Some Cookery Inspiration

Salamwalikoum,
Long time no blog for me.... My work schedule got all flipped around again and finding time for blogging seems to be getting harder... And the fact that Ramadan seems to be kicking my bum this year isn't helping... fasting in this heat has been tough. But I have to say I am proud of myself for sticking it out.
Anyhoo I thought I would give a sign of life today and share a website that I regularly peruse for my own amusement.It's called Project Gutenberg. Now I know many people probably already know about this site, it's been around for a while, but for those not in the know here is the scoop. This site is a repository of copyright free books from allover the world in several languages.

It's a huge mix of every kind of book out there, but my favorite section that I find the most amusing (weirdo that I am) is the cookery section. This part of the website contains cook books that even date back to the Roman empire. Some of the books that I find the most useful are the ones that were printed around the 1st World War. These books contain tons of recipes that will fill you up on the cheap and keep you going.

So there is my contribution to blogland for the day. Hope you guys find the website as entertaining as I do. Have fun.

Meal plans... June Week 2

Salamwalikoum,
So I am finally posting a meal plan on the right day! Woohoo for getting up at the crack of dawn to get ahead on my housewifey stuff!!

So here is what my DH will be enjoying this week:

Monday
Salade nicoise (Moroccan style)
It's a big salad that is really a meal in itself...

Tuesday
Celery and lamb tajine(no worries I will be sharing this recipe IA)
salad

Wednesday
Spaghetti with shrimp and tomato sauce
Salad

Thursday
Cauliflower au gratin
French fries
salad

Friday
As usual Couscous or some other fancy-ish dish for Jumaa.

Saturday
Gulaba ( a recipe a work colleague from Yemen gave me, it's a 1st time try for me)
It's supposed to be something like chili...
and... you guessed it! Salad

Sunday as usual too busy to make large meals so I have leftovers or sandwiches made using leftovers.


Now bear in mind that I list salad a lot. But I don't always make the same plain old salad, I usually try to make different salads with a base of greens like spinach or lettuce or even coleslaw.


So there you have it, my meal plan for the week.

I will be sharing some of the recipes this week my schedule willing....

Enjoy!

Till next time

Some recipes... Eggs Royale

Salamwalikoum,
I thought today I would share one of the recipes from last week's meal plan. The recipe I'm sharing today is called Eggs Royale. I found this recipe in an old french cook book. I inherited this book from an older lady that my mom was friends with.
This lady was originally from France but immigrated to the US as a war bride after WW2. She was a very funny lady and unfortunately didn't have any family here so my mom was about as close to family as she had.

Anyhoo the book is from 1927 and is in poor shape... but I actually found a listing for it on amazon.You can view the listing here. My copy has the exact same cover. The book has all sorts of recipes and even has a calendar at the end that gives you whats meats and produce is in season and when so you know what to shop for when stuff is least expensive.

Now given the age of this book and that its a everyday cookery book, it doesn't have any measurements at all and the instructions are minimal. I think it was written with the idea that most women using the book would have decent knowledge and cooking skills (Which nowadays isn't necessarily the case)

Ok so enough with the blabbering and on with the recipe.

Now the recipe is similar to eggs Benedict but easier on the supplies and the techniques.

Ingredients:

a few slices of stale bread - crusty french bread is awesome for this.
a few eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
salt + pepper
gruyère or Parmesan cheese
bacon or ham (optional) - I don't use this for religious reasons, but I do sometimes substitute for halal chicken bacon...

Directions:
Butter the bread slices on both sides and fry in a pan until golden an crispy. Set aside in a casserole dish
Poach the eggs and drain well then place 1 egg on each piece of bread.(on top of the cooked bacon if you are using it)
In a small saucepan melt the butter.
Once the butter is melted add the flour and make a paste.
Add the milk all at once and stir until the sauce is thick (not too thick)
Don't forget the salt and pepper.

Now on top of each egg add 1-2 tablespoonfuls of sauce. Top with the grated cheese and pop in the oven under broil until the cheese is golden.

This is pretty good anytime.
I serve this usually with some steamed asparagus or a nice salad.

It's pretty quick and super yummy.

Enjoy!

Till next time.

Meal plan...resumed

Salamwalikoum,

I have to admit that lately I've been neglecting blogland quite a bit... My work schedule just keeps changing on me. But now my hubby went and bought a new laptop for me to use...Isn't he just the sweetest man ever? So now with my new toy I plan on wallowing in blog land a whole bunch in the weeks to come! I've got plenty of recipe ideas I want to share and some other fun stuff that I've found on the web.

First thing I'm sharing today is my meal plan from last week... I know, I know ... but better late than never!

So here goes:
Monday:
Chicken with carrots and olives
Salad

Tuesday:
Eggs royale
home fries
steamed asparagus with hollandaise sauce


Wednesday:
Lemon-basil spaghetti with vegetables
salmon cakes(like crab cakes only with salmon instead)
Caesar salad

Thursday
Kefta(a.k.a. ground beef) tajine
coleslaw

Friday
Seffa(steamed vermicelli) with chicken

Saturday
Nachos for lunch
African Peanut butter stew on white rice for supper

Sunday is leftovers and cookies day.

So there you have it, that's what we ate last week. And trust me it may look elaborate but most dishes are prepared on my 15 minute breaks from work. So they are do-able even for super busy people.

Moroccan recipes... Chicken rfissa or trid

Salamwalikoum,
It's been a really shamefully long time since I last posted anything a recipe and I thought it was about time I did another morroccan specialty. The recipe today is called Rfissa or as my husband calls it Trid. Trid  actually refers to the flat bread used as the base for rfissa.
This recipe is a bit time consuming so I honestly don't do it all that often. But last week I felt like making something a bit different for Jumaa since I'm always making the same couscous week after week.

So anyway here goes. Now for the flat bread portion ideally it should be rziza as found here on Sousou kitchen's blog... but even after 4 yrs I have yet to be able to make it anywhere near what she has made. So I keep it simple I press it flat into little sheets using a rolling pin or hands - the dough should be almost transparent- then cooked and rolled and sniped with kitchen shears. That's about as close as I will get it.(sigh).

Now for the ingredients:
Rziza or trid
basic bread dough (use very little yeast)
A LOT of vegetable oil(less if using a rolling pin)

Sauce
Chicken
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1-2 onions chopped
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp turmeric or a few sprigs of saffron
1-2 sprigs of cilantro snipped
1 c or more green lentils
Plenty of water.


For the sauce put a drop of oil in a stock pot and fry the onions for a minute or two, then add the chicken and spices  and cook for another minute. At last add the lentils and enough water to almost fill the pot. Turn the heat on medium and let cook while you prepare the rziza.

chicken in the pot looking as apetizing as usual...Usually yummier than it looks

For the rziza prepare bread dough like usual, don't let it rise after kneading.
Seperate into small balls. Grease your hands and your work surface and I mean really grease them, like oil dripping and everything... the more oil the bigger you can spread out the dough without ripping it.
Sorry about this but  I forgot to take pictures of the 1st steps... so I skipped straight to the cooking... I have yet to learn my lesson and do my recipe blogging on a day that's not quite so crazy.

it almost looks like a tortilla...

Once all the dough is cooked it looks something like this stack of goodies:

Now here comes the fun part, just take each flat bread and roll it up and snip it into strips that are about 1/2 inch wide.it should look something like this.

If you make them ahead you can just steam them before serving so they are nice and tender. This time around I just finished them in time to plop the sauce on top and ship it off to the boys as the center next door...

One more pic before the sauce goes on...

This is a decently large amount to make, it served about 6-7 grown men with very litle leftovers....

Now before serving I took the chicken out of the sauce and placed it on a cookie sheet under broil to get the skin crispy and golden.

It's all about presentation people!

So here is the lonely poulet

And now for the sauce

again tastes better than it looks...

Put it all together and what do you get?

Another 5 lbs added to my glutious maximus.... This stuff is soooooooo good.

So there you have it. Another yummy moroccan dish that is easy to make but as I said time consuming...

until next time

Batbouts recipe

Salamwalikoum,
So today I'm going to share a recipe that my hubby raved about for so long that I finally had him ask his mom how she makes it.
It's super simple. If you can make bread then you can make Batbouts.
I did change the filling but the basics are the same. Batbouts are basically little breads that are cooked stove top instead of in the oven and you can leave them plain or put a stuffing of your choice in them. They also freeze really well, so I sometimes make a huge batch so I have something for my DH lunch.

Pretty much anything you can put into a sandwich you can put into Batbouts. I do avoid mayonaise though because I'm afraid it will not keep well through the whole process, but mustard and other condiments should be fine.

Ok so now for the recipe.

Ingredients:
Bread:
1 cup warm water
1cup milk
4 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 packet quick rise or bread machine yeast
1 tbsp butter
Put Ingredients in the order listed into the bread machine and let run through the dough cycle.

If you don't have a bread machine which I know most people don't the directions are a bit longer.

Heat the milk and butter till butter is melted.
In a bowl put all the dry ingredients at once and make a well in the center.
Add the water and the warm milk mixture and stir until the dough is well mixed and sticky.
Then knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
 You may need to add a bit more flour as this recipe makes a sticky dough that is super light once cooked.
Let rise until almost doubled in size.

Filling:
diced chicken
olives
diced tomatoes
parsley
cheese

To make the Batbouts roll the bread dough on a lightly floured surface.

Place the filling on the dough and put another layer of rolled out bread dough on top and seal the edges.

Place the batbouts on a floured cloth and let rise for about 2 hours

To cook, flip the batbouts into a warm frying pan sprinkled with a bit of corn meal and turn over frequently so as not to burn them.
A low heat is best as it will heat the filling without burning the outside crust.

Raw meat would not work well unless the batbouts are cooked in the oven and get sufficiently hot to throughouly cook the meat.

So there you have it Batbouts.

Waste not, want not

Salamwalikoum,

After having thrown away a piece of moldy bread yesterday I was reminded of something my husband has been repeating to me since we met about not wasting food.

As most people know it's not good to throw away food that might have been saved somehow. Please bear in mind I am reminding myself before anyone else.

As a muslim there is a verse in the Qu'ran that tells us not to be wasteful (chapter 6: verse141)

Chapter (6) sūrat l-anʿām (The Cattle)

So for those of you like me with still very limited arabic, here is the english translation(or one of the them)

Ahmed Raza Khan: Mohammed Aqib Qadri:

"It is He Who produces gardens spread on the ground and above, and the date-palm, and crops of various flavours, and the olive and the pomegranate, similar in some respects and unlike in others; eat from its fruit when it bears yield, and pay the due (obligatory charity) from it on the day it is harvested; and do not be wasteful; indeed the wasteful are not liked by Allah."

Ok so with this in mind I decided today I would give some ideas and recipes that I learned from my mom and elsewhere to use up old bread instead of letting it get fuzzy and tossing it in the trash.

Use #1: French toast - Super easy, yummy and pretty fast breakfast.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup milk

cinnamon(optional)

slices stale bread (the dryer the better)

Directions:

-In a bowl beat together the eggs, milk, and cinnamon.

-Quickly dip sliced bread in egg wash and make sure both sides are covered in egg. drop into a frying pan with just a little oil or butter.

-Cook both sides until golden.

 Use #2 : Dry bread crumbs- break bread into bits and toast on a cookie sheet in the oven (low heat) until dry. Crush with a rolling pin or pass in a food processor until they are as fine as you want them.

I make my own shake and bake mix using the bread crumbs, I just add whatever dried herbs and spices i like with it. It can also be used to top au gratin dishes.

Use #3: Stuffing- I sometimes collect stale bread in a bag in my freezer. When holidays come around I have something to make stuffing with.

Ingredients:
1 onion chopped

2-3 stalks celery chopped

herbs and spices (depends on my mood)

Water or broth

Bread cubes

Directions: Mix everything in a bowl and make sure the bread chunks are wet but not too soggy or mushed up otherwise the stuffing will be too dense.

Bake in a casserole dish or stuff a bird or your choice.

* If you are stuffing a bird, please make sure the stuffing inside is the same temperature as the meat to make sure no one gets sick, minimum temp of 165 F*

Use # 4: Bread pudding

Ingredients:
Bread cubes

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 nuts, dried fruits or your choice

 Milk to wet the mix, but not too soggy

Directions: Mix everything in a bowl and put into a loaf or casserole dish, put a few bits of butter on top and bake for about 1hr on 300F or until a nic crust forms on top.

So there we have it, four ways of using up stale bread so as not to waste it.

Any other good ideas out there? Please share in the comments.

Until next time!

Bread, Bread, and more Bread!

Hello again,

So I've had a pretty crazy weekend... but amid all the craziness I bought a new cook book. YIPPI!
And of course it's a book I've been lusting after for about a year now. It's all about bread and all the yummy things that you can make with variations of bread.

The most ironic part of my purchase is that I've been on a minimum carb diet for like the past year. Also, my DH had a funny reaction to the book. His 1st instinct of course was to grippe about the cost (18.71$), but he stopped mid sentence the moment he saw  recipes for brioche and croissants and just said: "Nevermind, I didn't say a thing" lol

As my mother always said, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach (and in this case the way to his pocket book too).

Ok so now about the actual book.

Its called Pain by Judith Fertig, pain being the french word for bread.  What I like about the book is that it is organized in order of difficulty. The basic recipes are at the beginning with different baking techniques. I have the intention inshallah to bake the recipes in order so I can master some of the techniques that are explained in the book.  


This is the book, not currently available through Amazon, but I bought it at my local grocery store.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of the recipes as I work my way through the book.

My 1st trial will be basic french baguette.
So wish me luck!