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.

Moroccan Recipes...Celeri and Meat tajine

Salamwalikoum,

Today I`m sharing a recipe that my husband really enjoys. I made it on Tuesday night for dinner.
It's pretty straight forward. So let's get to it shall we?

Ingredients:
meat
1 medium potato per person
1 celery stalk per person
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 onions
1-2 cloves garlic
dash of pepper
dash turmeric
1/4 pickled lemon
olives
fresh cilantro


Direction:
I forgot to do this... Cook the celery in a bit of water to soften before adding it to the tajine.

So in the tajine or slow cooker put the chopped onions in the bottom with a bit of oil.

In a bowl add all the spices and the put the potato slices with a bit of water and mix until the potatoes are coated with the spices.

Add the potatoes to the tajine. then put the meat in the bowl and coat with the spice mix.
Add the meat to the tajine.

Add some chopped up pickled lemons, the celery and the olives.
Add 1-2 cups of water.

Heat on low to medium heat until well cooked.

So there it is, celery tajine.

Enjoy!

Till next time

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

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

Meal Plan Monday 3

Salamwalikoum,

So here again for another installment of meal plan monday. Last week I unfortunately forgot to place the order for our halal chicken at the shop so I'm running low on meat. This week will be border line vegetarian until the box of chicken arrives next monday.
Luckily I always keep plenty of legumes on hand.

So here goes for this week:

Monday
We had friends over for dinner on sunday night.
The result way too many leftovers.... so today is
LEFTOVER DAY...lol

Tuesday
lentil soup a.k.a. Shorbat Adas
ingredients:
8 c. water
1 1/5 c. lentils
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
3/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
3 cubes chicken bouillon

Literally throw everything in a pot and cook on medium heat for about 30-45 minutes or until the lentils a tender and the broth is a bit thick.
Too yummy

Wednesday
Potatoe pancakes
This is a traditional acadian recipe.

3-4 meduim potatoes finely grated
1 egg
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbsp flour
salt pepper and any other spices you want.
oil for pan frying

Make sure to remove as much excess water from the grated potatoes as possible.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and laddle onto a hot skillet with a bit of oil for frying.
cook on both sides until golden and crispy.
Makes enough for 4 people.
This can also be a breakfast food.

Thursday
Spaghetti with meat sauce

Friday
Couscous
(this is still uncertain....)

Saturday
Pot pie
This will be using leftover turkey that is already cooked and sitting in my freezer...

Sunday
as usual is left blank because no matter what meal I plan on this day... it's never what I end up making...lol

So there is this weeks menu plan and inshallah I won't deviate too much from it....lol

Take care
happy eating!

Morrocan pantry staples... pickled lemons

Salamwalikoum,
So as most people have probably noticed by now, I'm crazy about cooking. It's my favorite pass time...
A passtime that my hubby is all too happy to indulge. lol

Now my husband being from morrocco, it is normal that he will miss homecooked foods from his homeland.
Happily when we got married i moved there for several months and was lucky enough to get a crash course in morrocan cooking from my mother and sisters in law.

Now for the most part the ingredients are widely available in north america, but sometimes you need that one thing that give it that special taste and substitutes just can't match.

And pickled lemons are just one of those things. I have tried replacing this ingredient with lemon juice, but it's just not quite right.

So here is my 1st post in a series on morrocan pantry staples.

Ingredients:
water
salt
4-5 lemons

Directions:
Cut the lemons in quarters, leaving a small portion at the bottom still attached.like this:

Pour 1-2 tsp of salt into the cut up lemon and place into a food grade storage jar.

Pour another tbsp of salt on top of the lemons and fill the container with water until the lemons are fully covered.

Now to seal you can either pour a bit of oil on top of the water or process in a water bath in a canning jar for 15 minutes.

Leave jar in a cool dark place to ferment. Usually takes about 2 weeks for them to be ready.

The pickling process removes the bitterness from the pith of the lemon. So the whole lemon can be cooked and will give the lemon taste without the biter.

I will eventually share recipes that use the lemons.

Good luck and take care.

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.

If you want sugar shock...eat Sugar Pie!

Salamwalikoum,

Wow already more than a week since my last post...

So I guess I'm on a baking kick for now...lol

My friend passed this major exam in her nursing studies and wanted to celebrate by ingesting an insane amount of calories, so she asked me to make a brown sugar pie.

And so I did.

Now a brown sugar pie is a traditional pie for french canadians and also common in northern France and Belgium. There are a whole bunch of variations, but all versions are very sweet. Trust me, I'm a total sugar bug and I'm not even able to eat more than a tiny piece at a time.

So here goes.

Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar

pinch salt

2 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup cream (heavy-35%)

1 egg

Pie crust

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour into the prepared, uncooked pie crust.

Bake in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes or until the top carmelizes and the crust is golden.

Now you can put a lattice top on the pie or even top it with nuts, it's a matter of taste. I usually leave it au naturel.

So thats all for now,

Happy sugar Buzz......

Homemade Juice Recipe

Salamwalikoum,

Hope all is well with you guys.I just wanted to share a recipe for fruit juice that I'm always making. My husband doesn't like the super sweet pre-made stuff and actual juice is often wayyy expensive. So being my trifty self, I found an old recipe for fruit drinks in an old cookbook off Project Guttenberg.

Essentially its a basic recipe that you can use with whatever fruit you have lying around in your fridge/freezer.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 litres water
fresh fruit

Directions:
Heat water and sugar in a sauce pan until sugar is dissolved.
Let water cool.
Add fruit to the water and pass in a blender until smooth.
You can pass the juice through a sieve if you want to remove seeds and pulp but this is totally optional.

This recipe needs very little fruit. Usually 4-5 strawberrys or a handful of any berries or 1 mango,etc its really basic and you can add more water if it's too sweet.

These are all the berries I used to make 2 1/2 litres of juice.
You can add 1 cup lemon juice instead of fruit and make lemonade.
I love this because it's basic you can even make Iced tea by adding 2 tea bags to the water while it's still hot.

I do this to use up whatever fresh fruit I have left in fridge that I may not be able to eat over the next couple of days.

My hubby likes this juice better than anything store bought.
Hope you guys all enjoy.

Take Care

Couscous Friday!

Salamwalikoum,

As promised I will be sharing my recipe for moroccan couscous today. This dish is traditionally prepared on Fridays at lunch for the men when they come back from Jumaa prayers at the mosque. So it's the big weekly meal.
Normally the couscous should be made in a 2 tiered pot made up of a stock pot base and a steamer top like this one:

But I was making a meal for about 10 grown men... so this pot is too too small and I don't have a larger one yet. So in the pics you will notice that I used a large pot and a veggie steamer and it does the trick, but the couscous won't taste quite as yummy as when its steamed over the veggies and meat.
Anyhoo it's still a very yummy meal regardless.

The following recipe is for 4-5 grown adults. Now the chicken can be switched out with any poultry or red meat you want, same goes for the veggies. It's just a matter of preference.
So here goes!

Ingredients:
Chicken
2-3 Carrots cut into lenghts of about 2 inches.
Cabbage cut into big chunks
1 Rutabaga cut into big sticks
2 onions
brussell sprouts
sun chokes
3 zucchinis cut into lenghts of about 2 inches.
and any other veggies that tickle your fancy (for this couscous tomatoes and egg plant don't fare very well)
1/2 large can of chick peas (optional)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp paprika
2 sprigs chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
a few saffron hairs for color
dry couscous
butter or olive oil or smen (aged butter recipe found here)


Directions:

Put the meat and all the veggies in the stockpot portion of the couscous cooker, add the spices and enough water to cover the veggies and bring to a slow boil. Let cook until the meat is cooked and veggies are tender and not soggy.

Remember its best the veggies be in larger pieces so they wont over cook before the meat is done cooking.

Now while the meat is cooking we need to steam the couscous.
To start off all the couscous should be put in a bowl and add a bit of oil and mix to make sure all the pasta is coated but not drenched in oil.  Sprinkle just enough water over the pasta to moisten and mix. Let the couscous sit 2-3 minutes in order for the pasta to absorb the water.

The couscous is now ready to be transfered to the steamer top of the couscous pot. While transfereing the pasta make sure to break up any lumps. Now let the couscous cook until the steam is reaching the top of the pasta.

This should take about 20-30 minutes. Now pour the pasta into a bowl and break up any chuncks that might be sticking together. Add more water and mix. Let sit 2-3 minutes and put back into the steamer. Let cook 20- 30 minutes again.

On the 3rd time the pasta should be just about cooked, so add a bit of salt to taste and some butter or oil to coat the pasta to taste. And put back into the steamer for the final time.

By the time the pasta is cooked, the meat and veggies should be done.

To serve pour all the couscous into a large deep dish and make a well in the center. Put the meat and the veggies in the well and top with a bit of the broth and serve.

This dish is usually eaten all together in the same vessel with hands or a BIG spoon. lol

And of course I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the final dish before my husband ran off with it to feed the guys...hungry hungry men....lol

I make this dish almost every week when I have fridays off so I will post a pick of the final product  inshallah next chance I get.

And yes it is normal to have couscous ALL OVER the kitchen by the time your are done. So Bsetkoum (bon apetit in morroccan) and enjoy.

Take care