bread and sauces.

Day trip to some island with seals was cancelled due to time restrictions...so my friends and I went to the west end for a bit of shopping instead! On the way home we stopped by the cheesemonger where I've discovered a delightful baguette.



So far I haven't been able to find a good pair of brown leather boots, but I have faith in my quest (the vintage stores here are quite promising). However, I did manage to find a useful book in a charity shop about how to cook sauces! Perhaps if I master some of them, I will be a bit more creative during my culinary adventures.

I decided tonight would be one of those adventures. I caramelized onions (first time) and cooked some potatoes in them. They were baby potatoes and I chopped them in half...and then sliced just the top part. In a different pot I guesstimated a béchamel sauce. I then threw them all together in a bowl. It looked quite nice.




Tasted good as well! But I regret the fact that I didn't cook the potatoes longer in the caramelized onion...and also that I didn't sneak some of those onions into the sauce so the flavor could join with the delightful creamyness. Oh well...next time! x

first post: cantucci.

Buonasera!

After much personal debate, I've decided to start a food blog. I haven't had much luck with keeping up blogs (see: No Abhorrence for Florence and The Scot Spot), so it's kind of a big deal that I've started another one. This time there's a bit more motivation behind it, so I hope it'll go well.


Lately I've really gotten into baking cantucci. I made them once before, but that was with whole wheat flour...and they came out kind of hearty and not exactly what I was hoping. So I tried again.

I went out and splurged on a bottle of amaretto (Disaronno). The purchase was totally legal because I'm in Scotland; unfortunately, this shit would not fly (would not have flown?) in the States. Then I got to work and voilà, Amaretto-Cranberry-Walnut Cantucci:




The taste was pretty good! It could've done without the walnuts though. I don't know what it is about them, but I think they taste waxy in cookies sometimes. The logs were fairly large...about the size of the biscotti you'd buy in cafes. Excited by the results, I decided to make some more a week later:



These Amaretto-Vanilla-Hazelnut Cantucci were FANTASTIC. While the cranberry ones were slightly lacking in sweetness, the hazelnut ones were perfect. I also left them in the oven for a bit longer, so they came out a little browner...which I think is nice. They go wonderfully with a cup of coffee (I'm totally into coffee again).

Next batch will include pistachios, I think. x