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

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

Pantry staples... spice blend

Salamwalikoum,
It's been a while since I last posted something... Hope everyone is still alive and kicking. It's been crazy for me as usual. I thought I would start off with something way simple: my go to spice blend. I found this spice blend online on a site that shares "secret recipes". So this spice mix was listed as the KFC secret spices. I did omit one or two things to make is a bit more general and also so it appeals a bit more to my husband's taste.

I really like this blend, I've tried it on beef, chicken and lamb and it works great with all of them so far. I also use this to make home-made shake and bake(add bread crumbs) or use it to make a roux(add flour) for gravy. O.K.,so enough gushing about the recipe. Here goes!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Rosemary
1 tbsp Oregano
1 tbsp Sage
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Marjoram
1 1/2 tsp thyme
3 tbsp dried Parsley
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion salt or powder
2 tbsp or 4 cubes (crushed) either chicken or beef bouillon.

Directions:
Put all the spices in a blender and pulse a few seconds.

To cook a whole chicken you only need about 1 tsp of the spices.
When I make fried chicken I usually put 1 heaping tbsp of spice mix with 1 cup of flour and this is more than enough for a whole chicken.

I usually make up a double batch of this at a time. It keeps really well in a spice jar of plastic container.

So there you have it, Enjoy!

till next time!

Morroccan recipe... Chicken Pastilla

Salamwalikoum,

Wow! long time no blog....It's been a very long time since my last post. As they say, time flys when your running around like a crazy fool having fun  ... So anyhoo, in all the excitement of my dad's birthday party last weekend I forgot to post my next recipe. So today I will be showing you how to make chicken pastilla.

This recipe is a traditional morrocan dish that is made during special occasions like weddings. It's a bit more time consuming than most of the other wedding dishes but I personally think it is probably the yummiest I have tried so far.

Ok so let's get down to business.
Ingredients:
1 whole Chicken
2 onions chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1tsp salt
saffron
sprig fresh cilantro
toasted almonds
sugar (yes, you read that right)
phyllo dough
powder sugar
5-4 eggs

Directions:
In a large stock pot, boil the chicken with the spices and the onions until thoroughly cooked.

Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool.

Once the chicken is cooled, de-boned and shredded- set aside.

Now strain the solids from the sauce, like so:

Once the sauce is separated return the broth to the pot and boil until it's reduced enough to get thicker and richer.

With the onion add the eggs and cook like scrambled eggs.

Set aside the egg mixture and the reduced sauce.

The last thing left to prepare before assembling the pastilla is the almond mixture.

In a food processor combine the toasted almonds with a bit of cinnamon and powdered sugar. This is really to taste depending on each cooks' preference.

Chop coarsely.

Now that all these steps are done, here comes the easy part!

To assemble simply layer 

sheet of phyllo

almonds

phyllo

chicken and a bit of sauce

phyllo

eggs

phyllo

almonds

and finally more phyllo dough to make the surface smooth.

I made my pastillas into little packages, but they can also be layered like you would lasagna in a dish.

Just before baking in the oven brush the tops with a bit of egg yolk.

Bake in the oven at 350F until the pastry is golden and crispy.

Just before serving sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon and powdered sugar. And enjoy!

Now as I do with almost all of my recipes.... I forgot to take a picture of the final product... I guess I'm still getting into the habit of having to pause and take a picture every step of the way.

I will eventually wrap my head around the concept and get some pics for you guys. In the mean time, bon appetit!

Until next time

Rebecca