The urge to make Tiramisu came from a recent conversation I had with a friend explaining how it had been a very long time since I enjoyed the real version of the cake. Bakeries and restaurant in North America make it with sponge and not with savoiardi (lady fingers) cookies. Lady fingers are light yet sweet cookies shaped as a  fat finger. We usually accompany them with ice cream, puddings and other desserts. I don’t really know why we’ve started replacing the cookies with sponge but my boy Stefano from Italy couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head when I told him about it. So I made the cake with savoiardi and brought it work for everyone to enjoy.

For recipe request – maura.iemma@gmail.com

Lunch with Mariel involves Korean lunch box at Man-na and mini maple fudge cones at Dominion Square.

Man-na
1421, rue Bishop
Montreal, Qc

The French love Montreal, and because of that I can get some delicious Macarons.

Point G
1266, ave Mont-Royal est
Montreal, QC
(514) 750-7515

“Arrivé à Montréal en 1995, Thierry Andrieu, le chef pâtissier de Béziers en France, a collectionné les médailles d’or de différents concours prestigieux avant de s’embarquer pour la Nouvelle France. Après 35 ans d’expérience, en tant que chef pâtissier, il n’a pas hésité à tout abandonner pour concrétiser le projet du Point G. Dix ans plus tard, le deuxième créateur des origines du Point G arrive à Montréal en 2005 après avoir quitté sa Haute Savoie natale.Julien Reignier n’en a pas moins fait ses classes auprès du prestigieux chef français Paul Bocuse et a bourlingué autour du globe en passant des Émirats arabes au Brésil, entre autres.”

I’ve recently discovered the Kusmi Tea store on St-Denis. Me + tea shops = a kid in a candy store.
If you are a green tea lover, I would suggest the following from Kusmi Tea:
+ ginger-lemon green tea
+ green tea flavored with almond
+ Chinese green tea flavored with bergamot citrus fruits and flowers
+ Chinese green tea flavored with scents of buffalo grass

I baked some traditional Italian cookies for the holidays. Most of the cookies taste yummy with a cup of cafe latte or an espresso. Enjoy!

Almond Biscotti

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cups of chopped almonds
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp grated orange rind
1 egg (remove white part) with a little milk to brush on top of the dough for shine

+ Mix flour, baking powder and almonds
+ In a separate bowl, mix eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract, and orange rind
+ Stir liquid ingredients into flour and form into a dough
+ Roll into 2 logs (like in the photo)
+ brush the logs with the beaten egg
+ place into oven at 350 for 20 min
+ remove from oven and chop in one movement (do not saw into the dough or else it will break) into cookies. Please cut diagonally.
+ place into oven again for another 20 min at 350 (this is so the biscotti becomes harder, I usually don’t do this because I like them soft so I keep them in untill they are cooked)
+ leave them out to dry.

Here is another one for you.  Hope you’ll like this  one as much as I do.
LEMON COOKIES
4 eggs
1 cup of oil
1 cup of sugar
4 (full) cups of flour
1 cup of milk
3 lemons (zest and juice)
4 tablespoons of magic

+ Mix all together (powders in the liquids)
+ Make a thick dough
+ on flour roll a tablespoon full (1 cookie) and place onto pan
+ Oven 350 for 20-25 min.
+ For lemon icing: mix icing sugar, half a lemon juice and very little milk.
+ dip cooked cookies into lemon icing
+ let them dry before serving

Jeremy Patterson and Jeremy Wirth came over for a Ringleaders photo shoot. I cooked them up some home-made pasta with fresh meat sauce, chicken cutlets, tomato cucumber salade, and some of my grandfather’s home made dried sopressata salami. Sometimes my cooking can be a disaster since I’m still learning but I like to think I make a pretty decent sauce. I wouldn’t be 100% Italian if that was a failure. I use Cook To Bang for yummy recipes. Check it out! This one and this one is so good.

Photo: Cook To Bang

I’ve recently learned how very few people know what Taralli are. It’s on my favorite italian cookie that I snack on. Taralli’s are unsweet biscuit rings made in an unusual way: the rings of dough are boiled in water before baking. There is no leaven in the dough, but there is olive oil. In most cases we cook it with fennel seed. So yummy. Here is a simple recipe.

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm white wine
1/2 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups semolina flour
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lightly crushed fennel seeds

INSTRUCTIONS
In a large bowl, scatter yeast over a mixture of white wine and water; leave for several minutes to bubble up, then stir to mix well.
Add flour, semolina, olive oil, fennel seeds, and salt. Mix together, then turn onto an unfloured board and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a clean, dry bowl, and return dough. Lightly oil the top, cover with a damp towel, and let rise for 45 minutes or until puffy.
Divide the dough into small pieces. Roll each into a long, slim pencil, cut into 3-inch lengths, and pinch the two ends firmly together to form a ring.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and drop the taralli in, a few at a time. When the taralli rise, remove and drain on a kitchen towel.
Arrange boiled taralli on a greased cookie sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.