With Strawberries & Cream, or with Chocolate & Almonds

Monday April 20th, 2020Tuesday April 21st, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

Starting from my Tsoureki —the the sweet, orange-flavored olive-oil-brioche-like dough I used for the Mallorca buns– I halved it and created two, very different festive, spring dessert versions.

For the first –our Easter cake– I used the sweet brioche instead of any other base to make a fresh strawberry treat. The other half of the dough I flattened, sprinkled with chopped semi-sweet chocolate, and ground almonds, then rolled into a loaf, and baked. Had I seen Lior’s Babka I would have cut and twisted the rolled dough to make it more spectacular. (more…)

Oriental Orange ‘Cream’

Friday April 17th, 2020Monday August 17th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

With no eggs or cream, this light fruity dessert is based on Portocal Peltesi, a Turkish recipe I tasted in Istanbul. You can make it with any fruit juice –lemon, tangerine, grape, pomegranate etc. You can also use the fruit ‘cream’ as filling for a pre-baked tart shell. I like to serve it with cakes, as well as with Sweet Orange and Pistachio Couscous

Photo by Anastasios Mentis from my ‘Mediterranean Hot and Spicy’

Serves 6 (more…)

“Mallorcas” Sweet Tsoureki Buns

Wednesday April 15th, 2020Monday April 20th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

Adapted from the Puerto Rican ‘Mallorcas, the slightly sweet breakfast buns I found in the festive pages of SAVEUR magazine. See also how I use this brioche-like dough to make a Strawberry Cake and a Chocolate & Almond Loaf.

“Fluffy, eggy, buttery, sweet, coiled like a snail’s shell, and generously dusted with powdered sugar, the pan de Mallorca is named for its land of origin, in Spain. They are delicious on their own, or split and turned into sweet-and-savory ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches,” the magazine’s introduction explained.

The dough is very similar to challah and the traditional Greek tsoureki, –the sweet brioche-like festive breads we bake for Christmas and Easter. In my version I substituted light olive oil for the butter, and used whole eggs, instead of just egg yolks, then I decided to brush the dough rectangle with my Seville orange marmalade before rolling and cutting the buns. I also placed them one roll next to the other, like cinnamon rolls, and I wish I had managed to make all the buns roughly the same size…

(Photo from Saveur magazine)

Makes 6 large buns (more…)

Chard Leaves Stuffed with Vegetables, Rice, Herbs and Fish

Tuesday April 14th, 2020Tuesday April 14th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

The garden offers me plenty of large chard leaves, often in different colors, all through May, and it is so easy to roll them into large bundles, preferably without blanching them first.

In my last book I have the vegetarian version of the stuffed leaves, although the original idea came to me from the salt-cod-stuffed lettuce leaves I had many years ago at a tavern near the archaeological site of ancient Corinth. Here is my adaptation of that recipe.

WATCH the video

Make the dish at least a day in advance and let cool completely before refrigerating; then you can serve it room temperature or reheat briefly reheat it. Accompany with yogurt, labne or with skordalia (garlic sauce).

Serves 6 (more…)

Yogurt Bread Stuffed with Cheese or Chocolate

Sunday April 12th, 2020Monday April 20th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

This is a delicious, moist and very easy bread dough.

I describe here how you can make it into savory or sweets treats.

No need to make them both the same day, though. Just keep half the dough in the fridge to stuff and bake within the next 2-3 days making the sweet or savory version.

You also can form into loaves or small buns and eat instead of any other bread; it makes wonderful sandwiches.

The cheese-stuffed bread is a lovely accompaniment to soups and vegetable dishes, or served as meze with drinks. The chocolate bread can be part of breakfast or accompany soft cheese or served with tea, and coffee.

Yields 2 round loaves
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