Adventures in the Kitchen, Passion for Food, and Searching for Magic!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Konafa & Nutella Do Mix!

We call it "The Disk" :D

Here you go...

Ingredients:
Konafa
Butter
Nutella (white and choco)
Chocolate sauce.
Sugar syrup.

Steps:

1-Melt better and start frying the konafa till golden and crisp.
2-Add some of the sugar syrup (just a little bit) to the fried konafa.
3-Get your serving pan, and make a thin layer of konafa.
4-Top it with a good layer of your nutella. Cover the pan well.

5-Then another layer of Konafa.
6-Add chocolate sauce round the corners and sides.

7-Refrigerate for a while..
8-When out of the fridge, and your slicing your piece, you'll find how the layers got stuck together, forming a very tasty "disk" that is a definite favourite for chocolate-lovers!

et bon appetit.

Notes:

1- "Nussa" is another highly recommended brand that can substitue the nutella and you won't feel guilty.
2-You can use all chocolate nutella rather than the white & choco one!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Potato-Skin Boats..



Stuffing potato skins and baking them in the oven...How about that?


Ingredients:

Potatoes
Sausages
Bell Pepper
Tomatoes
Thyme
Tbsp. of Pomegranate sauce دبس رمان
Mushroom
Salt & pepper
Butter
Olive Oil.
Mozzarella cheese
chili

How to cook?

-Wash the potatoes well, put them as they are in a foil bag, and pop in the oven to bake for round 45 min, till tender.
-Boil the sausages in the meantime.
-Finely chop the vegetables, and dice the tomatoes.
-Cut the sausages into small pieces, mix with all vegetable ingredients.
-Now add to: thyme, salt & pepper, chili, and pomegranate sauce.
-When the potatoes are done, let them rest and cool.
-Then cut them into halves, get the pulp out of them, leaving a very thin layer attached to the skin.
-Now brush the skin with oil, and start layering them in the pan that will bake in the oven.
-Add a small piece of butter in each skin-boat, then add the stuffing.
-Top the boats with mozzarella cheese.

-Pop in the oven, for couple of minutes.
-Then broil, to give it more crispiness.

Et Bon Appetit..a nice appetizer..that you can serve with yogurt salad, or sour cream.

Side note:

-Try using minced meat instead of sausages..or use vegetables only..to make a variety out of this recipe.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

English Dish..Orientalised!

This dish is some famous English meal called Bubble and Squeak with Sausages, the recipe goes to the beloved Jamie Oliver <3 However, here goes the recipe with some changes and minor twists.

Ingredients:
-Potato
-Sweet Peas
-Carrots
-Green beans
-Scallions
-Sliced Onions
-Sausages سجق شرقي
-Salt & Pepper
- مكعب ماجي
-Nutmeg for grating (جوز الطيب مبشور)
-Dried Rosemary
-Thyme
-1 Tbsp of flour
-1 cup of broth (chicken or meat or even vegetables whatever available)
-1/4 balsamic vinegar.
-Olive oil
-Butter.
-Bay leaves.
-حبهان

The recipe is done in 3 major steps:

First: The Vegetables:

1-Chop the carrots and potatoes into good big chunks. I added to it sweet peas, green beans, and scallions.
2- You will boil the vegetables for round 20 minutes or till cooked. Yet since we'll make somewhat of a pancake out of them, you gotta have more potatoes than the other vegetables. i.e. the potatoes gotta be more than 50% of your vegetables' components. This assures the consistency and that they would bind together when mashed.
3- Now just worry about boiling these, with adding some salt and pepper, and the maggie for additional flavor and capers.
4-When done, just let them rest out of their broth.
5-Get a big pan, sizzle with some oil, and heat up. Then add your boiled vegetables.
6- Start mashing the vegetables forming somehow of a thick pancake, add thyme to it, and more salt and pepper.

7-Mix the mashed vegetables well, and flatten them with a spoon, and leave them till they get crisp and brownish.
8- After a while, check your vegetables' pancake, and start dividing them to smaller parts and start turning them to the other side, using a spatula, to make sure it's all golden crisp from both sides.



Second: The Sausages
-Get the sausages, un-mingle them, and start to flatten it to fill in the small gaps and make out of it one big sausage.

-Season the huge sausage sprinkling rosemary and nutmeg, and a bit of oil.
-Now the fun part, make a wheel out of it :D Just make the sausage start go into a snail shape, and get three big skewers that were previously soaked in water, and make the skewers hold the wheel well.

-In a big oven pan, add some olive oil, then add the chopped onions, sprinkle some salt on them., then add your tablespoon of butter on them.

-Now carefully place the sausage wheel on top of the bed of onions, and pinch some bay leaves in the wheel.
-Cover the oven pan with aluminium foil, and push it in the preheated oven for round 30-40 minutes.
-After round 30 min, uncover the oven pan, so that some of the sausages' juice would evapourate and finish cooking.
-When crisp (after almost 40 min.) get the sausages out of the oven pan, remove the bay leaves, leaving the bed of golden onions behind for making gravy now.

(Yeah I know..it looks so Yumm already!!)

Third Step: GRAVY.
-Take the onions in the very same pan onto the stove, add to it the flour, and the chicken broth (you can cheat and use the vegetables' broth) and balsamic vinegar and stir well.
-In few minutes, the gravy will thicken and giving good consistency. Now everything is ready.

Finally: Serving:
-Get a layer of the vegetables pancake.
-Remove the skewers from the sausage's wheel, and Cut the sausages into wedges, and place them on top of the vegetables layer.
-Then take a spoonful of gravy and onions, and splash it on top of the sausages and vegetables.


Et Bon Appetit.

*Side Notes:
-The original recipe has 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar, however I found that quite strong, so I reduced it for my own desire. Feel free to add up to 1/2 cup if you wish to.
-Add the vegetables you like in the the boiling pot, as long as you remember that potatoes have to be more than half of the whole components. Go nuts and add zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, baby onions.
-Why we soak skewers in water? So that they won't burn :)
-Why we add butter? For more flavour, especially to the onions that will cook in the sausage's juice as well. It makes it more delicious. (If you are on very strict diet, then dispense with the step of butter).

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sweet, Sweet Crepe.


Sweet Crepe stuffed with bananas and strawberries..Delicious!! Here we go.

Ingredients for Crepe:

1 cup of flour.
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of water.
2 eggs.
2 teaspoon of sugar.
2 tbsp of melted butter.
1/2 teaspoon of grounded cinnamon.
1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Oil

(serves 7-8 crepes)

Filling:
-Whipped Cream.
-Finely sliced strawberries.
-Finely sliced bananas.
-Chocolate sauce.

How to make the crepe:

1- In a big bowl, add the flour and the two eggs, then mix.
2-Mix the water and milk and start gradually pour them to the bowl of flour and eggs, while mixing well.
3-Then add the melted butter, salt, sugar, and cinnamon, then beat all well till the mixture is smooth. (The mixture is liquid-like, but has a bit of thickness.)
4-In a frying pan, add a drop of oil; heat it up.
5- Using a ladle, take a full scoop of the mixture (round 1/4 of a measuring cup) and pour it into the frying pan, and move the pan in circular motion to evenly spread the batter.
6-Fry till a bit goldish-brownish, and then turn to the other side using a spatula.


7-Leave till it cool down, then start stuffing it with the fruits and pipe whipped cream and roll it over, then add chocolate sauce on top, and sprinkle some powder sugar.


OR
Make a crepe sandwich: in one half fully spread the whipped cream and the fruits, and fold the other half on top. And garnish it with chocolate and sugar as desired.



This is how they should look like:


Extra Tip:
* Do a trick, and add some cocoa to the crepe batter, and fry it. Et Voila, a chocolate crepe, stuffed with strawberries and some whipped cream
Et Bon Appetit.



Side Notes:

-The cinnamon just adds a very nice taste to the crepe (and smell too), however if you're not a fan of cinnamon, you can add a small pinch or just dispense with that step.

-Crepe should be thin, but not dry.




Monday, January 28, 2013

Tuna Samosa


Jazzing up traditional Samosa, so here it is stuffed with Tuna. Yumm!


Ingredients:
Fillo Dough (Samosa sheets)
Light Tuna
Onions
Tomatoes.
Rosemary
Thyme
Salt and Pepper
Mozzarella Cheese
Dried Mint.

Steps:

-Finely chop the tomato and onion.
-Drain the Tuna from its water. Add to it the chopped vegetables, and mix.
-Add the spices: a good pinch of thyme, rosemary, and lots of dried mint. Finish it with salt as much as you like, and a small pinch of black pepper. Mix all ingredients well, and smooth the tuna using a fork.
-Start stuffing the fillo dough with a good tbsp of the mix, and top it with mozzarella cheese.
-Then deep fry them. Et Bon Appetit. :)




Notes:

-If you're dieting, you can dispense with the frying step, and just get a pan, brush it with oil, and pop the samosa into the oven. It won't be puffy as when fried, but tastes really good as well.





Friday, January 18, 2013

Choux Patsry 2: Tuna Bites

This is part two of the same interesting night.(Yeah, I was going crazy and did plenty of stuff that night). I also used choux pastry balls, but for a different purpose this time.

I stuffed them with Tuna.

Here is a homemade salizon, you can use for your events, birthdays, or for just the fun of it.

Ingredients:
Pre-made choux pastry balls.
Light Tuna.
Tbsp. of Mayonnaise.
Salt and pepper.
Finely diced tomato.
Thyme.
Dried mint.
Chili.

Steps:
I mixed all of these together, and cut the choux pastry balls open to stuff them with the tuna mix.

And here you go the final result, it was so YUMM.




Choux Patsry 1: Profiterole!

When you're down, you resort to the kitchen to get all it out.
This night witnessed some playing with the choux pastry, I'll post them in two parts.
I was bored, and I wanted to have some quick fun in the kitchen with basic ingredients. And this delicious crime was all worth it.

The first adventure is the classic Profiterole..with some twists.

Ingredients:

- Pre-made Choux Pastry balls.
-Whipped cream
-Chocolae sauce.
-Chocolate mousse. 
-Strawberries.

The Steps:

1-Cut the choux pastry balls open. Pipe whipped cream into them. I also stuffed some of them with  chocolate mousse!! And some were with whipped cream and thin strawberry slices hidden in there ;). 
2-Get a large bowl. Add some chocolate sauce to its bottom, and pipe some to the inside walls. Add a tbsp. of whipped cream, and wipe it with the chocolate sauce to have a thin coat. I added some strawberries as below for the base.

3- Add your whipped cream-stuffed choux balls, and cover the balls with chocolate sauce.


4-Add more stuffed choux balls on top of the previous layer. Fill in the gaps with some chocolate mousse.
5- Cover the balls with chocolate, and garnish the bowl with more strawberry slices.
6-Finish the topping with some whipped cream decorations and strawberries.

I also made small bowls of profiterole to just eat while watching a good movie.

..et Bon Appetit!

Side Notes:

-Instead of chocolate sauce, you can melt some chocolate.
-If chocolate mousse is unavailable, you can add some cocoa to the whipped cream to have chocolate cream.
-Try sprinkling crushed unsalted pistachios on top.
-All fresh choux pastry balls, chocolate mousse powder, and whipped cream are available at (Darb El Barabra) branches and are time-saving.


Monday, January 14, 2013

Home-made Burger

Ingredients: *Minced meat - half a kilo
*1 tsp (salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika)
*1 tbsp (ketchub, mustard, soy sauce)
* 1 egg
* 1 onion
* 1 chili pepper - very important for the taste & won't be very hot when cooked
* 2-3 tbsp breadcrumbs
Steps: *mix all ingredients -except for meat & breadcrumbs- in the mixer or food processor till they are like puree
*add mixture to meat, mix well, then add breadcrumbs till meat is firm, yet soft (2 spoons are usually enough)
* form meat into balls then press to have burger slices
*you can freeze them at this point for use later or cook them right away
*to freeze them, i place them on a tray covered in plastic wrap, then freeze for a couple of hours, then put in a regular bag
*to cook the burgers, i brush my grill with olive oil, cook the burgers on medium heat, turning them only once
And the result is really amazing! Way much better than the frozen ones, and it's healthy & fresh :-)

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Wraps!


Quick Dinner? Or Just the need to prepare something cool and fast?...Wraps are a delicious answer.

*The Burger Wrap:

Ingredients:
-Burgers. (I recommend "Atyab" or "Almara3i")
-Mozzarella Cheese.
-Onions.
-Bell and Red Peppers.
-Diced Tomato.
-Mayonnaise.
-Ketchup.
-Tortilla (Sold in supermarkets and "Darb Elbarabra").
-Salt and pepper.
-Olive Oil.

Steps:
-Cut your onions and bell peppers julienne, and mix them with few drops of olive oil, and some salt and pepper.
-On a grille or in a pan, heat few drops of olive oil, and then put your burgers to cook for few minutes, and aside put the onions and bell peppers as well.
-Do not burn your onions, just wait few moments till they wither and change colour, and get them out of the pan. Also the bell peppers do not have to be fully cooked, just a bit grilled, to maintain some of their crunchiness.
-Now having everything cooked, get your tortilla ready, spread onto it mayonnaise on the side, then some ketchup.
-Add the diced tomatoes, then put some of the grilled vegetables.

-Cut your burgers into big slices, and add them on top of your stuffing.
-Finish the stuffing with some mozzarella cheese on top, and roll your tortilla now.

-Get a panini grill/regular grill/toaster, and put your rolled wrap now, and let it change colour for few minutes.

Et Bon Appetit.



More Wraps?

*Sausage Wrap:
-Same steps as the Burger wrap. Grill your sausages, add some grilled onions and bell peppers as well. Cut the sausages, and start layering the tortilla. Add barbecue sauce to the tortilla instead of ketchup.

*Spicy Crispy Chicken Wrap:
-Do you have crispy chicken? Fry them, cut them into chunks, get fresh lettuce, and fresh tomatoes, and smoked turkey..and add mozzarella cheese and roll your wraps. Add chili. It is just like KFC wraps!!

*Grilled Chicken Wrap:
-You have leftovers of chicken? Perfect. Cut them into slices. Get some chopped onions, bell peppers, and olives. Start to cook the vegetables for few minutes, adding  salt and pepper and few drops of soy sauce. Spread sour cream onto your tortilla, then add the chicken and the cooked vegetables. Roll and into your panini grill.


Side Notes:
-Be Creative: Try adding olives, pickled cucumbers,  coloured peppers, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese to any of your wraps upon your desire!