Ariadne Pure: Raw Honey with Hazelnuts Review

About a month ago, I was contacted by Tasos of Ariadne Pure asking me to review one of their newer products, a raw honey with hazelnuts spread. A quick look at their website www.ariadnepure.com allowed me to learn a little more about Ariadne Pure. Ariadne Pure specializes in Greek centered products whether it be Extra Virgin Olive oil, wines or organic raw honeys. So, when asked if I would be willing to review their raw honey with hazelnuts, I happily obliged. Not to mention, it's also organic.

First of all, when I opened the package and pulled out the jar, I was impressed with just how it looked. It was simple, yet elegant at the same time. There's just something about putting a simple piece of decorative paper with twine, a long with a label, that just makes things look as if they took the time and effort just to make sure everything looks as good as their product tastes. Simply, it just shows that they believe in their product completely.

Now for the taste. Before I even opened the jar, I had preconceived notions of what it was going to taste like. Think Nutella without the chocolate, and replace that with the floral sweetness of honey. I also thought it would be chunky from the hazelnuts, giving it a crunchy textural aspect.

What did it actually taste like? It was sweet with those hints of floral notes from the honey and the flavor of the hazelnuts came right through. However, unlike what I thought about the texture before, this raw honey with hazelnut spread was completely smooth which surprised me. It was legitimately like Nutella, without the chocolate, and really allowed the honey to shine with hints of hazelnut flavor. Cool right? But, be careful with this product, a little goes a long way. Remember, this is honey! It would be a no-no to take a spoon and eat it straight out of the jar like Nutella. But hey, who am I to judge?

I would love to try this product on biscuits, bake it into corn muffins, or make cakes out of it! Given that the texture is smooth, this can be used directly in recipes that call for honey. This honey will give added flavor from the hazelnuts, which will add more dimension to recipes. Not into hazelnuts? Well, head on over to www.ariadnepure.com and check out their other honey spreads with almonds, peanuts and so much more!

I want to thank Ariadne Pure for allowing me to review their product. This is the thing I love about being a food blogger. It has allowed me to venture out and try products that I wouldn't normally go out and try, because I don't have knowledge of every single company out there. Before being contacted by Ariadne Pure, I had no clue it existed! Now that I know about them, so can you all!! So, get out there and try their product and let me and them know what you think of their stuff!

-Aaron John

Sinangag (Filipino Garlic Fried Rice)

Sinangag or how I like to say it, Sina-na-na-nag. Growing up in a Filipino household, it was rare to have a "Diner-type" U.S. breakfast. You know, the kind with eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes? That kind of a meal was a special occasion kind of thing. Most of the time we had this, Sinangag or garlic fried rice. 

You see, Sinangag is the main component of the typical Filipino breakfast. Spam and Sinangag. Longaniza sausage and Sinangag. Daing (Milk Fish) and Sinangag. Toyo (dried fish) and Sinangag. If it's breakfast, you best believe Sinangag is going to make an appearance.

When you make Sinangag just right, you can eat it all by itself. Sometimes I get seconds of just rice. No joke. There's something about the garlic rice that's delicious and with just the right amount of salt, it makes it so good! So, take a stab at the filipino breakfast and start with this simple Sinangag!

Sinangag (Filipino Garlic Fried Rice)

Recipe by Me

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice, cooked

1/4 tsp salt

Directions

In a wok or medium sized skillet, add the oil and heat it on the stove on medium high heat. Once hot, add in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Don't brown the garlic! Crack in the egg and puncture the egg yolk. Allow it to cook for about 1 minute before disturbing. Once somewhat cooked, begin to break up the egg and mix with the oil and minced garlic. Once the egg is fully cooked, add in the rice and mix to even disperse the egg, garlic and oil. Season with salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes until any residual moisture from the rice has evaporated.

-Aaron John

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

After receiving loose leaf teas from "The Tea Company", the search was on for what to do with them. A post on instagram got my friend J to suggest I make Tea Cookies. Honestly, I've never heard of them before. I mean, Tea Cookies...with actual tea leaves in them. Really?

A bunch of questions ran through my head and the primary question was "Can you eat tea leaves?" I mean, it's not like I think tea is poisonous, we can drink it after all. But, can we digest them? You know how you can use bay leaves in things like beef stew and such, well, you don't eat the bay leaf now do ya'. Well, "Can you eat tea leaves?"

But, if a recipe says to put Earl Grey Tea leaves into the cookie, I assume tea is edible. If not, Claire Robinson would be arrested. But look, I'm still alive! 

I used "The Tea Company" Earl Grey Creme which gave the cookies a slight anise flavor. This recipe used powdered sugar which gave the cookies this crackly outer cookie which was unique. So, who knew you can eat tea leaves? I sure didn't.

AJ's Secrets

-Instead of pulsing the flour, salt and tea together, I pulsed the tea in the food processor first before I added the flour and salt. This just ensured there weren't too many large pieces of tea leaves.

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

Recipe by Claire Robinson

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons loose Earl Grey tea leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

Directions
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, tea, and salt, until the tea is just spotted throughout the flour. Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and butter. Pulse together just until a dough is formed. Place dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, and roll into a log, about 2 1/2-inches in diameter. Tightly twist each end of wrap, and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the log into 1/3-inch thick disks. Place on parchment or silpat lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart (2 probably needed depending on size of sheets). Bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and cool to room temperature.

-Aaron John

The Tea Company

https://theteacompany.com/

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Ben of "The Tea Company" asking if I would review some of their loose leaf teas. Of course, I happily accepted. You see, as a college student, you would think I'm a huge coffee drinker, but nope...I prefer tea. For me, it has a much cleaner taste, less bitter and well, I just prefer it. The only time I will drink coffee is if it's heavily sweetened. Tea is just the healthier route for me.

When the package came, I was excited about the teas I received. There were three, Moroccan Mint, Earl Grey Creme and Hibiscus Madness. I was most excited to try the Hibiscus Madness not only because I know about the fantastic color it has, but also because of how I loved the "Hibiscus Nectar" drink at one of Seattle's Food Trucks, Maximus/Minimus. So...let the review begin!

First up, Moroccan Mint. Upon opening the package, it had the aroma of spearmint gum. One of my favorites. After steeping according to the instructions on the package, it had a light green hue to it and the mint aroma mellowed out while still maintaining that distinguishable "mint" smell. It had a nice clean and fresh flavor leaving your mouth feel as if you just went to the dentist. Ben suggested steeping this in cream and using it in chocolate truffles. Mint-tea chocolate truffles? Yes please!

Next up was Earl Grey Creme. When I opened up this package, it had an aroma I smelled before but I couldn't pinpoint it. After sitting for 30 minutes drinking and thinking about this tea, it hit me. It had a deep flavor with hints of anise notes to it. It reminded me of biscotti I used to buy at the grocery store. Dipping those biscotti into this tea would be a double whammy of anise-y flavor. My friend J suggested I make Tea Shortbread Cookies with this, and that post will come soon.

At long last, the highly anticipated Hibiscus Madness. The tea leaves have a fruity smell to it, almost like fruit punch. At some points I smell grapes, at other points I smell apple. When steeping the tea leaves, the red hue from the hibiscus made it's way into the hot water turning it a light red color, a little lighter than fruit punch. This tea was definitely my favorite. It had those fruity notes and was tangy at the same time. Add a bit of sugar to it and it's perfect.

I want to thank The Tea Company for allowing me to review their teas. They were all fantastic and had something unique to each one of them. If you're a tea lover, head over to their website at https://theteacompany.com/ and check it out. They have a wide variety of teas, different equipment to use in your tea making and are always willing to help if you have any questions about tea. One thing I learned from Ben is that tea is not just limited to drinking. You can make things from truffles, cookies or even something savory like a roast with them. It may seem like you can only steep tea, but the possibilities are endless. So, thank you The Tea Company!

-Aaron John

Cake Donuts

First of all, sorry for the blurry pictures. When you live in Seattle, the lighting isn't always picture perfect for these kinds of things. Oh well, who cares when you're eating donuts.

Anyways, I've expressed my love for donuts once before and I'm here to do it again. I'm obsessed with donuts!! Fried dough with a sweet coating of some sort from glaze, to chocolate, to maple to plain ol' sugar, these things are damn good.

This recipe and I go way back. I was in the seventh grade when we were offered an opportunity for extra credit by making bread of some sort from our culture. I can't quite remember what bread had to do in our lesson plan but all I remember was we had to make cultural bread. When I got home that day, I told my parents about the project and they had no clue what to do because they aren't bakers. In fact, I can't remember them baking anything, ever!

What I can say is that filipinos love to fry. Let's be honest here, everything is better when it's fried and so filipinos know some good food. I remember coming to the conclusion to just make donuts because it would be relatively easy and well, it's fried, my parent's expertise.

Let me tell you, these were the days of dial-up internet and I remember it taking forever to find a recipe but I got one from Tyler Florence who was my favorite TV-Chef back in the day. Now remember, this was supposed to be a cultural bread and this cake donut recipe was far from a cultural bread of the Philippines.

After all the donuts were made, my parents just said to say that they were "Bitsu-Bitsu" which I guess is a filipino version of donuts. I mean, no one would know what they really were in my class of 12 year olds.

No one even questioned what they were and at the end of the day, everyone loved them and I got my extra credit so who cares if these aren't the true filipino Bitsu-Bitsu. They can't take away my extra credit anymore! 

AJ's Secret:

• The directions indicate to refrigerate and roll out the dough. However, I've never seen cake donuts rolled and cut like yeast based donuts. Donut shops always have those cool contraptions that plunges dough into the fryer in the shape of a donut. Thus, I simply used a 1-ounce ice cream scoop, scooped out the dough and dropped the dough into the fryer. I fried it for about 5 minutes, or until the inside is cooked.

Cake Donuts

Recipe by Tyler Florence

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups (1 pound) cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fat for frying, such as canola oil
*Variation: for chocolate donuts, melt 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate along with the butter and continue as directed.

Directions
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the eggs until foamy, gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until thick and yellow. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat and combine with milk and vanilla extract. Stir the milk mixture into the egg mixture until blended. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Chill for 30 minutes to make it easier to roll and cut.

***See my secrets above!
Roll or pat the dough out on a heavily floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick, the dough is somewhat wet. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter, saving the holes. Transfer to a sheet of waxed paper and allow to air dry for 10 minutes. The dough will form a slight crust and absorb less fat when fried. 

Heat 3-inches of vegetable oil or shortening to 375 degrees F in an electric fryer or deep saucepan. Fry doughnuts until golden, about 5 minutes each side. To keep the oil temperature constant, fry 3 at a time. Fry the holes separately and drain on paper towels.

-Aaron John