tagged ‘hazelnuts’

Hazelnut & raisin olive oil cookies

in Desserts, Taste -

These hazelnut & raisin olive oil cookies are sweetened by petimezi (grape molasses) and baked until soft and a little crunchy around the edges. 

Hazelnut & raisin olive oil cookies

Last Saturday, I had the great joy to once again take photos at Oliveology’s cooking workshop. It’s no secret I have a huge soft spot for Marianna’s shop; everything is so carefully selected and brought over to London after much thought, consideration and testing, always in pursuit of best quality products*. The workshops follow the same philosophy: they are relaxed yet informative, introducing Greek cuisine and tradition through tasting and hands on preparation. The recipes are created by Despina Siahuli (another big soft spot right there) and every dish I’ve tasted time and time again there is filled with the best ingredients, bursts of flavour, goodness and an ever so slight sense of nostalgia, with which I am only too familiar. On that day, the menu included some of the most delicious cookies I’ve ever had- which also proved to be entirely fool proof and filled with all the good stuff. [READ MORE]

Honeyed kumquats, yogurt & thyme

in Breakfast, Desserts, Taste -

Honeyed kumquats are a real treat, especially for breakfast, served with thick yogurt & fragrant thyme over crunchy toast. 

I’ve gone back and forth before deciding what to do with the heaps of kumquats from my parents minuscule trees. While your suggestions inspired both research and tremendous appetite, I found it almost impossible to settle on a recipe. While I was trying to make up my mind, I must have eaten a third of them, with no preparation at all, pith, seeds and all. I just find them so very delicious, impossibly fragrant, lightly bitter and with a lovely texture. I’ve added them to salads in place of oranges and in warming, creamy oats and, before deciding anything else, I knew I had to make my mom’s delicious kumquat marmalade. And yet, I didn’t. See, they were so pretty, so bright and shapely I refused to chop them down. Instead, I made a preserve of sorts. [READ MORE]

Brown butter & hazelnut apple cake

in Desserts, Taste -

This brown butter & hazelnut apple cake is a variation of the one my mom’s recipes: simple, unapologetically straightforward and perfect for fall.

Brown butter & hazelnut apple cake

Enamoured as I am with apples, every autumn they are appear on our table frequently and in different ways: roughly chopped, tossed with dried fruit, toasted nuts and folded into creamy oatmeal; sliced thinly or turned into a jam, topping thick slices of toasted bread, along with tahini and sweet honey; cut in big chunks and added last to cider chicken stews; mixed with pears and spices to fill buttery dough for pies. I have experimented with many different recipes in the last couple of years, yet my favourite by far is my mom’s apple cake. The main reason is possibly nostalgia and missing her and my dad a little too much; but it’s also the flavour, simple, straightforward and utterly satisfying, as well as its rustic looks, with thick apple slices, which she cuts in a hurry on her worn wood cutting board. [READ MORE]

Date, hazelnut & coconut fudge

in Desserts, Taste -

Love at first bite: this super healthy, super quick date, hazelnut & coconut fudge is the perfect little treat for your loved ones.

I believe I have already mentioned here my affection for Valentine’s Day celebrations. It’s a silly day and these are silly sentiments, really, but I am holding on to both with a somewhat nostalgic persistence. I am not quite sure what being a ‘romantic’ entails nor can I put in precise words my definition of a romance. Yet, I have the persistent and almost fantastic certainty that my parents share a love which is both one for the books and messily and reassuringly ordinary. I like to think that Mike’s and mine romance shares both these attributes and somehow balances between the overwhelmingly extraordinary and the comforts of a serene routine. [READ MORE]

No-churn coffee, choc chip & hazelnut ice-cream

in Desserts, Taste -

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When I was little, the first ice-cream I had always marked the beginning of summer. It was almost always the same: two big round crunchy chocolate cookies, drenched in chocolate ganache, with vanilla ice-cream sandwiched between them. Heaven. I still have the same and it still marks the official start of the holidays for me, even though now that I’m all grown-up and able to make (all wise) decisions, I have ice-cream all year around. [READ MORE]