Iftar that Was

here are some proof that i did cook the menu planned for Iftar...
chicken pie. on the side is the additional filling.
beef and beans

this tortillas and co. (salad) greets you a happy Iftar...

mac and cheese



a favorite of my boys...beefy and cheesy

this is the potato log....inside is the filling of tomatoe sauce, veggies and cheese.

it's been a happy Ramadan.

except that i stopped cooking and menu planning mid way through. :)

Crispiest, Chewiest Cookie

The cookies from my oven usually come out either soft or as hard as a rock. Finally, i have done quite a great job lovingly laboring on the ingredients and in twenty minutes the cookies are born. My heart has already been taken the moment they are whisked in the bowl and molded in the oven. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups roughly grounded peanuts
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix the first six (dry) ingredients together. Set aside. In another bowl, beat eggs, add milk and almond extract. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon of mixture into a lined cookie sheet, press a little. Bake in 300 degrees for about 10 minutes (or check if bottom of cookie has browned.) Enjoy!

Options:
You may replace first three ingredients with granola.
Use vanilla instead of almond extract.
Keep the dough overnight in the fridge and bake it the day after.

A Breakfast Favorite

We just had a "happy breakfast" today. It means, my boys get to have one of their favorite breakfast meal. I usually serve this once or twice a week (in varied forms.)

Sort of Like Hash Browns

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, cooked
3 Tbsps. cream cheese
1 large egg
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
5 tbsps. bread crumbs
olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1/8 cup milk
vegetable oil
salt and pepper


Procedure:
Mash potatoes and blend in cream cheese. Beat in egg, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a pan, fry garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Add into the potato mixture. Add bread crumbs. Mix well. Fry until golden brown. Drain oil in paper towel.

This may be served with mayonnaise, catsup or any dressing of choice.

Almond Plum Tart

These are nutty plum tarts. They came out pretty fine. They are made of Almond, plums and a sweet dough. I am not (yet) writing the recipe for this because they taste so-so to me...not really that yummy, just good.

Just Another Cheesecake Variation

This one speaks of something that could send your taste buds bursting though this is actually made out of the extras (cream cheese mixture and graham crust) of my Strawberry Cream Cheesecake because the dish i used was a little smaller than usual. I just sprinkled it with choco and colored mint sprinkles and edible glitters then topped with gelatin for a glassy look. I also added more gelatin and milk to the cream cheese so it looks more like a Maja Blanca than a Cheesecake. Nevertheless it still tastes (a little) like cheesecake. This is a fun dessert for kids. All of my husband's little nephews loved this.

Does this speak a thousand words?

I doubt if this one does but this Strawberry Cream Cheesecake was loved by everyone during the party in Pasotti. I accidentally created a marble effect on one area because i hadn't waited a little longer for the cream cheese mixture to solidify enough. In cases like this, minor damage caused by impatience can be remedied with a dash of creativity...and calling the result "marble effect" may disguise an error. "Murag abstract." Besides it doesn't really change it's taste. But this is only applicable in rare and selected cases. :)

Promises are Made to be Eaten

I have finally found the time and the confidence to write down the recipes of the yummies born in my kitchen. I want to start with the Cheesecake which i also recently improvised (again) last week in my Tito Dan's flat in Janzour. He and my husband liked it so much that Tito asked me to make one this friday for the party of his co-worker, Nong Johnny whose wife, Ate Delai also happen to make Ice Cream Cakes and sells them here to both locals and expats. Tito said the guests will surely like it and i could start a business like Ate Delai's here. I doubt it because this Cheesecake is no-bake, so easy to make and i am pretty sure anybody could whip this up in 10 minutes. And boy, these babes didn't just taste divine, they looked fabulous too chilling in the fridge. Too bad i wasn't able to take photos of them. I hope this coming friday i will be able to. Ahhh, enough of promises-to-self. Here it is:

Ingredients:
250 grams cream cheese (Philadelphia or Magnolia)
250ml all purpose cream
3 tbsps. honey
2 envelopes (2 tbsps.) gelatin (Knox)
3/4 cups sugar
2 cups boiling water

Crust:
1 cup crushed graham crackers
10 tbsps. melted butter
3 tbsps. brown sugar

Strawberry Cream Topping:
200ml strawberry flavored cream
1 tbsp. strawberry flavored gelatin (Foster Clark's)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water
tiny marshmallows
choco sprinkles
edible gold dust/pastry glitters

Topping II - Choco Almond Glitz
1 cube (1 0z) semi sweet chocolate
2 tbsps. butter
1 box almond flavored gulaman (Alsa)
3/4 cup black coffee (1 tbsp. coffee)
1/4 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup water
sweetened white chocolate sprinkles/shavings
pastry glitters


Procedure:
CRUST:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spread evenly onto the bottom of a pie pan. Chill.

CHEESECAKE:
Beat cream cheese until fluffly. Blend in all purpose cream and honey. Mix well. Set aside.
Mix gelatin and sugar in another bowl. Add boiling water. Mix well until gelatin completely dissolves. Stir for about 2 minutes. Gradually add into the cream cheese mixture. Mix well as gelatin mixture is slowly poured into the cream mixture. Pour into the prepared crust. Refrigirate until a bit firm.

STRAWBERRY TOPPING:
Mix gelatin and sugar in a bowl. Add boiling water, stirring constantly until gelatin dissolves.
In another bowl whip the strawberry cream and gradually add the gelatin mixture. Beat until well blended. Pour onto the slightly firm cheesecake and sprinkle with choco sprinkles, marshmallows and pastry gold dust. Return to the fridge. Chill for about 3 hours.

TOPPING II -CHOCO ALMOND GLITZ
Melt chocolate and butter in a double broiler. Stir in coffee. Set aside.
Boil water and milk. Add the chocolate-cofee mixture. Stir well. Pour the gulaman. Mix well.
Take out of the heat and continue to stir until warm. Pour into the slightly firm cheesecake. Sprinkle with white chocolate and pastry glitters.

Still Cooking

This is another list of more putting offs to do. The writing down of recipes of my latest kitchen feats seems to be a struggle for me. Perhaps it is an unconscious selfish act or feeling of mine to keep the recipes to myself. Or it could be my plain graciousness and generosity (can you hear horn blowing here???) to let others sit, relax and wait while i lovingly craft my delicacies for them to enjoy. I really don't know. Maybe i will write them down here later. Meanwhile, here are more "newborns" from my kitchen:

1. Mashed Potatoes with Cheese and Garlic, topped with Meat Sauce
2. Baked Mac and Cheese with Cream and Herb dressing
3. Chewy Nutty Glittery Cookie (Almond, Peanuts, Cashew, Pistachio)
4. Cheesy Mushroom Burger (my husband loved this!)

The following are still cooking inside my mind:
1. Coco cookie
2.Fun Fruity Fondue
3. Baked Potato with chicken sauce topping

Recent Feats

Here's a list of my newly developed recipes. Some are not so recent but i promised myself to write down the recipes. I am not writing them down now but this list will remind me to do it later.

1. No-bake cheesecake with strawberry cream topping
2. Tortilla with plain salsa and mayo-onion dressing
3. Plum and almond tart
4. Almond cookies
5. Oatmeal-Cornflakes-Marshmallow Pie crust (no name yet, though "Cornmallowoat Crust" seem nice sounding)

It is Eid today. End of Ramadan. That's probably the reason why my thoughts are on food today.

The Sound of Silence and Salad

Sweet Silence.
I dont know what time it is now. The boys had breakfast and bath, and now they are in bed, sleeping. I don’t know if this is already their afternoon nap or this is a new nap schedule. Tarek, having to stay up all night caring for Sam who’s having tummy trouble, is also asleep now. We had to stop giving Sami milk for a while and feed him with only water with rehydration salt and salted biscuits (that’s really some torture for Sam who likes to eat and drink milk.)

So this is bliss…sweet silence…and i am craving for my Veggie Salsa with Sesame Seeds which i have been planning to cook for Mama Zohra and Fthayim, my ever caring sister in law. This recipe is an improvised version of my mother’s Vegetable Fettuccine, or should i say, revised version (sans the Fettuccine!) My tito Dan also has his own version of this (actually it’s Chop Suey) which he once cooked here in our house. All my in-laws loved it, especially my Baba Khalifa.

Pinky’s Veggie Salad with Sesame Seeds

Ingredients:
Garlic, 1 clove, minced
Onions, 2 cups, sliced
Bell Pepper (red and green), 2 cups, sliced
Cauliflower
Broccolli
Carrots, 2 cups, diced (same size as the cauli and broccolli)
Potatoes, 2 cups, diced
Mushroom, buttons, 1 cup
Worsistershire Sauce
salt and pepper
Orange juice, 2 tbsps. Lemon, 2 tbsps., 7-up or Sprite-1/8 cup, blend all with a glass of water.
Sesame seeds

Steam cauliflower, broccolli, and carrots for 5 minutes. Steam potatoes until half cook. Set aside.
Saute garlic until golden brown. Add onions. Add half of the bell pepper when onions begin to caramelize. Add mushrooms and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the juice-lemon-softdrink-water mixture (and enjoy the sizzling sound!) Mix until potatoes are cooked well. Add the other half of the bell pepper and the remaining vegetables. Stir fry. Season with worcistershire sauce. Re-season with salt and pepper to taste. Plate in. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

(chicken or seafood can be added in the saute, but this purely veggie mix is more enjoyable for me.)

Solitude can be really so comforting.. It has seduced me into dreaming of a culinary delight. Hmmmm….

On Love and Onions

A very long time ago, I was told "Pinky, our love is like an onion..." and i couldn't figure out the rest of the words/explanation because all saw before my eyes was a "slow peeling of the onion bulb until there's nothing left." And tears blurred that vision, realizing that "Love like an Onion" speech is actually an introduction towards the end. A break up. Boy, was that so bland a taste for words? And the poor onion, my sweet spice of all times, was hostaged. So i believed the statement and let go.
This time, I want to redeem Onion.
As i slice the smooth, shiny, translucent bulb, happiness fill me. Every "guinisa" tastes glorious with tons of sliced or diced onions. People always wonder what i put on it. Don't we ever wonder how most people seem to be a lot happier, lighter, and more inspiring than some? No, it's not because of the guinisa with lots of onions. It is love. Sweet, and spicy.
When sauteing, I don't need to add "vetsin" or "guinisa mix." What do I need the artificial flavor for when i have loads of onions to make my food real happy?
Love never peels away. An onion, never does too, or else it becomes nothing, and leaves nothing but a smell that makes you cry. And though sometimes it brings you tears, but it always comes back on a platter that fills your life.
My marriage is so spiced up that i, together with my husband, could be tossed anywhere and any place would simply taste good. Onions in salads, onions in broth, onions in patties, onions over anything...Oh sweet love!
I bet there's more "Onion Stories" to discover and be inspired with.
Let us redeem Onion.

The Wonders of an Egg

My son, Sami loves boiled eggs. Haven't some of us, at some point in our childhood, favored boiled eggs more than anything? Just like the ad "Itlog" of Lactum, i could only sigh and boil eggs every morning. And peel off shells. And remember Joyjoy Mac everytime. She taught me, at Duka Bay, during a Holy Week retreat, how to peel off egg shells real fast: CRACK, SQUEEZE, PEEL. Usually we just crack, and peel, which makes it more difficult because of a white's pasty layer that sticks between the shell and the egg. It almost looks like a mosaic of cream, white, and cracks. But when you CRACK it first on any hard surface (tile, back of spoon, back of head, etc.) then SQUEEZE gently, enough to create larger cracks, you then can PEEL off the shell easily.
E.T. (Extra thought): People with "cracks" actually need a gentle squeeze. You ignore them and let them stay looking like ugly mosaics of humanity, you suffer the sight (and sound and "feel" ) of them. You squeeze or pound them hard, you suffer the mess (and smell and taste) of them. Give them a tender, loving, careful squeeze, and they will let you into to themselves, to peel them, and bring out a smooth, royal whiteness that has a great potential to flavor and garnish your life.

Sweet!

Sweet!
How i hate ants in the kitchen. Tarek told me not to touch them. As long as they're black and little, they are harmless (they just make my creamed coffee look so polka dotted!)
Tarek teased me of being so sweet that's why my kitchen ia a little bit infested with ants. They don't just love the sugar,he said, but they like to hang around wherever i leave my doughy scent. Oh i don't know about that. Ants like me because I am sweet?
I didn't really cared much about why or how ants could like me, until i saw a small swarm on the floor today....Ants. Having a feast.
All over a little, dead cockroach.

Don't Sweat The Pancakes

Finally, the kind of pancake that i always crave for and buy in pastry shops or even fast food chains can now "rise" in my very own pan. Thanks to Nigella Lawson of Food Network, there is no need for me to buy that batter-in-a-box just in case my morning mood calls for a fluffy pancake.

I remember picking up that box of ready-to-whip-and-cook pancake batter in the grocery store and secretly place it in my mother's cart when i was a child. When we get home, she would wonder how in the world did that box get into her grocery bag. Anyhow, i diligently followed the instructions in the box, but did not come up up with the ones that look like the picture in the box. Years pass, i learned to bake cakes and bread but i was still not able to make beautiful and tasty pancakes. All my attempts produce the kind that i saw being sold by vendors outside the gate of my grade school: flat and greasy, though mine was not that yellow! I stopped trying, but i continued buying the ready to cook ones (still always coming up with the same result, and it doesn't taste as good as the ones being served in restaurants.) Until one day, i saw how Nigella Lawson whip up that batter and made the pancakes, all fluffy (just like that picture in the box!) in 5 minutes. I thought the show was edited or something, but i tried it in my kitchen and it worked! Later on, i kept on improvising and came up with my very own fluffy, a bit crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, sinfully yummy and looks picture perfect too. :)

Pancake Batter:
1 cup flour
2 tbsps. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. yeast
1 large egg (2 if small)

1 1/4 cup milk

2 tbsps. vegetable or corn oil (not melted butter)

Sift and mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Beat in egg, followed by the milk. Mix well but don't over beat. Blend in the oil until batter is smooth. Leave in the ref overnight (this tip is from my husband, Tarek who once worked as a Catering Supervisor and got this idea from an Italian pastry chef.)

Grease frying pan and heat, medium low. Pour in about half a soup ladle of batter into the pan. Turn upside down when bubbles begin to appear and the sides are brown.

Top with butter and honey or marmalade while still hot. (You may use Karo syrup instead of honey or marmalade.)

My own twist: i put cinnamon or nutmeg in the batter, and use homemade strawberry marmalade for topping. And when i cook the pancakes, i hum any happy tune in mind.