good food... good mood

Recipe for Nocciollette.

Ingredients: Organic plain flour, icing sugar, butter. honey and nuts. Any nuts will do. I think even peanuts....perhaps. I have never tried. I generally use Almonds, Pecans or Hazelnuts. Because they have a very distinguished flavour.

Ground almonds, and mixed flour, butter and Icing sugar

Dough with added ground almonds.

Nocciollette ready for the oven.

Finished, baked, and dredged in Icing sugar while still hot.

Recipe:

90 g nuts (almonds, hazelnuts etc.) ground

125 g butter

3 tbl.spoons icing sugar

1 tbl.spoon honey

1cup plain flour

icing sugar to dredge the finished cookies.

Cream the butter, sugar and honey together until fluffy. Add the flour and nuts and mix to a dough.

With lightly floured hands shape teaspoonfuls in rounds and place on baking tray lined with baking paper, press lightly down. Place them a little apart as they will expand. Bake in a moderate oven 180 C (350 F) for about 20 minutes. Cool slightly then roll in icing suger. Leave on wire rack until cold. Store in an airtight tin.

Makes about 24

Pretty Majolica bowl made by Lilli.

We are harvesting Passionfruit. They suffer from to much rain. They are still nice to eat, so not as sweet as last years crop. The vine has to be cut back gently and we replace it from time to time. It makes fantastic jam, very tropical, luscious taste.

Recipe for Passionfruit Jam.

From 12 Passionfruit scrape out the pulp.

Weigh the pulp and use half of this weight organic sugar

Let the mixture come to the boil. Reduce Heat a little and

cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes until it thickens slightly

Pour into jars. Keep the jam in the fridge as it has not much sugar.

Passion fruits are very neat they come with their own container. Passion fruit pulp makes luscious desserts.

serves 4

Pulp of 5 Passion fruits

5 tbl.spoons natural Yogurt (not flavoured, it is not nice too sweet.

200 ml cream whipped.

Mix passion fruit pulp with natural yogurt

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Serve in small Crystal glasses with biscuits like Nocciollette.

Easy and delicious.

Essentials...




Cooking Red Cabbage.

Ingredients: 1 small, half, red cabbage, 1 Onion, 1 Apple, 1tbl.spoon unsalted butter, 1tbl.spoon Olive oil, 1 heaped tbl.spoon sugar, salt and pepper, red wine vinegar and Water.

Put butter and olive oil ( I only use extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil) into a pan.

Gently heat it up and add the chopped onions. Let them sweat and then add the apple slices and the sugar. Stir and push it around in the pan for about 3-4 minute.

Add the sliced cabbage and mix well. Add 60 ml red vinegar and 50ml water. The cabbage shouldn't swim in the liquid! Season and check from time to time that there is still enough liquid.
Otherwise add a splash of water or vinegar, be careful that it doesn't get to sour. Cook for at least 3/4 hour. The cabbage should be soft.

This is a very tasty, healthy vegetable, cooked this way! En Guata! (swiss for bon appetit

My kitchen! T.S.

Ingredients for a salad dressing for lettuce. Lettuce and Rocket leaves from the garden.

1/2 a red onion diced finely

1/2 clove garlic (use garlic press)

1 teaspoon herb salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

white vinegar aged, 2 tbl.spoons and a good dash of dark balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar
enough cold pressed, Extra Virgin Olive oil to make a smooth dressing.

Mix lettuce with this dressing and if necessary add a dash more vinegar or oil. It depends how much salad greens you serve. This is much nicer, and healthier then the ones available in bottles in the supermarket. It can be made in advance for a whole week and kept in a bottle. Omit onions and garlic and add them fresh when the salad is made.

Believe it or not.

Feed your garden before it gets hungry, rest it before it's weary and weed it before it gets foul.
(From the farmers everyday book.)

All pictures.T.S.