"biscotti" news and stories

While exploring the Italian cuisine of Cinque Terre, I tried an exquisite dessert wine, called Sciacchetrà. It's sweet and has expressive notes. The drink was brought to us with a plate of homemade pistachio biscotti and biscotti flavored with apricots. Ah, what a splendid way to end a meal! As a lifted the glass of Sciacchetrà to my lips, I could smell a distinctive aroma of apricots and acacia honey.

Just a small glass of Sciacchetrà pairs perfectly with biscotti. As with all dessert wines, this one should be sweeter than the food accompanying it. The slight bitterness of the biscotti balances the intense sweetness of the wine. Sciacchetrà also works well with a slice of panettone.

This rare white wine of very limited production has become a symbol of Cinque Terre. It is produced from the best grapes of the white wines being left to dry in the sun. Several wine shops sell Sciacchetrà. Alternatively, you can find it online. A half a liter sells for approximately $75. It's well worth the splurge.

• Eric Vellend outlines the ins and outs of biscotti making, and shares 3 international recipes.
• Old pros like vodka are getting side-lined for sake cocktails at Blowfish.
• Wine: Aliança VISTA TR 2005 Tinta Roriz, Cookoothama 2007 Chardonnay, and Inniskillin 2006 Reserve Pinot Noir
• Recipes: Garlic Shrimp, Zucchini and Corn Sauté, Barley and Mushroom Stew, and Apple Snow
  

So it was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I had one rotten banana in the cupboard. I'd been staring at the banana for a few days, watching it grow from spotted to brown to nearly black. I could have thrown it away, but for some reason I felt that that 15 cents worth of fruit had a nobler destiny. But one mushy banana isn't enough for banana bread or cake or muffins. What to do?

Googling "what to do with one rotten banana," I discovered a message board on the topic of leftover bananas, where, scrolling down, I discovered this recipe for banana biscotti. I didn't have any nuts so I smashed a dark chocolate bar with a hammer and tossed the fragments into the dough. These unusual biscotti came out very nicely indeed - they remind me of Banana Nut Crunch cereal. Next time I'll give them an egg wash and sprinkle them with coarse sugar, then serve them with coffee and vanilla ice cream.

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Biscotti are a type of crispy, Italian cookies that are baked twice. The double baking, which is typically done by baking a log of dough once, slicing it, then baking the newly cut pieces, is what gives the cookies their crunch and gives them an unusually long shelf-life. While a regular chocolate chip cookie can be kept for a few days, biscotti can last for up to a few weeks.

Traditionally, biscotti were flavored with anise, but these days, they come in a wide variety of flavors. This photo shows a fresh batch of Nutella Biscotti, baked by Maya of, She paints the Kitchen. They used cocoa powder for a chocolaty flavor, nutella (of course), chocolate chips and, if you like nuts in your biscotti, chopped hazelnuts can be added as well. The recipe for the biscotti can be found here and they make the perfect complement for a cup of hot coffee, the chocolatiness of the cookie blending beautifully with the coffee as you dunk in each bite to soften it.

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• This week's recipes: Scallops with Butter, Lemon Juice, and Capers; Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Maple-Bourbon Glaze; Biscotti Cake; Albanian Stuffed Eggplant; and Mushroom Quiche with No-Roll Crust.