Wine Biscuits

Do you ever slip into one of those moods where you just have to try something different in the same vein as kids who come up with science experiments the day of science fair? I once had an assignment due for a Humanities Class. The subject was architecture. I blanked on it until the night before, when I found myself making a high school out of pumpkin bread (and aced it).

But appallingly, I digress.

The fact is, I came across a recipe for wine biscuits and had never seen, heard, sampled or baked anything of the sort before. What is their purpose, other than as a peppery vessel to hold up your cheese? The recipe calls for cabernet sauvignon and I only had pinot noir on hand, so the wine essence was not as deeply soulful as I would have longed for. But the pepper announces itself after you've tasted the sweetness of the biscuit - well, not a biscuit but more like a cookie with a hole in it.

The purpose of the hole? It's beyond me. Try the recipe without the hole and report back. There must be something we can do about the color of the finished product, but if you're topping this biscuit with cheese, it won't matter much.

Were I to make the wine biscuits again, I'd wait for another rainy day. I'd use a better grade of pepper, freshly ground, and a fuller-bodied wine. The recipe suggests 4-6 tablespoons of sugar. You might think of skipping that last tablespoon, but I wouldn't. I tried it and ended up dusting the top of each cookie with superfine sugar. The dough was just too savory without it.

A wine biscuit is not a sweet confection; it's a savory item that would go well with spreadable cheeses and fruity beverages such as sangria, in the manner suggested by King Arthur Flour.

I think an herb such as chopped rosemary could help lift this biscuit to another level. Something more is what I want. Something with kick that turns a wine biscuit into a sweet memory.




(photo featuring wine biscuits and a World War II era handkerchief from Hawaii, sent by a Marine to my mother, Rosie)