Biscotti, butter crunch and flavored pita chips: Here & Now’s resident chef Kathy Gunst says home-made holiday food gifts are a great way to show you care. She brings us some samples and recipes.
Indian-Spiced Cashews
These nuts are hot, sweet, and filled with exotic spices. Feel free to substitute or add walnuts, almonds, pistachios, etc. The nuts will keep for about 2 days in a well sealed jar in a dark, cool spot.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon hot curry powder
Dash cayenne powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup lightly salted cashews, see note above
2 tablespoons honey
In a medium skillet heat the oil and butter over low heat. Add the cumin, turmeric, curry, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook, stirring the spices into the fat for about 30 seconds. Add the cashews and stir well making sure to coat all the nuts with the spices; cook 2 minutes. Add the honey to the skillet and stir well to coat all the nuts; cook 2 minutes.
Place the nuts on a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil, spreading them out so they don’t clump together. Let cool and remove from the paper.
Makes 1 cup.
Spiced Nuts Version # 2
These nuts are equally good served with cocktails or sprinkled over salads, soups, and stews. The nuts will keep, covered tightly in a cool, dark spot, for at least 3 days.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon curry powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
1 cup pecan halves
½ cup walnut halves
Sea salt to taste
Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Lightly oil the paper.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the ginger, curry and cayenne and cook, stirring, about 15 seconds. Stir in the sugar and the honey and mix well. Add the pecans and the walnuts and stir well to completely coat the nuts; cook about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Place the nuts on the prepared baking sheets being sure to spread them out and separate so they don’t touch each other. Cool. Sprinkle lightly with salt, if desired.
Makes 1 ½ cups.
Chocolate-Dipped Pistachio-Orange Biscotti
These twice-baked cookies are laced with toasted pistachio nuts, orange rind and orange juice, and then dipped into semi-sweet chocolate to create a crunchy, satisfying biscotti. Serve with hot chocolate, tiny cups of strong espresso, or a pot of tea.
Ingredients:
2 cups raw shelled pistachios, toasted
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cold, cut into 4 pieces
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 packed teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice, preferably fresh
6 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, about 55%, or 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Finely chop half the pistachios and combine in a small bowl with the remaining whole nuts; set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until blended. Add the butter and blend into dry ingredients using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Mix the eggs, vanilla, zest, and juice in a separate bowl until well blended. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just blended. Fold in the pistachios.
Generously flour a clean working area. Using floured hands, divide the dough into two equal portions. Form each piece into a flat log roughly 12-inches long by 2-inches wide by 1-inch high, adding additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Carefully place the logs 2 to 3 inches apart on the parchment-covered baking sheet.
Bake the logs for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch and just beginning to brown. Remove from the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F, and let the biscotti cool for about 10 minutes.
Transfer the logs to a cutting board. Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, cut logs on a slight diagonal into 1/2-inch wide pieces. Place the biscotti cut side up on 1 or 2 cookie sheets. Bake for 30 minutes, turning the biscotti once halfway through baking. The biscotti should be firm to the touch and golden brown on both sides. Remove from the baking sheet and cool completely on wire racks.
While the biscotti are cooling, melt the chocolate in the microwave, in a double boiler, or over very low heat. When almost all of chocolate has melted, remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Dip one flat side of each biscotti into the chocolate and hold vertically to let excess chocolate drip off. Place the biscotti chocolate-side up on wax paper to cool until the chocolate hardens, 3 to 4 hours. The biscotti will keep, in a cool, dark, well-sealed tin or plastic bag, for several days.
Makes about 3 dozen biscotti.
Favorite Variations:
• Substitute almonds, pine nuts, or hazelnuts for the pistachios.
• Dip the biscotti into white or milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate.
• For double-chocolate pistachio biscotti, sift 1/4 cup high-quality cocoa powder into the dry ingredients.
• Substitute fresh tangerine or clementine juice for the orange juice.
• Add 2 tablespoons chopped dried cherries or cranberries.
Andrea’s Chocolate-Dipped Buttercrunch
My sister-in-law, Andrea Gunst, shared this buttercrunch recipe several years ago and it has changed our holiday gift giving traditions forever. This is the stuff everyone begs for year after year — be sure to make multiple batches. Buttercrunch, a caramel coated in chocolate and ground nuts, keeps for over a week and makes a great gift.
You can double the recipe if you like, but if you want to make more you shouldn’t try to multiply the recipe by three or four — simply keep doubling the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon light Karo syrup
2 tablespoons water
2 large (about 7 or 8 ounce) chocolate bars*
About 1 cup very finely chopped walnuts**
*Buttercrunch can be made successfully with regular grocery store milk chocolate or chocolate chips, but you can also splurge and use fabulous bittersweet or semi-sweet 60% cocoa chocolate. The choice is yours.
**You can use walnuts, almonds, pecans, pistachio, or any type of nut but it must be finely chopped to adhere properly to the chocolate.
Line a cookie sheet with a piece of well greased aluminum foil.
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, sugar, Karo syrup and water over a low heat, stirring frequently. The mixture will caramelize and is ready when it hits 290 degrees on a candy thermometer. Watch it carefully, particularly toward the end of the cooking process. It will take at least 15 to 20 minutes to reach 290 on low heat. The mixture can burn easily; reduce the heat to very low and stir constantly if it seems to be cooking too quickly or turning darker than pale golden brown.
When the candy hits 290 remove from the heat and carefully spread it out in an even layer on the sheet of greased foil. Spread with a spatula to make a fairly thin layer. Let cool and harden. (If you are really impatient you can place the cookie sheet outside in the cold in a protected place so it will harden more quickly.)
While the buttercrunch is hardening, melt the chocolate in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring until smooth. If you choose to let the buttercrunch harden outside or in a very cold spot you must bring it back to room temperature before spreading with the chocolate. If the buttercrunch is too cold the chocolate won’t adhere properly.
When the buttercrunch is hard to the touch (you shouldn’t feel any soft spots), use a soft spatula and spread a thin layer of chocolate over the entire thing. Sprinkle with half the nuts, pressing down lightly so they adhere. Again, if you are the impatient type, you can let the chocolate harden in a cold spot. The chocolate should be fully dry—no wet spots to the touch. Carefully remove the foil with the candy from the cookie sheet; place the cookie sheet on top of the foil and candy. Gently flip the candy over onto the cookie sheet and peel away the foil. Spread the remaining chocolate on top of the other side of the buttercrunch. Sprinkle with the remaining nuts, pressing down lightly. Let the chocolate harden and set in a cool spot.
When the buttercrunch is dry and hard break it into small pieces. You can keep it in a cool, dry tin or tightly sealed plastic bag for up to two or three weeks.
Serves 6 to 8; once you taste it, it’s hard to stop!
Fruit and Nut Maple Granola
I’ve never been able to understand why so many cooks think making granola at home is difficult. It’s as easy as mixing a few ingredients together on a cookie sheet, and baking them; the whole process takes under an hour. The only hard part is choosing the ingredients. Think of this a master recipe that you can add or subtract from; see Favorite Variations below for more ideas. Place the granola in a small clear bag, tie with a ribbon, and bring as a hostess gift.
Ingredients:
3 cups rolled old-fashioned oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¾ cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds
¾ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup raisins, yellow raisins, or dried cranberries
½ cup dried chopped apricots
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
On a large cookie sheet or 2 smaller ones, combine the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Drizzle the maple syrup, canola oil, and vanilla over the oat and nut mixture and stir well to coat the entire mixture. Add the raisins and apricots and stir well to incorporate.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring the granola about every 10 minutes so it doesn’t clump up and rotating the cookie sheet once or twice so the granola bakes evenly. The granola is ready when it just begins to turn a light golden color.
Remove from the oven and stir well. Let cool, stirring once or twice to avoid clumping. Store the granola in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 6 weeks.
Makes 6 to 8 cups.
Favorite Variations:
• Substitute dried blueberries, dried cherries, dried cranberries, or dried strawberries for the raisins, or use a combination.
• Substitute pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, or cashews for the almonds, or add a combination of several nuts.
• Substitute ¼ cup honey for the brown sugar.
• Add ½ cup wheat germ to the granola.
• Add ½ cup sesame seeds or flax seeds to the granola.
• Add ¼ cup bran flakes to the granola.
• Increase the amount of ginger to 2 teaspoons.
• Add 1 teaspoon allspice to the mixture.
Homemade Pasta Sauce a la Puttenesca
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
Crushed red chile flakes to taste
4 cups crushed tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup capers, drained
1 cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
In a large pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, basil, rosemary, crushed pepper and cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Raise the heat to high and add the red wine. Cook 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and let simmer 15 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Add the capers, olives and anchovies, if desired and cook another 15 minutes. Place in a well sealed jar and refrigerate. The sauce will keep refrigerated for several days or can be frozen for months.
Pita Crackers
I love making these simple pita crackers. Simply open a pita bread—whole wheat or white—and cut the bread into triangles. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle of the seasonings of your choice. You can make the crackers a day ahead of time; seal in a plastic bag and keep in a cool spot. This recipe makes 24 crackers, but can easily be doubled or more.
Ingredients:
2 whole pita breads, whole wheat or white
About ¼ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Flavorings, see below
Preheat the oven to 350 degree.
Cut the pita breads open into two halves. Cut each circle into 6 triangles; you should have a total of 24 triangles. Place on a 2 cookie or baking sheet with the cut side up. Lightly brush the bread with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and any other flavoring choice.
Bake on the middle shelf for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Makes 24 crackers.
Variations:
Add any of the following flavorings on top of the olive oil:
• Sprinkle with garlic salt.
• Sprinkle with ½ cup sesame seeds.
• Sprinkle with ½ cup poppy seeds.
• Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, chives, mint, oregano, verbena, or any of your favorite herbs.
Posted by @kengeorge 
