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Amy Riolo

Author, Cooking Instructor, Food Writer, Culinary Consultant

http://www.amyriolo.com/  

Amy Riolo is an internationally recognized culinary expert specializing in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean culture and cuisine. As a cookbook author, lecturer, food historian, food writer, culinary consultant, and cooking instructor, Amy promotes her philosophy of cooking and living with both pleasure and health. Her first book, Arabian Delights; Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula has received rave reviews (Capital Books). Her second book Nile Style; Egyptian Cuisine and Culture (Hippocrene Books) will be released in spring 2009. She is also completing The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook, (American Diabetes Association) which will be released in spring 2010.

Amy’s popular lectures range in topics and include everything from Middle Eastern business etiquette to the history of various cuisines. She has been an invited guest speaker for the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Welcome to Washington International, Montgomery College, Les Dames D’Escoffier, The Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee and the Mycological Association of Washington, DC. Amy also makes frequent appearances on numerous television and radio programs both in the United States and Egypt including Fox TV, Montgomery and Fairfax County TV, Nile TV and WHYY.           

Amy currently writes the “Culture and Cuisine” feature for the Baltimore- Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee. She has also written articles for Cooking Light Magazine, Azizah Magazine, and the Kulanu newsletter. A graduate of Cornell University, Amy has experience in vocational, recreational, and children’s instruction, as well as corporate team building and cultural/culinary events. Her knowledge of the Italian, French, Spanish, and Arabic languages has enabled her to interpret many cultures and cuisines with intimacy and ease. She regularly teaches cooking classes at Sur la Table in Arlington, Virginia, and for private organizations.

A successful culinary consultant, Amy enjoys developing menus, recipes, training seminars, and themes for corporations, restaurants, and hotels. Amy is often asked to work as a consultant for museums where she creates menus and décor which represent the theme of new collections. In addition, she works with curators to incorporate sensory components like scent, touch, and taste into the schedule of events, allowing museum patrons to fully experience each exhibit.

Amy is a member of The International Association of Culinary Professionals, Culinary Historians of Washington, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Slow Food DC, Welcome to Washington International (where she co-chairs the Gourmet Committee), Cornell Club of Washington, the Women’s National Book Association, and the Baltimore – Luxor – Alexandria Sister City Committee (Where she is the chairperson of the Baltimore Friends of the Alexandria Library). Amy is based in the Washington DC, area and maintains a home in Egypt. She is currently organizing culinary tours to both the Mediterranean and Middle East.

How to Make Italian Sesame Cookies

Culinary Expert Amy Riolo demonstrates how to make Italian Sesame Cookies.

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How to Make Italian Sesame Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup canola oil, placed in freezer for 20 minutes before using - or 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sesame seeds, untoasted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.


2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.


3. Stir in canola oil and mix well to combine.


4. Combine milk and vanilla in a small bowl and stir into mixture.


5. Mix ingredients well to form a dough and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface.


6. Pour sesame seeds onto a plate.


7. Break off 1-inch pieces of dough and roll them to create finger shapes.


8. Roll in sesame seeds to coat.


9. Place on baking sheets and flatten top of cookies slightly with a finger.


10. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until very light golden.

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Transcripts

Amy Riolo: Hi, I am Amy Riolo. Today, we are making Italian cookies. The cookie which we are going to make next are Calabrian and Sesame Cookies. The ingredients we will be using are 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour plus extra for the work surface, 1/3 of sugar, 1 teaspoons baking powder, a pinch of salt, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cup of un-toasted sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract that can be dry or liquid and a of milk. So the first thing that we will be using to make our dough is the flour. We are going to combine all of the dry ingredients into a standing mixer, but if you don't have a standing mixer at home or you don't want to use it, you can very easily just do it in a bowl and use a spoon. This is a very old fashioned cookie and it's definitely fine to do that. This is a very traditional cookie that's served on Christmas day. In Italian, they are called Biscotti di Regina or Queen's cookies. So now we have all of our dry ingredients in the bowl and I am just going to mix them together for one second. Then we are going to add our vanilla. If you have liquid vanilla, that's fine. Then our 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Then we are going to just mix this together. Then as the butter starts to get broken down into little pieces, you can mix it for a little bit longer until it gets more incorporated and then we are going to add our milk. So now we can add our milk, then we can increase the speed a little bit. Basically, what we are doing is we are working the dough until it gets to have a nice pliable texture. So we are going to keep working it for a few more minutes and then we will roll them and roll them into the sesames. So that's mixed enough and what you really want to do to test the dough is just to form it into your hand. If the dough forms a ball, then that's exactly the right mixture that you need it to be, the right texture. These cookies are very integral to Southern Italian culture. In addition to being served on Christmas day, you can find them a lot at Italian weddings and at other functions. They are nice cookie to have on hand because there is not a lot of sugar in them. As you can see, only a 1/3 of a cup is really not a lot at all. So they are delicious cookie and they are pretty healthy in terms of being a dessert. You can eat them for breakfast and you can also freeze them and have them on hand. So now we have a nice ball with our dough and this is what we need. Then you have a prepared baking pan which you can put either parchment paper on or in this case, we have a Silpat. Then what we are going to do is break off, kind of, 1 inch pieces. You can make them smaller or larger, it really depends upon what you want to do, but the important thing is, with this cookie that you make them all even sized. So bigger, smaller, really doesn't matter, just make them even sized. Then we are going to roll them to coat them in the sesame seeds. Then we are going to place them on our baking pan and then we press down with our finger. This, kind of, makes this little shape this way, kind of, like a walnut piece. That's what you are looking for, you don't want them to be completely round and you don't want them to be completely flat, its kind of an in between, kind of, a size that we are going for with the Biscotti di Regina. This is really fun for kids. When I was a kid, it was always my job to roll. It's a great way to get them to learn how to bake and to learn the importance of getting things to be even sized. That really, I think, helps their concentration and their intention span, when you give them something like this that takes time to do. If you didn't have time to roll them out, you could freeze the dough, you could also put the dough in the refrigerator, but you would just want to bring it back to room temperature before you go ahead and bake them. So we can continue rolling out the cookies. Then when they are time to bake, you want to bake them in a preheated oven. That's been set to 375 degrees and we are going to bake it for about 18-20 minutes. You want to bake them until they are firm to the touch and the bottoms are lightly golden. You don't want to let them actually turn very dark, but 18-20 minutes should be perfect. Those are our sesame cookies which are Southern Italian Calabrian recipe. They have a great crunchy flavor. When we come back, we will be making our Pizzelle.

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