Pistachio Almond Cigars

I was asked to bring a dessert to a dinner party.  I am over dessert.  I used to eat a lot of sweets, but now I really enjoy eating my dinner with multiple dishes or an appetizer with dinner.  I very rarely eat something for dessert and don't bake sweets very often.  Part of that is because my husband doesn't eat much sweets either and therefore there is always too much food.  Of course our co-workers never have a problem with accepting and eating up those sweet leftovers.  At any rate, I needed to find a dessert that would go with shasuska, so I opened up my middle eastern cookbooks...and I found this recipe for Pistachio Almond Cigars.  It satisfied my desire to have something at least based on healthier choices (nuts), but of course it still is not good for you since it is fried.  Sometimes you need to live a little and enjoy it.

This recipe is based off the Sweet filo cigar recipe in Jerusalem by Ottolenghi and Tamimi.  If you have not checked out their Ottolenghi, Plenty or Jerusalem cookbooks, you should.  One day I will eat in their restaurant...but that will have to wait until another trip.

 Pistachio and Almond Cigars
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pistachios, unsalted
6 tablespoons water
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1 large organic egg, separated
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (unwaxed)
filo pastry, cut into 6 inch squares or rectangles
safflower oil for frying
1/2 cup honey
extra nuts for garnish (sprinkled on top)

Finely chop the almonds and pistachios....I used a mortar and pestle, but you can use a small electric chopper for a finer (and quicker) crumb.  Pour nuts into a pan with 5 tablespoons water and vanilla sugar.  Cook over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Once a bit cool (so as not to cook the egg), add the egg yolk and lemon zest.  Stir.

Assemble: Take your filo squares and spread about a tablespoon in a strip closest to you.  Then roll together after folding in the sides.  Seal with a little of the egg white (which you should lightly beat before applying).  Continue this until all of your rolls have been made.  Heat oil in a pan and fry the cigars over medium-heat heat.  Be careful not to have too high heat or you will burn your cigars.  Fry quickly until each side is golden; remove from oil to a plate covered with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Once cool, place on a platter.  Drizzle with honey and extra nuts.  (They will have better flavor if you lightly toast them before sprinkling on top.  Best eaten the same day.  Makes about 15 cigars depending on how full they are filled.

Pistachio Cardamom Cake

I have been reading David Lebovitz blog for several years now.  I don't always keep up, but he is a charismatic writer and captures the essence of places and food well.  I finally broke down and bought his book, Ready for Dessert.  The recipe is adapted from his book.  More recently, I have become intrigued by cardamom.  In a way this is somewhat unfortunately as my husband doesn't care for it much, but even he was impressed by this cake.  It was also surprising due to the fact that neither of us really care much for cake.  This little cake left many people with a wonderful impression not only of cardamom, but of all the flavors and crunch.

Pistachio Cardamom Cake

Almond topping:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
3/4 sliced almonds

Cake:
3/4 cup shelled pistachios
1 cup flour, plus 1-2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds, crushed in a mortar and pestle
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs (large)
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter,then add to.  I used a spring form to be able to release it easier later.  (Be careful that the butter doesn't escape in your edges of the spring form pan (you may want to bake with a pan below it to catch any liquid which releases).  Stir in vanilla sugar and top evenly with almonds.

Blend together pulverized pistachios and 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the flour.  Add the crushed cardamom.  Set this mixture aside.  In a mixer,  cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time until fully mixed in.  Whisk together the rest of the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.  Stir in the pistachio/cardamom mixture to the flour and creamed butter mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.  Smooth the batter evenly across.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the cake is bake through and does't stick to a toothpick.  Let cool and then invert and place on a serving plate.  Let cool completely.  Serves about 10.

Chocolate Pistachio, Almond, Cherry Bark

Chocolate Pistachio, Almond, Cherry Bark

The past couple of days, I have been craving baked goods.  I wanted to bake bread yesterday, but didn't have all the ingredients.  I wanted to bake cookies, but couldn't decide on which one and my butter was still in the freezer.

This is a simple recipe based on a recipe from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz.  You basically can make any type of bark that you desire.  I happen to love sour cherries and chocolate and have posted a granola recipe based on these two ingredients: http://invitedtodinner.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-granola.html  I also love the combination of apricots and chocolate, so will have to experiment with which nuts go well with those two.  To make it prettier and so people know what they are eating, I sprinkled some pistachios on top along with the sea salt.  The sea salt is not necessary if you are not a fan of chocolate and sea salt, but it brings the top alive and enhances the sweet and salty combination.

Chocolate Pistachio, Almond, Cherry Bark
Semisweet chocolate - about a pound
1/3 cup or more toasted whole almonds
1/4 cup toasted pistachios
1/3 dried sour cherries
Sea salt

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until just about melted.   Stir in the toasted nuts and cherries until everything is coated.  Pour onto a cookie sheet which has been lined with plastic wrap. Sprinkle sea salt and some of the nuts and cherries on top. Chill in refrigerator until cool.  Break and eat.