Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Mrs. Myrtleberry’s Roast

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This is an amazing savoury dish… Seriously, you have to try it! I ate it at a fellow Hungarian (also vegetarian) foodblogger, Anna a month ago. The whole dinner with the starter, the soup, the main dish and the dessert was a feast. We ate so much until we were completely full.

The recipe comes from one of Celia Brooks Brown’s books: World Vegetarian Classics (I need to get a copy ASAP! :)). This recipe originates from Mrs. Myrtleberry who ran a B&B in Devon, England. The main adjustment was to toast the nuts, which brings out a wonderful flavour. This is rich, satisfying and chockfull of protein. Serve with a salad or steamed vegetables or mashed potato (like I did).

Mrs. Myrtleberry’s Roast

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

– 250 g mixed nuts – walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and sesame seeds
– 1 onion, chopped
– 1 clove of garlic, chopped
– 2 organic eggs
– 400 g (1 can) peeled tomatoes, drained
– 150 g cheddar cheese, grated
– 1 tablespoon fresh parsely, finely chopped
– 1 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped
– 2 teaspoons fresh sage, finely chopped
– 1/2 teaspoon fresh mint, finely chopped
– 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
– 1 teaspoon mustard
– salt, pepper
– butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease a round form (diameter 20-22 cm) with butter, line with parchment paper then grease the paper also with butter.

Place the nuts (except sesame seeds) in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast, stirring gently, until golden and fragrant. Remove to a bowl and leave to cool. Whiz in a food processor until very finely chopped; the mixture should still be loose, not a purée.

In a large bowl, combine the groundnuts with the onion, garlic, herbs, tomatoes, sesame seeds, cheese, eggs, lemon juice and seasoning with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the form and bake for 40-50 minutes on 180C (350F) until firm and golden brown.

Ricciarelli, Siena’s Almond Cookies

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Raise your hands if you know Giulia and her wonderful food blog Juls’ Kitchen. If you don’t, hurry up and check it out, after reading this post. 🙂 I don’t remember how I found her amazing site – stuffed full of stunning photos, traditional Italian recipes and well written content in English and in Italian too – but I love it so much! She makes so much effort to translate all her posts into English. She is a friendly and chatty person, a great cook and a talented baker. We don’t live very far from each other – Giulia in Italy, myself in Hungary – so I’m sure we will definitely meet one day… Sooner than later. 🙂

Thanks to the social networking tool, Twitter, we started chatting and getting to know each other, following each other’s lives. To make the long story short, Giulia emailed me last December if I was interested in writing a cross cultural exchange recipe post. She already knew which Hungarian cake she would like to bake, but I wasn’t sure about my Italian challenge. I didn’t have a clue what  I should say… “Giulia, don’t be hard on me! I like easy recipes! Surprise me! :)” She chose Dobos Torte because she ate tons of it when she visited Budapest. Juls is a big fan of this 127 year-old cake. I translated the recipe for her and I also emailed a video (subtitled in English) to make her baking easier (thanks to a fellow Hungarian food blogger, Kriszti, who made a video of how to make the Dobos Torte).I got the recipe of Ricciarelli, the almond cookies from Siena. “The origin of Ricciarelli di Siena dates back to the 15th century: the almond paste – in the form of marzipan or Marzapanetti – was once very popular in the town and Siena was famous even outside its territory for its production. The cookies made with almond paste were reserved for the sumptuous banquet of the Lords because they were made of precious ingredients, mainly almonds and sugar. They were so valuable and refined that marzipan sweets were sold in the apothecaries shops  along with drugs and the most exotic spices of the time.” (Info adapted from Juls’ blog.)

Giulia says this recipe comes from the grocery shop Rosi in Poggibonsi (SI), slightly revised. She loves  to enter this shop especially during holidays because it is full of smells of chocolate, spices and happy-faced children.

I did a few changes in the recipe. I added less icing sugar (I don’t like cakes/cookies very sweet) and reduced the amount of bitter almond extract. The cookies turned out to be amazing, a bit crunchy on the outside and soft, moisture in the inside. After a couple of days they are even better. Everyone in my family loved it. Grazie Giulia, it was a great experience!

Ricciarelli

Ingredients (makes about 20)

– 2 egg whites
– 1 drop lemon juice
– 120 g icing (powdered) sugar
– 200 g ground almond flour
– 2 teaspoons bitter almond extract
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1 orange’s zest
– 100 g extra icing sugar

Methods

The night before: whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice to stiff peaks. Add the almond flour, 120 g of icing sugar, the almond extract, the orange zest and the vanilla seeds. Mix everything together then cover the soft dough with cling-film and set aside in the fridge for overnight.

The day after: place the extra icing sugar on a working surface. Roll the dough into a log (diameter 2,5-3 cm) and cut 1 cm thick slices. Shape each slice with your hands and coat the shaped cookies with extra icing sugar. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in preheated oven on 160C (320F) for about 18 minutes. When you remove from the oven, they will still be soft and moist but don’t worry they will reach the ideal texture once cooled down. If some remain, store them in an airtight box.

Truffles for Christmas

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I love giving home made Christmas presents to my friends and family. Like every other year I made truffles… but now in a vegan way because my mother in law is on a special diet. I found these recipes on  one of my favourite blogs, David & Luise’s Green Kitchen Stories. I love all their healthy, nourishing recipes. Check them out.
These truffles are great for any other occasions or to have a great snack in the fridge just in case you crave for some sweets.
Ingredients (1. version – Chocolate-almond-coconut truffles)
– 12 dates, seeded
– 100 g almond, without skin
– 100 g desiccated coconut
– 2 tablespoons coconut oil
– 1 tablespoon coconut milk
– 1 tablespoon water
– 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetend
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Method

Mix all the ingredients in a blender for 2 minutes (don’t worry if it looks to dry it will be easy to form the mixture). Form 15-18 little balls with your hand and roll them in cocoa powder or in desiccated coconut.  Place them in small paper liners and put in the fridge for a while before serving.
Ingredients (2. version – Coffee-oat-chocolate truffles)
– 15 db dates, seeded
– 4 tablespoons oat flakes
– 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
– 2 tablespoons coconut oil
– 2 teaspoons fresh espresso
– 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetend
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1 tablespoon water
Method

Mix all the ingredients in a blender for 2 minutes. Form 15 little balls with your hand and roll them in desiccated coconut or oat flakes. Place them in small paper liners and put in the fridge for a while before serving.