Photo courtesy of Jeff Alexander and DHC © Alexander Imaging

A colleague of mine related the amusing story of how his 10-year-old daughter aspired to be a pastry chef. At a big family get-together, the young girl, Jane, wanted to make biscotti. Great idea. But there was one small problem. Jane misread the recipe. It called for 1/8th teaspoon of salt. She’d never heard of an eighth of a teaspoon. Perhaps because her family has a 1/8th-cup measure, Jane mistakenly dumped in 1/8th-cup of salt.

So they weren’t the tastiest biscotti. To make the best of the situation, Jane’s mother dubbed the biscuits “cocktail biscotti.” And the family managed to choke them down with good wine and other beverages.

I laugh recalling that story – particularly now that I’m blogging about biscotti. Only this time I’m referring to biscotti made from extra virgin olive oil. Not butter, as some biscotti recipes call for.

This recipe comes to us by way of EVOO lover and author Carol Firenze. Her book – The Passionate Olive (Ballantine Books, 2005) – provides a wonderful look at all the uses for olive – from cooking to preserving your knives. Plus much, much more.

Firenze recalled to us how her mother, now 90, adapted her biscotti recipe to use olive oil.

“She makes wonderful biscotti. About 20 years ago she started using olive oil instead of butter,” Firenze said. Her mother, Gigi, taught her that olive oil can be used as a substitute for butter in just about anything you can cook or bake. Including Gigi’s biscotti, which we’re passing along. (And we want to thank DHC for sharing the beautiful photo.)

Meantime, stay tuned for an olive oil ice cream recipe to go with these biscotti. If you have a recipe to share, we’d love to see it.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

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