It rained yesterday and rain is up there with my favorite weather of all time, it just feels really calming to my soul and coupled with the fact the smell is incredible, rainy days are good days. Has anyone ever noticed that any time a Coloradan says they like the rain, someone from the Pacific Northwest says something like,"if you only knew real rain", or "you wouldn't like it if it rained everyday", and to those people I say; hush (and you're probably right). But, for now, rainy days for me are few and far between, so I love them.
Rainy days also fuel my day dreams. I can't tell you why, but these types of days make me want to move to the British countryside and live in a small stone cottage, surrounded by massive gardens, reading all day. Yes, it's specific, but it's my day dream! Anyways, this was where my head was at yesterday morning as I tried (in vain) to pay attention to my zoom lecture. And then! A bright idea pops into my head, it fits in the day dream, and it feels right; biscuits! But not just any biscuits, sourdough biscuits made with my mom's recently revived sourdough starter.
It seemed like a full-proof plan. So, I made the dough, rolled it out, lovingly brushed them with egg wash and sprinkled them with sugar, and baked them. And folks, they were terrible. I mean, truly, truly terrible. These little tough, hockey puck, sad excuse for biscuits were not the biscuits of my day dream. It seems there was a miscommunication on the vitality of the starter. In my mind it was well fed and ready for action, in the starters mind it was none of those things (more deflated and hungry). This miscommunication resulted in flat, tough biscuits that didn't rise. Communication is key in both life, and biscuit making.
But never fear! Sometimes we fail in the kitchen. Food is finicky and we have moments where it simply does not work. Does that mean we get angry? Maybe! Does that mean we don't try something else? Definitely not.
So, with a slight pivot in my plan, I decided to once again dip into the world of biscotti (which we have already covered is a day dreaming kind of cookie). But to shake it up a little from the last biscotti recipe I made, I went with a classic double chocolate number with some added twists. Here's what to do:
In a large bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
In an electric mixer, cream together 4 tablespoons of softened butter, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, and 1 3/4 cups of brown sugar. Let that mix for 5 minutes until it gets fluffy and creamy.
Add in 1 tablespoon of vanilla and (here are the secret ingredients), 1 teaspoon espresso powder, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
Mix in 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing for 10 seconds between each addition (this helps keep your batter from splitting)
Slowly add in your dry ingredients until the dough starts to come together. It will be a sticky dough and that is what we want.
Mix in (by hand) 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a log about 3ish inches in width. Pat down, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
Now, what make biscotti, biscotti, is that they are twice baked. So when they come out of the oven, let them cool a little bit, turn down the oven to 325 and cut into 1-inch slices using a sharp serrated knife. Lay the biscotti cut side down back on the baking tray and bake for another 15 minutes. Best served by dunking into hot coffee and once again, daydreaming about an English countryside cottage.
We all fail in life, whether that be in the kitchen or out, pivot and do something else. Who knows, what you end up doing may turn out to be a whole lot sweeter than what you originally planned.
Commenti