QUARANTINE DIARIES, COMFORT FOOD & ALL THE SMALL THINGS THAT KEEP US GOING Tessa Kiros shares her experience from the lockdown in Italy, her wonderful chapati and tips so you can enjoy the wider family of flatbreads. A few words about you and where did the quarantine find you? Hi, I'm Tessa – a cookbook

Welcome to a brand new season of I Heart Cooking Clubs where we are now cooking and baking recipes from chef Tessa Kiros! I have to be completely honest and say I'd never heard of Tessa until she was on the poll for picking the next chef, where had I been? Although Tessa (as far as I know) does not host a cooking show on TV, she is the author of numerous books featuring different cuisines that are close to her heart.  As I flipped through the pages of her cookbook, Apples for Jam, I was enchanted. So many beautiful photographs, drawings from her little girls, memories written for us to enjoy, and to top that all of, tons of recipes that sounded good! If this book is any indication of her others, looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun during this session of IHCC! The recipe that first jumped out at me and said, "make me today!" was Ricotta Gnocchi with Tomato Pesto. I love gnocchi and had all of the ingredients on hand, and was extra happy to find a use for some of the last summer basil that I grew in my herb garden this past summer. We are about to have our first frost of the year, and I don't think I can take my herb garden inside, maybe though...not even sure if it would last if I tried to? I'm new to the whole herb gardening community -- anyway, here is the recipe...I have stuck with Tessa's ingredients exactly, but have shortened up the directions a touch, let me know if you have any questions. Tessa's Ricotta Gnocchi 2 cups good quility ricotta cheese3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese 1 scant cup all purpose flour salt Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, if you are making the tomato pesto, make sure it is ready before cooking the gnocchi. Mix together the ricotta, parmesan, flour, and a pinch of salt. With lightly floured hands, roll out into thin sausages (about 5/8 inch thick) -- cut with a sharp knife into little dumplings, about 3/4 inch long. Drop into boiling water and cook until they float to the surface and are done. (Book says 45 seconds, I needed about double that, so 1 and 1/2 minutes) Lift out with slotted spoon and put into warmed serving bowls (I added a little butter to my bowl so they wouldn't stick together). Serve with tomato pesto and grated parmesan. Tomato Pesto 1/3 cup olive oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used a can of san marzanos) salt 1/2 cup basil leaves, torn 4 tablespoons pine nuts 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a sauce pan with one of the garlic cloves. When it sizzles, add the tomato and season with salt. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes until the tomato thickens and becomes smooth, crusing it up with a spoon from time to time. Finely chop the other garlic clove and put it in a small processor with the basil leaves and pine nuts. Pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining olive oil and the parmesan, pulse just long enough to combine. Stir into the tomato sauce and heat for 30 seconds. Remove whole garlic clove before serving. Use sauce to top the gnocchi. And there you have it, my first Tessa Kiros recipe and it was a huge success! I made these for dinner with my daughter and she had so much fun helping roll and cut and drop these into the pot. She even enjoyed the tomato pesto, which surprised me since she is an avid tomato hater. Now my two boys, they were not fans of this dish, but it really didn't matter, I just made them something else. Nothing was going to spoil these delicious gnocchi and the special mommy daughter time we enjoyed while making them together :)

This is more or less how my aunt makes her moussaka. It seems like an incredible job, but you could split up your workload and make the mince sauce the day before (but bring it back to room tempera...

Tessa Kiros' 'The Recipe Collection' (Murdoch Books, RRP $59.99) pulls together over 150 dishes from all corners of the globe. Inspired by her own Finnish and Greek Cypriot heritage, this eclectic combination of recipes are collected with family in mind.

An interview with Tessa Kiros, author of 'Provence to Pondicherry'

The Italian green sauce can be relied on to add zing to almost any dish and is infinitely tweakable – just don’t hold back on the anchovies

You can’t miss the child’s red shoes that adorn the cover of Tessa Kiros’ cookbook Apples for Jam. Her book stands out amongst the hundreds of other cookbooks appearing on the shelves in bookshops because those slightly scuffed, well-worn shoes suggest that behind this cover lies something more than lists of ingredients and cooking methods. I recently showed a friend of mine who is an amazing cook this book... just as she was leaving after a cup of tea. She opened it up and within seconds closed it again. ‘Oh no, don’t do this to me’, she said as she stroked the cover – those shoes – ‘If I start now I’ll need to read the whole thing in one go!’ And she’s right. Another friend had loaned it to me and I lost a few hours of the afternoon inside its covers. And I keep dipping back. It’s not just for the food but the story Tessa weaves in and around the recipes. Here are those stories of life; universal memories of childhood, moments of motherhood, of creating a sense of family and the security of home through the meals you cook for those you love. And to top it off, she lives in Tuscany. Having worked as a chef in London, Sydney, Athens and Mexico and travelled the world, Tessa’s food is a rich blend of many different cultures. She is also the author of five other cookbooks, the most recent being Food From Many Greek Kitchens. While Apples For Jam is about the recipes she remembers from childhood and those she cooks for her own children, her latest book sees her visit the Greek kitchens of her friends and family. But today we are visiting her kitchen; the one she shares with her husband and two daughters in the hills of Tuscany. And while we’re in the kitchen, why not start with what it’s like to cook there. ‘Italy, or at least where I live – in the countryside in Tuscany has wonderful ingredients. It is difficult not to notice what the earth is giving us all the way through the year. The slow and steady cycle of things here. The repetition each year. In that way for me it is different from living in an international city where almost everything is available.’ So what does Tessa enjoy cooking the most? ‘There are many meals depending on the time of year. In Summer we love barbecues; huge salads outside and ice cream and picnics in the garden. In Winter we’re inside around the fire; roasts, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, pies... I love pies for the family in winter, and warm crumbly kind of desserts with a splash of colour... yes that would cheer things up.’ The kitchen has always been the heart of the home for Tessa. And not just for cooking, ‘Whether it be to sit at a table with tea and biscuits and friends, or spend time in alone... The kitchen for me should flow into the rest of the home.’ After becoming a mother, she found that her thoughts about food and cooking changed, ‘Nourishing young ones is a grand responsibility and a wonderful opportunity. I shop mainly for organic produce these days and since being a mum I am far more aware and more careful about what I will serve. I see food now also as the building blocks and the fuel that we need to proceed. Not just the sheer enjoyment side of it. I try and twirl them together now.’ In Apples for Jam, Tessa likens feeding a family to ‘stitching all the bits together on a steady thread'. As she explains, ‘It’s about holding it altogether. If that is our job for now then let us do it well. Once our place is to prepare the meals we should splash them with love and any extras that we can and still do it elegantly. Nobody wants to know the other details. Just if you did it and if you did it well. A family has many needs. Varying dynamics. Sometimes we need to rise above and take in what we need to do instead of getting stuck in the stickiness of it all.’ What food memories does she hope to leave with her daughters? ‘I would like them to know about food, where it comes from and that what we put into it – our efforts, our beliefs are what will show up in our pots and on our plates. I would like them to remember tasting different ingredients, food from different cultures and above all to have their own lovely warm and aromatic memories of what they loved as children all the way through their adulthood – not that it was a drag and they had to eat zucchini.’ Not surprisingly, Tessa’s feelings about home have always been and will always be closely intertwined with food; ‘For me home is a cosy open place, where people join at meals especially or over tea. The family materialise out of their various corners for lunch or dinner and then often disappear again. Bringing them all together in this way has an almost magical quality to it.’ Her most favourite time of year in the kitchen? ‘Christmas at home I love.’ Luckily Christmas isn’t too far away so what better excuse than to include a festive recipe from Tessa’s latest cookbook, Food From Many Greek Kitchens. KOURABIEDES BUTTERY ALMOND CAKES These are icing sugary/buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth honest bundles enjoyed at Christmas. Makes about 22 50 g (1¾ oz/1/3 cup) almonds, skin on 250 g (9 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature 2 tablespoons icing (confectioners’) sugar 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1 tablespoon brandy 300 g (10½ oz/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour 1 teaspoon baking powder about 250 g (9 oz/2 cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting Coarsely chop the almonds into small pieces. Toast in a dry frying pan over a low-ish heat until just coloured. Cool. Whisk the butter in a bowl using electric beaters until it is very pale and thick, about 8 minutes. Add the icing sugar and whisk it in well. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and brandy and whisk them in well too. Sift in the flour and baking powder and beat them in until you have a smooth dough which is hard to keep mixing with the beaters. Add the almonds and mix them through with your hands. Press the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to180°c ( 350°f / gas 4 ) and line a baking tray with baking paper. Break off pieces of dough, about 30 g ( 1¼ oz ) each, and roll them into balls, slightly flattening the tops. Put them on the tray allowing a little space between each one. Bake until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray for about 15 minutes. Dust about half of the icing sugar onto a tray or large plate or your tin where you will store them. Gently move the kourabiedes to sit in a single layer in this, then sprinkle the remaining icing sugar over their tops so that they look like they are snowed in. Will keep in a tin for many days. Recipe and images from Tessa Kiros: Food From Many Greek Kitchens, published by Murdoch Books RRP $69.95 All other images courtesy of Murdoch Books For more information about any of Tessa’s cookbooks, click here.

This Sugar Lemon Tart recipe from Now & Then by Tessa Kiros is full of zest and sweetness.

Now & Then by Tessa Kiros unveils this delightful Square Scone recipe, a must-try culinary gem in the book.

This is great for an outdoor lunch that you can just do ahead and take with you wherever you are going. Use waxy potatoes if possible. You could add some mashed up hard-boiled eggs and anchovies he...

Born in London to a Greek-Cypriot father and Finnish mother, Tessa Kiros developed an interest in the food of different cuisines and travel from an early age. After growing up in South Africa, she left home at eighteen to travel and cook, working in restaurants in London, Sydney, Athens, and Mexico. She now lives in […]

Recipe adapted from "Food From Many Greek Kitchens," by Tessa Kiros. Copyright 2011 by Tessa Kiros. Used with permission of Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Cookbook collecting can become a passion, an obsession that can get out of hand. Then an encounter with a special author stops you in your tracks, surprises and astounds in such a manner that the b…

Many of you that attended our fundraiser for the Terere Kids Project, asked for the carrot cake recipe… it went down pretty well. In fact all of the cakes […]

The liquid formed here with the milk, butter and flour makes a type of rough-looking béchamel that tastes delicious.

A simple sauteed chicken dish with marsala for an unctuous, syrupy finishing touch

Kuratiert & getestet: Rezept von Tessa Kiros: Galaktoboureko

This is possibly one of my favourite meals. It is soft, wonderful and meltingly lemony and we would sometimes eat the leftovers for breakfast before school. I’m not sure if this is totally the Gree...

This is more or less how my grandfather would make a salad and serve it, in a big bowl, ready dressed for everyone to help themselves. Use lemon juice instead of vinegar if you like, and you could ...

This is a wonderful colourful tray of mixed vegetables, which you can vary according to what’s easily available and in season (you could use only tomatoes or try mixed colours of peppers). These ca...

IKARIA COOKBOOK | NEW COVER In the Aegean Sea lies the Greek island of Ikaria, where blue Mediterranean waters lap against a mountainous coastline and rocky trails lead to quaint villages, and where the locals seem to hold a secret. “An affirmation of the beautiful, simple things that matter most.” - Tessa Kiros Ikaria is known worldwide for its incredibly high life expectancies and low rates of chronic disease, much of which can be attributed to diet. Born to Greek parents, Meni Valle has always been fascinated by her family's traditions of cooking and eating. In Ikaria, Meni collects traditional recipes from across the island that encapsulate the best of Mediterranean food: vegetables, beans, whole grains, small amounts of meat and fish, a couple of glasses of wine, and plenty of olive oil. But she also tells the stories that make up Ikaria, where life is all about taking time: time to cook, to eat, to nap, to spend with family and friends, to enjoy and to appreciate. With intimate glimpses of the island's festivals, produce, kitchens and people, Ikaria is a cookbook that will transport and transform you. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Meni Valle When she is not writing cookbooks, Meni Valle shares her knowledge and passion for Mediterranean food through cooking classes and culinary tours to Greece and its neighbouring countries, where she loves connecting with locals and discovering new recipes. She first visited Ikaria in 2017 and now returns every year. Meni lives with her family in Melbourne. You can also purchase Meni's other besteller cookbook here: THE MEDITERRANEAN COOK | A YEAR OF SEASONAL EATING COOKBOOK

I have only eaten this biscuit once before. On the colourful island of Burano, just off Venice. I remember it clearly like it was yesterday....

I realized earlier today that my cookie supply needed to be replenished [yes, another of my New Year's resolutions is to bake and devour my own cookies, not store-bought ones]. I went through a couple of cookbooks till a recipe for simple oat cookies from Tessa Kiros's *Apples For Jam* caught my eye. Picking a […]

Widely acclaimed as the best moussaka ever, a family recipe from the food writer Tessa Kiros

Now & Then by Tessa Kiros unveils this delightful Square Scone recipe, a must-try culinary gem in the book.

Coquilles met gebakken calvados-appeltjes, uit het kookboek 'De Franse wereldkeuken' van Tessa Kiros. Kijk voor de bereidingswijze op okokorecepten.nl.

We are cooking with a new chef ( Tessa Kiros ) over at I Heart Cooking Clubs starting this week. If you aren't familiar with Tessa, pick up ...

You know how you make a recipe with no intention at all of posting it and sharing it? That's the case with this recipe. I'd been craving banana bread and I had plenty of ripe bananas on my hands so I set about making Tessa's recipe for banana bread. I noticed a few unique things while making the bread. First, the recipe didn't call for any white sugar, only brown sugar. Second, the recipe called for mixing the baking soda into the warm milk...something I'd never heard of at all. I wondered if Tessa's variations would yield any differences in the final product and boy did they ever. This is probably the best looking banana bread I've ever made. It rose wonderfully in the oven. Not only was this a good looking loaf of bread, it was utterly delicious. Everyone who tried this bread ended up exclaiming "Wow, that is some great banana bread." They all had two slices, myself included. If you're a fan of banana bread or if you have ripe bananas on your hands, then I really urge you to try this recipe. It's tender, fragrant with spices, and just plain fantastic when served warm with a little butter. This will be my new go to banana bread recipe. Banana Bread Adapted from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros Serves 10 or so Tessa says, "This is my schoolfriend Alexia's recipe: Her mom was a fantastic cook and she always made this. It is a healthy snack or breakfast and an excellent way to use up bananas that otherwise might be on their way out. I always end up making this because bananas in my house just never keep the pale waxy complexion that they have in the shops. For some reason, they start deteriorating the minute they come home with me. You can add some chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, too, and some cinnamon. Serve it on its own, or even lightly buttered and with your favorite jam." 1/4 pound plus 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 3 or 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom salt (a good pinch) 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 4 tablespoons warm milk Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a 12 by 4-inch loaf pan. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth and then whisk in the mashed bananas. Add the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of so of salt and whisk in well. Sieve the flour and baking powder and beat until smooth. Mix the baking soda into the milk and stir into the batter. Scrape the mixture into the panand bake for about 50 minutes, until the bread is crusty on the top and a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool Serve warm or cold, plain or toasted with butter, but allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container, where it will keep well for several days. Note: I mixed the batter for the bread by hand in a mixing bowl. I did not use any type of mixer at all. Theme: Holiday Goodies

I realized earlier today that my cookie supply needed to be replenished [yes, another of my New Year's resolutions is to bake and devour my own cookies, not store-bought ones]. I went through a couple of cookbooks till a recipe for simple oat cookies from Tessa Kiros's *Apples For Jam* caught my eye. Picking a […]

Tessa Kiros bravissima e delicata food writer internazionale, si racconta in questa intervista esclusiva rilasciata al Galateo di Madame Eleonora. Hi Tessa, your books are such a joy to read! -You…