Parmesan Black-Pepper Biscotti

Let me just start out by saying–Baltimore has some really excellent food bloggers, and I feel really fortunate to be part of the group!

Last Friday night I had the opportunity to meet some of these lovely ladies and one gent, at a blogger gathering hosted by Dara of Dining Dish. There was tons of food, wine (including some lovely pink fizzy rose), and good company all around.

Unfortunately though, I didn’t get any pictures of this great gathering because, well, I was being sort of a chicken. I had never met any of my fellow food bloggers before, so I wasn’t sure how they would all feel about me waltzing with a camera and a bag full of gear. But, in retrospect, I realize I was being silly–these are bloggers who LIVE through pictures, of course they would all come armed with cameras!

But luckily, I DID take pictures of what I took to the party–Parmesan Black-Pepper Biscotti. I know it seems out of the ordinary for me (ie there’s no sugar in the recipe, and instead of cinnamon or ginger, black pepper) but the food call for the party was for appetizers, and it seemed like this biscotti was the natural meeting of my love of baking and appetizerland. So I gave it a try, to excellent results!

[If you do want to see pictures of the meetup, Sweet Mary took some, which you can see here.]

Parmesan Black-Pepper Biscotti
Adapted from Epicurious, although the recipe was originally published in Gourmet

The blurb on Epicurious claimed these would be fabulous cocktail party food, especially with red wine. After several days of eating these, I can confirm that they are indeed great with red wine, but also beer, water, and while painting your kitchen. The only adaptation I made to this recipe was to use skim milk instead of whole. Also, I didn’t have a spice grinder, and after briefly considering using my coffee grinder (what a bad idea THAT would have been) I decided to grind all that pepper by hand. It was a wrist workout for sure!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (2 1/4 cups)
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk

Directions:

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

Pulse peppercorns in grinder until coarsely ground.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups cheese, and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper in a large bowl. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 3 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quarter dough. Using well-floured hands, form each piece into a slightly flattened 12-inch-long log (about 2 inches wide and 3/4 inch high). Transfer logs to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging logs about 3 inches apart.

Whisk remaining egg and brush some over logs, then sprinkle tops of logs evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 1/2 tablespoon ground pepper. Bake, rotating sheets 180 degrees and switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until logs are pale golden and firm, about 30 minutes total. Cool logs to warm on sheets on a rack, about 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

Carefully transfer 1 warm log to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining logs, transferring slices to sheets. Bake, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 35 to 45 minutes total. Cool biscotti on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.

Yumlish with a subtle peppercorn finish. I think these might make an appearance at this year’s Ratskellar Christmas soirée.

Thanks to all of the Baltimore Bloggers who came out on Friday night, including:

Baltimore Snacker
Bon Appetit Hon
Dining Dish
Kitchenography
LoveFeast Table
Minx Eats
Pigtown Pigout
Strawberries in Paris
Sweet Mary
Taste of Baltimore
What’s To Eat Baltimore

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