BISCOTTI

(ALMOND COOKIES)

I remember the old, huge brick oven,rebuilt after the war by my great grandparents, cooked unevenly for the last few years of it's life. Sometimes when Mom or Grandma made cookies (especially at easter time) they had to use some tricks to make sure they cooked right. They moved the baking pans around in different areas of the oven surface, or take out some that cooked more rapidly and move the others in the vacated spots... There was definitely a skill to make sure things didn't come out burned or uncooked that I didn't appreciate until much later.
That oven was built poorly because they had nearly nothing when my grandparents and great-grandparents returned to their ruins. None-the-less, it lasted a good 30 years.

MELE AL VINO ROSSO

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweet red wine
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon 
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon flour

Peel and cut the apples in half and take out the core. Set them in a bowl with cold water and the salt to prevent discoloration. In a large skillet combine wine, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ½ cup of water, and bring it to boil over high heat. Add the apples, reduce the heat, and simmer covered for 10 minutes, turning them over once. Remove the apples from the wine sauce and add the flour, sifting slowly while mixing with a wire whisk to prevent lumping (If lumps cannot be prevented, remove them with a slotted spoon). Simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Arrange the apples on 6 salad plates, spoon the wine sauce over the top, and serve hot.

The smell of these apples cooking reminds me of autumn and winemaking. My grandfather used to cook apples for my brothers and me with the new wine at harvest time. It was a treat we loved and looked forward to every year.

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CROSTATA

(MARMALADE PIE)

Preparation Time: 50 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks plus 1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1½ sticks butter at room temperature
3 cups flour
1 jar (10 ounces) fruit marmalade (any type)

In a small bowl combine egg, yolks, sugar, butter and flour and with dough hooks on a mixer, knead at moderate speed for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees. On a pastry board, roll out ¾ of the dough to about 9 inches in diameter (reserve ¼ and wrap it in plastic to prevent drying). Place it in an ungreased 9-inch pie pan or baking dish (the dough should not cover the sides of the dish, it should fit snugly) and cover the top with the marmalade, leaving a ½-inch rim around the edge. Roll out the remaining dough to about the same diameter or slightly larger and cut it in strips 1 inch wide with a pastry wheel. Place them lattice style over the top of the marmalade, lightly pressing down around the edges to make sure they stick to the bottom dough; cut off any remaining length. Bake for 40 minutes, checking occasionally; if the color begins to get darker than gold around the edge, cover it with aluminum foil. Cool, cut and serve. 

When I was growing up, Crostata was a popular dessert in the late spring and summer when fresh fruits are plentiful. It especially reminds me of the times my mother made the different kinds of marmalade. My most favorite was one she made from fresh tart cherries called Amarene. But first we had to climb the trees and pick the fruits; that was the fun part! My brothers and I would compete on who would climb the highest, and Mom yelling at us to get down off the tree before we fell and broke our necks!

BISCOTTI AL LIMONE

(LEMON COOKIES)

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Total Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Makes approximately 4 dozen

Ingredients: 

½ cup sugar
1 stick butter at room temperature
4 eggs
½ cup milk
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup powdered sugar (optional)

Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees. Grease 2 cookie sheets or spray them with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, using a mixer, combine the sugar and butter together. Slowly add eggs, milk, lemon peel, lemon juice, flour, and baking powder. With the tip of a spoon, drop the dough in small amounts the size of a walnut on one cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Meanwhile, fill the second cookie sheet with the dough the same way, and bake after the first batch is done. Let the first batch cool for a few minutes, then remove the cookies from the cookie sheet with a metal spatula and place them on a platter; sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar (optional) while still warm. Repeat the process until finished. Cool and serve.

I remember the first time my Mom made these in her brand-new, free-standing, REX gas stove.  This was a gift from her Grandparents and it was one of the very first free-standing stoves in the area.  Up until then everyone cooked mostly over a fire.  We were among some families that had one of those small, 3-burner, white porcelain-on-steel cook-tops that sat on a flat surface (much like the ones they use for camping nowadays). They came with unsightly and dangerous gas tanks that needed hiding from kids.