Brain Foods & Eye Candy

Gnewiyah - Tunisian Okra Stew

2011-12-17T21:13:00.000Z

Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion, 1/2 kg meat for stewing (I used veal here), olive oil,
2-3 garlic, salt & black pepper, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 3 tbs paprika, 2 tbs 1/ ground coriander,
tomato paste, water
red bell pepper, 1-2 handfuls of pearl onions, 3 cups okra

Brown the onions and meat in olive oil. Add pressed garlic (I grate it, 'cause I haven't found a proper garlic press since I moved here! Only plastic rubbish) and spices. Fry for a few more minutes, then add tomato paste and water to cover.
Cook for an hour or two, until the meat is nearly tender (less in a pressure cooker, which is what I use - I've grown to love it, saves me a lot of time).
Add the pepper, cut in strips, and pearl onions. Cook some more, then add the okra the last twenty minutes (be careful not to over-cook). Serve with bread.

Lablaabi - Chick pea soup

2011-12-17T20:36:00.000Z

Ingredients, 4 servings:

2 cans of chick peas (or 1 1/2 cup dried chick peas, soaked overnight and boiled), 5 cups of water, 1 stock cube,

6 garlic cloves, peeled, 1 bay leaf, 4 tsp cumin (freshly toasted and ground), 1 tbs harissa, 4 eggs, 3 tbs olive oil, juice of 1/2 a lemon, chopped parsley

Cook the chick peas in the stock, together with garlic and bay leaf (if using dry chick peas, cook for 45 minutes, add salt and cook another 15 minutes). Add spices and harissa and cook for 25 minutes whilst preparing the garnish (see below for ideas).

Add olive oil and lemon juice. Bring to a fierce boil and crack the eggs into the soup, bring the heat down and poach the eggs, without stirring for approximately five minutes or until the egg whites have hardened.

Garnish with parsley and serve or garnish with some of the suggestions below.

I was really surprised at how lovely this dish actually turned out to be, mashaa Allah! I'm not particularly fond of chick peas, cumin or garlic, but this is an absolute winner!

Egg-free Lablaabi

Lablaabi with poached egg

Garnish:

Tear some old, stale bread into soup bowls to pour the soup over (I won't do this again, the kids gave me minus points for the soggy bread!)

You can serve Lablaabi with, for example, olive oil, harissa, cumin, capers, tuna, olives, garlic, vinegar, lemon or lime juice, cilantro or parsley, and/or spring onions.

Lablaabi served with olive oil, olives, cumin, lemon and tuna.

PS. there are variants of this soup in other parts of the world too.

Shakshoukah

2011-12-14T18:30:00.000Z

This is an old picture of Shakshouka, the way I used to make it before.
Below are pictures of today's Shakshouka, that I looked up for my current "Tunisian inspired cooking" week. It tastes the same as the above Shakshouka.

Shakshouka is a kind of vegetarian ragout, similar to ratatouille. A tomato stew with poached eggs on top. There are variants of it in many countries (have a look in Wikipedia)

It's still cooking here :)

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 large onion
2-3 sweet peppers
8 cloves garlic
2 tbs tomato paste
3 cups water
2 tomatoes
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tbs paprika
Salt to taste
1 egg per person (as we have some with egg allergy in the family, I just took some of the sauce and put aside before adding the eggs, the taste is a bit strong without them but okey)
Parsley

Instructions:
1. Cut onion and press garlic cloves and saute them in a deep frying pan or pot until golden.
2. Add thinly cut peppers.
3. Add the spices and mix.
4. Chop the tomatoes (I like to peel them as well) and add to the pan.
5. Add tomato paste and water, then bring to a simmer.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Crack eggs directly into the hot tomato sauce, without breaking the yolks. Put the eggs in evenly spaced. After the eggs have been added, there shouldn't be any more stirring or mixing.
8. Leave it to cook on low heat for about 2-5 minutes more, until the egg whites have cooked through.
9. Sprinkle fresh parsley over the Shakshouka and serve with bread.

Five minute chocolate cake

2011-11-09T18:34:00.000Z

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons whisked egg - can be omitted, but line the mug/bowl with fat or else it'll stick!
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
some kind of flavouring - vanilla or cinnamon for example

"Bake" for five minutes in the microwave and top with whipped cream and fruit.

Egg-free Treacle Cake or Sweet Brown Bread

2011-10-08T11:53:00.004+01:00

450 ml milk
100 g sugar
165 g treacle
170 g wholemeal flour
200 g plain/bread flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Butter a big bread tin and line with breadcrumbs. preheat oven to 180C, gas mark 4.
Combine dry ingredients and wet together with sugar separately. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.
Pour mixture into the pans and bake for 45 minutes.

I converted the measurements like this:

4 1/2 dl milk
1 dl sugar (could do with some more)
4 tbs treacle
3 dl wholemeal flour
4 dl plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Taken from Allrecipes.co.uk

Jeffels - baked beans with tomato sauce in toast

2011-04-24T07:41:00.000+01:00

Two buttered slices with a spoonful of baked beans in tomato sauce in-between, grilled in a panini iron or special Jeffels-iron. Yum!

And to benefit extra from the iron in the beans, serve with some salad cress and fresh orange juice for vitamin C.

Ängasoppa

2011-04-19T23:52:00.002+01:00

Ängasoppa is a spring and summer soup, preferably made with the first, tender vegetables of spring.

4 portions

1 small cauliflower head
2-3 carrots
1 small leek
a handful of spinach or mangold
2 dl peas
5 dl water
1 vegetable stock cube
2 1/2 tbs flour
4 dl milk
1 dl parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Try to find as fresh vegetables as possible, the above mentioned are just a suggestion. I substitute leek with an onion, if I don't have any leeks and I don't recall using parsley...

Clean and prepare the vegetables. Cut or dice everything into the same size. Starting with the carrots and cabbage, cover with water and bring to the boil, adding the rest of the vegetables after a few minutes. Cook them until the vegetables have become "al dente" (done, but with some bite, like good spaghetti).

Mix the flour with some of the milk and add to the soup. Keep on low heat for about five more minutes.

You can also add yolk from an egg and half a decilitre of cream, mixed with a decilitre of the soup, but make sure the soup has only been simmering, not boiling or else the yolk will make it all grainy.

Burek

2010-12-24T18:46:00.000Z

Bureks are spring rolls, also called samosa/sambosa/sambusek. Thin pastry sheets filled with a tasty filling, most commonly minced meat (when filled with cheese they're called fatayer - it's pretty much the same, though). You can make the paper thin sheets yourself (Tammy of Tammy's Somali Home shows how on her blog) or buy them at any supermarket (spring roll pastry suits perfectly).
Different variants of burek/samosa are eaten all over the world. They seem to have merged somewhat over the years with the spring rolls, summer rolls, egg rolls, börek, et al.

The most used filling in our house is;

Minced meat filling

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion
500 g mince meat
olives cut in rings
salt, pepper and harissa to taste
eggs and chopped parsley
soft cheese

Fry the onions soft in the oil, add the mince and fry until all the redness is gone. Add olives and seasoning and let it cook for awhile. In the end add eggs and parsley, but don't let it cook dry!

Take a spring roll sheet, put about a spoonful of the filling in one corner together with some soft cheese and roll it, tucking in the sides as you go.

Deep fry or cook under the grill with some oil brushed over them. If you put the opening down first, you don't need anything to stick the ends to the rolls with.

According to Wikipedia: Swedes eat 1,2 spring rolls per person per year, the Danish 7 spring rolls per year, and Norway 1,4. lol

Swedish toffee

2010-12-24T17:34:00.003Z

Knäck is a traditional Swedish toffee. The name translates into "break" and refers to its hard consistency (reminding of Daim or Skor bars). Some prefer their knäck to be soft and chewy, which is easily attainable by simmering the mix for a shorter time.

~Recipe~

Heavy cream (any kind of cream that can be cooked will work just fine - such as double or whipping cream)
Golden syrup
Sugar

Measure up equal parts (e.g. 150 ml) of the cream, syrup and sugar in a heavy based saucepan or pot (preferably a large pan for quicker results).
Melt it while stirring and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, the heat should be high enough to keep the mix boiling without burning to the bottom of the pan.
Keep boiling, while stirring, until the mix becomes a bit gluey. Pour a drop of the mix into a glass of cold water. If you can roll it to a hard or chewy ball, it’s done.
(You can add chopped almonds to the mix at this stage)

Pour into mini paper cups and leave to cool. Delicious!

Hareera

2010-09-01T15:00:00.000+01:00

A very traditional Ramadan soup in the North-Western areas of Africa (mainly Morocco, but also some parts of Algeria). It's good and filling after a long day of fasting, and of course soups are ideal to restore fluids and hide those greens (if you have picky eaters).
It is eaten every day at iftar, until someone has had enough!

1 lb (450 g) lamb and/or 1/2 lb (225 g) chicken (optional - can be vegetarian as well)
1 big onion, chopped
4 oz (100 g) brown lentils
turmeric, ground cinnamon, paprika (the recipe calls for 1/2 - 1 tsp, I generally use more)
4 pints (2.3 litre) water
1 lb (450 g) ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or mixed (I sometimes omit the fresh tomatoes, or use less)
2 tsp tomato paste
4 oz (100 g) chick peas ( if dried and softened in water over-night, put them in with the water)
a few handfuls of vermicelli
3 tbs fresh, chopped coriander
3 tbs fresh, chopped parsley
1 tbs chopped celery (use the leaves, or if you use the stalks, put them in with the onions)
1 egg
salt & black pepper
Serve with lemon wedges to taste

Soften the onion (and celery) in the oil on a low heat, add meat and brown.
Add water, spices and tomato (if the lentils take long to cook, add them as well - some don't take longer than 30 or 40 minutes though, so it's better to add them later).
Bring to the boil, lower the heat to a simmering and leave to cook for about one and a half hour (30 minutes if you make it vegetarian).
Add vermicelli, stir and cook for another 10 minutes until the vermicelli is cooked.
Whisk an egg and pop it into the soup and stir.
Add salt and pepper to taste and turn off the heat. Add the herbs.

Serve with lemon on the side. Moroccans like to have their Hareera with shabbakiyah.

My first jam

2010-08-27T08:47:00.000+01:00

My very first jam :) Gooseberry jam. And it was so simple!

gooseberries, topped and tailed
water, just enough to cover -boil up and then leave to simmer for about half an hour
sugar, same amount in weight as berries

Let the sugar dissolve, and then heat it up to boiling point and leave to boil for approximately 15 minutes or until it passes the jam test: take some of the jam and put on a cold plate. Let it cool and push it with your finger, if it wrinkles it's ready.

Mine took a lot longer than 15 minutes to set, no idea why. Perhaps because I left the skins intact (I didn't want a smooth jam), or maybe I should have cooked it for longer before I added the sugar.

Doesn't matter, the end result was delicious! :)

Mdardrah - Lentils with Rice

2008-08-12T11:53:00.003+01:00

2 tbs olive oil
1 medium sized onion, sliced
3 dl green lentils
4 dl rice
vegetable stock to cover
salt and pepper to taste

In a deep pot, fry the onion in the olive oil for about five minutes. Add the lentils and rice together with the salt and pepper and stir well.

Add the vegetable stock and stir one last time. There should be enough liquid to reach one centimetre above the rice line.

Leave to simmer until the rice is cooked through and you can hear that the water has disappeared.

This dish is absolutely delicious served with yoghurt, green salad and brown-fried onions and mushrooms (onions and sliced mushrooms stir-fried until browned with salt and pepper).

Mtabbal, commonly called Baba Ghannoush

2008-08-12T11:50:00.000+01:00

This is a yummy dip, often included in Middle Eastern mezze.

2 medium-sized aubergines (egg plant)
2-3 tablespoons of Tahini (sesame paste)
salt, pepper
juice of one or two lemons
1 garlic clove
olive oil
a dash of paprika powder
parsley for garnishing

Poak the aubergines witha fork and put them on a greased oven-proof dish or some aluminium foil. Grill for about minutes, in the oven, turning them occasionally, until the skin has changed colour. Take the aubergines out and peel them once they have cooled off.

Put them in a mixing bowl, and add 2-3 tablespoons of Tahini, salt, pepper, the juice of one or two lemons, and 1 crushed garlic clove. Mix with a blender or hand mixer and taste. The garlic should not be too strong, because its taste matures and gets much heavier with time. Add more lemon juice if needed.

Arrange the dip in a plate, sprinkle red paprika, drizzle some olive oil over it and decorate with some parsley sprigs.

Place it in the fridge, preferrably for at least a few hours before serving it with pita bread as a side dish to a main meal or as an appetizer.

Semolina Porridge

2008-08-12T07:28:00.000+01:00

4 servings

8 dl milk
1 1/4 dl semolina
1/2 tsp salt
sugar, milk
toppings: sugar, cinnamon or jam (eg. strawberry jam)

Put the milk with salt (and sugar if you want) over the medium hot stove, and add the semolina slowly while stirring, making sure not to get any lumps. When the porridge starts to bubble, lower the heat to its lowest grade and let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it has become thick it's done. If it's too watery, let it simmer for some longer or adjust the recipe for next time, adding some more semolina. If it's too thick, add some more milk and stir.

Serve with milk and jam or cinnamon.

Whole-meal bread

2008-08-10T16:49:00.000+01:00

I love baking. Some of the simplest breads are what people love the most, and this is a bread with a simple recipe :)

0.5 kg whole-meal flour
0.5 kg white flour
1 tbs dry active yeast (tepid water and sugar to activate dry yeast)
or 0.25 g fresh active yeast (ask at a local bakery or supermarket bakery, you might get it for free)
1 tbs salt
water

Activate the yeast, if needed. Add the dry ingredients and then add water to make a dough, while mixing it all together. When I bake, I use eye-measurements, so take my instructions 'with a pinch of salt'.
Knead for about ten minutes and leave to rise to double size approximately 1 hour.
After it has risen, punch down the dough (knead it again) a few minutes and divide it. Make three big round loaves or the shape you're familiar with. Leave to rise another twenty minutes.
Bake in medium hot oven (180°C, gas mark 7?) for 40 minutes.

Eight Reasons Why Menu Planning Is A Terrible Idea

2008-07-22T14:18:00.003+01:00

By Christine Steendahl

Have you heard about meal planning lately? Families are busy and getting busier all the time. As families work on getting organized, many home managers are turning to meal planning as a way to eliminate the evening stress in their homes.

However, meal planning is not for everyone. Here are eight reasons why meal planning just may be a terrible idea for you and your family.

1. You enjoy eating unhealthy fast-food three to five times per week.

2. You love the taste of pre-packaged preservative packed frozen convenience food.

3. Spending $200 and 2 hours at the grocery store, only to come home to discover that there is nothing to cook for dinner is one of your favorite things to do.

4. You enjoy the stress of running around like crazy at dinner time trying to figure out what to cook while your children and husband are hungry and crabby.

5. You like your food rut of spaghetti, hot dogs, pizza, repeat.

6. You have no other way to spend the extra $100 you spend each week eating out.

7. You have nothing better to do at 5 o’clock every day than to go to the grocery store. It’s enjoyable to daily spend extra money on groceries as additional items “fall” into your cart.

8. You have no desire to enjoy a home cooked meal around the dinner table with your family. You feel spending time with your family is a complete waste of time.

If you agree with the above statements please do not ever try meal planning – it is probably a terrible idea. On the other hand, if you possibly disagree with at least one of the above statements perhaps it is time to give menu planning a try!

Christine Steendahl Is The Founder Of Dine Without Whine – A Family Friendly Weekly Menu Planner. She Helps Families Eliminate The Dinner Hour Stress And Re-Discover The Pleasure Of The Dinner Hour! For A Free Sample Menu Visit http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/offer

Veiled Beauties ;-)

2008-06-27T21:33:00.005+01:00

Fateerah or Mahjubah (pl. Fataayer, Mhaajeb)

1kg semolina flour (I've tried both fine and coarse, coarse is less sticky in my opinion)
1tbs salt
water
oil

Add water to the semolina and salt.

Mix it into a dough.

Start kneading by lifting the opposite side of the dough into the middle and pressing with the base of your palms.

More power is put into the kneading, if you sit on the floor, with the dough in front of you, in a big tray or plate (traditionally they use a big wooden "qas'ah").

And it takes a lot of strength to do these. I normally knead for at least half an hour, slowly adding a hand ful of water at a time.

When the dough is wet, it's easier to work the water into the dough with your knuckles, until it stops playng around.

Knead until the dough feels soft and elastic. Let the dough rest.

For a classical Mahjubah, fry some sliced onion, garlic, then add peeled, seeded and cut tomatoes, (animal fat - but I left that out) and hot chilli. Season with salt and pepper. Cook together and put aside.

Divide your dough into balls the size of golf balls, or a little bit larger. Fill a cup with vegetable oil, and pour some of it on your work top. Take one ball, put it on the oily surface. Press it on the work top, drizzle some oil over it, and press until it has a diameter of approximately 35-40 cm, and is very thin. Use the base of your palms and work from the middle out, press the edges, where needed, with your fingers. It doesn't matter if it tears a little.

Some bake them like this.

We fold them like this.

When we make Mhaajeb, we put the spicy filling on the first fold. I tried eggs too, this time, but it didn't work so well. I'll have to practice it more, or look for a better way of doing it.

First fold goes from the bottom to the middle. The second, from the top and over. It's really tricky to keep the right size and thickness with the fillings inside. It helps to wait with the folding to the last second, just before tossing it into the pan.

When folded twice, you fold in the sides.

If need be, press it back into shape after the folding (it's very elastic). Be careful if it has stuff folded into it. Put it in a pre-heated pan over medium heat. Drizzle some oil on it. When it has changed colour on the top, you know it has cooked through and can flip it over to give both sides a golden-brown surface. I use a teflon pan, which helps me cut the amounts of oil used. Traditionally, an upside-down tagine base over a gas fire is used.

There you have it! Delicious with some honey melted on top, accompanied with some tea or a glass of milk. Mhaajeb can be served as a light lunch.

Dsheeshah Soup شربة دشيشة

2008-06-18T20:52:00.004+01:00

These pictures are really ... blah ... This is a very simple soup, takes about ten minutes to make, and is pretty colourless ... a bit of a challenge for an amateur photographer like myself. There's lots of texture, so it has potential to be quite interesting, but I don't have the right background and lights...
1/2 medium sized onion, peeled
1 l water
1/2 l milk
1 cup dsheeshah or barley grits(?), in French it's called semoule d'orge
salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in a big pot, bring to the boil and let simmer while stirring for about ten minutes. Done! Very simple, and a life saver, in hectic moments :)

Gratin de poisson, Fish Bake

2008-06-17T21:23:00.005+01:00

Approximately 730 g Coley or other white fish
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
500 ml milk
salt and pepper
parsley, chives or preferred herbs (I did it with parsley today - the recipe called for salad cream and gherkins, and on top of the béchamel, sliced tomatoes)
5 ml lemon juice
1 kg potatoes, peeled and cooked
fresh milk for the mashed potatoes
grated cheddar cheese

Cook the potatoes, and make the béchamel sauce in another small pan: melt the butter and add the flour, while stirring (it's a good idea to sift the flour into the melted butter). Add the milk little by little, while stirring. Don't let it burn, and keep it smooth. Season with salt and pepper and your chosen flavouring.
In a greased oven proof dish, put the fish, cover with the béchamel (here goes the tomatoes, if you want that) and top of with mashed potatoes (mixed with some milk, and maybe a pinch of salt) and grated cheese.
Bake in the oven at 190˚C, mark 5 for 30 minutes, or until the cheese has become golden.
Serve with a green sallad.

3+3+6=12 (more or less)

2008-06-17T11:10:00.004+01:00

3 eggs
3 dl flour
6 dl milk

optional: a pinch of salt, 1 tbs sugar

makes approximately 12 pancakes.

Mix the batter. Melt some butter or margarine in a frying pan. Take one soup ladle of the batter and pour into the medium hot pan. When the batter has stiffened, flip it over to bake the other side too. And repeat until all the batter is finished.

Serve with sugar and cinnamon, syrup, ice cream, berries and cream, honey, or jam.

Chicken & Carrot Tagine

2008-05-02T17:02:00.000+01:00

1 baby chicken
2 medium sized onions
2 cloves garlic
0,5 kg carrots
1 succhini

salt, pepper
Ras-el-Hanoot
paprika
turmeric
saffron
a couple of bay leaves
juice of one small lemon
fresh chopped parsley
fresh chopped coriander

Cut the chicken in small pieces and brown it in the tagine. Slice the onions and add to the chicken. Peel and slice the carrots. Add to the tagine together with the spices. Mix it all gently. Slice the succhini and blend it into the tagine. Leave to cook for an hour on low heat, or until the chicken is well cooked. Add the parsley and coriander. Serve with bread.

Broccoli tagine

2008-04-20T13:21:00.000+01:00

Meat
1 Onion
2 Broccoli heads
salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, paprika.

Fry the onions lightly in some butter, add the meat and spices, and leave to cook until the meat is almost done.
Wash and cut the broccoli in medium sized pieces, cook for a few minutes, without letting the broccoli loose colour. Add to the tagine, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Olive Tagine, Tagine Zeitoun

2007-12-11T11:15:00.002Z

Lamb or mutton meat
4 carrots
olive oil
2 tbs tomatoe puree
1/2 cup water
1 350 g can mushrooms
olives
parsley

Lemon and Tarragon Chicken

2007-12-11T10:55:00.001Z

Chicken breasts
juice and peel of 1 lemon
salt to taste
tarragon

Cut the chicken breasts in the middle, to make a pocket, and put some fresh tarragon inside. Salt and marinate in the lemon juice and peel for a couple of hours or longer.
Grill in the oven and serve with spinach or sallad. We made french fries with it.

Macaron bi-laban

2007-12-09T19:36:00.000Z

Macaronies, yoghurt, garlic clove (optional), salt to taste and melted butter to go on top.

Borek & Mthowem

2007-03-08T04:30:00.000Z

-Boerek-

minced meat
onion
salt, pepper, paprika
parsley

green olives
boiled eggs

phyllo-dough or 'warqa'

-Mthowem-

chicken
minced meat (meatballs)
onion
garlic
parsley
salt and pepper

french fries
egg

Instructions to come, inshaa Allah (God willing)

Couscous

2007-02-01T00:52:00.000Z

Photo taken with phone camera
Recipe coming, inshaa Allah, with more pictures.

Gameelah

2007-02-01T00:51:00.000Z

Photo taken with phone camera
Recipe coming, inshaa Allah

Pasta soup

2007-02-01T00:50:00.000Z

Photo taken with phone camera
Recipe coming, inshaa Allah

Grilled Chicken Tagine

2007-02-01T00:47:00.001Z

Old photo taken with a phone camera.

1 kg chicken thighs (or whole chicken cut in big chunky pieces)
2 medium sized onions, chopped finely
3 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs butter
1 tbs oil

Mix all ingredients in a tagine. Cover with the lid and put in the oven to cook for about 1 hour. Remove the lid and grill for another 15 minutes or so. It can also be cooked on the stove, but I recommend putting it under the grill in the end, to reduce the sauce a bit and give the chicken a nice colour.
Serve with rice or oven-baked potatoes, tomatoes, lemon and fresh parsley.