Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 egg
3 cup flour
Directions
In large bowl of an electric mixer, beat 1 cup of the sugar and butter
until well blended. Add lemon peel and juice; mix to blend. Beat in
eggs, 1 at a time, until smooth. Gradually stir in 3 cups of the
flour, mixing well. cover and chill until dough is firm enough to
handle easily, at least 3 hours or as long as 2 days. For easier
handling, chill the dough before you form the ring-shaped cookies.
Divide dough in half. Cover and chill 1 portion. Divide other half
into 8 equal pieces. With floured fingers, roll each piece on a
lightly floured board to make a 10-inch rope. Overlap ends of each
rope slightly to form a ring. Place rings about 1 inch apart on a
greased 14x17 inch baking sheet. Sprinkle light with sugar. Bake in a
300 F. oven until golden, 35-40 minutes. Remove cookies from pans and
let cool completely on racks. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve or
store airtight up to 10 days.
Servings: 16 servings
Portuguese Biscotti Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Biscotti; Cookie; Italian; Pasta
The History of Recipes
It is possible to track the history of `recipes` far back into distant history, certainly as far into history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and possibly even further. Interesting though that is, mostly, these early recipes were just very simple hieroglyphic instructions for meal preparation.
In fact, the oldest recipe discovered, according to experts in ancient history are a few clay tablets in ancient Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel exhilarated and blissful. Later on, in The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a collection of documents describing recipes cooked by the Romans. In his scrolls, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into appetizers, main course and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. Additionally, he describes how the cooks of his times used a wide range of herbs and spices, including a few you will know such as basil, fennel and dill. Later, we find a couple of interesting recipe books published in the 1300s ; a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these two books are not about the indian curry that is popular today, but rather recipes for the types of food eaten by the rich and powerful. Later, in the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods and spices from the holy lands, such as rosemary and coriander. These new foods and tastes created an increase in books on cookery, many of which are now in private libraries. For the decades that followed, the powerful and wealthy competed with each other to lay on the most extravagent banquests, and consequentially cooks and their recipe collections increased in prestige. However, it was during the nineteenth century that fine cooking and recipe collections rose to prominence. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to assembling, verifying, and writing down recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the time we get to the 1900s, cookbooks are in high demand, as a result of better eduction, more free time and a general increase in wealth. |
We hope you enjoy this Portuguese Biscotti recipe.
