Our Fat Cat Kitchen Consultant, Cyrus "The Fat Tom Cat" Yang just returned from a vacation in Tuscany with his lovely wife Kathy and a couple of friends people they know.

Inspired by his trip to the culinary Motherland, he put together this Cantucci cookie recipe.

Now, Cyrus is a bit, shall we say -- [ahem ahem] -- "obsessive" when it comes to food. Of course that's good, but we can just imagine Cyrus bursting into their condo and making a frantic dash to the kitchen after 2 long weeks without an apron and oven mitts, leaving poor Kathy to unpack his crusty socks and wrinkled Polo Ralph Lauren oxfords. (And he probably even made her carry the luggage... he's such a 21st century Cat.)

Anywho, I haven't tried this yet, but Cyrus has never steered us wrong when it comes to food. After all, that's why we put up w/ his annoying banter and shallow materialistic aspirations.

Here's some background info from Cyrus:

"I developed a cantucci recipe (small biscotti from the Prato region). It's based on Giuliano Bugialli's recipe in "The Fine Art of Italian Cooking," but only loosely. I did some research on the net and sort of triangulated around quantities and ingredients before settling on something that fit my palate -- and one that reminded me of Florence.

One last note: if you can score some, get 00 (double zero) Italian flour [called Doppio 0 -- fcc]. It makes a kick ass pasta (or pastry). The protein content is lower than that of American flours, and it makes a big difference in the bite. You can even roll out the dough to notches 7-8 and have the pasta retain its integrity. Plus, you literally only need to boil the pasta for 15-30 seconds at that thickness. It will be perfectly al dente."

See, this guy knows food, much more so, I dare say, than those pretentious food snobs at the New York Times.

"Fat Tom Cat" Cyrus' Cantucci Recipe (Makes ~ 4 dozen cookies)

Fat Ingredients:
2 Cups Italian 00 flour (plus 1/2 cup extra for kneading as desired)
1 Cup white granulated sugar (or cane sugar for a darker biscotti)
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs (2 whole eggs, 1 egg yolk separated from egg white)
3/4 Cup whole roasted hazelnuts
3/4 Cup whole roasted almonds

Fat Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Separate one the eggs into yolk and white. Beat the egg white lightly and set aside. Combine the egg yolk with the other two eggs and beat lightly.

Mix the eggs (2 whole + 1 yolk), sugar, honey, and vanilla extract in a standing mixer on low speed using the paddle attachment until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Grind 1/2 of the hazelnuts and almonds in a food processor until sandy. Combine the ground nuts with the flour mixture. Coarsely chop the remaining nuts (in half or in thirds) and set aside.

Stir dry ingredients into the wet mixture a half a cup at a time until all but half a cup of it is combined. Transfer the dough to a large, lightly floured board for kneading. Knead the dough gently and incorporate the final half cup of dry ingredients. Knead only enough to combine the ingredients evenly. The dough will be slightly tacky after all the flour mixture is added. Gently fold the chopped nuts into the dough.

Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a rope approximately 3/4 of an inch thick. Each rope should be approximately a foot in length.

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and place the dough ropes on the paper, spacing the ropes 1-2 inches apart from each other (when baking, the dough will expand sideways). Brush the ropes with the beaten egg white using a pastry brush.

Place the pan onto the middle oven rack and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden. Once finished, decrease the oven temperature to 275 degrees and transfer the cookie bars to a cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the bars into 3/4" – 1" pieces, slicing on the bias (45 degree angle). Each bar should yield 10-12 cookies.

Lay the cookies cut-side down on the parchment paper and bake in the 275 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Once finished, transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before eating or storing.