A Full Weekend of Yom

[I started writing this post yesterday, but discovered that blogging about food while fasting is vaguely masochistic.  Therefore.  That entry has been abandoned - mostly because, towards the end, it was only making hungry Cookie Monster sounds - and I'm now starting fresh with a cup of coffee and a bowl of yogurt and granola before me.]

Yom Kippur isn't a happy holiday; one doesn't celebrate it so much as observe it.  It's the Day of Atonement, when you ask forgiveness for your sins of the past year; it is your last chance to repent for all that which has gone wrong between you and God, determining whether or not you will be inscribed in the Book of Life.  As part of this, religious Jews fast from sundown on the night before through sundown on the night of the holiday.  My family always went to a big party, thrown by family friends, to break our fast, and I have such wonderful memories of the feelings of community that this fostered.

To that end, I try to host my own break fast meal when I'm not home in DC.  I totally screwed things up this year because I somehow thought that Yom Kippur was today, Sunday, and not in fact Saturday.  (I was wrong.)  Jon took me out to dinner at a lovely new restaurant in Clapham called the Abbeville Kitchen to break my fast last night; I suppose that means that tonight's dinner party is just a normal dinner party - well, a normal dinner party with autumnally Jewish overtones!  (Is that even a thing?  Must be, now that it's online.  Anything on the internet is true, you know.)

I'm making two kind of galettes to start, one with butternut squash and caramelized onions and one with mushrooms and stilton.  The actual dinner will be kasha-stuffed roast chicken with roasted brussels sprouts.  To finish, we have a cheese board from Neal's Yard and chocolate chip biscotti.

As I've only ever before made the biscotti, that's the recipe I'm going to share with you.  It's beyond easy, though you do have to watch the clock a bit carefully.  You can put almond slivers in it, too, or probably anything, really, as long as it doesn't mess with the consistency too much.  Go to town!

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
7 oz (200g) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 175*c.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, combine the flour and the baking powder.  In a big bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and vanilla using an electric whisk for five minutes or until the mixture thickens and holds its shape.  Using a rubber spatula, stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture and then mix in the chocolate chips.

On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough in half and form each half into a log.  Set the logs lengthwise on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned, rotating the sheet halfway through.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and decrease the oven temperature to 150*c.  Let the logs cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and cut them into slices 1/2" thick with a serrated knife.  Place the cookies cut-side up in a single layer on the baking sheet.  (You may need to use a second sheet.)  Bake until the biscotti are firm, about 20 minutes, flipping them midway through baking.  Let cool completely. Enjoy!