Pecan Puffs

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When we arrived back from Hong Kong in the New Year we headed out to the countryside to stay with my parents in order to celebrate Christmas (part 2) with them, my siblings and their partners. The tree was down by this stage, twelfth night had long gone, but that aside my parents sweetly replicated the Christmas that they had had on December 25th again for us as we were back in the UK. Anyone passing by the house would have thought we had all gone completely mad as carols were playing and mulled wine was wafting through the house. We ate turkey, wore silly cracker hats and played parlour games. My mother went to town, as usual, on the food which we all greatly devoured.

It was whilst we were lazing away the hours that I stumbled across a little pot filled with the most delicious, crumbly biscuits I had ever eaten. They were completely heavenly as well as being very addictive and perfect to nibble away at whilst having a cup of tea (we English love our tea) by the fire in the late afternoon.

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It transpired that they had been sent from the US, lovingly made by a friend of my sister and her beau. Needless to say they did not last long as the whole family took a liking to them.

I urged my sister to track down the recipe so that I could try and make them myself. I had to do all the US conversions from cups to grams and somewhere along the line with my conversions they went wrong. They still tasted delicious but they were not as puff like as the originals as they were coming out of the oven a lot flatter.

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Finally after a few false starts I found the right balance of the ingredients and the delicious puffs returned. They are meant to be crumbly when you bite into them and certainly not the same texture as a biscuit. In as far as they are quick to devour they are also quick to make. Big A and Little Z love to get involved and prepare them with me as they are very straightforward to make.

I rather like the idea of putting them in little packets tied with a bow and given to friends and loved ones. How impressed will the receivers of such fancies be when they taste your pecan puffs. Trust me they will be begging you for the recipe. Send them this way of course. x

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Pecan Puffs

Inspired by Lainy in the US

Makes around 30 (depending on size)

240g unsalted butter, cubed at room temperature

120g pecan nuts, finely ground

240g plain flour, sieved

50g icing sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Finely grind the pecan nuts in a blender and place to one side.

2. Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment and again place to one side.

3. In a large bowl add the sieved flour, icing sugar and salt.

4. Add the cubed butter to the flour bowl and using your hands begin to mix the ingredients together, softening the butter into the flour as you do so. Once it all begins to come together, add the vanilla essence and the ground pecan nuts.

5. Once all the ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together form a large ball and break off small pieces, a little smaller than a hens egg, but bigger than a quails, and roll in the palm of your hands into a ball and then slightly flatten, but not so much that it is completely flat.

6. Place each pecan puff on to a baking tray so that they are well spread out. I tend to leave a couple of inches around each puff . Whilst you are preparing the puffs preheat the oven to 160 degrees centigrade.

7. Place in the oven for 16 minutes and then leave to firm up before placing them on the cooling rack. When they are completely cool sift icing sugar over the top. Voila your pecan puff is ready to be devoured.

Pistachio and Cardamom Shortbread Biscuits

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It’s always good to have a go-to biscuit that is straightforward and not too time consuming to make, but also has an added complexity in taste that makes it stand out from the crowd. This shortbread biscuit ticks all those boxes with flying colours. The flavours of cardamom and pistachio sing to me and the partnership is one to be jubilant about. I find it’s great to make a batch and freeze (before cooking) some of the dough, wrapped in cling film, that you are not needing, until you want to make another batch at a later date. At this stage simply remove from the freezer and let it defrost before making incisions into the dough to make your biscuits.

With the festive season almost upon us, I also find that they are a great offering to give to friends that you are visiting either wrapped in brown baking parchment, tied with some vintage twine or red ribbon, or placed in a sealed jar. Either way, the effort and initiative will definitely bring a smile upon the receiver.

Pistachio and Cardamom Shortbread Biscuits

sourced from Ottolenghi The Cookbook

Makes around 30

8 cardamom pods

200g unsalted butter

25g ground rice

240g plain flour

1/2 tsp of salt

35g icing sugar

60g shelled pistachio nuts

1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

2 tbsp vanilla sugar

1. Crush the cardamom pods, using a pestle and mortar and once the seeds have been released remove the skins and then crush the seeds into a fine powder. The smell is sensational.

2. Place the butter, ground rice, flour, salt , ground cardamom and icing sugar in an electric mixer and whisk until the ingredients have bound together to create a ball shape and immediately transfer the dough onto a cold surface sprinkled with a little flour. (see photo below)

3. Using your hands roll the dough into a log shape. If you want really large round biscuits then keep the the log short in length, however, if you would prefer small or medium sized biscuits then elongate the dough further. There is no hard and fast rule on how large the biscuits need to be. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for over an hour.

4. Meanwhile, place the pistachio nuts into the electric mixer and give them a quick wizz so that they are broken up slightly. If you do it for too long they will become too fine!

5. Place the crushed pistachio nuts on a flat surface and take the cling film off  the dough (and place the cling film to one side) and brush the log with the beaten egg. Now roll the dough over the top of the pistachio nuts; you may need to give a helping hand and place a few pistachio nuts into the side of the dough. Put the same cling film back on the dough log and place back into the fridge for a further 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Remove the cling film and using a sharp knife cut the dough log into even slices and place them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, placing them 2cm apart. Dust the biscuits with vanilla sugar and place in the oven for around 20 minutes so that they are golden, but not bronzed. Keep a close eye on them.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely as they will harden as they cool. If you pick them up before they are cool they may well crumble. Once they have cooled store in a sealed jar or container for up to a week.

Rolled out the dough log on a cold surface sprinkled with flour

Roll out the cold dough log over the pistachio nuts

Place the biscuits slightly further apart (2cm) than I have done above or they will begin to join together.

I was pretty lucky but it got close ;0)

Baked and ready to eat

Coriander Leaf Fritters – Dhone Pata Bora

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I know that coriander leaves (cilantro for my lovely US/Canadian readers, dhone pata for my equally lovely Bengali readers) divides opinion, but I for one admire the herb for it’s wonderful, bold and punchy flavour. I find it really adds the perfect kick to a dish and brings it alive.

For this dish, or perhaps that’s a little bit grand to call it a dish as it ‘s more of a tasty snack, has coriander as the main ingredient. It takes centre stage and while they might not look that exciting, they taste really good and are prefect nibbles if you have friends popping over or if you are feeling the need for an original snack.

We’ve been having a roller coaster of weather conditions over here in the UK, with sun-rain-hail-thunder-lightening-rainbows all in one day, so outside play action for big A and little Z has been only temporary. Inside the house we get creative in all manner of ways, and cooking little delights is something we enjoy doing together. These bite sized fritters are easy to prepare and the girls love to help me put them together. We make an extra batch for them, without the chilli, but for a more mature, adult palate I add lots of chilli.

So here are the main fresh ingredients you need to make the fritters:

Coriander Leaf Fritters – Dhone Pata Bora

serves 2-3 (double/triple for larger quantity)

large handful of fresh coriander leaves/cilantro leaves/dhone pata, chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 inch ginger, grated or finely chopped

2 small green chilli, finely chopped

half tsp of salt

3 tbsp plain or gram flour

3 tbsp water

splash of oil (I use mustard oil)

1. Finely chop all the fresh ingredients and place in a bowl along with the flour (I simply used plain instead of gram this time), salt and water. Add the water a little at a time so that the fritters are not too moist. If they do become too moist simply add a little more flour to bind them together.

2. Mix well and roll into small balls in your hand and then gently press down so as to flatten them, so that they look like this:

3. Heat the oil in a pan and when it is hot gently place the fritters into the oil and fry on a medium to low heat for a few minutes. When the undersides have darkened turn them over and let the fritters cook throughly on the uncooked side. The cooking time should not take much more than 5 minutes.

4. Serve and eat immediately. They also word well with dal and rice if you want to make more of a meal out of them.