Make these little Chocolate Biscuit People with any cutter on hand. They are lovely and crunchy and can be decorated with all kinds of colourful shiny bits and pieces. I have also included some postcards from food travels in Italy.
My kitchen is a bit neglected in the last couple of weeks my teenager, Skater has been in charge ( help!). I ‘ve just returned from a trip to Milan and Rome to visit food producers. I have all kinds of ideas and look forward to sharing some of these with you in the coming weeks along with lots of pictures. I joined an exotic food walking tour in Bangkok on my way back from Rome that I would love to take you on this week.
Meanwhile I have these cute VIP- Very Important Pastry cutters I bought while at Eataly in Rome.
Eataly have you heard of it? It is 4 floors of food and 18 restaurants. There is cheese making in fact a whole mozzarella section with glass walls so you can watch them make it fresh. There is gelato making & several gelato bars, seafood – all kinds of exotic stuff here, a butchery- aging/cutting, bread & pastry making, pizza and pasta making . Staggeringly, all processes can be watched via open kitchens and walls including a mini brewery. The vegetarian restaurant is situated next to the fresh vegetable sales. There are pizza bars with so many slabs of pizza you can’t tear your eyes away, foccacia made in thin elegant slabs topped with anything your heart desirers . Big rotisseries with meat roasting that can be bought whole or sliced or eaten there with sides of beautifully cooked beans and vegetables, or choose another restaurant and have meat grilled or as a ragu, may be with some fresh Caserecci pasta?. Fish can be grilled while you sit up at the bar or on a giant plate as Fritto Misto or why not a three tired mixed seafood platter? The mozzarella bar is busy while panini lure you with soft prosciutto and oozing condiments of artichoke and olive pastes. There is a coffee bar, the very Italian way to throw down a coffee while you are standing, as well as comfortable lounges where you can get a coffee or a coffee cocktail . There are gelaterias, beer and food matching, it goes on. Naturally there are books, wine, schools, kitchen equipment, even a travel agency. I think you get the idea…… the offering swings wildly between artisanal and industrial so you need to be aware that this is a style of supermarket/store. According to the publicity, Eataly is the 3rd biggest tourist attraction in New York, today. This is the chains 15th store. I hear it is an interesting trek by public transport. I arrived by car.
You may be wondering why then, I would buy these cutters, and that’s a great question that I can not answer. There is however,a great crunchy biscuit recipe attached so you can make your own chocolate shapes even without these cute cutters for biscuits that hang on the side of your cup.
I am very excited to have all of these Macadamias in my kitchen so I can create lots of recipes this winter. It can take up to 10 years for a Macadamia tree to reach maturity so I have a very precious cargo here. The Macadamia industry encourages native bees to help pollinate the crop, protecting bee populations with the extra bonus result of delicious Macadamia honey.
And finally, these Amarena cherries. Italian sour cherries are grown around Bolognia and Modena, they are prized for their texture, colour and the incredible sourness that works so well in cooking. Paola Calciolari is the owner, manager and tastebuds behind Le Tamerici artisan products. Her use of mustards in fruit (a regional speciality- Lombardy) and combinations of surprising tastes, flavours and textures are legendary. She has built her business around using almost entirely all local seasonal ingredients and supports the revival of heirloom fruit and vegetables from the Northern Italian region. The cherries are a subtle mixture of just poached deseeded cherries in a sugar syrup with just the right touch of local (IGP) balsamic (Modena is just down the road). All of her jars are a magical combination of the flavour and texture of the ingredient, even though it has been preserved. I met her at the cooking school in Mantova, Lombardy, a town 2 hours from Milan, it’s on the same property as the small production facility. The school is light and bright and it was here that she cooked lunch and matched a local ‘Mantovan’ risotto (this is a rice growing area) as well as cheese with her cutting edge products. The cherries were paired with a local creamy goat/sheep milk cheese and also stirred into a semi freddo with hazelnuts. A gorganzola was paired with mustard oranges and the risotto with lemon mustard fruit. What an experience for me! Thank you also to the gorgeous Alessandra Cazzaniga with her perfect English, who made sure I understood everything x
Chocolate Biscuit people
Ingredients
- 150 gm butter room temperature
- 100 gm caster sugar
- 275 gm plain flour
- 1 whole Egg small
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 25 gm cocoa
- 2 Tablespoons chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Put the softened butter in the bowl of a mixer and cream with the sugar. I used a food processor to cream my butter and sugar.
- Add the egg to the processor or mixing bowl, and mix well. Add the sifted dry ingredients and the salt and process until the mixture comes together in a ball. Do not over mix
- Add the chips if using
- Flatten out into a disc and refrigerate till chilled.
- When ready take out of the fridge and roll to between two pieces of baking paper to a thickness of 3mm. Rolling and cutting the dough will be a little like rolling pastry. The flour you use will stay on the baked biscuits if you use a lot. Brush off excess with a pastry brush. Using baking paper will make the dough nice and smooth and you wont have to use as much flour to stop it sticking ( you can use Icing or confectioners sugar to stop the sticking too) Use your cutter to cut out shapes. Put onto a lined tray and bake for 7-10 minutes or until firm.
- As they cool they will become crunchy.
- Decorate or sandwich with nutella and eat!
Just a word
I visited le Tamerici and Eataly as part of a work trip researching products. The macadamias are for writing recipes c/o www.australian-macadamias.org and www.crossmancommunications.com.au. If you are making a trip to Mantova and would like tastings of Le Tamerici products or would like to go to cooking classes . Contact: franco@letamericisrl.com
see what others are doing in there kitchen this month by visiting Celia www.figjamandlimecordial.com
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
What a fun filled and yummy field trip!! Love that cute biscuit people cookie cutter! So fun!
Celia
Oh, it sounds like you’ve had the best of times! We’ve missed you though – glad you’re home! And love the little people – I think that was a worthwhile thing to bring home with you! That display of Marino flour loaves is mouthwatering… x
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
What cute cutters! I would have bought them too 😀 Eataly sounds so interesting and welcome back! I can’t wait to read all about the Bangkok street food tour 😀 x
yummychunklet
Time to buy more cookie cutters!
Hotly Spiced
I just love the look of these VIPs. They are so cute! I love how you decorated them. It looks like you had an incredible time away. Did you stack on any kilos? I sure would have given the sound of all that food. Maybe you burned it all off on that walking tour through Thailand xx
milkteaxx
these cutters are so cute! i bought fried’s ABC cookie cutters for LOLs but these are heaps better!
Angie@Angie's Recipes
How adorable are these chocolate people! I love macadamia oil…so great in salad dressings. Those wild yeast breads look fantastic!
ChgoJohn
Eataly is coming to Chicago later this year and I’ve every intention of being there for the grand opening.
What a wonderful trip that you took and your souvenirs have found a great new home in your kitchen. Thank you for sharing so much of your trip and kitchen with us.
Mon
Eataly sounds fantastic! Can’t wait for the next post.
Lisa the Gourmet Wog
I need to get myself to Eataly, how cool does that place sound! Love the cookies too, I thought at first they were gingerbread but was pleasantly surprised to see the words chocolate after 🙂
Eha
Oh my, had heard of Eately but had no idea how imposing the setup! When oh when will we get this in Sydney? OK, being the 99.9 % savoury gal I am, my eyes kept returnung to the smallgoods and breads . . . 🙂 !
cityhippyfarmgirl
Damn. I didn’t think I needed any more cookie cutters…turns out I do! And now Bec says there are others to try of the same brand? Of course I must.
Now Tania, do you think if I sat quietly on your kitchen floor, you might throw me tidbits now and then of your delicious travelling hauls and tell me stories of Eataly? I promise I’ll sit in a corner?
Claire @ Claire K Creations
Tania I am off to NYC on Thursday and so excited to be visiting Eataly! I love the cookies cutters! So much cooler to have your biscuit ‘hanging’ from your mug rather than sitting on a saucer.
Sounds like an amazing trip!
InTolerant Chef
What an amazing time you must have had Tania! That place sounds incredible- you lucky thing you!
Love your cookie cutters, I actually have some of the same brand that are bunny ears and cute little wings that hang on the edge of a cup too 🙂
MyKitchenStories
Oh how cute I probab;y would have bought those too
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
What I wouldn’t give for 30 minutes in your kitchen! I promise to leave the big bags outside so I don’t feed the urge to pinch anything. I love your cutters and your visit to Italy? I’m swooning.
Victoria of Flavors of the Sun
These are not only over-the-top cute, but they sound delicious as well. Love those cookie cutters and have never seen any quite like them!
Suzanne Perazzini
You lucky, lucky lady! How I would have loved that. I have never been to Eataly but on our next trip to Rome, I will certainly do that.
The Life of Clare
What wonderful things are in your kitchen this month. I love the little biscuits that can hang off the side of your cup.
Gourmet Getaways
Oh I love the cookie cutters and I will have to try the recipe. I would have gone crazy on your trip… my suitcase would have been full to over flowing and my belly sore from too much food 😉
I am pinning this as a travel destination 😉
MyKitchenStories
Wait till you see the next post!
Lizzy (Good Things)
Love those cookie cutters, I sold cookware for a decade and have never seen them before. That semi freddo looks scrumptious too!