These Cashew Date Bites are quick and easy to make and taste like chocolate.⠀
Add the cashews, dates, and cocoa powder to a food processor and process until the mixture is finely chopped and holds together when you squeeze it into a ball.
Roll the mixture into 8 balls and roll each in the shredded coconut.
Serve or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.⠀
This classic Greek sauce is an irreplaceable addition to many Greek dishes. Served cold, it can amplify and transform the flavor of grilled meats, fish, falafel, wraps, and potatoes.
Peel the cucumber, cut it length ways in half, and de-seed using a teaspoon, then grate
Drain the grated cucumber by putting it into a strainer, sprinkling with a teaspoon of salt and setting a heavy bowl over it for 1 hour, or until water stops dripping
Afterwards, combine all of the ingredients, mixing them thoroughly
Refrigerate the dip for at least 1 hour prior to serving
Enjoy!
Considered to be Thailand’s very first fast food dish, this recipe is unlike most fast food – decadent and memorable, it fascinates with every bite. Pad Thai holds an incredible complexity of flavors and textures, making it a must try for any novice cook venturing into the beautiful world of Thai cuisine.
125 gr Dry Rice Noodles – soak in warm water for 10-15 mins
1/2 of a medium shallot (chopped)
3 green onions (cut 2 inches long)
2 tbsp Preserved Radish – Radis Salees Cu Cai Muoi (finely chopped)
80 gr pressed or extra fine tofu (cut into pieces)
1/4 cup of roasted peanuts (finely chopped)
80 gr large deviled shrimp
2 eggs
handful of bean sprouts
For the sauce:
3 tbsp of fish sauce
2 tbsp of palm sugar (substitute with brown sugar)
1 tsp of tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup of water
optionall – 1tsp of thai chili powder
Soak your rice noodles in warm water for 10-15 minutes
In the meantime, combine all of the ingridients for the sauce together, mixing until blended, and set your sauce aside
Put your wok on a medium – high heat and add a tablespoon of cooking oil
Add shrimp and cook until the edges become slightly golden brown and they are almost cooked through
Remove shrimp from Wok and set aside
Pour another tablespoon of cooking oil into the wok, and add tofu, cooking it for 1-2 mins
Then add the chopped shallot and preserved radish, stir frying them together for a minute
Add noodles and the sauce, stir frying everyhting until the noodles absorb the sauce, for 2-3 mins
(if noodles are not cooking through, add 2tbsp of water, and continue cooking until they are soft)
Push all of the ingridients onto one side of the wok and add your eggs to the empty side
Blend eggs once they are halfway cooked and mix with noodles once they set
Add bean sprouts, green onions, peanuts, and cooked shrimp
Toss everything together for 30 secs to 1 minute
The interesting history behind our beloved pastries
There is a variety of attributes that we like to look for in our morning pastries. Is it good with coffee? Or perhaps with a cup of tea? Can I put some jam on it and call it breakfast? But it’s unlikely that any pastry is given much thought beyond its characteristic flavors and visual appeal. And perhaps the most iconic of our favorite carbs is a Croissant, the modern recipe of which we owe to the French. But just like many things that we sometimes take for granted, this pastry has an interesting past that reveals an attribute way beyond its flavor. Or rather a few.
These pastries first appeared long ago in Austria, in the 13th century. Around that time they were called kipferl. They were a crescent-shaped, plain, and sweet pastry without its characteristic flaky texture that is so loved today. Their popularity was rather low at the time, but in the first half of the 17th century, they became the center of an interesting story.
There is a legend saying that bakers helped the Austrians to thwart the plans of the enemy. In 1683 Ottoman soldiers laid siege to Vienna in an attempt to conquer the city. At night, when a Viennese baker was lighting his ovens to prepare the morning bread, he heard the sound of shovels and picks and realized that the Ottoman soldiers were digging a tunnel under the city’s wall. Without delay, he told the Austrian commanders about this, and they managed to prevent the siege.
To commemorate the victory, the city officials have allowed the baker to exclusively bake crescent-shaped pastries for all the townspeople to celebrate. The crescent shape of the pastry meant to mimic the crescent on the Turkish flag, thus everyone in town enjoyed “eating the enemy”.
Later on, in the early 19th century, August Zang has popularized his recipe for Viennese crescent pastries in France, in his esteemed Boulangerie Viennoise, where they got coined croissants among the French.
So there it is. The next time we eat croissants, we might think of their flavor, texture, condiments to accompany them with, and maybe that one baker who saved Vienna, one night, long ago. Bon Appetit!
