Friday, October 10, 2008

A taste of the Middle East


I made these little pistachio and geranium rose water shortbreads as a gift last week. I had seen a recipe in a book for pistachio studded shortbreads and so, inspired by that I decided to add some rose water to continue the Moorish feel.

The shortbreads are easy to make, but looks good as a gift. The rose water gives a hint of Je ne Sais Quois (hope I got the spelling right!) and makes the cookies that little bit more exotic. They have more icing sugar in them than usual shortbread, but that gives them more of a Middle Eastern flavour I think.



Also here is a photo of dinner from earlier in the week. We had lamb steaks which I smeared with pesto before grilling and this cannellini bean and artichoke salad (inspired by a Julie Biuso recipe from Taste). I sautéed garlic in a pan and then added bottled artichokes, two cans of drained cannellini beans and some sliced roasted red peppers. I added basil leaves at the end. It was surprisingly flavoursome for something so simple.



Oh, and thank you so much to Andrea from Andrea in the Kitchen – another Antipodean blogger who has awarded me a briiliante blog award. Thanks Andrea!!



Pistachio Rose Water Shortbread

150g butter
1 c icing sugar
1 tbsp rose water
1 ½ c flour
about 20 pistachio nuts

· Cream butter and sugar, then add in rose water
· Stir in flour to make a firm dough
· Roll into small balls, flatten slightly and push a pistachio nut into each cookie
Bake at 170c for 15-20 minutes

1 comment:

Cakelaw said...

These look delicious and oh-so-cute with their pistachio button. I like the flavour of rosewater - subtle and musky.