Tea Party
It's time for another one of elspethsheir's lovely tea parties! I am not very organized this time, and so my contributions are a bit of a mishmash of stuff made in the last month or so. (I realize I'm the only one who cares about this stuff, but the white balance for the cookie pictures PAINS ME IN MY SOUL. The weather's been simply dreadful today, and there just wasn't any way to make things right. Also, my head feels like lead and I'm not really thinking in English so... hopefully the recipes will make sense, at least.) Check out the party here.
These Blue Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits were... I think DIVINE is the right word. I used butter, just chives instead of chives and thyme, and partly whole-grain flour. YUM.
Zaalouk is a Moroccan spicy aubergine spread. This is a cobbled-together version of something I had at a restaurant earlier this year, and I'm still working on the proportions. No pictures, as it was pitch dark when we had this, but I have another batch in the fridge and will try again tomorrow. It works as a salad type condiment or as sandwich spread.
2 small eggplants
1 tin canned tomatoes (or a lot of fresh ones if they're good)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp harissa
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbs flat leaf parsley (or one tbsp each cilantro and parsley)
salt and pepper to taste
Peel and cube the eggplants. Cook them in plenty of salted water for about 20 minutes, until very soft. Drain and press out excess fluid. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and sautée the garlic, harissa and coriander until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer until the mixture darkens a bit and thickens. Add the parsley and eggplant cubes and mash everything together with a spatula. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at room temperature.
Pistachio Pastry
This would be wonderful with a nice spicy chai or, if you're going with a Moroccan theme, mint tea.
60 g butter (cold)
175 ml flour
2 tbsp sugar
0.5 egg
1 tsp cold water
150 g almond paste
200 ml thick cream
2.5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar (that is, sugar from a can with some vanilla pods in it)
50 ml confectioners' sugar
110 g peeled pistachios
(green food coloring)
honey, rosewater and confectioners' sugar and more pistachios for garnish
Heat the oven to 200°C.
Mix together flour and sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes and cut into the flour mixture. Whisk together egg and water and stir into the dough. Press into a 26cm-by-14cm form that you've lined with buttered parchment paper and pop in the fridge until you're done with the filling.
With the knife attachment of a food processor, process the pistachios until finely ground. Add the almond paste, sugars and eggs and process until smooth, then mix in cream (and food coloring, if using - I didn't and it still turned out plenty green). Pour on top of the pastry dough and bake for about half an hour. Let cool, cut into squares and dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving. Mix together honey and a bit of rosewater and sprinkle over everything, along with whole pistachios.
Greek Butter Cookies
Recipe here. Do NOT leave the recipe downstairs, thinking you remember the proportions, and use a whole teaspoon of almond extract instead of half. That said, these were a lot of fun to make! (Partly because the shape reminds me of lussekatter, which I enjoy making but not eating, and today is St Lucia Day.)
Earl Grey Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Next time, I'm going to try these with milk chocolate, as I think it would balance out the fairly strong taste of tea. I may just have let my melted butter "tea" brew too long, though.
1 tbsp loose Earl Grey leaves
150 g butter
100 ml confectioners' sugar
250 ml flour
70 g chocolate, chopped
Melt the butter with the tea leaves in a saucepan and let stand for about 5-10 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids to get as much of the butter as possible. Set aside until the butter's solid again (but not cold), then whip with the confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour until just combined and add the chocolate. Gather the dough on a large strip of clingfilm and flatten it out, covered with another bit of clingfilm (um, if that makes sense. It's a very sticky dough.). Roll the dough (still between sheets of clingfilm) to form a 5-mm-thick disc and chill for at least an hour. Cut into pieces, prick each piece with a fork, and bake at 175°C/350°F for 12-15 minutes or until pale gold. Cool on racks.
These Blue Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits were... I think DIVINE is the right word. I used butter, just chives instead of chives and thyme, and partly whole-grain flour. YUM.
Zaalouk is a Moroccan spicy aubergine spread. This is a cobbled-together version of something I had at a restaurant earlier this year, and I'm still working on the proportions. No pictures, as it was pitch dark when we had this, but I have another batch in the fridge and will try again tomorrow. It works as a salad type condiment or as sandwich spread.
2 small eggplants
1 tin canned tomatoes (or a lot of fresh ones if they're good)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp harissa
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbs flat leaf parsley (or one tbsp each cilantro and parsley)
salt and pepper to taste
Peel and cube the eggplants. Cook them in plenty of salted water for about 20 minutes, until very soft. Drain and press out excess fluid. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and sautée the garlic, harissa and coriander until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer until the mixture darkens a bit and thickens. Add the parsley and eggplant cubes and mash everything together with a spatula. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at room temperature.
Pistachio Pastry
This would be wonderful with a nice spicy chai or, if you're going with a Moroccan theme, mint tea.
60 g butter (cold)
175 ml flour
2 tbsp sugar
0.5 egg
1 tsp cold water
150 g almond paste
200 ml thick cream
2.5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar (that is, sugar from a can with some vanilla pods in it)
50 ml confectioners' sugar
110 g peeled pistachios
(green food coloring)
honey, rosewater and confectioners' sugar and more pistachios for garnish
Heat the oven to 200°C.
Mix together flour and sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes and cut into the flour mixture. Whisk together egg and water and stir into the dough. Press into a 26cm-by-14cm form that you've lined with buttered parchment paper and pop in the fridge until you're done with the filling.
With the knife attachment of a food processor, process the pistachios until finely ground. Add the almond paste, sugars and eggs and process until smooth, then mix in cream (and food coloring, if using - I didn't and it still turned out plenty green). Pour on top of the pastry dough and bake for about half an hour. Let cool, cut into squares and dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving. Mix together honey and a bit of rosewater and sprinkle over everything, along with whole pistachios.
Greek Butter Cookies
Recipe here. Do NOT leave the recipe downstairs, thinking you remember the proportions, and use a whole teaspoon of almond extract instead of half. That said, these were a lot of fun to make! (Partly because the shape reminds me of lussekatter, which I enjoy making but not eating, and today is St Lucia Day.)
Earl Grey Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Next time, I'm going to try these with milk chocolate, as I think it would balance out the fairly strong taste of tea. I may just have let my melted butter "tea" brew too long, though.
1 tbsp loose Earl Grey leaves
150 g butter
100 ml confectioners' sugar
250 ml flour
70 g chocolate, chopped
Melt the butter with the tea leaves in a saucepan and let stand for about 5-10 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids to get as much of the butter as possible. Set aside until the butter's solid again (but not cold), then whip with the confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour until just combined and add the chocolate. Gather the dough on a large strip of clingfilm and flatten it out, covered with another bit of clingfilm (um, if that makes sense. It's a very sticky dough.). Roll the dough (still between sheets of clingfilm) to form a 5-mm-thick disc and chill for at least an hour. Cut into pieces, prick each piece with a fork, and bake at 175°C/350°F for 12-15 minutes or until pale gold. Cool on racks.