23 January 2008

Savour(y) me! (my biscottious story: part II)





As you’ve probably read in my previous entry (did you read it, pleeease?) I was enthused by a sudden idea to make some sort of savoury biscotti. It was quite a late night time yesterday, but I didn’t mind. What you’re gonna do if inspiration kicks in? *smiles* So, without any procrastination I got down to business. The principle I was following is easy as ABC. Savoury means not sweet, so eliminate sugar intake and substitute it with mix of spices (any that are dear to your heart) and a pinch of salt were all my actions. I also didn’t go nuts with nuts and lemon zest. Yes, I definitely played it by ear.

So, what's the result? Satisfactory but not yet breathtaking. I think I’ll have to work on the recipe further. I learnt that by some reason (unknown to me) the slab couldn’t be formed that easily as it works for classical biscotti. I ended it up with a medium ball of batter in my hands, so I put a tiny bit of olive oil on my palms and rolled and stretched the batter. It was a good workout for my arms indeed! *smiles*

The aroma in my kitchen was splendid, ‘cause I used turmeric, mix of Indian spices and paprika. It really smelled of India! When I was adding various spices to the flour mixture, I must say I was walking a tightrope to some extent, ‘cause I wasn’t confident at all if they would co-operate together in the batter. *wink, wink, wink* But they did, and the taste turned to be well balanced. Not salty at all, peppery enough. The aromas were easily distinguished while the flavours announced their presence not right away but after a few chews.

Something tells me that my savoury experimental biscottis may serve as a good dipper indeed!

P.S. I didn’t happen to take any presentable photo of those savoury buddies as the light in my kitchen was too dim then *sigh*, so instead (and for fun) I drew what you see above…*smile from ear to ear*

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the drawing. Paprika is one of my favourite spices, especially when it comes from Hungary.

anya said...

Cookiemouse, I appreciate your comment on my drawing. Thanks, buddy! *smiles*

Yes, hungarian paprika is oh-so-flavourful!!

Astra Libris said...

Your savory biscottis sound incredible! Such a great idea! I love your selection of spices - you've inspired me to try your spice mixture in my next batch of bread...

Your drawing is awesome! It definitely put a smile in my afternoon! :-)

anya said...

Dear Astra Libris,

thank you, thank you, thank you for labelling my drawing as awesome (not awful)! :-))

As to bread, what kind of are you going to make shortly? I'm already on stage 2 in making sourdough bread as featured on Cookiemouse.

Unknown said...

Mmmm, I'm curious to see how it turns out.