Liver Pâté with Thyme, Orange, and Pistachios

Tuesday December 20th, 2016Tuesday December 20th, 2016 aglaia 6 Comments

A fast and easy pâté that I make with the flavorful innards from the free-range turkey or the rooster we get for our festive winter lunches.

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I no longer remember which pâté recipe served as the base for my adaptation. As is my habit, I start by sautéing the onions with olive oil, instead of butter or duck fat, adding orange jest and also pomegranate molasses, which give it a lovely, fruity flavor. I prefer to use unsalted pistachios, but if you cannot get them, salted are fine.

This pâté is an ideal appetizer or first course, served with a simple green salad, like the one we make from the Romaine and other lettuce leaves and arugula from the garden.

I am sure your friends will appreciate a jar of this homemade pâté, so you may like to double the recipe.

Serves 6-8, about 2 ½ cups
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Rustic Chocolates with Dried Figs and Nuts

Friday December 9th, 2016Friday December 20th, 2019 aglaia 2 Comments

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Adapted from Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts.

These bitter-chocolate-nut-and-fruit bars are delicious and almost guilt-free, as they have no added sugar. You will enjoy eating them and they make a much-appreciated edible gift; in any event, they are less of a problem when you bring to a friend’s dinner party, since flowers are a pain for the hosts who must stop everything and try to find a vase…

For about 80 pieces

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Strudel-like Quince Pie Rolls

Thursday December 1st, 2016Thursday December 1st, 2016 aglaia 2 Comments

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The stuffing I propose has no sugar; the fruit is cooked in sweet wine with raisins and honey. I just sprinkle with light brown sugar and cinnamon as I roll the pies…

More than a year passed but I still remember the wonderful strudel our friend Martina Kolbinger-Reiner baked while she and her husband, Peter came to Kea. They rented a studio flat in Hora for a week and when we decided to have lunch at a friend’s beautiful garden with dishes I would cook, Martina suggested to make a strudel for dessert.

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I am not very familiar with strudels –one or two I had in the past were too heavy with butter and soggy— but I knew Martina’s would be the real thing. I thought that she was going to use frozen phyllo or puff pastry for the casing, but when she brought her strudel I was amazed by its delicate, silky phyllo-like crust. (more…)

QUINCE Pie Rolls with Almonds, Raisins and Honey

Thursday December 1st, 2016Thursday December 1st, 2016 aglaia Leave a comment

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Inspired from apple strudel, the stuffing I propose has no sugar; the fruit is simmered in sweet wine with raisins and honey. I just sprinkle it with light brown sugar and cinnamon as I roll the pies. If you like the pie sweeter, sprinkle each piece with confectioner’s sugar as you cut to serve.

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If you are familiar, or you want to try the traditional Austrian way of making the dough and rolling the strudel on a piece of cloth you can roll one or two larger strudels with that filling instead of four pie rolls. And if you have no quince, use apples, following the instruction for the thinly-sliced, raw apple filing that is used in the strudel.

Makes 4 pie rolls; about 16-20 pieces (more…)

Paximadia Horiatiki or Greek Salad with Rusks, Feta and Capers

Thursday August 18th, 2016Saturday June 11th, 2022 aglaia 3 Comments

Adapted from Mediterranean Hot and Spicy (Broadway Books) Tomato-Salad-Sw

Horiatiki, that has inspired the ubiquitous Greek Salad, is scented with dried, wild oregano or savory, and doused with plenty of fruity olive oil. It might also contain salted sardines, and was often made more substantial with the addition of stale bread or crumbled paximadia (barley rusks), which soak up the delicious juices.

Read HERE the story and roots of this iconic salad.

Serves 6 to 8

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