In the weeks before Christmas, baking cookies is a great excuse to get together with friends. We bake some traditional Italian holiday cookies and you'll have plenty on hand to give to friends or to share with visitors.
Two days after I interviewed Sicilian chef Mariano Orlando to cook for the Cantinetta at Tra Vigne, he sent me homemade cookies and I knew I had to hire him. This show is all about giving and receiving. And, of course, cookies. Every Christmas, I make my family's holiday cookies. They have a long shelf-life, so they make great gifts.
Tune in while Mariano and I make some of my favorites. Tra Vigne's Biscotti — biscotti means "twice-cooked," because they're baked in a log, then sliced and baked a second time — is based on my mom's recipe. We also make Pastura, (a chocolate and almond-filled shortbread). Then Mariano and I use the pasta machine to roll out Bugia, or "liar's cookie," because the evidence — a powdered sugar dusting on your shirt — betrays your thievery.
Because this is the season for sharing, Mariano shares his philosophy on homemade gifts. Robert Steinberg of Scharffen Berger shares the secrets of making great chocolate. And I share the tips I learned from years of baking by my mother's side. Plus more — the one way I've tampered with my mom's biscotti recipe is to add large-grained crystal sugar for the extra moisture and crunch it gives to the cookie's texture.
