Featured Recipe
Fig and Hazelnut Amaretti
Saturday, November 22, 2025| |
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Nutty, chewy and fruity with a slightly crispy bottom, these naturally gluten free cookies enriched with lemon zest and dried figs are perfect accompaniment to coffee, tea, hot chocolate or ice cream.
Amaretti cookies are traditionally made with almonds, sugar, and egg whites. The name "Amaretti" comes from the Italian word "amaro," meaning bitter, a reference to the use of bitter almonds in the original recipe. But other nuts, like hazelnuts, walnuts or macadamias are great alternatives.
Coconut and Grapefruit Bars
Monday, November 10, 2025| |
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A fun twist on a classic lemon bar, these coconut grapefruit bars come together quickly using sweet yet tangy fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. Don’t use storebought grapefruit juice as it usually contains added sugar which masks the fruit's natural tanginess.
The combination of the citrusy grapefruit topping and the buttery coconuty base creates a delightful contrast that keeps you coming back for more! These are so easy to make and a perfect dessert for a party or potluck. If you’re a fan of citrus desserts, I’m sure you will enjoy these pretty pinky bars. Since grapefruits are naturally milder, so I have added some lemon juice to the curd, making it more tangy. But you can absolutely use just grapefruit juice.
Brush the buttery crust with two egg yolks after blind baking it before adding the topping. This extra step creates not only a more flavourful, glossy finish, but also a barrier that prevents the topping from making the crust soggy.
Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak
Sunday, November 02, 2025| |
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A hearty and satisfying chicken dish with an enormous punch of fantastic flavour that’s brightened with citrus and bolstered with anise liqueur. The oven does the work in this mostly hands-off main with minimal prep - a delicious family meal that’s ready in less an hour.
Arak is an anise-flavoured, grape-based liqueur produced in Levant region and the best substitute is Turkish Raki. Other alternatives are French Pernod, Italian Sambuca, which has added sugar though, or Greek Ouzo. They ain’t exactly the same, but share some similarities, and work just as fine. If you don’t want to cook with alcohol, then use 1-2 tablespoons of anis oil combined with chicken stock.
Fig Leaf Tahini Cake
Wednesday, October 29, 2025| |
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This is an easy autumnal dessert that infuses the subtle sweetness, earthy greenness and tropical aromas of humble fig leaves into a moist and flavourful cake with tahini for extra nuttiness and richness. It is a perfect teatime treat served with a dollop of whipped cream and extra fresh figs. The fig leaf serves as a natural and aromatic alternative to traditional parchment paper and imparts a subtle, aromatic flavour to baked goods. You can serve the cake either with fig slices or fig leaf facing up. Cashew butter or sunflower seed butter would be ideal substitutes for tahini.
Roast Chicken with Figs
Saturday, October 25, 2025| |
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This delicious chicken tray bake couldn’t be easier. Bone in skin on chicken thighs (or use a cut up whole bird) marinated with a mixture of lemon, marjoram, fennel, garlic, olive oil, and honey, then roasted with onion wedges and figs at high heat for 30 minutes until chicken has turned golden brown, crispy and beautifully aromatic.
Grapefruit Carpaccio with Fennel Tartare and Pistachios
Sunday, October 19, 2025| |
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Want to try a starter that's different from the usual salad? How about this fruity and fresh grapefruit carpaccio with fennel tartare and roasted pistachios on top? Bring it on! This recipe practically made itself in around fifteen minutes before you could dig right in. It’s vibrante, refreshing and delicious. I used pink grapefruit, but blood orange would be another great substitute.
Quince Slices
Friday, October 17, 2025| |
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A delicious, gently-spiced tray bake with fruity quinces for a special afternoon tea or dessert with whipped cream or Greek yoghurt. It’s so autumn and fragrant. Be careful when peeling raw quinces as it is like peeling a stone and accidents are easy to come by. Quince are available only in the fall and you can find them at farm markets, and some supermarkets. If quince isn’t available, pear or apple, is a wonderful substitution, too.
Chicken Normandy
Wednesday, October 15, 2025| |
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A hearty French casserole that is perfect for a late-summer or fall weeknight meal. Normandy is a region in Northern France noted for its dairy, pastires and signature fruit – apple. So, rather than cooking chicken in chicken broth like many typical one-pot chicken meals, we used Calvados and apple cider for the recipe. If you don’t have Calvados at hand, just use regular brandy. For Chicken Normandy, firm, tart apples that can hold their shape during cooking are the best. I used Boskoop, but Braeburn, Granny Smith or Pink Lady are equally great.
Lamb and Date Pastry Rolls with Plum Ketchup
Monday, October 13, 2025| |
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Today I have another delicious snack idea and a quick recipe using storebought puff pastry. These minced lamb puff pastry rolls with dates are really tasty, hearty finger food that are sure to win you over with their unique flavour. The fact that they are quite easy to make is just another bonus for all snack lovers. These savoury pastry rolls definitely need a creamy sauce to go with them. As I used lamb, and it’s autumn, plum ketchup is the obvious choice. However, a simple garlic yoghurt dip or Greek tzatziki would also work very well.
Poppy and Plum Rolls
Thursday, October 09, 2025| |
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Fluffy, moist, fruity and delicious, these poppy seed and plum rolls are a real treat. They are perfect for your next birthday party or picnic. For these sweet dough buns, we start with a yeast dough with poppy seeds and prepare a cinnamony plum compote while the dough proves in a warm place until doubled. I set aside about a cup of compote as the serving sauce. Otherwise, they taste just as delicious with a vanilla sauce or a lemon icing.
Quince Jelly
Friday, October 03, 2025| |
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Quinces are sort of cousins to apples and pears, but they're an entirely different fruit altogether. They can’t be eaten fresh. To enjoy quinces, they must be cooked until completely soft and falling apart. When fresh, they’re hard as a rock, bitter and astringent. Once cooked, the cream coloured flesh will turn pink with a floral flavour.
The ingredients for this quince jelly are quite simple, and all you really need are quince, water and sugar. But a little bit of star anise, cinnamon, or ginger brings a warmth and extra dimension to the aroma of the fruit. Quince is very high in pectin, so lemon is not required for making the jelly. However, fresh lemon juice will heighten flavour of the fruit. You do not need to peel your quince before cooking it to make jelly. Nor do you need to core it. Just scrub off the furry coating and wash them clean before using.
Serve quince jelly as part of a cheeseboard, or alongside pork or game dishes, or with some homemade bread or crackers.
Kohlrabi Apple Carpaccio with Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil Vinaigrette
Thursday, October 02, 2025| |
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This refreshing and crunchy carpaccio variation with kohlrabi and apples scores points thanks to its fresh ingredients and a nutty, earthy Styrian pumpkin seed oil vinaigrette. Toasted pepitas and parsley make great toppings. Easy and delicious!
Since pumpkin seed oil is rather thick, you can use 1-2 tablespoons water or broth to dilute the dressing. You can also make this into a simple salad by cutting kohlrabi and apple into sticks, which then tossed with the dressing.


