spoon

Pickled Turnips

0

Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 7:40 AM | By: Susu

Category:

Well, I love mezes. Those Middle eastern small dishes we almost serve with each meal. If you are not familiar with mezes, you can find some information and the common dishes here. Pickled turnips are one of my favorite mezes. I made some yesterday using my Mom's original recipe. 



Ingredients:

2 pounds white turnips, peeled and cut into medium size wedges
1 medium beet cut into medium size wedges
3 cups water
1/4 cup salt
2 tsp sugar

Directions: 

  • Place the turnips, beets in a canning jar. The beets will dye the turnips pink. 
  • In a medium saucepan, bring the water, sugar and salt to boil. Set aside to cool briefly, then pour warm mixture over the sliced turnips and beets in the jar. Place the lid on the jar and allow to rest at room temperature for up to a week. 
I usually open the jar in a week. I recommend transferring the jar then to the fridge so the pickles don't get overdone.

Enjoy!

Asian caramelized chicken

0

Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 4:41 AM | By: Susu

Category:

You will need:

Chicken breast (I used 2 pounds)
2 tbsp veg. oil
½ cup water

For chicken marination I used (note that you can modify the quantities to your taste, and you can add/remove any ingredient):
2 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp flour
ginger powder
salt
black pepper

For the caramel sauce:
½ cup sugar (white or brown)

Directions:
- Cut the chicken in medium size cubes.
- Marinate the chicken for at least two hour before start cooking.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add chicken, stir until they are golden brown. Remove all but a little (about 1 tbsp) of fat from the chicken pan. Add water and simmer until chicken is almost cooked around 15 minutes.
-Meanwhile prepare the caramel sauce. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sugar. Cook until the sugar starts to melt and turn brown, about 5 minutes.
- Stir the caramel sauce in chicken and cook until the sauce is thickened and sticky and chicken is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Morocan Harira soup - شوربة الحريرة المغربية

0

Posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 1:07 PM | By: Susu

Category:



You will need:
  • ½ lb. uncooked meat (lamb, beef or chicken), cut in cubes. I used chicken
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 or 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 cup of dry chick peas, soaked for a night and then peeled
  • 3 large tomatoes, peeled 
  • 1/2 cup dry yellow lentils, washed
  • 1/4 cup uncooked broken vermicelli
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste, mixed evenly into 1 cup of water
  • 1/4  cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 
  • salt and black pepper
  • Spices: cinnamon, ginger (optional). I honestly didn't add them
 
- Put the oil into a large pressure cooker. Add meat and cook over medium heat for few minutes, stirring to brown all sides.

- Add parsley, celery, onion, chick peas, tomatoes, lentils, and spices. Stir in 3 cups of water.

- Cover tightly, and heat over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and release the pressure.
- Add tomato paste mixture, and 2 quarts of water. And cook the soup over medium heat.


- While the soup is cooking, add vermicelli. Add salt or pepper.
- Mix together the flour with 2 cups of water. Pour in the flour mixture. Stir constantly and keep the soup simmering so the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- Simmer the thickened soup, stirring occasionally for about five minutes. 
- Remove from heat and serve


Sambousek (سمبوسك)

0

Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2011 12:10 PM | By: Susu

Category:



You will need:

The dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup butter
pinch of salt

The filling:
1 pound (around 500 gram) Ground lamb or beef meat
One Large onion, chopped
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 tbsp Parsley 
Salt
Black pepper
Your choice of spice 
Pine nuts (optional)

  •  Make the dough by mixing all the ingredients and knead well until you have a good dough. Set aside to rest. Note that you can use this dough right away since it doesn't have yeast.
  • Add oil to a frying pan. Add chopped onion and fry on medium heat till soft. 
  • Add the meat and cook till fully cooked. 
  • Season with spice, black pepper, and salt. Add the parsley and remove of the heat. Let cool down before using. 
  • Roll the dough on a lightly floured flat surface. Using a cookie cutter, cut out circles of about 8-10 cm diameter. 
  • Place a tablespoon of filling in the centre of each circle and fold the circle in half. Seal by pressing the edges together with a small fork. 
  • Heat the oil and deep fry the sambousek until golden. Serve hot.

Fattoush

0

11:18 AM | By: Susu

Category:


You will need (note that you can play with the amounts to your taste):
 
1/2 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces  
1 medium cucumber, cut in medium size pieces  
2 large tomatoes, cut in medium size pieces  
4 green onions, chopped  
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, chopped  
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, chopped  
5 oz package arugula  
black olives  
1 pita bread, torn into square pieces  
2 teaspoons sumac powder  
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice  
1/4 cup olive oil  
salt  
  • Toast the bread in a preheated oven (400 degrees). Or fry them until they are crispy browned.
  • In a small bowl make the dressing by mixing olive oil, lemon juice, sumac powder, and salt. Set a side.
  • In a big bowl mix all the other ingredients.
  • Add the dressing to the salad and mix 
  • Top with toasted bread and serve

Chocolate buscuit cake (Lazy cake)

0

Posted on Sunday, August 7, 2011 12:31 PM | By: Susu

Category:


I made this cake the other day and it was yummy! I craved my mom's lazy cake and unfortunately I don't know exactly the ingredients of hers, so I made this up and it was so close. I hope you like it!

You will need:

1 1/2 packet biscuit
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz  semi-sweet chocolate
4 oz  dark chocolate

  • In a bowl, break the biscuits into medium size pieces
  • Warm condensed milk in the microwave a little (1 minute), and then add it to the biscuits and mix it
  • Melt the semi sweet chocolate and add it to the biscuits and mix it well
  •  Line a deep rectangular pan with a plastic wrap (you can pick the shape you want). I sprayed the pan with oil before lining it so the plastic wrap stick to it
  • Pour the mix in the pan and press it well to take the shape of the pan
  • Wrap it and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes
  • Flip the cake and then melt the dark chocolate and garnish the cake with it
  • Put the cake in the fridge for 2 hours
  • Cut the cake and serve it

harrisah (هريسة)

0

Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 6:39 PM | By: Susu

Category:




Ingredients:

3 cups cream of wheat
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the syrup:
3 cups sugar
1.5 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  • Mix all ingredients in a deep bowl with your hands. The mix will be a little dry but don't worry because it will be good after adding the syrup.
  • Grease a 9 by 12 pan with tahini sauce. Spread the mix in it and cut in diamond shapes. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until gold. 
  • Prepare syrup meanwhile by mixing sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat until boil then add butter and lemon juice and remove from heat. 
  • Add warm syrup to hariseh as soon as you get it out of oven. Put aside to cool down and then cut and serve.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)