biscotti Digestive e formaggio inglese / Digestives and English cheese

A series of events have kept me away from the blogosphere in recent weeks. Things will be hectic for at least another couple of weeks: c'est la vie. However, I managed to complete the assignment pertaining the current edition of Cook the Books.

Reading Nigel Slater's Eating for England was quite pleasant. A number of his vignettes struck a chord with me, since I have many memories related to English foods, and I had fun comparing notes, so to speak, with him. For example, it looks like we share an appreciation for Bourbon biscuits, which I tasted the first time while vacationing in Malta, together with another favorite biscuit, the Morning Coffee.

It is reassuring, in these days of triple choc-chip, caramel-coated super-biscuits, that the plain, singularly dry Rich Tea has survived. I feel the same about the Marie, the Morning Coffee and the Thin Arrowroot... You feel that this plain and simple biscuit is where all biscuits started from... Sometimes a plain, understated biscuit is all the luxury you want. Sometimes, it is all you get.

(In Italy, we call this kind of biscuits biscotti secchi. This is a kind I like and can only enjoy when I visit my country of origin.)

Slater's preference for the dark chocolate Digestive ("probably the best biscuit in the world") and dislike for "tongue-numbingly sweet" milk chocolate HobNobs matches mine. However, during my sojourns in England, I mostly consumed plain McVites Digestives, and those in moderation (an exercise in restraint). So, for old times' sake, I decided to try to make some Digestive-inspired biscuits. I read some recipes, then let my imagination take over and ended up with something different from what I set about making, but good nonetheless. Here are some recipes I looked at:

• Digestive Biscuits from Baking for Britain
• Digestive Biscuits from Recipes Wiki
• King Arthur's English Digestive Biscuits

Here is the list of ingredients I used:

• 3 oz. whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1 oz. white whole-wheat flour
• 1.5 oz. fine oatmeal [see below]
• 0.5 oz. toasted wheat germ
• 2 oz. whole-grain barley flour
• 3 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 oz. strutto (lard that I rendered recently)
• 35 g (2.5 tablespoons) fine sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• whole milk or an egg [see below]

In a previous post, I talked about the cracked oats I get as part of my share of a grain CSA. I sifted out the fine particles from a batch and used them as fine oatmeal in this recipe. The whole-grain barley flour also comes from the CSA. I made one batch of biscuits with whole milk and one with an egg: the results were quite different, each good in its own way. I did not measure the milk: I used enough to bind the dry ingredients into a dough. The version with egg was close to pasta frolla (sweet shortcrust pastry). However, the flavor was different, due to the whole-grain quality of all the dry ingredients.

To make the dough, I followed my pasta frolla routine, described here. I rolled the dough to 3-4 mm (1/8-1/6") thickness and used my circle scalloped cookie cutter to obtain the biscuits. I pricked them with a fork and baked them at 350 F on a sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. I checked them after 16 minutes and then every couple of minutes until done. After removing them from the oven, I let them cool on a rack. I forgot to do the pricking before baking some of the biscuits made with egg, so you can distinguish them in the top photo. I cannot say that my biscuits reminded me of the Digestives I ate in England many years ago, but I enjoyed them (and so did my husband) paired with some of my homemade cheese, a Gouda, to be precise. 

My original plan was actually to make Cheshire cheese, a famous formaggio inglese, according to the recipe in 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes, then use it to make Welsh Rarebit, based on the recipe in the same book. The problem was that I started too late, so the small wheel (forma) of Cheshire is not yet ready to undergo cutting. Another English cheese is currently aging in my house: a Stirred-Curd Cheddar, to which I added an ingredient that for now shall remain undisclosed. I will know in the near future whether my idea was good or not. As I mentioned before, cheese making teaches you to be patient.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Johanna of Food Junkie, Not Junk Food. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement of the current edition.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

biscotti digestive e formaggio inglese

or launch the biscotti digestive e formaggio inglese  audio file [mp3].

 

Comments

[Rachel]

I am so glad you made digestive biscuits for Cook the Books. I've always wondered what they are. And your cheeses look spectacular!

[Paz]

Wow! What a wonderful contribution!

Paz

[Simona Carini]

Hi Rachel and thanks. I wonder how they would taste if I substitute the wheat flour with some other type of flour which is gluten-free. We'll see how the cheeses taste when I cut them. It is always a surprise.

Thanks, Paz.

[Ivy]

Wow, your biscuits look delicious. Love McVities Digestive biscuits but Morning Coffee and Marie bring me memories from Cyprus. I loved to dip them in the Greek coffee my mum was drinking.

[Foodjunkie]

You are always full of surprises! I never thought of making digestive biscuits before. I am also quite impressed by your cheese making. Where do you get your ingredients from?

[Baol]

Buona domenica!

[Foodycat]

I love digestives with cheese. And gingernuts with ham. Something about the slightly sweet with the savoury!

[astrofiammante]

ben tornata, tutto bene alle cayman?....con la nostalgia della cucina qui si va di biscotti ;-)) ciauzzzzz!

[bellini valli]

A delicious rendition of biscuits. I alwasy remember oat and raisin biscuits my mom used to make.

[Merisi]

I marvel at your dedication to use but the finest ingredients and make everything yourself, down to the strutto!
(I spied the secret ingredient!)

I remember i Pavesi, ma anche i Pavesini!
For some mysterious reason, my mother called the Pavesi "Fredi" biscotti.
IKEA sells biscotti that taste almost like Pavesi, but with a bit more caramelized sugar taste.

I was always suspicious of "digestive" cookies, mostly because I could not believe that something that tastes so good could also be good for you! ;-)

[DebinHawaii]

Great post and pick for CTB--I have always found "digestive biscuits" to be a funny and not too appealing name for something actually quite delicious. Your biscuits look wonderful and I am amazed at the cheeses. BTW--You should drop by girlichef and Natashya's Forging Fromage--they are making Goudas this month. Here's the link: http://forgingfromage.blogspot.com/)

[Susan]

Hope you're hanging in, Simona. My life has been hectic (and stressful), too, although I have managed some postings. Absolutely *love* that you made digestives from scratch - so professionally crafted. They are one of my all-time fave British biscuits. I've just recently discovered Slater. He's a hoot and the antithesis of the typical celebrity chef whom I've no patience for. "Eating for England" is so much fun.

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

The photo of those nice homemade biscuits and cheese calls to me! I continue to be impressed that you make so many cheeses yourself.
LL

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Ivy. Morning Coffee and Marie biscuits are very good for dunking.

Hi Jo. I have been getting cheese-making supplies from different vendors. I have a list of resources on a dedicated page on my blog, making cheese at home, where I list vendors that I have used or am aware of.

Ciao Baol, un abbraccio.

I agree, Alicia.

Ciao Astro. Il viaggio e' andato bene, grazie. Il cibo nel posto dove andiamo e' molto buono, ma la mia cucina certo mi manca. Bacioni.

Thanks, Bellini Valli.

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Merisi. I grew up eating Pavesini. I liked to dunk them into tea. I haven't been to IKEA in many years: if I go again, I will check the cookies they sell. Now that I have strutto in the fridge, I try it in different recipes. I have also used it to make my crostata. It takes a bit of time to make, but then it lasts for a long time, since I don't use a lot of it. Digestive is indeed an interesting name. Artusi has a recipe for biscotti della salute: it's on my list of things to try.

Thanks, Deb. Indeed, the name hints at a medicine or something. Thanks for the link. Last month, I wanted to participate, but my schedule would not allow it. I have actually made Gouda cheese twice: it's a great cheese.

Ciao Susan. The past several weeks have been a challenge and I find myself always late for something, including MLLA. I am glad you like Slater: a lot of his observations made me smile and even laugh out loud.

Thanks Lori Lynn. I have actually just decided to push my experiments a bit farther, so some kind of blue cheese is going to be my next challenge: stay tuned!

[Prem]

cookies look very tasty as well as healthy! Great recipe
please feel free to visit my blog site to talk about all things Italian!
http://bookcibo.ning.com/

thanks!

[Claudia]

Lovely little digestives. You've given me the inspiration to try making them myself. Sometimes the plain and simple are just perfect, with a cup of tea and a delicious cheese.

[girlichef]

Your digestives look perfect! And what I wouldn't give for a hunk of that gorgeous cheese! Great picks :D

[Simona Carini]

Thanks, Prem, will do.

Exactly so, Claudia.

They are still both aging, Girlichef. I'll let you know how they come out when I decide they are ready to be cut.

[antonella]

hummmmmmm che buono!!!!!!!

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Antonella. Devo ammettere che tutto e' venuto buono. A questo punto abbiamo mangiato tutto il cheshire e un pezzo del cheddar e sono molto soddisfatta del risultato.