Vegan & Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie Cups with Vegan Chocolate Frosting - Σοκολατένια Brownie Cups Χωρίς Γλουτένη και Αυγά με Vegan Frosting Σοκολάτας #vgfoodblogawards #madewithAB #vimagourmet

(For English scroll down or click here)

Τι τίτλος σιδηρόδρομος είναι αυτός? Δεν με νοιάζει αν είναι τελείως αντίθετος με τους κανόνες του savoir faire του σωστού και αποδοτικού SEO - Search Engine Optimisation ή αλλιώς όλα αυτά που τραβάμε για να εμφανίζονται τα post ψηλά στα αποτελέσματα αναζήτησης στη Google - αλλά δεν μπορούσα να το κρατάω άλλο μέσα μου! Μετά από αρκετά πειράματα κατάφερα να φτιάξω το πιο υγιεινό brownie που έχω φάει ποτέ. 

Και αρχίζουμε να μετράμε...

Δεν έχει γλουτένη.

Δεν έχει λακτόζη

Δεν έχει αβγά

Δεν έχει λευκή ζάχαρη

Celery Root Soup with Curried Apples ~ Σουπα Σελινοριζας με Μηλο και Καρυ

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

Celery root, is definitely not a charmer. It is bulky, sometimes hairy, with strange root tentacles coming out of its many nooks and crannies. Makes you wonder how on earth you're going to peel it and if is, actually, worth your effort.

Chickpea Spinach Stew - Ρεβιθάδα με Σπανάκι

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

My love for chickpeas is very well documented on this blog. Just take a look in my recipe list and you will find recipes featuring chickpeas in many forms and shapes, like the deliciously creamy Hummus or the spicy Chickpea Curry and off course my favourite Socca made from chickpea flour!

Piperade - Πιπεράδα

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

And then there were peppers.

Loads and loads of peppers.

Green peppers....

Red peppers....

Yellow peppers....

Blue peppers....

Spinach Rice {Spanakorizo} - Σπανακόρυζο

(Συνταγή στη Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

When life gives you spinach make...Spanakorizo!

I blame today's recipe on a half-hearted and ultimately failed attempt to do a 3-day juice cleanse. Blame is a harsh word because I enjoyed this simple and very healthy dish very much.. But let me explain... Early Monday morning, that damned day when all diets that are doomed to fail start, found me at the farmer's market buying bucketfuls of spinach, apples, celery, carrots, beets, all in hope that I will be able to complete said 3-day juice cleanse. I juiced and blended for 2 hours but by the time lunchtime came I had already given up. The apples and the carrots could wait but the spinach could not. Something had to be done to lessen my quilt and to utilise that bucketful of the beautiful organic spinach I had in my fridge.

Vegan and Gluten Free Apple and Raisin Muffins - Μαφινς με Μηλο και Σταφιδες Χωρις Γλουτενη

And just like that, Easter is over and there are 4 more months until we move to Athens. I thought that I would never say it, but I feel happy we are going back after 8 years away from home. And even though Athens is not where my actual home is - born and bred in Grevena - I am now determined to make it. 

Athens is vast. 4.5 million people vast. Most of the time it feels like a jungle and I am saying this having lived in London for a good 8 years. You need time to adjust and a sanctuary to recuperate and fight off the craziness of the streets. Mine is going to be close to the sea. I've decided. There's only one small problem...I haven't found it yet.  We didn't have much time to look for an apartment - too much eating and drinking and meeting with friends and relatives got in the way of arranging viewings with estate agents - but I've made up my mind. Yes, this time we are going South. Close to the sea. 

Gluten Free Spring Herb Buns

It is official. We will be moving back to Athens in a few months. 

The decision was announced to us yesterday and even though we were by all means expecting it, it still made my heart and stomach stir. 

I should have gotten used to it by now. The packing, the moving, the leaving. It is, after all, exactly what I signed up for and was very much looking forward. A life of constant change and variety; travelling; never experiencing a dull moment....The life of a diplomat's wife... I sound somewhat melodramatic and I am sure this could make a great title for a novel, but my life is nothing like this. Except only in my very active imagination. Sure we get to live in various countries, and over the years we have had many interesting experiences and met so many amazing people. There is always, though, a price to pay in the end. Leaving everything and everyone behind and heading on to the new post. It was not a major problem for me a few years ago but disturbingly enough the moments I crave stability and even some boredom are starting to increase. Maybe that is why, when a friend asked me how I felt about leaving Zagreb it took me several minutes to get my answer straight. 

Because, if nothing else, Zagreb is a very solid city to live. It is small and - truth be told - a little provincial compared to other EU capitals. The winter especially can be quite a challenge as everyone seems to disappear from the streets after the sun goes down. Still, it is safe and very green and is inviting - temping you really - to grow roots and settle down. And I have to admit I might have been tempted  to do just that, and for a moment, this utterly unfeasible thought took form and lived briefly in my mind. 

But now I am back to reality.... Packing.... Leaving... 

Not just yet though. We still have a few months here and Spring is coming soon - more sun, more people, hopefully, more good memories to take back to Athens with me.

I am going to leave you for today with a recipe for light Spring Herb Buns. 

If you know me, or follow the blog, you know that I am not a huge fan of bread. I only eat bread if there is a sizeable layer of cheese, ham and mayonnaise sandwiched between two tiny slices of white bread. 

Nevertheless, George loves bread and this is a recipe I made for him late last Spring inspired by all the fresh herbs I found in the market. It is early to say that Spring has arrived and I am sure that some of you still have snow in your back yards, but the sun has been shining all weekend here and my daffodils bloomed this morning, so I cannot keep myself from thinking that the Winter greyness is going to end soon. 

As with most of the baking recipes you will find of this blog, these Spring Herb Buns are gluten free. They are packed with fresh herbs: parsley, dill, mint, oregano and spring onions. When I took them out of the oven I was so tempted to break one in half, smear it with cream cheese and just devour it there and then! And you know what? I did just that! Sometimes even I can forget that I don't like bread, especially when it is so crispy and smells like a fresh herb garden!

~~~~~~~~~

Gluten Free Spring Herb Buns

Makes two loaves or 10 buns

Ingredients

1 kg (2 pounds) gluten free flour 

7gr dry yeast 

2 teaspoons salt

300ml (1 cup) buttermilk, warm (optional - you can use warm water instead)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 1/2 cup chopped parsley, dill, mint, spring onions

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

In a large bowl or in the bowl of your mixer put the flour, yeast and salt and stir them until they combine. 

Pour in the warmed buttermilk (or warm water). 

Knead softly until everything is combined and a smooth and soft dough forms. You can use you the dough hook of your mixer to mix the dough but be careful not to overdo it. The dough has to be soft. If you decide to do it by hand you can dip your hands in water while kneading so that it remains soft. 

When the dough is formed add the olive oil, chopped herb, sesame seeds and oregano. Knead until all is uniformly combined. 

Cover with a towel to rest for 15 minutes. 

Oil a baking sheet (or 2 bread pans) and divide the dough in 10 buns. Put them on the baking sheet and with a warm damp towel. Keep them somewhere warm for 45 minutes. I leave them in my kitchen because it the warmest room of the house. They will double in size. 

Bake them for about 50 minutes. If you want you can put a small ovenproof dish filled with water in your oven before you put the bread inside. The vapours of the boiling water will make the your bread crispier. 

Let them cool on racks.

Helene's White Salad #FrenchFridayswithDorie

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Helene's All White Salad. It is named after the woman who created it, another of Dorie's friends from Paris, Helene Samuel. She was the owner of a very fashion conscious cafe in Paris where the food was perfectly colour coordinated with the décor.

I was so happy when I saw it on the menu for this week! I've been on a quest to fit into a pair of jeans I bought two years ago and are a size too small now so salads were on the menu throughout the week and are going to be for the next few to come! 

Variety is a diet's best friend if you ask me and this salad is definitely something I've never tried before. 

Apples, white cup mushrooms, cabbage and celery sticks! All raw and fresh. It is definitely a herbivore's dream meal.

 I changed it up a bit to make it almost fat free since the original vinaigrette called for 3/4 cup of olive oil ---way too much for my diet--- and I used fennel instead of celery because George jinxed the celery.

On Thursday night as I was writing down the shopping list for the ingredients I needed to make the salad, George looked over my shoulder and said:

"This is going to be one strange salad. Where are you going to find celery sticks? Is celery even available in Zagreb?"

Off course there is celery in Zagreb! Tons of celery in Zagreb! I said. Only the day before I saw all these huge, fresh, almost fluorescent green, celery stalks sitting languidly in Mercator.

He looked at me with an apologetic puppy look and went back to his laptop to continue his battle with Championship Manager.

And then the next day when I went to the supermarket and all that beautiful celery was gone! I looked everywhere! Under the swiss chard and the spinach and the lettuces. No celery stalks anywhere. Talking about heartbroken!

I did find a few gorgeous bulbs of fennel though! They were white and crunchy and so aromatic. Perfect for a raw, fresh salad like this one. I sliced it really thin and I think it added so much flavour.

I also tampered with the vinaigrette. I tampered quite a lot actually. The original recipe calls for a type of mayonnaise made from an egg yolk, Greek yoghurt and olive oil. Very tasty, I am sure, but I opted to skip it all together and make a skinny version of a mustard vinaigrette with a little bit of coconut milk.

I have to confess that the fennel substitution worked perfectly with this salad! In the end I am happy that George jinxed the celery!

To see how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe please click here!

~~~~~~~~~~

All White Salad with Fennel & Mushrooms

Adapted from "Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan

Serves 6

Ingredients for the Salad

1 large bulb of fennel

3 apples

Lemon juice

300gr (10 ounces) white cup mushrooms

1 small Napa cabbage

A few small cubes of Graviera cheese or any other hard cheese

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons coconut milk

Water to taste

Instructions

Wash and trim the fennel. Finely slice it using a food processor or a mandolin. Set aside.

Peel, halve and cut the apples into small cubes. Sprinkle them with a little lemon juice to keep them from becoming brown. 

Clean the mushrooms with a brush or a wet paper towel and slice them very thinly. Sprinkle them with lemon juice and add them to the apples. 

Wash the cabbage and cut it in very thin slices (like coleslaw) and add it to the bowl with the apples and mushrooms. Sprinkle the fennel slices on top and mix everything well.

Make the vinaigrette by mixing all the ingredients in a small jar. Shake the jar well until they emulsify. Add salt and pepper and a few tablespoons of water to make it as thin as you wish. The vinaigrette can be used immediately or stored in the fridge (might need to come to room temperature before it is used again due to the hardening of the coconut milk). 

To serve pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables and add a few cubes of cheese, if you want!

~~~~~~~~~~

Deep Fried Caramel Bananas

I made a firm commitment to myself. 

Let's call it a "35th birthday resolution". 

I will try to post something new at least once a week. 

Between The Ultimate Gluten Free Cookie Book Bake and Photograph Challenge and my weekly (strike that - bi-weekly) participation to the French Fridays with Dorie online cooking community I will have plenty to keep me occupied.

Since I will be spending a lot more time in this small corner of the blogosphere I decided to take a long, hard look at my blog. My shabby looking Box of Stolen Socks is in desperate need of a "beautifying" intervention. 

But I live in a foreign country were people speak a beautiful language which I have yet to master. Five and a half years in Croatia and I can only manage to greet people good morning, say thank you and basically trick everyone into thinking that I can speak their tongue. I am able to understand about 1/5 of what they say to me provided that they speak slowly and don't use very extravagant words. 

To my defence it is a hard language to learn. At least that's what all my Croatian friends are telling me to make me feel better, I guess.

My rudimentary knowledge of the language is enough to see me through my daily shopping trips to the market, but for more adventurous endeavours like let's say  finding a web designer and working together to create a new look for my Box or even help me move to a self hosting WordPress platform (oh the dream!!!) feels like deciding to climb mount Olympus in my flip flops. 

That's why I decided to spare myself the anxiety and the cost of lingual and cultural misunderstandings and wait until we move back to Athens, in the summer, where I would be able to have equally frustrating misunderstandings with my web designer there. Hey! at least they will be in Greek and I will be able to understand what  they are calling me behind my back and cordially reciprocate :) 

I had given up on the whole beautifying intervention idea and then last week I came across a blog called Something Swanky and a very helpful tutorial about how to create your own blog header using PicMonkey.

I  did not need a lot of persuasion and after a few minutes .... voilà.... I uploaded my very own, custom made header. It is nothing fancy. Very minimalist and clean but I now know how to adjust and redesign it if I need to. Next stop background!!!!

Now you are right to ask me what do bananas and blog headers have in common? Nothing really. I just though of sharing with you my experience with making something for the first time. And I am sure many of you will find this tutorial quite useful. 

So designing my blog  header was not the only thing I did for the first time these past few days. 2014 started with a string of  firsts for me. On day 1 I decided to make a desert that I have never ever thought I will ever make at home. 

Deep Fried  Bananas.

 Deep fried like the ones you have at a Chinese restaurant and say to yourself that this is an indulgence you are only allowed to have once a year! 

Not only did I made them at home, I also made caramel for the first time in my life. It was scary. I was whisking the sugar and the water for more than 10 minutes and then suddenly it started to take colour and I had to act quickly and get it out of the fire before it turned black. I regret to say that I was not so quick enough and I might have burned it a bit --actually a lot--  But ultimately it was a very rewarding experience!

I don't care how cheesie it sound but yes the first time is always difficult. Chances are that you are not going to get everything right and you are going to mess up a bit more but what I learned from my brief encounter with hot sugary water is that if you decide to move past your fear of disappointment and self pity and try again you are going to make it better and better every time you try. My Caramel Bananas are the most delicious proof of that.

Have you done anything new and for the first time in these first 20 days of 2014?

I really don't have to say much about this recipe. Sweet, soft bananas, deep fried in light - did I mention gluten free?? batter and then coated with hot, crispy caramel! Sinful but I could eat this everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

The original recipe calls for a flour mix made with potato starch, brown rice flour and xanthan gum. I could not find potato starch in my local healthy food store so I used a commercial universal gluten free flour. I have used it before and I was quite happy with its performance. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Deep Fried Caramel Bananas

Adapted from "Seriously Good Gluten Free Baking" by Phil Vickery

Serves 4

Ingredients

100 gr gluten free flour - I used this brand 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder - make sure it is gluten free!!! It should say on the packaging!!

300 ml vegetable oil, for frying

4 bananas

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

200 gr sugar

Instructions

In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and gradually stir in 150 ml of cold water until you have a thick, smooth paste. It should be thick enough to be able to coat the bananas so it is better to add the water little by little, stir, see the consistency and add as much as you need. 

In a medium but deep saucepan, heat the oil until it is very hot - Phil Vickery in his book suggests that "the oil is hot enough when a cube of bread sizzles and turns golden in a few seconds" - 

Slice the bananas into 4 pieces each and dip them into the batter. Carefully put one or two into the hot oil and deep fry them for about 1 1/2 minutes until they turn golden. Turn them with a clean spoon so that they fry uniformly. 

Pull them out using a slotted spoon and let them drain of any excess oil on kitchen paper. Deep fry all the bananas is batches of 2 or 3 and then prepare for the caramel.

In a small heavy based saucepan, put the sugar an 4 tablespoons of cold water. Stir gently over low heat until all the sugar crystals are dissolved. This might take some time! It is very important not to stop stirring until all the sugar is dissolved!!! Then stop stirring and let it bubble until it turns into a dark golden colour. Then remove from the heat. 

Pick up the bananas with two wooden toothpicks or longer skewers and gently roll them into the hot caramel sauce. Transfer them onto a sheet of baking paper set over a wire rack, sprinkle them with sesame seeds and leave them for a few minutes until the caramel hardens. Serve them with ice cream !

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I am sharing this recipe at

Catch a Glimpse Thursday 

Asparagus Soup & Avocado with Pistachio Oil #FrenchFridayswithDorie

Green is the colour for this week's French Friday with Dorie post, my first since January!

Avocados with Pistachio oil was this week's "assigned" recipe but it is hardly a recipe as Dorie says in her book. Nevertheless the advice passed on to her by Mme Leblanc, and now given, generously, to us, to eat a fresh avocado drizzled with pistachio oil, is priceless. Ripe avocado are virtually tasteless. Their stiff unripe bitterness is lost and in its place you get a smooth buttery texture with no particular taste except maybe for a hint of grassy greenness. That is why avocado has been the perfect substitute for dairy fat and it is now widely used by those who follow the Paleo Diet or are lactose intolerant. Its green neutrality is the perfect canvas upon which you can create an extraordinary flavour experience. I know because I have used it several times to make recipes like this and this one....

....and this is as much as I can say about today's "recipe" because I was not able to find pistachio oil to drizzle all over my not-so-ripe avocado!! I found almond oil, walnut oil even hazelnut oil in a new boutique grocery store that opened in Zagreb while I was away (it is called The Pantry Deli Zagreb and it has all sorts of fancy goodies from France, Spain and the UK and I just know that I will be spending a lot of ... money  hm, hm, time there) but it didn't feel right to go astray on this one. It is not a recipe where you can replace a scallion with an onion and expect no change in the overall taste. It is a suggestion, something you have to experience as given in order to be able to access it, no substitutions are allowed. So I gave up and moved on. I later found out that you can make pistachio oil at home and I will give it a try, believe me, not only because my palette is quite intrigued to experience this perfect combination but also because by that time the avocado I bought yesterday will be perfectly ripe - I swear to God it takes about 2 weeks to get these things ripe enough to be able to use them!!! You can check out what my dear friends and fellow Doristas had to say about their Pistachio Oil - Avocado pairing experience here.

Now on to a recipe which I have actually tried. The Green Asparagus Soup. Would it sound silly if I say that this was the best Spring comfort food ever? I mean do we even need comfort food in spring? Everything is blooming and coming back to life, the juices are flowing again and the bees are buzzing romantically and the sun is shinning.  Only it is not! Since I came back from Athens, I've seen the sun once or twice . Yesterday was a lovely day, bright and filled with the sweet aromas of freshly picked strawberries (-strawberry jam with a twist is coming your way pretty soon - ). But today, oh today I woke to the sound of rain lashing at our window blinds and a grey miserable morning.

Not surprisingly I was in a very fowl mood when I started cooking this soup and for a moment there, it was going to end up like this epic disaster, but you know what? It didn't! Thank you Dorie for the clear and brain-fog proof instructions: blanch, cool, mix in some leeks and onion, boil, blend, easy peasy!

The result was delicious and it comforted me all right...First it brought a stop to the protest an unrelenting heartburn was staging in my stomach for the past couple of days. And then it comforted my soul. It reminded me that asparagus are Spring after all. As I was ladling it into the bowls and got ready to photograph them, I felt it! This dish screams Spring; hell it smells like Spring and its almost fluorescent greenness made up for the lack of natural sun light for my photo shoot!!

French Fridays with Dorie (FFwD) is an online cooking group where we cook recipes from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook "Around my French Table". We do not publish the recipes on our blogs. You can buy your copy of the book from The Book Depository for free worldwide delivery. For more information about our group and on how to join us click here. 

Maria against Time and the Quince of Change

The battle of all battles and I am loosing; big time! I haven't been able to post for more than a month.

Ideas I have, a lot! There has been a lot of wine; events I attended and loved; even food I cooked, ate and enjoyed alone or with friends!

What I'm lacking is TIME and maybe a whole lot of discipline.  The first, I can't fight; I don't think anyone can. The second...no comment... Discipline and I are complete strangers; I could not describe how it feels, tastes or smells even if my life depended on it!

My posts are getting fewer and fewer every month and despite my best intentions  it seems I'm going to have to settle. I hate "settling" as much as I hate change - a bit of a contradiction here, I know. Yet another issue to be discussed by me and an army of licensed professionals!! Come to think of it, though, settling seems to be the devil child of the ever-hating change. Does it make any sense  No? OK! I won't argue any more. Too much precious energy wasted on "could have-beens and-dones". I admit defeat and move on. One to two posts per month until things change .... again...oooof does it ever stop??

To sweeten the pill and make you forget my previous ramblings  I am going to share with you a very special recipe.

I am not sure if it is still Quince season where you live (if not, you can pin it and make it when you get your hands on some nice quinces!!). Here in Athens we seem to have a lot available at the moment. For the past few weeks my M-I-L  has been making this extra special desert for us.

Pay attention please. Quince, cooked long and slow in sugar and spices. It simply does not get better than this... The texture of the fruit is smooth and so comforting! Such a transformation from  its angry, raw, astringent personality. The long and slow cooking appeases it, alleviating its harsh character; the spices, blessed by time, infuse the fruit with sweet, soothing, aromas and flavours. In less than 90 minutes the perfect transformation occurs. 

You gotta love quince; they respond to change admirably

~~~~~~~

Long & Slow Sweet and Spice Quince

Serves 4 - 6

Cooking time 60 - 90 minutes

Ingredients

3 quince, washed, peeled and cut into large pieces *keep the seeds*

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup water

5 cinnamon sticks

15 - 20 cloves

Procedure

Put the water, sugar, quince seeds (they are the ones that have all the pectin which will give us a nice light syrup), cloves and cinnamon sticks in a large, deep pan or pot (that has a cover) on medium to high heat. Add the quince. Make sure that the pot or pan is large enough so that the majority of the fruit pieces come into some contact with its bottom. 

Turn every piece of fruit two times and then lower the heat! Be careful, when I say low I mean low. It should be just above or the minimum possible depending on your stove!!

Cover then and let them alone for about one (1) hour. Your kitchen is going to smell wonderfully! 

Check to see if they are done by carefully inserting a fork, if they are tender and bright red, then they are ready. If not, don't blame them; they just need some more time and maybe some warm water, if you see that they are struggling in the heat without any liquid left!

After they finish their transformation in the pan they can stand on their own as the dessert du jour or accompanied with a bowl of Greek yoghurt for an even more tantalizing and refreshing flavour experience. 

Enjoy, learn from their transformation and forgive my powerlessness against Time.....

Olives...both ways

Oh My God it is Saturday already. Another week has gone by so quickly!
What a week it has been!
I learned (in theory off course)  the hows, whys and what-nots of red and white vinification - in normal speak this means the process of turning fruity, sweet grape juice into wine.

I tasted (and spited) about 10 wines from Alsace, Champagne, Bourgundy and Greece.

Photo by C.Tsatsaris

I attempted my first décantage, an experience that I will always remember not only because it happened on 12/12/12 but also because I spilled most of the wine on the burning candle that produced a lovely sizzle and a lots of laughs from my fellow sommeliers-to-be! 

After such a busy week I completely forgot to go to the market for the required ingredients for yesterday's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Chicken, Apples and Cream a la Normande . Don't despair! You can find out how my fellow Doristas prepared it here - it sounds really yummy and I will definitely cook it sometime in the future.

For now you have to settle with what I am going to offer you today.
Two lovely recipes featuring two great products of my country, olives and olive oil. They are not the elaborate food creations you expect to find on the internet around this season. They won't fill  up your festive tables but believe me simplicity sometimes is much appreciated especially when you are up to your head with baking pies and roasting hams and turkeys and pheasants and you just need a simple, tasty nibble to keep your guests occupied while your run back and forth topping up glasses and setting more plates on the table. Both recipes can be made well in advance and stored in the fridge until they are needed!!!

The first recipe was featured a couple of weeks ago on French Fridays with Dorie.... Herded Olives Marinated in Thyme, Rosemary and Orange Peel. I made them and let them stay and macerate in their glass jar for a few weeks so that they could be infused by the aromas of the marinated olive oil even more.

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Olives Marinated in Thyme, Rosemary and Orange Peel
Adapted from Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan 
Ingredients
Olives, green or black as plain as possible
Fresh rosemary springs, leaves removed and chopped
Fresh thyme springs, leaves removed and chopped
Coriander seeds
Black peppercorns
Green peppercorns
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (maybe a bit more to top up the jar with the olives)
Garlic cloves, green part removed and filleted
Bay leaves
Orange zest
Procedure
Toast the spices (black and green peppercorns, coriander) in a hot pan long enough to release their aromas. Put them into a small bowl  remove the pan from the heat and wait a bit for it to cool down. Gently warm up the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. When I say warm it I mean warm it not burn it. Put the pan in very low heat and be patient - the result is definitely going to reward you as the herbs and spices you are going to add in will be able to release their flavours and aromas without being shocked from the heat of the oil. When the oil is thus warmed, add all the remaining ingredients (rosemary, thyme, the toasted spices, bay leaves, garlic, orange zest) and heat them through for no more that two minutes - we don't want to sauté them!!

Put the olives in a clean glass jar (sterilised if possible) and pour in the warmed oil and herb mixture. Mix everything around. You have to let the jar stand until the olives and the oil inside reach room temperature before you refrigerate it. I kept mine in the fridge for about a week before I was tempted to taste my creation. I was  taken aback by the intensity of the aromas of the herb infused olive oil and the taste it gave to the olives. I went ahead and made enough to fill an even bigger jar and I now use to oil to flavour my salads and roast fish or chicken!

The next recipe I am going to share with you is sinfully delicious and seriously addictive!

I cannot say for sure if it is a pesto, a spread or a dip! I would call it a bit of everything because you can easily spread it on a piece of toasted bread and enjoy it with a glass of fresh white wine or toss it in a plateful of warm pasta with a few shaves of Parmesan on top and be transported to a sunny terrace by the sea forgetting that your driveway is buried under 50 cm of snow!

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Fresh Peppermint, Walnut and Olive Pesto - Dip

Adapted from a recipe by an award winning Greek Chef Christoforos Peskias publiced in Βιβλιοθήκη Γεύσης της Καθημερινής - Σπιτικές Κονσέρβες
Yield: about 2 cups
Ingredients
2 - 3 cups (tightly packed) leaves of fresh peppermint, washed and thoroughly dried
2 -3 garlic cloves, peeled, green part removed
200 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
100 gr walnuts, chopped
200 gr Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
Procedure
Blend the mint leaves with the garlic and olive oil until they form a smooth green paste. Add the chopped walnuts and blend again for 4 - 5 seconds, you want the walnuts to get even more chopped but not really mashed up so that their presence could add a bit of bite to the whole mixture.
Empty the contents of the blender into a large enough bowl and add the chopped Kalamata olives. Mix them all together and you are ready to serve!

French Fridays with Dorie: Spiced Poached Apples

What a difference a week makes!!! Last Friday I had summer on my plate with the colourful and delicious Eggplant Tartine. This week I seem to have Autumn. Apples and pears are definitely autumn fruit. And the weather, here in Zagreb, is definitely in tune with this lovely dessert.  For the past two days it's been raining non stop and the temperature is stuck around the 10 degree Celsius mark. Brrrr. It's chilly and windy out there. But inside it's warm and smells like...Christmas. I know it's way too early to think about Christmas but I could not help myself...cinnamon, vanilla, and orange, are surely scents of Christmas.

This dessert is really, really easy and quick to make. You can just make the syrup (water, honey, star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, orange and lemon zest) and use it in other recipes. It is light and incredibly aromatic. 

I chose to use apples and I did not use the sugar but just the honey. I spiked it a bit with two tablespoons of home-made Walnut liqueur. It was fantastic. The perfect dessert for a chilly autumn Friday afternoon. 

I just love the tiny vanilla seeds

To see how other bloggers liked Spiced Poached Apples or Pears check out French Fridays with Dorie website where every Friday we make recipes from Dorie Greenspan's book "Around My French Table"

French Fridays with Dorie: Eggplant "Tartine" and the Return of the Prodigal Dorista

It's been more than a month since my last post for FFwD. In normal life, this is not such a long period. In the blogosphere, though, is nothing less than an eternity. Just consider how many clicks and unique visitors I've missed during this past month of cyber inertia...

Who cares, though, really? Not me. I was on vacation and vacation for me means vacating my life and mind of all the things I do everyday. It doesn't matter if these are activities that I actually enjoy, like cooking, photography, maybe writing, I need to get away from them, forget them and rediscover them when I come back. I spent 20 days going to the beach, swimming morning and afternoon, reading Murakami's 1Q84 and sleeping, a lot... I know that this is a type of "luxury" not available to everyone, especially in these challenging times, but you have to agree that the guilt free sleep of vacation, when you don't have to get up to go to work or do any errands is priceless. 

What is also priceless about vacation is that it ends. Don't frown. Take it from me, someone who's been on a non intended, semi-permanent vacation (it's really called unemployment but this word is so unimaginative and crushing) for the best of 7 years now. Vacation is meant to be short and sweet, like a chocolate fondant. A precious something that you cannot have everyday so that you savour every tiny bit of it. Even the best chocolate in the world would seem tasteless and even make you puke if you ate it by the bucket-full every day. Now that my box of Valrhona truffles finished I feel a sweet longing for them. I crave the peacefulness of midday naps in the shade by the sea. I am content, though, and wait for next year's delivery. 

Today's recipe has nothing to do with chocolate, but it has everything that my family and I have been eating for the past month. Eggplants (that's aubergines in my part of the world), tomatoes, olives, cucumber, capers. It is my summer in a plate ! I loved every bit of it. 

To see how other bloggers made the "Eggplant Tartine", check out French Fridays with Dorie where we make recipes from Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table".

Chocolate Berry Pudding - Σοκολατένια Πουτίγκα με Φρούτα του Δάσους Χωρίς Ζάχαρη

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

A few days ago, I discovered a blog named Chocolate Log Blog, a quite appropriate name, I think, since it is all about chocolate. Hundreds of cakes, biscuits, tarts, puddings all containing some form of chocolate. Choclette together with Chele from Chocolate Teapot run a very interesting monthly cooking event called We Should Cocoa.  I was intrigued by the idea of making a chocolate dessert every month, without any restrictions, save one, the use of a special ingredient picked by Choclette every month and so I decided to give it a try...

I recently bought Sarah Wilson's "I Quit Sugar Cookbook" and I have already made a few really nice fructose free recipes, so I scanned through it and came up with some very interesting cocoa recipes. I chose to make the Choc Berry Mud because my freezer is full of frozen strawberries, blueberries and blackcurrants, a perfect fit for the We Should Cocoa challenge since this month's special ingredient is blackcurrants. The "mud" (as Sarah calls it) came together instantly by blending all the ingredients. It is an easy, fuss free and refreshing dessert for every season.

Chocolate Berry Pudding

Adapted from "I Quit Sugar Cookbook" by Sarah Wilson

Serves 2 - 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants)
• 1 large soft avocado, cleaned, peeled and de-seeded
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1 cup almond milk (or less if you want the consistency to be thicker)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
• 1 teaspoon stevia

Instructions

1. Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Pour into bawls and serve immediately.

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Σοκολατένια Πουτίγκα με Μούρα Χωρίς Ζάχαρη

Από το βιβλίο "I Quit Sugar Cookbook" της Sarah Wilson

Για 2 - 4 άτομα

Υλικά

• 1 φλιτζάνι κατεψυγμένα φρούτα του δάσους
• 1 μεγάλο ώριμο αβοκάντο, καθαρισμένο χωρίς το κουκούτσι
• 1/4 φλιτζανιού κακάο
• 1 φλιτζάνι γάλα αμυγδάλου (ή λιγότερο αν το θέλετε πιο πικτό)
• 1 κουταλάκι του γλυκού σκόνη βανίλια
• 1 κουταλάκι του γλυκού στέβια

Εκτέλεση

1. Βάζουμε όλα τα υλικά σε ένα μπλέντερ και αναμειγνύουμε. 
2. Σερβίρουμε αμέσως. 

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Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding

I've been such a sport! One week without sugar!

I decided to give myself and my hubby a treat today. This Chocolate Pudding is simply divine! It's free from everything: sugar, gluten, eggs, lactose. But full of taste. It's a gift to sensitive and intolerant stomachs. I don't want to oversell it so here is the recipe...

Sugar Free Vegan Chocolate Pudding

Adapted from Whole Living July/August 2011

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados 
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons coconut cream
1 pinch pure stevia (or according to taste)
1 tablespoon glucose syrup (optional)

Instructions

• Purée avocados, cocoa powder, vanilla in a food processor until smooth. 
• Add the coconut cream and stevia and continue to blend. Test for sweetness. If you think that the pudding needs a little bit more texture you can add 1 tablespoon of glucose syrup.
• Spoon into four bowls and enjoy!