SHF #4- Nuts for Pistachios

After a holiday feast the child in all of us yearns for something a bit sweet. This past Christmas after a lavish and dramatic (due to the fire in the oven) meal I set out a platter filled with pistachio chocolate chip biscotti, orange butter cream Florentines and homemade almond chocolate toffee. There was also a towering six-layer white cake with cranberry filling all dressed in coconut. But that’s another culinary adventure.

Nuts are a central ingredient for cooking and baking throughout the world. Dates stuffed with walnuts and almonds were one of the earliest prepared desserts. Sweet almonds are the central ingredient of marzipan for enclosing and decorating a cake. Pralines, burnt almonds cooked in sugar until caramelized remind me of the New Orleans French Quarter and pecan pie is as American as apple pie. Pale-green pistachios are luxurious and a bit exotic. As a child in the 70’s I would watch my mother’s hands turn red from the dye applied to the shell to hide blemishes. Today, due to more advanced harvesting and processing methods this market problem isn’t such a big worry so the nuts are kept natural. My mother would carefully parse out the pistachios over a period of time due to the high cost. As a child I didn’t appreciate the subtle but distinctive taste. Today that’s all changed.

In the Middle East pistachio nuts and cashews are often eaten as a mezze. In the Middle East, I’m told that at times they are sold flavored with rose water or lemon juice. Good-quality halvah, Turkish delight, baklava and nougat all contain pistachio nuts. In Italy, an ice cream called cassata combines three colors—usually brown, white and green. The most common flavors are chocolate, vanilla and pistachio ice creams. In many cultures the pistachio is said to have aphrodisiac qualities. In fact the Queen of Sheba ordered a harvest of the best trees grown in Assyria to be used for herself and royal guests.

Grown in California, Iran, Turkey, Italy and Australia, the nut belongs to the to the Anacardiaceae or cashew family. Other members of this nutty family include cashew, mango, poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac. The resin of the pistachio tree is collected and used in the making of turpentine. The bright green coloring of the pistachio is completely natural and comes from chlorophyll. In the marketplace the deeper green colored nut is an indicator of the highest quality and yields the best prices. Pistachios are typically sold roasted and salted.

According to growers, the nut is ripe when the shell usually gapes open at one end to expose the kernel. In Iran, according to Oxford Companion to Food, this state is termed khandan or laughing.

According to a recent Iranian Cultural Heritage News report, the pistachio crop represents the second most important non-oil export product in Iran after carpets. Comprising about 55% of pistachio production and over 60% of its export.

Biscotti, as if we didn’t know already, translates from the Italian as 'twice baked.' This particular recipe, and I’ve baked a lot of biscotti recipes, is, without question, remarkable. Call me a non-traditionalist but biscotti that breaks your front tooth is not what I’m seeking. Biscotti should be strong enough to dunk in coffee and still have a crunch. Based on the response after Christmas dinner and the many gift bags to friends this was a success.

Baker’s Note:  Economies of time influenced my version, substituting mini chocolate chips for the shaved chocolate.  As a result I think it gave the pistachios more of a starring role.

Shaved Chocolate & Pistachio Biscotti

Excerpted from Great Cookies by Carol Walter ©2003

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned in and leveled

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup ( 1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm

2 teaspoons freshly grated navel orange zest

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

1 cup plus 1 tblspn sugar, divided

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tblspns (about 5 oz.) coarsely chopped unsalted unskinned, toasted pistachios, divided

1 (3.5 oz) bar Lindt Bittersweet chocolate, shaved (about ¾ cup)

EGG WASH

1 large egg, beaten with 2 tspns water

Strain the flour baking powder, baking soda, and salt together three times.  Set aside

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter with the zests on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Slowly add 1 cup of sugar and beat for 1 minute longer.

Add the eggs one at a time, and then beat again for 1 minute more, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Beat in the vanilla.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing just until combined.

Remove the bowl from the machine and using a large rubber spatula, fold in 1 cup of the pistachios and the shaved chocolate.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. 

Position the shelves in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter the jellyroll pans and set aside. 

Divide the dough into thirds, and on a lightly floured surface roll each piece into a 14-inch log and place on the pans.

Brush each log with the egg wash, and then sprinkle the tops with the remaining pistachios and the tablespoon of sugar.

Bake the logs for 25 minutes or until just lightly browned. To ensure even browning, toward the end of baking time rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to bake. Remove from the oven and let rest on the pan for 5 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Using a dough scraper cut the logs into ½ inch think slices.  Lay the slices on their sides and return to the oven for 15 minutes, or until they just start to brown.  Remove from the oven, turn the slices over, and bake for another 7 to 10 minutes. Let rest on the pan for 4 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Editor’s Note:

To toast pistachios, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts in a single layer in a pie plate. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until fragrant and just beginning to turn light brown. Cool completely.

STORAGE

Store in an airtight container, layered between strips of wax paper, for up to 3 weeks.  These cookies may be frozen.

Comments

[jen]

So much to learn about probably my favorite nuts. I never really knew why those blasted things used to be dyed red. I love the comment about laughing pistachios. It's so frustrating when they are not laughing.

Have you ever had the pistachios from the guy at the Marin Farmer's Market? The ones from Ferry Plaza are excellent, but I am partial to the flavors from the Marin guy ...

[jeanne]

Jen-
I've had the chili roasted ones. Quite fantastic and a bit too addictive. Alemany has 'nut-man' who is as good at a slighly better cost.

[Jennifer]

Jeanne this biscotti looks amazing, and sounds even better...just what we needed after the holidays and all that food. And pistachios, while not my favourite, are great in something like this.

Thanks for joining in on SHF this time around and hopefully we'll see you again next month!