Text 23938, 124 rader
Skriven 2009-05-10 20:12:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JANIS KRACHT
Ärende: Re: Squirrels
=====================
-=> Quoting Janis Kracht to Jim Weller <=-

 >> what would keep a squirrel away anyway
 
 > Big mean cats and small yappy dogs.

 JK> You know, I had a cat once that totally cleaned out the chipmunk
 JK> population in our neighborhood!  Literally.. this cat was that hungry
 JK> all the time.. he was quite the hunter, and even killed a racoon once
 JK> (not without some serious damage to himself, needless to say, but he
 JK> survived

Cats can be very tough critters.

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Frese: Cinnamon Breakfast Toasts
Categories: Breakfast, Italian
  Servings: 16

      3 lg eggs, at room temperature
    1/2 c  granulated sugar
    1/2 c  light olive oil or vegetable
           oil
      1 ts pure vanilla extract
  2 1/4 c  unbleached, all-purpose
           flour, plus additional for
           rolling the dough
    1/4 c  fine cornmeal or instant
           polenta
    1/2 ts salt
      3 ts baking powder
      4 ts ground cinnamon
           Optional toppings
      1 TB milk
      1 TB raw or demerara sugar

Italians favor something quick, light and sweet for breakfast,
usually enjoyed with a creamy cappuccino or a spremuta at the
neighborhood bar. Rich, buttery brioches and cornetti filled with
fruit jam or pastry cream are standard, but the sweet breakfast
lineup can also vary from region to region. In Florence, you might
start the day with a creamy budino di riso or a warm bomboloni; in
Torino, you can get your morning rush from sugar-topped, buttery,
roll swirled with almond paste, or flaky pastry folded over
gianduja; in Friuli, have an apple strudel with your cafe.

South of Naples, the morning traditions were once far simpler and
much less sweet. In Calabria, my mother remembers having crumbly,
biscotti-like toasts called frese for breakfast before leaving for
school. Just slightly sweet and spiked with anise or fennel seed,
they were perfectly suited for dunking into a long-pulled shot of
espresso with warm milk. Her grandmother made them with yeast, to
rise high and light before they were double-baked: once to cook them
through, then again to toast them crisp for keeping. 

My own grandmother carried on the tradition by making the same frese
for me; she insisted on buying her anise seeds from Arthur Avenue,
where she knew she could find them imported for Italy. Cocoa Puffs
they were not; there was no mistaking that this was a recipe born
from lean times, made with a only few other ingredients besides
flour and a little bit of sugar. But as most grandmothers do, she
managed to turn them into a special, cherished bit of food
nostalgia.

This is my non-yeasted version of those same breakfast biscotti, but
instead of anise seed, I loaded them up with a generous amount of
ground cinnamon and some cornmeal for some extra textural dimension.
Feel free to use anise or fennel seeds instead of cinnamon, but my
advice is to limit the flavor to a perfect, singular note, because
that's they way my nonna would have liked it.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the eggs, sugar and oil in the bowl
of an electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat them together
on medium speed for one minute, until light and foamy.

While the egg mixture is beating, whisk together 2 cups of the flour
with the cornmeal, salt, baking powder and cinnamon until thoroughly
blended. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat them together
until a thick dough is formed. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and
discard the whisk. Use a spatula to fold the remaining 1/4 cup of
flour into the dough. Let the dough sit for five minutes so the
flour can absorb the moisture from the eggs.

While the dough is sitting, lightly grease a cookie sheet with
non-stick vegetable spray, line it with parchment paper, and lightly
grease the parchment. 

Flour your work surface and fingers, and divide the dough in half.
Roll each half into a log, about 1 1/2 inches wide and place the
logs on the prepared cookie sheet, evenly spaced. The dough will be
tacky, but easy manage; you can continue to shape the logs them
after placing them on the cookie sheet.

Use a pastry brush to brush away any excess flour. If you want add a
bit more sweetness to the toasts, brush them with the milk and
sprinkle the raw or demerara sugar on top.

Bake the logs for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are puffy, golden
brown and firm to touch. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and
turn the temperature down to 300 degrees. Let the logs cool for 15
minutes on the tray.

Use a serrated knife to slice the logs on the bias about 1/2 of an
inch thick and lay them flat on the cookie sheet. Return the slices
to the oven and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until
the slices are browned and toasted. Allow the toasts to cool
completely and store them in an air-tight container. Makes 32
toasts.

Posted by Gina DePalma to Serious Eats
 
MMMMM-------------------------------------------------

Cheers

YK Jim


... Cats and monkeys; monkeys and cats; all human life is there.

___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)