Tag Archives: pistachio

Rose and Pistachio Biscuits (and knowing when to outsource)

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rose and pistachio biscuits || cityhippyfarmgirlrose and pistachio biscuits || cityhippyfarmgirl I’ve always felt a little guilty at out sourcing my mum’s Mothers Day gift when I was 9 years old. As she unwrapped the very special puffy coat hanger I’d selected for her, she asked with impressed (and clearly overwhelmed with love for her talented daughter) eyes.

Did you make it?!

Er no… I said a little awkwardly, (visibly watching my mothers overwhelmed with love feeling quickly deflate) Ginny did.

You see, I’d spent my hard earned silver coins on a puffy coat hanger that my friend had made. Which I had then bought for my mum on Mother’s Day. Sure I could have made it, but I didn’t. I’d outsourced.

Now while my puffy coat hanger buying days are probably behind me, the odd bit of outsourcing isn’t, (especially if it’s someones lovely recipe to be made.)

I’d had been thinking about the combination of rose and pistachio for a little while but it hadn’t gone any further than that. Just the thinking.

Reaching for my trusty friend google and lo and behold, He Needs Food has a Rose and Pistachio Biscuit Recipe and it looks precisely to my baking liking.* The pictures are gorgeous, the recipe is easy and on baking, they present beautifully. Just the thing for Mothers Day, (that’s if you weren’t already giving puffy coat hangers.)

Thanks John, cracker of a recipe.

rose and pistachio biscuits || cityhippyfarmgirl

* Except for cooking with rose water, I really am not friends with the stuff. Recipe is still great with this omission though.

 

a triumphant beetroot

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We eyed each other off. Me on one side, it laying boldly on top. My shoulders slump a little, my breath exhales slowly and I gingerly pick it up.

I can’t help but sigh. There we were again, looking eye to… well foliage, with the same old dilemma. What to do with you beetroot?

You see, beetroot and I were not friends. We never were. Sure, his trashy cousin from the can was fine. Actually rather enjoyable slapped on to a weekend burger, but it was this guy. The plump, rounded, red, rooted vegetable that kept cropping up in my vegetable box. Time and time again, there he was. When will this damn beetroot season end?

I had tried to like it, I really had. Steamed…ick. Pan fried…ick. Drowned in balsamic and goats cheese…ick. Chocolate cake…ok, that one was fine, but I didn’t want to be making that all the time. Nothing seemed to make those red bulbs tasty, the earthy taste of it just stuck to it. I didn’t like it as a kid and I didn’t like it as an adult.

So I gave them away. Happily dropped them off to a neighbour. Passed them on to a friend at school. No dilemma, no thought… here you go, they’re all yours! Big lovely red bunches of them.

Another week went by and it happened again. A top of the vegetable box, sitting proudly in all its rounded red glory, the plumpest, most delicious looking fat beets you had ever seen. (Yes, despite me thinking they tasted ick, I could still value their beauty.)

I sighed… come on, you can do this I whispered to myself… try again. So I instagrammed them, got a lovely lot of suggestions of what to do with them and then turned my oven on. Roasted was suggested, and roasted it was. I hadn’t tried that way yet, maybe, just maybe this was the way to make it slightly palatable.

And it was, it so was. That earthiness that I couldn’t shake before seemed to have disappeared. Leaving instead a sweetness (that rather surprisingly) was quite delicious.

Roasted Beetroot and Pistachio Dip

On a tray into the oven with your whole fat beets at about 180C, (they’re done when you can slip a knife in easily.)

the skin can easily be peeled off when you’ve done this-

chop in to rough pieces and add

a handful of roasted pistachio

salt and pepper to taste

blitz it all with a hand held mixer

and then stir though four heaped dessert spoonfuls of natural yogurt

******

We ate this with a little spelt sourdough, and also on top of pumpkin soup- which had some great colours.

For all those who already eat roasted beetroot and are thinking well, duh Brydie…of course that’s the best way! What can I say? Sometimes, things run a little slower round these parts.