I don't use the word famous here loosely. My dad got the original biscotti recipe a long ago from my Great Aunt Bossy, who had it passed to her from real Italians in earlier Bossy generations. He spent years tweaking and perfecting the recipe, and what he came up with is more Oregonian than Italian. He replaces some of the flour with ground hazelnuts (Oregon grows 99% of the hazelnuts grown in the US—did you know?) and uses all natural, organic ingredients. They're softer and denser than traditional Italian biscotti, and all who taste them become immediately addicted. They're expected at family gatherings, and it's entirely possible that the Marion County Democrats (the Bossy folks are very active behind the scenes in local politics) owe all their recent successes to biscotti fuel.
Papa Bossy is a perfectionist and a craftsman; he doesn't do anything half-way. The biscotti baking process is detailed and exact. He refers to his Kitchenaid stand mixer as "the biscotti machine" and generally has a jar of orange peel soaked in liqueur at the ready should the urge to bake biscotti come upon him unexpectedly. He spent a morning teaching me how to make it. I haven't done it alone yet, but as soon as I get back to Houston and my own "biscotti machine," I'll try my hand at it. In the meantime, here are some pictures of my dad working his magic.
Learn to make Papa Bossy's famous biscotti.
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Yummy!
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