What to do on a rainy day..

If you have read my last post you will know that on Sunday morning I had a fitness burst, dusting my bike off and making my way to the shops (although thinking back now it may have been because I'd spent the night before watching all the super slim Thai ladies busily serving people, while I sat there stuffing my face with deep fried prawns).
The journey home seemed to take twice as long as it had done getting there, the dark rain clouds were heaving over me, big droplets of water were now starting to crash down on my Sunday papers and the dull thud of a wine induced headache had just begun to rear its ugly head. Temperature dropping quite rapidly I peddled harder to stop my toes from going numb, turned my face away from the rain and tried to think back to only a couple of weeks ago when I was less concerned about getting fit and more focussed on allowing the Italian sunshine to soak into my skin whilst I thrived on tasting some of the region's best cuisines.
Desperate not to let this dreary morning ruin my Sunday I decided that I would set about (yet again) trying to recreate some of those marvelous dishes we had been served, and spend the whole day baking and cooking - Italian style.

One of the things I found myself being most addicted to was Vin Santo and Cantuccini. For those of you who are yet to discover the delights of this marvel, Vin Santo can be also referred to as 'holy wine' because of its historic use in religious mass. Made from white hand picked grapes it is then hung for from wooden canes for three months, fermented for two years then left to mature for a further thirty six months.

Amber-yellow in colour with a golden hue, its flavours of deep honey, dried fruit and apricots fill your senses with a taste explosion only to be calmed down by its gentle vanilla undertone.
This Tuscan delicacy would have gone unnoticed by me if it wasn't for a wine tour we had tagged on to. After three quarters of an hour having a guided tour of the wine and balsamic vinegar cellars we both were starting to flag slightly (OK, maybe we were in it for the free wine tasting) until we we were taken to a sun drenched terrace which was shielded from the heat by a grape vine filled canopy where we were served three types of Chianti Classico at various stages of ageing along with some extra virgin olive oil drenched Tuscan bread.
Basking in the warm Tuscan afternoon sun we were then presented with a basket of Cantuccini (a type of Italian biscotti which is twice baked, cut whilst warm then left to harden, these mostly contain a variety of different nuts) and a small cool glass of this golden amber nectar. I was already aware that this drink was classed as a dessert wine so I was slightly hesitant in trying it due to a very unpleasant, nasty experience as a youth, being given some Lambrusco and trying to act cool in font of a gang of other misled teenagers, when in fact I felt like I was swallowing some kind of sweetened bleach. Ever since then I've never been fond of any kind of sweet alcoholic beverage instead preferring an extremely dry white or a robust Rioja (it's a surprise that I ever tried alcohol again after said experience).
Not wanting to look immature in front of the other wine connoisseurs, I took to the traditional Italian method of dunking the Cantuccini into the Vin Santo for a couple of seconds, just to soften the hardened biscuit before gracefully popping it into my mouth (an Italian version of dunking a chocolate digestive into your tea but just a little more refined - I wonder if they have competions to see which type of biscuit dunks the best? I very much doubt it).
I was pleasantly taken aback and soon mesmerised by the not too sweet taste which had an added almond nuttiness thanks to the Cantuccini. The biscuit had indeed been softened and once eaten melted away to leave a gracious honey, syrup-like liquid which eased down the throat sending a calm, warming effect through my body. Not being shy in coming forward I soon picked up my glass and promptly finished the taster off, only to be stopped when out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the other guests beginning to stare - maybe he had seen me sticking my tongue out and trying to reach the last few precious golden droplets.
Now knowing why the great Gennaro Contaldo (Italian chef, friend of Jamie Oliver) is always praising this beverage so highly I manged to acquire a  bottle from a local pasticceria on the edge of Lucca, small enough to comply with the ridiculous weight restrictions of Ryan Air, so I was able to recreate this fond memory when times called for it most back home.
Returning from what felt like the last stage in the Tour De France, now was one of those times when I needed to re-live that toasty feeling and regain normal colouring in my purple hands and feet, I just needed to make some authentic Cantuccini. Making use of what I had in, i managed to come up with perhaps not the most traditional Cantuccini and I'll be honest R and I couldn't wait until they had completely dried out, but what came out was a mildly sweet nutty biscuit which was still a little too soft to be reminiscent of the original but this just made it absorb more of the Vin Santo, I had to remind myself that even though it was dark outside and the log burner was roaring it was still only early Sunday afternoon at a time when it was only just socially acceptable to have an alcoholic drink.
Perhaps I'm not destined for the slim petite Thai look and I'm more bound for the healthy glowing Italian look instead - I'm  not about to argue with that.
For now anyway.

Dried Cherry and Hazelnut Cantuccini

250g plain flour
200g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 free-range eggs lightly beaten, plus an extra egg beaten to glaze
100g whole hazelnuts
100g dried cherries

Pre-heat your oven to 180oc and place the flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl and stir together.
Add the eggs and mix together well to obtain a slightly sticky workable dough.
Next, add the hazelnuts and the cherries and knead the ingredients into the dough, then shape into two flattened logs about 4cm wide and 1-2 cm high (I made the mistake of making one huge log which had to be cooked longer).
Place the logs on a lined baking sheet and brush with beaten egg.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 150oc and bake for a further 10 minutes.
Take out of the oven and cut into 1cm thick diagonal slices then return back to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and, if you can resist the temptation, leave until completely dried out.
Serve with Vin Santo, coffee, tea or any other liqueur you desire or just enjoy simply on their own.