Sweet and Savory Cookies, and a Pâté

More edible gifts to whip up and entice your loved ones.

These savory biscotti with cheese, almonds and tomato paste (scroll down for the recipe) are easy and certainly addictive. But they are not empty calories as they are made with olive oil, have plenty of almonds, and could be part of a healthy menu served with a salad or accompanying a soup. Needless to say that a few of these would make a lovely gift, especially for people who try to keep away from sugary treats…

Lentiscus, one of the many wild pistachio cousins that thrive all around the Mediterranean, is the most festive of the evergreen shrubs in our garden. Its little red fruit has a tangy and robust taste, similar to pink pepper.

We sometimes use lentiscus to flavor salads and breads, and also offer them to friends who admire it.

Starting from this week you will find that parts of our newsletters are behind a paywall. There will still be portions you can read and scroll through without a paid subscription, but if you like what we write and the recipes we propose, please, do become a payig subscriber!

These dark wintry days most of us somehow indulge, even if the rest of the year we try to avoid sugary temptations. So I would like to propose, once more, my deliciously fragrant Mandarin-scented Almond Cookies.

Especially now that tangerins and mandarins are in season, they will be even more aromatic than when I first wrote about them, last November. Very easy to make, I am sure your friends will love them as a holiday gift.

You might also like to revisit melomakarona, our honey-douzed traditional cookies, baked with orange and olive oil and scented with cloves and cinnamon.

Finally, you may like my fresh take on the Chicken Liver Pâté. This one is flavored with thyme, orange, and brandy, and is studded with pistachios. I am sure your friends will appreciate a jar of this homemade treat, which is an ideal appetizer, so I suggest you double the recipe to serve at your festive table.

Cheese, Almond, and Tomato Paste Savory Biscotti

My mother used to often make both sweet and savory koulourakia —the Greek equivalent to biscotti. The time-consuming way of forming the traditional ring-shaped cookies put many modern cooks, including me, off. But when I discovered that the dough could be easily shaped into a log, baked as a cake and then sliced and dried in a low oven like Italian biscotti, I followed in my mother’s steps.

Our home was never without tins of crunchy treats, both sweet and savory; now I try to continue the tradition.

For ABOUT 5 DOZEN BISCOTTI

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons tomato paste