
On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, form the dough into 2 3-inch loaves. The dough will be very sticky, so use a spoon to get the dough onto the sheet, and then use wet hands to shape and smooth the dough into a loaf shape. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove the loaves from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 F.
Cut the cooled loaves into 1/2-inch-thick cookies and place cut side down back on to your baking sheet. Cook for 20 minutes (or until brown on one side), turn the cookies over, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
