Almond And Black Pepper Rings Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheet with foil. Lightly butter foil. Mix pepper and salt in small bowl. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add sugar and 4 teaspoons water; stir until sugar dissolves. Add almonds; toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until syrup thickens and almonds are well coated, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle half of pepper mixture over.
• Transfer almonds to baking sheet. Using spatula and working quickly, separate almonds. Sprinkle remaining pepper mixture over. Bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer sheet to rack; cool. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Steps:

• 1 Sprinkle the yeast over the water. Let stand until the yeast is creamy, about 2 minutes. Stir until the yeast dissolves. 2 In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Stir in the yeast mixture and the lard. Stir until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Knead in the almonds. 3 Shape the dough into a ball. Cover the dough with an overturned bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. 4 Place 2 racks in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Press the dough down to eliminate the air bubbles. Cut the dough in half, then cut each half in half again, then each quarter in half to make 8 even pieces. Keeping the remaining dough covered, divide 1 piece into 4 even pieces. Roll each piece into a 6-inch rope. Twist each rope 3 times, then shape it into a ring, pinching the ends to seal. Place the rings 1 inch apart on two ungreased baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough. 5 Bake the rings for 1 hour or until browned and crisp, rotating the pans about halfway through. Turn off the heat and let the rings cool and dry out in the oven for 1 hour. 6 Remove from the oven and transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 1 month. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil over medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, beat eggs. Stir in melted butter and oil. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, pepper and baking powder.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Mix until dough pulls together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into an 8 inch long cylinder. Bend each cylinder into a ring shape and pinch ends together. With a sharp knife, score each ring around its outside edge.
• Drop rings two at a time into boiling water and boil for 1 minute. Remove rings from water and place on lightly greased cookie sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line Large baking sheet with foil. Lightly butter foil.
• Mix pepper and salt in small bowl.
• Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add sugar and 4 tsp water; stir until sugar dissolves. Add almonds; toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until syrup thickens and almonds are well coated, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer almonds to baking sheet. Using spatula and working quickly, separae almonds. Sprinkle remaining pepper mixture over.
• Bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer sheet to rack; cool.
• Note: Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with a little butter.
• Trim and discard the stalks from the figs. Slice the figs in half lengthwise, and place them in a small bowl. Sprinkle the pepper and 2 tablespoons sugar over the figs, and toss to coat well.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift twice through a fine mesh sieve to remove any clumps and return to the large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, eggs and yogurt until smooth and combined. (It will be very thick.) Whisk in the almond extract.
• Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the whisked liquid ingredients. Using an outward-to-inward circular motion, fold with a spatula until the mixtures are completely combined, and no visible flecks of dry ingredients remain. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Top the cake with the sliced figs with the cut sides facing up.
• Bake cake until the surface is golden brown and the figs release their juices and turn slightly caramelized, about 1 hour, rotating halfway through baking. If it's browning too quickly, loosely tent the cake with foil. The cake is done when a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the baked cake and let cool for 15 minutes.
• As the cake cools, prepare the tamarind glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk the confectioners' sugar, tamarind paste and oil until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, it can be thinned by adding a teaspoon or two of water.
• Once the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, pour the glaze over, and serve warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers and eat within 3 days.