Sunday

Orange, Olive, and Onion Salad



i recently got a new cookbook on moroccan, turkish, and lebanese food. this orange salad was in it. i really liked it. here's the recipe...

...recipe from Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon
4 oranges
16 black olives
1 large mild red onion, chopped finely
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
pinch ground chilli pepper
bunch flat leat parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Peel the oranges, removing the pith. Cut them into slices and then quarters. Put them on to a flat serving plate with the olives and chopped onion on top.

Make a dressing with the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, paprika, and chilli pepper. Pour dressing over salad. Sprinkle with with chopped parsley.

Thursday

Italian Summer Pudding

so in case you haven't noticed, i've been a little bored with blogging lately. i've been spending my free time knitting and reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. i actually have a few posts that i could do, but i thought i'd start with this one tonight. we were invited to a friends house sunday afternoon for an italian feast. i brought tiramisu and this italian summer pudding, a spin off of tiramisu, for dessert. here's the recipe...



...recipe idea from the july 2007 issue of Delicious Magazine but adapted from my recipe of tiramisu
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
8 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 pound raspberries
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 cup Tia Maria
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup Tia Maria
1/2 cup strong coffee + more
1/2 pound lady fingers
cocoa powder, for dusting

1. Whip the cream.
2. Melt the chocolate. Leave to cool slightly.
3. Reserve a quarter of the raspberries. Put the rest of the raspberries in a bowl with the powdered sugar and 50 milliliters of Tia Maria. Set aside.
4. Combine coffee, 1/2 cup Tia Maria, and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
5. Beat the mascarpone cheese until smooth and creamy. Add about 2/3 cup of the coffee mixture and beat until combined.
6. Stir the melted chocolate into the cheese mixture.
7. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate cheese mixture.
8. Dip the sponge fingers in the remaining coffee mixture and layer into the bottom of a 2-liter glass dish.
9. Spread half of the chocolate cheese mixture on top of the lady fingers.
10. Using a slotted spoon, pile the berries on top.
11. Add the remaining berry juice to the remaining coffee mixture.
12. Dip the rest of the lady fingers into the berry coffee mixture and layer on top of the berries. Drizzle any of the remaining berry coffee mixture on top of the lady fingers.
13. Top with the remaining chocolate cheese mixture. Dust with cocoa powder and decorate with the reserved raspberries.
14. Chill for 4 hours or overnight.