Tomorrow, Tuesday 2 June 2009, is the opening day of the first summer program at the Pardes Institute, where I run the kitchen. I've been working at Pardes for over five years now, and with time one creates one's own customs that get repeated year after year. I have adopted two customs that apply to the opening and closing meals of any program at Pardes - be it a three week summer program, or the year-long program: I serve Lasanga as the main course for the opening meal, and Canneloni (or Manicotti as some of you call it) for the closing meal. Tomorrow being the first day of the Summer Program, I am indeed serving lasagna. This time it will be spinach lasagna - in the past I have made four-cheese lasagna, mushroom lasagna, sweet potato lasagna, perhaps other permutations too.
When drawing up the menu, I decided to serve an Italian dessert alongside the fresh fruit - after all, it is the first meal of the program, and I want to make an impression. I searched the internet a little, and decided to make Florentines. Who knows if these delicious biscuits (cookies for the American readers) really find their origin in Florence, but they are quite scrumptious and their name makes them eminently suitable for inclusing in an Italian-inspired menu. I remember well eating such biscuits as a child, not sure just who made them (will have to ask my mother) but they were placed on rice paper when they came out of the oven, and part of the fun was eating the rice paper. I don't think (Kosher) rice paper in available in Israel.
Subsequently, I have had good ones from the Marzipan bakery in the Machaneh Yehuda Shuk here in Jerusalem, and had great ones at the Parkway bakery in London. I had not tried my hand at them, until this afternoon, that is. I adapted one of the recipes that I read, and the results are very pleasing indeed. Those biscuits that I flattened before baking came out this and crisy, while those left as heaps did spread somewhat but remained quite substantial biscuits. The recipe follows, and am sure you will find great enjoyment making - and eating - these scrumptuous morsels.
Florentines
Ingredients
1 cup chopped almonds (you can chop whole almonds in a food processor, use sliced almonds)
½ cup mixed candied fruits & peels, finely chopped
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup to ½ cup flour
¾ cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Method
Preheat oven to 170 C. In a bowl combine almonds, fruits and peels; set aside. In a medium saucepan combine butter, milk, sugar and honey. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in almond mixture; stir in ¼ cup flour (adding more if mixture is too liquid). Drop by level tablespoonfuls, at least 7 cms apart, onto a greased and floured baking sheet. Using back of spoon, spread dough to 7 cm circles. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 1 minute on baking sheet. Carefully remove with spatula to waxed paper. Cool completely. In a small saucepan melt chocolate pieces and shortening over low heat. When cookies are cooled, evenly spread bottom of each cookie with about 1 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture. When chocolate is almost set, draw wavy lines through it with tines of a fork. Store cookies, covered, in refrigerator. For the uninitiated, a Florentine is a biscuit / cookie made by cooking butter, sugar, cream, honey, candied fruit (and sometimes nuts) in a saucepan before being baked on a cookie sheet. They are chewy and often coated with chocolate on one side.
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