Giovanna’s Family Secret Tiramisu Recipe

Feb 18, 2013

Tiramisu is possibly the best food in the world. Sweet, cold, creamy, with the bite of coffee and liquor. But I rarely have it, and almost never make it. I’ve found that restaurants in the U.S. get something wrong (not sure what it is—too bready? flavor’s off?) and while actually making tiramisu isn’t difficult, finding the right ingredients IS.

My host mom from when I studied abroad, Giovanna, was the best cook, and gave me her family’s recipes for her pasta con pesto and tiramisu. And all of the sudden last Saturday night, I got it in my head that I HAD to make it for dinner the next evening. However, none of the stores had lady fingers (I called around), so I made my own. See separate post, the recipe I used is here. It was surprisingly easy. Or you could substitute madeleines or pound cake or angel food cake (the first would be better than the other two).

I even made myself my own little personal-size serving in a cute little ramekin that I could eat that night! 

Maple Cranberry Cornbread

Feb 10, 2013

Fresh, hot cornbread is just the best, isn’t it??

The problem with cornbread so often (and why I don’t make it much) is that leftover cornbread is bad. Like dry, get-stuck in-your-throat-and-scratch-up-your-mouth bad. It’s just one of those foods that doesn’t translate to leftovers well. And for one person (that’s me) to try and eat an entire pan of cornbread in one sitting is madness. Not that I haven’t tried…

So while I was most excited initially about the cranberries in this recipe, it ended up being the overall texture of the cornbread and the hint of sweetness from the maple syrup that I ended up loving. The bread was super moist, and retained that texture for the next 2-3 days while I ate the leftovers. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again even without the cranberries.

Now the cranberries themselves weren’t quite what I expected. I figured that the combination of the super tart cranberries and the maple syrup would kind of balance each other out taste-wise, but the cranberries were still quite tart. The solution to this, of course, is to drizzle honey all over the cornbread! The cranberries were really good, but I think I might like cherries or something like that even better.

Acting on a whim (Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti)

Oct 21, 2012

Strangely, I’d never really wondered how biscotti were made. They haven’t ever really interested me as a food—I like my cookies and breads soft and gooey, not teeth-shattering.

Then one Sunday evening last month, I was minding my own business, watching TV and browsing Pinterest, and I got this sudden, strong compulsion to make biscotti. It was seriously weird.

So I began searching for biscotti recipes on Pinterest and also just online overall, bookmarking a few that looked interesting. But I was hampered somewhat by the ingredients I had on hand. For instance, I didn’t have almonds at home, and most of the recipes called for them. Then I found this gem of a recipe, and I was immediately hooked:  chocolate hazelnut biscotti.

Strangely, I DID have hazelnuts on hand—my mom had given me some frozen hazelnut bits quite some time ago—so I decided it was fate, and set to work.

Biggest thing we learned from biscotti-making experiment? I have no actual concept of what a half-inch is.

Turns out, the basic premise of biscotti is that you bake it twice, which makes it crunchier and harder than a regular cookie or bread. And now you know.