On Valentine's Day, bake biscotti for those you love

Cherry Pecan Biscotti by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

On Valentine’s Day, we celebrate the ones we love and what better way to celebrate than by baking? Chocolate is traditional and a good place to start – who doesn’t love brownies or cake or fudge? In my house, I bake biscotti for my valentine.

My husband likes the crunchy texture and fruity flavors in this twice-baked, butter-less cookie. You’ve probably seen biscotti in jars at cafés, the dry spears just perfect for dunking in a latte. My biscotti are crisp, but not tooth-breaking tough; they are enjoyable even without an accompanying cup of joe.

Although there are two trips to the oven, this is still a very simple cookie. First, you mix the dough, shape it into two loaves and bake for 25 minutes. When done, remove the loaves from the oven, let cool slightly, then slice loaves on the bias to show off the crispy crust. The cookies are delicious at this point – chewy and soft – but a final toasting in the oven will yield the crispy crackle of true biscotti. If you still want a taste of chocolate, you can gild the lily by dunking the cookies halfway into melted chocolate chips.




Baked loaves, ready for slicing. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Cherry-Pecan Biscotti

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup pecan meal (see note)

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare pans - a half-sheet baking pan with Silpat or parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend flour, pecan meal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until dough is formed. Stir in dried cherries.

2. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead several times. Form the dough into two flat logs about 9 inches long and 4 inches wide. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 or until the loaves have risen and are lightly browned on top. Let cool on cutting board for 10 minutes.

3. While still warm, slice on the bias, about 1/2 inch thick, or a little less. You know what bias means - diagonal. This will give you the classic, elongated biscotti shape. Place on baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes at 350. After 5 minutes, flip cookies over and toast other side for five minutes. Remove from oven and cool on baking rack. Store biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature.




Sliced biscotti, ready for the second baking. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Note: Pecan meal is available in local grocery stores by the packaged nuts. If not available, use chopped pecan pieces, whizzed in the food processor for about 15 seconds.

Biscotti are one of my favorite cookies to bake - what about you? What flavors do you like? Do you plan to bake for Valentine's Day?

Super weekend for cooking

This is quite the weekend for people who like to cook – Chinese New Year and a little ol’ thing called the Super Bowl, which may be celebrated as much for food as for football. For Chinese New Year, I’ll let my friend Linda Shiue tell the story  about the dumplings she makes with her daughters. Francis Lam of Salon.com has a funny story, too, about stuffing his gut with all kinds of dumpling deliciousness.

 As for Super Bowl party food, I should confess that I’m not really a football fan. I wrote this story last year, which pretty much sums up everything I know about football. I included a recipe for Smoky Tuna Dip with Paprika and Lime, a little something I came up with when I couldn’t find real smoked tuna. It’s a tasty and simple dip, a nice addition to a Super Bowl spread. I do know that the big game will take place in Texas, so I’m offering my Texas Caviar with Home-baked Lime Tortilla Chips. Texas caviar is a black-eyed pea relish that is absolutely yummy, and it’s a healthy choice for the menu, too.

Now, one holiday I can wrap my brain around is World Nutella Day, today - "Nutella Lovers Unite for Just One Day!" We love Nutella in our house – the hazelnut and chocolate spread is used in sandwiches and sweets. Coincidentally, yesterday was Show and Tell for the letter “N” at preschool, and my baby girl carried a jar of Nutella to show her class.

I first tasted a Nutella milkshake at Flip Burger, Top Chef contender Richard Blais’ upscale burger shop in Atlanta (there’s a Birmingham location, too). He makes his with liquid nitrogen and breaks out blowtorch for the burnt marshmallow garnish. Through the magic of Google, I came across this recipe for a Nutella milkshake and I have to say, it’s brilliant. Chocolate ice cream, milk, and a generous squidge of Nutella. No canister of liquid nitrogen involved. The real genius move, though, is the toasted marshmallow topping made without a blowtorch, but in the toaster oven.

Enjoy your weekend!