Royal Purple. Violet Purple. Cobalt Blue. Indigo Blue.

a lemon tart

is

bright

sharp

fresh

and

tangy

Really, all a dessert should be.

Lemon Curd Tart

6 pre baked 12cm tart shells

125g-lemon juice (roughly 2 lemons)

4 egg yolks

2 eggs

50g butter

Rind of 1 lemon

120g sugar

Using a Bain Marie, in a bowl whisk vigorously the eggs, yolks, lemon juice and sugar until the mixture thickness. Once you notice that the mixture doesn’t thicken any more, strain it to a bowl, using a fine sieve. Cover the surface with cling film, and let cool for 15 min.

Use a hand blender to incorporate the butter and rind with the mixture. Fill each tart with 2 table spoons of the curd. garnish with blueberries, blackberries and edible flowers if available by you.

*The recipe works just as perfect with lime instead of lemon juice.

golden yellow. burnt orange. cardinal red.

Some have a fascination for shoes.

Some have a kick for the latest gadgets.

Some must own the latest clothing trend.

I admit

I have a thing too

for

freckled apricots.

Yellow-ish

Orange

Blush-Red

Round

Bitter Almond

Sweet

Tart

And

With freckles.

Freckled apricots are around for the briefest season. Once I see them at the market I get as much as possible to make them last at least several more weeks.

Besides the usual jam, my partner, aka Ron, made us a simple yet delicious treat. He cooked the apricots in a light sugar syrup, then he left the apricots(plus the syrup) in a tight container in the fridge for few days. Once you opened the container, an amazing aroma and flavor of almonds poped out. Really, cant get any simpler then that, nor more delicious. 

And the best part, they stay perfect for weeks!

Another fixation of mine, is 

the Viennese coffee house culture 

(which will get its own post at some point)

So to honor the two I made the perfect Linzer Torte.

I usually prefer my Linzer Torte with

grounded hazelnut and a pinch of cinnamon.

This time I tried something different.

Almonds and ginger.

Apricot Linzer

100g almond flour

200g flour

1 egg size L

70g powdered sugar

200g cold butter cut into cubes

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 tbsp. home made apricot jam

Using a food processor mix the

 butter, flour, almond flour and ginger.

once you get tiny crumbs, add the powdered sugar and continue mixing until you get a uniformed dough.

Chill for 2 hours. Cut the dough in 2.

Roll them out to a thickness of 0.3 cm.

In a 20 cm round pie pan (buttered and floured) lay one part into your pan, and spread the apricot jam evenly.

Take the other rolled out dough, if you happen to own a lattice pie top cutter- this is the time to use it:)

 if not, just cut the dough into stripes and create a lattice pattern on top of the apricot layer.

Brush the dough with egg wash,

bake in a 170 degrees pre heated oven for 40 minutes.

Ps. If at any point the dough gets too soft to handle, 

be patient and refrigerate it for 30-60 minutes.

Apricots- juicing up on the tree

Scarlet red. Lust red. Crimson red. Fire brick red.

Sandwich shops. Popping out like wild fire.

Being a sandwich fanatic couldn’t be happier 

of this emerging trend. 

I bring you a super simple Roasted Pepper Salsa 

that will pimp out every sandwich you wish to make.

Roasted Peppers Salsa

1 tomato

4 roasted peppers

¼ red onion

4 sun-dried tomatoes

5 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. harissa

½ tsp. honey

Salt to taste

Chop the tomatoes, peppers, onion and the sun-dried tomatoes into small cubes. Mix with the rest of ingredients.

mint. picnic. fresh. crunchy.

I bring to you- the ultimate

SUMMER SALAD

Perfect for a picnic lunch

Perfect for a light summer dinner

Perfect as a side for a weekend brunch

This recipe is a variation on the great tabouleh salad we all grew to know and love, with some tweaks, I perfected the recipe to be just a bit more exciting : )

Bulgur salad

1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat

a handful of chopped up parsley

a handful of chopped up mint

a handful of chopped up arugula

3 roasted peppered cut into cubes

¾ of cured lemon cut into tiny cubes

400g blanched string beans

¼ red onion cut into thin slices

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

¼ cup pitted black olives

Dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp. sugar

½ garlic clove minced

1/3 -cup olive oil

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. apple vinegar

1. Soak/cook the bulgur wheat according to manufacture instructions. Let cool.

2. Using a whisk mix dressing ingredients.

3. In a large bowl mix all the salad ingredient together, add the dressing and mix well. Serve!