Nutella, Banana and Macadamia Nut Panini

Bananas and Nutella may sound weird to some, but the combo is simply incredible and irresistable once you try it.  I love this marriage of fruit and chocolate-hazelnut so much that I am exceptionally good at tricking my brain into thinking that I'm really eating something healthy when I indulge in a half of a banana dipped straight into a jar of Nutella.  Just who am I kidding?

But since today is World Nutella Day, I knew that I had to make our favorite dessert panini to celebrate the event and that highlights this favorite Nutella combination!

What makes these somewhat ordinary sounding dessert panini extra sweet and special is that they are grilled in a pool of butter, cinnamon and sugar, then sprinkled with chopped macadamia nuts, and dusted with powdered sugar.  Now that's a sweet treat!


I bet you can't eat just one bite!

And I bet you'll have a messy face . . . but messy with a big smile on your face!

After grilling the bread with butter, cinnamon and sugar

spread Nutella generously on one slice of bread per panino,

 layer with sliced bananas

and finally, sprinkle on diced macadamia nuts.

close the panini lid lightly to grill until the Nutella is melted.

all melted, nice and gooey before the final presentation

pretty powdered sugar dusts the panino, strawberries, and sliced bananas

Nutella, Banana and Macadamia Nut Panini

1-1/2 sticks of butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar mixed together with 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
 3 ripe bananas, sliced 1/4" thick
4 - 8 slices Ciabatta or Italian bread (depending on how many panini you want)
1 small jar of Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts (or hazelnuts)
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Whole strawberries, for serving

Heat panini griddle to medium-high or large non-stick pan over medium heat.
Place the butter on the griddle to melt (do not use all of the butter if doing this in batches).
Spread some soft butter on the outer sides of the bread slices.
Sprinkle both sides of the bread slices with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place bread slices on the grill and cook for a few seconds so that the cinnamon sugar adheres to the bread (do not press the panini pressing top down while doing this).
Flip over and do the same for the opposite side of the bread.
Spread each slice of bread with Nutella, as thick as you like.
Place a layer of sliced bananas on top of the layer of Nutella.
Sprinkle with hazelnuts
Grill until the bread is golden brown on each side and the Nutella is melted.
Remove from the grill and sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar.
Sprinkle with more chopped macadamia nuts for pizazz.
Serve warm immediately with strawberries on the side.

If you enjoy Nutella recipes, here is another yummy one that you might like:

Nutella and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

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Citrus Granita, Eating 'Clean' and the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Clean, clean, clean . . . the theme for January to kick off the new year of 2013 for the Cooking Light Virtual Supper  Club.

So PERFECT!

I don't know about you, but I have always loved New Year's Day!  I don't make any specific resolutions, but I do vow to make positive changes in many areas of my life.  Last year I promised myself to clean up my nutrition.  I kept my promise to myself, lost weight, tightened up a (little) bit, and now feel so much better (and lighter too)!

I also pledged to clean out the clutter in my home . . . check!  And it's still going on!   We paid off several bills and cut down our spending in general to stay true to our resolution to simplify our lives and focus more on what is important to us.  Our goal is to keep plugging away at this one so that some day I can retire!

Even if you don't make resolutions, you can't deny that it's great to clean up anything in our lives:  whether that be our homes, all of that distracting, useless clutter, or our nutrition . . . clean is good!

But the 'clean eating' lifestyle certainly is NOT an easy approach to eating.  For the most part, I agree with many of the guidelines, but this style of eating loses me in several areas (that I'll point out later).  Put simply, the focus of clean eating is to consume food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible.

Fresh fruit is a big part of this style of eating since fruit can be enjoyed so much without any cooking.  And since it's winter when citrus is at it's peak of freshness, I chose to prepare a granita of lemons and orange for this month's 'clean' theme.


BUT, and this is a really big 'but':  One of the challenges of the 'clean eating' approach:  NO sugar is allowed.  That's a toughy for many of us, at least I know that it is for me and especially for my husband.  Granita requires sugar added to the squeezed juice from fresh fruit.  So I replaced it with Stevia, which is allowed in the clean eating philosophy.  For this month's 'clean' theme, I'll make that one little change.  But other than this one time, I'm going straight back to using sugar, which is what the Cooking Light recipe uses anyway!  And I trust Cooking Light!

Citrus Granita

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
3 cups water
1-1/2 to 2 cups sugar (substitute 'Stevia' for a pure 'clean' recipe)
1 cup fresh orange juice (about 4 oranges)

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute or until sugar dissolves; stir constantly.
Remove from heat.
Cool completely.
Pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
Cover; freeze at least 8 hours or until firm.
Remove dish from freezer, and scrape the entire mixture with a fork until fluffy.
Store the remaining granita in an airtight container.
Cover and freeze up to 1 month.

Slice open 4 - 5 oranges and 3 - 4 lemons, depending on your flavor preferences.

Fresh citrus is in high season right now, so they're perfect for fresh granita!

Squeeze the lemons and oranges and blend together in a bowl.

Bring the lemon-orange juice-sugar/Stevia-water mixture to a boil.

Cook for one minute until sugar dissolves.

Allow the mixture to cool completely.

Pour into a baking pan.

Place in the freezer for 8 hours to firm up.

the granita in a solid frozen state

with a fork, chip away ice flakes from the solid granita

the first layer is a little hard to chip off but once the first layer is chipped away, 

the process is very easy and fast

have chilled glasses ready to put the granita in before it melts

I also put each filled glass in the freezer while filling the other glasses

Mmmm, a glass full of sweet and tangy granita!

From my October trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy, 

one of the numerous fruit stands hanging on the edge of the cliff,

where I bought an outrageously delicious, fresh-squeezed lemon granita!

I went back to buy several more!

With the cliffs of the Amalfi coast mountainside in the background,

this little cup of sweet-tart freshly squeezed lemon granita

was simply perfect, especially on a hot afternoon!

In the little village of Praiano, Italy

my mother and I attended the annual Festival for St. Luke the Evangelist.

People had food and fruit stands set up in the small piazza.

Here was one very tempting lemon granita stand.

You can check out all of the delicious 'clean' recipes prepared by the rest of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, that is hosted every month by Val of "More Than Burnt Toast".  Here's the line-up:

• Sandi of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking prepared one of my all-time favorite dishes:  a Frittata with Spinach, Onion and Swiss Cheese.
• Jerry of Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants was lucky enough to spend Christmas in Rome and brought with a Lentil Herb Salad.
• Val from More Than Burnt Toast made a delicious salad of Bulgur with Dried Cranberries.  Yummy!
• Susan of The Spice Garden brought Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fennel and Shitake Mushrooms.
• Sarah of All Our Fingers in the Pie whipped up an incredible Curried Lamb and Lentil Stew.

Now, if you're interested in knowing more about the trendy new "clean eating" lifestyle, here are a few additional ways to incorporate it into your own life:

• Always focus on eating foods in their most natural or close-to-natural states.
• Eat five to six small meals a day, grazing only when hungry (this includes snacks).  This maintains your blood sugar levels and keeps your metabolism churning all day long
• Include a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables during each meal --- basically eat more plants than meats.
• Meats are allowed, but only purchase fresh cuts from a butcher, never pre-packaged.
• Include grains such as brown rice, whole wheat and other whole grains.
• Drink lots of water . . . at least 8 glasses of water daily
• Eliminate drinking alcohol except an occasional glass of red wine for the antioxidants --- this would be difficult for me, as well as for most Europeans who enjoy wine with nearly every meal . . . and still live healthy lifestyles
• Avoid drinking carbonated sodas, even 'diet' sodas; avoid packaged fruit 'drinks', drink water with citrus juice for flavor
• Avoid processed and refined foods (including sugar, white bread, white pasta, and white flour)  --- I would fail this approach right here with this point!  If you look at the natives of the Mediterranean (where I was just visiting Italy in October), you'd see how THIN they are while at the same time enjoying sugar in granitas, gelate, tortas, and pastries.  They also enjoy pasta from 'white' semolina flour and enjoy fresh-baked white artisanal breads.  The reason?   They walk EVERYWHERE! . . . so I could never buy into this approach completely.  The Mediterranean Diet has been famous for years and it's very close to the 'clean eating' diet, just more forgiving!  All other points of this philosophy are doable for me though.
• Stay away from any foods with saturated and trans fats, or foods that are fried.
• Include healthy fats such as olive oil, sesame oil, or peanut oil, cheese, nuts, avocados, seeds or fish daily.
• Read labels and purchase foods that contain only one to five ingredients
• Avoid foods that state 'fat free' on the labels due to the chemicals contained within those foods

Happy, HEALTHIER 2013!

.

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White Chocolate Drizzled Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Biscotti (or cantucci which is what my family calls them) have been baked for Christmas in my family for centuries.  As one of our favorite treats, it simply would not be the holidays without these wonderful Italian cookies.  Italian biscotti are long, narrow cookies that are hard and crispy as a result of baking them twice.  Biscotti are ridiculously easy cookies to make!  No one should be intimidated by the process of forming the batter into logs for the first baking, cooling them off a bit and then slicing into shape before baking a second time to become golden brown.  Plus, biscotti/cantucci are easy to store for long time and versatile to experiment with different flavors.

Traditionally, biscotti are dunked into either coffee or wine after dinner or as a mid-day snack.  The hard texture softens in the liquid or you can eat them without dipping.  My mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers have always made the traditional anise-flavored biscotti for the holidays.  The cooks in this family rarely sway from traditional recipes when it comes to family recipes.  However, I've been wanting to bake biscotti with white chocolate, cranberries and pistachios for some time!

I just had to take the opportunity to bake up a batch of these distinctive Italian cookies when Pamela Heath from Orandi Ranch ARO Gourmet Pistachios sent me some pistachios from California, that are AHA and Kosher certified, as well as naturally vegan and gluten-free.  These delicious pistachios can be purchased either shelled or unshelled, perfectly roasted and handcrafted with Himalayan Pink Salt.  After receiving them I wrote to Pamela and asked her if I could bake something with the yummy nuts and post the recipe on my blog.  No one asked me to do this, I simply volunteered and I am so glad; these amazing pistachio-based biscotti turned out better than any of our expectations!  If you are a pistachio lover as am I, you really need to check out these specialty pistachios through the link provided above.



Plus the green pistachios and red cranberries are such a beautiful combination for a holiday cookie platter.  With the addition of white chocolate the cookies become more festive and special . . .  creating a balance between the creamy, sweet flavor of the chocolate paired perfectly with the tart, chewy cranberries!  The texture of the hard cookie base combined with the soft, creamy chocolate bits will make your taste buds sing!  For added attractiveness, drizzle or dip the biscotti with melted chocolate.  The extra chocolate melts and adds some creamy chocolatey sweetness to your hot coffee.

These biscotti are so delicious that my family has just been gobbling them down!  My mother even asked me to get them away from her to stop the constant temptation to eat more!  This is one of the highest compliments when a recipe passes the rigorous test of my family and when they declare a new favorite!  Your family will enthusiastically grab them up fast too, I promise!  These are the most fantastic, superior biscotti that we have ever tasted!

This is also a versatile recipe to change ingredients that you may prefer better.  For example, if you are more fond of almonds or other nuts, use those instead.  You may want to use milk chocolate or butterscotch.  Maybe you prefer dried blueberries or other dried fruits instead of cranberries . . . no problem with this recipe.  Or drizzle the cookies with caramel instead of chocolate too.  There are so many possibilities for you to conjure up your own unique yummy flavor combination!

You can also control the level of crispiness/hardness of the cookies by the amount of time you bake them the second time:    If you prefer your biscotti more crispy for the traditional dunking in coffee or wine, the amount of baking time is anywhere from 15 - 20 minutes.  The baking time for more soft cookies (that my husband prefers, since he doesn't dunk them) is 5  - 10 minutes.  Just make sure that the edges of the biscotti do not brown or burn, but rather are golden only.

Enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

White Chocolate Drizzled Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

1 cup butter
1-1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on the pre-cooked biscotti
3 eggs for the biscotti mixture, plus 1 egg for brushing on the pre-cooked biscotti
2 tsp. pure vanilla or vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup amaretto liquor
1-1/2 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips or 7 squares of white chocolate
1-1/4 cups shelled pistachios
1 - 2 cups of melted white chocolate
Red and Green colored sugar or sprinkles (optional for Christmas)

In a large bowl, blend the butter and sugar well.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Add in the vanilla and amaretto liquor.
In a separate bowl combine the four, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Slowly blend in the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture and mix well.
Fold in the cranberries, white chocolate and pistachios; dough will be sticky.
Divide dough into two to three equal sized portions.
On a floured surface or cutting board, shape each portion into a long 2-1/2" wide logs; these expand while baking, so shape the logs according to your preference.
With your hands, gently 'flatten' each of the logs a little bit.
Brush a beaten egg on each log and generously sprinkle sugar on top of each log.
Carefully place logs on an ungreased baking sheet, spaced 3 inches apart.
Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 25 minutes or until firm and lightly brown on the edges.
Cool for 5 minutes.
While warm, yet cool enough to handle with your hands, transfer logs to a cutting board.
With very little pressure, use a serrated knife to cut the logs diagonally into 1" slices.
Allow the knife to do the work for you and do not press down on the biscotti so they don't break.
Place the slices 'cut-side' down on the ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and remove from the oven to turn each over.
Return the slices to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and set the biscotti on wire racks to cool.
Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.
Remove chocolate from the heat.
With a fork, drizzle the chocolate over biscotti and/or dip the biscotti into the chocolate on one end of each.
Place the chocolate dipped or drizzled biscotti on wax or parchment paper and allow to set for about 30 minutes.
For Christmas, sprinkle your favorite red and green colored sugar or sprinkles on the warm chocolate.
For Easter or springtime, you can also choose to use pink, yellow, lavender, or green).
Store in an airtight container for up to one month or freeze them for later.

During my trip to Italy, I took these two photos of Italian "cantuccini" with wine.

Many people don't realize that Italians dip biscotti / cantucci in wine as well as coffee!

"Cantucci" (as shown above) is how my family has always called biscotti.

Woo!  This bag of cantucci was priced at 7.60 euros . . . about $10.00 (U.S.)

You can make these at home for so much less . . . and fresher too!

I'm also happily sharing this recipe on:

Roxana's Chocolate Party

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Lemons and Limoncelllo from Italy's Amalfi Coast

Lemons grow in abundance from trees that cling from the cliffs of the spectacularly beautiful Amalfi coast.  It is along this steep and jagged coastline of the Tyrrhenian Sea that huge lemons are harvested three times every year.  Amalfi lemons possess a unique sweetness that results from a combination of the volcanic soil, year-round warm temperatures, and a perfect amount of rain.

In the kitchens (cucine) of every ristorante, trattoria, or home along this divine coast, lemons are a part of the life and cuisine of the locals and used for everything from cooking, to cleaning, to beauty treatments.  As always, nothing is wasted in Italy.

During the last week of my trip in Italy, all of my senses were immersed into the influence that lemons have in Italian cooking.   Mid-week, my mother and I ventured into the dream-like mountainside town of Positano where rainbow-colored buildings appear to be carved out of the rock.  We drove down the spiraling road into the town for a class on how to make limoncello and to learn more about the difference between various olive oils.  It was so interesting and we certainly learned more about lemons and olive oil from Italy.

yes, that is the road at the top of the photo . . . literally, a true cliff-hanger!

a closer view of the nail-biting Amalfi Coast drive that lives up to it's infamous reputation!

just one view of Positano, Italy and the beautiful blue sea

homes are built on top of each other in the very little amount of space in Italy!

Population density of Italy:  514 people per square mile,
a country that is not even as large as the state of California

Population density of the United States:  84 people per square mile!

Space is a premium in Italy and when you include thousands of tourists, Italy is very crowded.

lovely, luscious, limoncello while dining al fresco

road-side lemon stands abound everywhere, as well as in the markets

enormous lemons the size of baseballs!

our first stop on the Amalfi Drive . . . a small market stand of a local woman where we purchased her home-grown and home-made limoncello, olives, olive oil, anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichokes . . . all delicious!

shops filled with beautifully and creatively designed bottles containing the Italian liquid gold elixir

window displays of limoncello and orange liqueurs  tempt you to stop in and purchase a bottle or two

tempting displays of lemons and limoncello in baskets outside one shop

OK, so where's the recipe for limoncello and step-by-step photos?

They're coming, I just needed to share more of the prevalence of lemons and the color 'yellow' in the landscape!

Lemon-flavored Italian cookies . . . oh these were SO good, not too sweet and oh so lemon-y!

My family LOVES 'torrone' a sweet nougat candy with nuts from Italy!

While at a local festival for St. Luke in Praiano, 

I bought a box of the limoncello-flavored torrone.

I remember my Nonna enjoying this candy every Christmas!

A lemon granita stand at the same festival for St. Luke in the village of Praiano. 

Lemon granita is now one of favorite icey treats, oh so much better than snow cones!

Olive oil that is enhanced with the addition of lemon juice drizzled on bread 

after the cooking class.  The flavor was so refreshing and light!

lemon motifs on Italian ceramiche brighten the walls of an open market in an Amalfi piazza

a ceramic-topped table beautifully hand-painted with lemons that almost came to 

my home, had it not been for the price ($1000.00) and the price of shipping!

But oh how I fell in love with this little table!

In my dreams, huh?

However, I did give in to indulgence and purchased this lemon-colored sink with lemons and blue fig motifs!  

We will certainly enjoy washing our hands in this beautiful creation
and remember the Amalfi Coast every time!

The yellow color of lemons carries over into the beauty of the painted churches, homes, and shops.  This is a church in Sorrento, the furthest southern city on the peninsula where you can take a boat over to the little island of Capri.

this lovely yellow house is located in Montecreto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

and not on the Amalfi Coast.  Yellow and gold are simply very popular colors everywhere in Italy.

OK, here's the recipe for limoncello plus step-by-step photos

from our cooking class on the Amalfi Coast!

Limoncello

20 large lemons
1 bottle Everclear (pure drinking alcohol)
4 cups of water (or more depending on the strength that you want the Limoncello)
4 cups of sugar (or more for the same reason as above)

Peel very thin slices of the lemon rinds, trying not to slice into the white flesh under the rind.

a perfectly skinned lemon with the white flesh remaining

put the rind slices into a big bowl; as you can see, some of us in the class of four students sliced off too much of the white flesh of the lemons 

. . . other than my mother, we were certainly novices at this!

(The peels with the white pith weren't used, but rather put aside for another use)

get the bottle of super-strong booze

pour the alcohol into a large jar or container in which to age the limoncello

add the lemon peels . . . see none of these have the white pith at all

cover and seal well

every 3 days check on your lemon peel - alcohol mixture 

and swirl the peels around a bit

allow the limoncello to marinate for 30 - 40 days 

(depending on how strong you want your limoncello)

strain the lemon peels from the alcohol and discard the peels

After the days are completed for marinating the lemon peels in the alcohol, proceed to make the sugar water:

measure your sugar 

add equal amounts of water to the sugar in large pan/pot

bring the sugar and water to a high temperature for about 10 minutes

In a large bowl, pour in the strained, aged lemon and alcohol mixture

add the sugar-water to the lemon-alcohol mixture

stir well and pour back into big jars or containers; seal well.

allow the limoncello to 'marry' for an additional 30 - 40 days

Pour into pretty bottles!

my mother and me during our limoncello class

at the end we tasted various flavors of liqueurs:

strawberry-cello, limoncello, anise-cello, and coffee-cello

the limoncello was certainly the best!

after the class we had pasta for lunch in the restaurant

my mother enjoyed this bowl of Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce and Cheese 

I decided on the Cheese-Stuffed Ravioli Caprese

The tomatoes in Southern Italy have a flavor that is so unique and different from those grown in the States . . . more pungent, sharp, and tangy.

And my oh my, is dining out in Italian ristoranti EXPENSIVE!  These three ravioli were $20.00!  We were so glad that we rented a villa and bought groceries from the local market where food was so cheaply priced!  For one week, we only spent $130.00 on food for the three of us and only ate out twice. . . . leaving more euro to spend in the shops!  

And just one more golden shot of the Amalfi Coast from the terrace of our villa in Praiano where we would enjoy brilliant colored sunsets every evening . . . with full tummies comforted a little bit more with Limoncello! 

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