Week 11 - Cyprus and East Timor

Right, this week was complicated; not in the true sense of the word, just in the sense of the overused term 'complicated'. As a family we are observing lent, and have given up on meat; however we can have meat twice a week, as long as it is a meal from one of the countries of that week. Still with me.... Well, this week we had husbands family over, as it was a Wedding Anniversary, so I needed to cook a roast (they would NOT eat a non-meat dish). So, that meal replaced the country meal, which meant I had to find a dessert, or veg option for these two countries. Congratulations if you are still with me! This to (oh no, I hear you groan, there is more!) worked out well, as my brother-in-law honeymoon was in Cyprus, so the pub was from there! And very nice it was too..... East Timor proved to be quite simple to do, as I discovered a chicken broth, so I used the chicken carcass from the roast to make that with and it was lovely..... Again, no recipe as I cobbled several together and made my own twist. It hasn't been a great time recently, hope to be back to normal soon.


Pasta Flora (jam cookies)

(note, I made half quantities)

ingredients

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 egg yolks
1 cup butter unsalted
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cognac (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
500 ml (about 1 1/2 cups) apricot jam

recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Beat the sugar with butter until fluffy. Then add the egg yolks one at a time, beating the mix well after each egg yolk. Add the cognac and the vanilla. Then, by hand, add the flour, baking powder until a nice soft dough is formed.

 2. Make the pasta flora quite thin and into cookies. Divide the dough in half. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the pan (14 inches by 10 inches).  Spread the jam on top. Take the remaining dough and roll a long thin roll and place it on top of the jam so it follows the edge of the rectangle pan. The pattern you make it a diamond pattern with criss-crossing pasta pastry.

3. Make more rolls and place them diagonally over the jam to create a diamond pattern. If you wish, then place small roasted almond pieces in each diamond pattern. Place in the oven and cook for about 35 to 40 minutes., until the dough is golden brown in colour. Once they are cooked, let the cookies cool and then cut into as many cookies as you wish.
Source: http://www.cypriotandproud.com/2013/02/23/pasta-flora-cyprus-jam-cookies/ (accessed 03APR2017)