After a friend mentioned that she would love my Easter Egg Biscotti even better if they were chocolate, I decided to try to make her some. This is the end result. I used my original recipe and added cocoa powder. Worked out really nice, so I thought I’d share them with you.

 

Chocolate Easter Egg Biscotti

1 c. shortening – you can use butter- I do*
1 ½ c. sugar
4 eggs
5 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
1 c. milk
6 c. flour
¾ c. cocoa powder
Hard cooked eggs, plain or dyed
Powdered sugar glaze- recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add next 4 ingredients and blend until smooth. Mix flour with cocoa. Stir in flour mixture 2 cups at a time. Dough should be pliable. If dough is too sticky add a little more flour. Take a piece of dough about the size of a large egg and roll until smooth. Place on a greased baking sheet. Indent middle slightly and then place an egg in the center, pressing down slightly. It should look like a nest. Continue with remaining dough allowing about 2-3 inches in between as they grow. You can fit 6-8 on a large baking sheet. Bake 20 –25 minutes or until browned on the bottom. Cool on wire rack before drizzling with frosting. Makes 24-30. Store in the fridge.

* If using butter- chill dough before rolling.

Sugar glaze
2 c. powdered sugar
2-3 T. milk or orange juice
1 t. vanilla
Food coloring, if desired
Mix together until smooth and of drizzling consistency.

Sometimes the ingredients take you where you need to go. I had some oyster mushrooms I had gotten at a local farm market. I used some of them in an omelet a few days ago. I decided to use the rest of them in a pasta dish. The plan was for a red sauce, but as I started making the dish I tasted the mushrooms and decided to go in a another direction altogether. After the mushrooms were cooked with the onions and garlic they were so good already I didn’t want them in a red sauce at all.  I am so pleased with what ended up happening. Here is the recipe.

 

Oyster Mushroom Marsala

2 T. oil – you could use some butter, too.

1 small onion, sliced

3 cloves minced garlic

4 oz. oyster mushrooms, washed and chopped coarsely

1 c. sliced sweet peppers – I had mini peppers so cut in rings

1 T. capers – maybe a little more

2 T. flour

1 c. stock- use what you like I used chicken, veggie or beef would be good, too

1/2 c. Marsala wine

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsely

salt and pepper to taste

hot pepper to taste

Hot cooked pasta- I used a tomato fettuccine – about 6 oz.

In skillet cook onion in oil until golden. Add garlic, mushrooms, peppers and capers and cook over medium heat until veggies are tender. Add the flour and toss to coat. Add stock, wine and parsley and bring to a simmer. Cook over medium-low heat for several minutes, or a bit longer. You want to cook it long enough to mellow out the flavor of the Marsala. Adjust seasonings and toss with hot pasta. Serves as is or add some Parmesan cheese. Serves 2-3.

Babka is a different bread from many others that I make.  For starters, the recipe makes 6 loaves of bread at once. Great for gift giving in those quantities. Babka also uses so much less flour than most of my bread recipes. Only 8 cups of flour for the 6 loaves. I often use close to 8 cups of flour for 2 loaves of other breads. The bread dough is really a batter- so sticky you have to oil up your hands to divide the dough into the bread pans.  This very tiny amount of dough rises to fill  9×5-inch bread pans. The result is a bread that is very light with a crunchy exterior and tender interior. I can’t say where I got this recipe. I still have the original handwritten recipe, but it isn’t handwriting I recognize. I made it for a baking class the other night and people seemed to really like it. I hope you do, too.

 

Babka

3 packets active dry yeast
1 c. warm water
1 c. sugar
8 c. bread flour
1 t. salt
5 large eggs
1 stick butter
2 T. oil
Grated rinds of  an orange and a lemon
2 c. warm milk
1 c. raisins
1 egg mixed with 2-t. milk

In bowl combine yeast, water, sugar, 1 c. flour, and salt. Allow to stand 10 minutes. Beat in eggs, butter, oil and grated rinds. Add remaining flour alternately with milk, beating a total of five minutes. Stir in raisins. Dust a large bowl with flour and put in dough. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 2 hours. Generously grease loaf pans. This recipe will fill 6 standard loaf pans – 9×5 – inch. Lightly oil hands and divide dough into portions, smoothing tops as you place dough in pans. Cover and allow dough to rise until more than doubled, about 1 hour. Brush loaves with egg and milk mixture. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours or until bread is well browned and sounds hollow inside when tapped. Mine is normally done at about an hour and 15 minutes. Cool a few minutes in pans before removing to racks to cool. Babka in great eaten warm from the oven.