Lentil Soup.

 

2923

Hello everybody.

Lentil soup with veggies or without is always a good heartwarming option specially in cold rainy days.

Made some today  with some carrots and pumpkin, I sometimes make it with potatoes or courgettes or basic with only onions and broth, it’s all up to your taste.

Here’s the basic lentil soup recipe.

2917

You need:
*1 cup lentils.
*1 small finely chopped onion.
*1 sliced carrot.
*1 sliced courgette (optional.)
* 1 cube chicken stock.
*1 spoon salt.
*1 spoon powdered cumin.
*6 cups hot water.
Saute the onions, carrots, courgettes in a bit if olive oil till tender,wash then add lentils.

Stir well then add salt and chicken stock,add water and leave to boil then simmer for 30 minutes,add cumin.

you can mash lentils and veggies or use the blender to make a smooth soup as you prefer.

serve with fried or baked bread cubes and lemon juice.

3108

 

 

 

 

Mujadara (lentils with Rice)

Hello everybody.

Protein for today is lentils, cooked with rice pr mujaddara . A typical end of the week meal !

 

Have a nice weekend 😉

Recipe for Mujaddara:
1 cup brown lentil.
1 cup rice or coarse burghul.
1 cube chicken stock.

1 or 2 large onions

Boil the lentils in water with 1 small spoon cumin powder till tender.
Wash the rice or burghul add them to the lentils, with the maggi cube, 1tsp of each,, salt, black pepper, mixed spices…and 2 large spoons olive oil.
Add water to the mixture ( almost 2 and 1/4 cup)…let it boil then lower the heat till rice is cooked.
Chop the onions to thin slices and fry in olive oil till crispy…and serve them with the mujadara…
This is a very nutritious dish,, a good source of protein and iron.
Some people love to eat it with yogurt as well.

11863486_10153437124870907_5147996282148787684_n 10481972_10153437124815907_6917306292650211976_n

Lentils with Pasta (حراق اصبعه)

Hello everybody.

A last goodbye treat for my friend and her lovely kids before heading back home, cooked lentils with pasta,fried onions,garlic and coriander . A traditional Syrian dish حراق اصبعه meaning when translated literally ” burned fingers”

 

An easy nutritious appetizer that’s originally done with lentils and special dough or small pasta as a quicker substitute then all boiled together with pomegranate sauce,lemons,fried onions,garlic and coriander topped with fried bread pieces.

 

Ingredients and method:
* 1 cup brown lentils.
*  2-3 cloves garlic
*  3-4 onions.
* bunch of coriander.
* 1/2 cup lemon juice.
* 2 spoons pomegranate sauce ( دبس رمان ).
* 1 cup small size pasta.
* cubed fried pitta bread.
* salt, pepper, cumin powder.

* wash lentils then boil in 4 cups of water , add salt and 1 spoon cumin.
* add the pasta and leave to simmer till done.
* add lemon juice, pomegranate sauce.
* fry the onions in oil till golden.
* crush garlic and chop coriander then saute them in some oil.
* add half the amount of onions and garlic to lentil pasta mixture. Leave to simmer till it thickens and homogeneous. You might need to add some water.
* upon serving,, in a deep dish put some of the bread in the bottom.
*add the lentil mixture.
* decorate with the rest of garlic, onions and bread cubes.
* serve hot.

11831779_10153434666120907_6831082197777247040_n

wpid-20140317_104453.jpg wpid-20140317_110708.jpg

wpid-20140317_112025.jpg wpid-20140317_112123.jpg wpid-20140317_160803.jpg

11831779_10153434666120907_6831082197777247040_n

11828578_10153434666065907_6929300180037814423_n yummy!!

Homemade Applesauce.

Hello everybody.

Applesauce is a puree made from peeled or unpeeled apples and spices,it has several uses as a side sauce with meat,in cakes or to add flavor to yogurts or ice creams or simply as baby food.

A very good use is a substitute for oil or butter in cakes so you can make a very healthy kind of cake by reducing both oil and sugar in ingredients. That’s why when I looked at the apples in my fruit basket that everyone refused to eat I thought of applesauce, why waste them right? will search for a good recipe for it tomorrow.

Lunch was Mujadara with burnt onions and salad.

20150114_184427  Mujadara (lentils and rice) healthy easy dish.

20150114_184449  finely chopped tomato onion mint salad is the usual one done with it.

Ingredients and method:

* 4-5 big apples.

* 1 1/2 cups water.

* 2 lemon slices.

* 1 tsp cinnamon.

*  pinch of nutmeg.

* pinch of salt.

* Mix all ingredients and leave to boil and simmer till apples are tender.

* remove lemon slices.

* puree mixture in blender then sieve to remove rough parts and peel.

* store in a clean glass jar in fridge.

See very easy healthy useful thing to do with extra apples 🙂

20150114_184631   applesauce.

DSC_0339  DSC_0343 final product.

20150114_184653

Happy New Year :)

Hello everybody.

Waited till now to write my post so as not to ruin the surprise,  I baked  a beautiful birthday cake for my lovely cousin  requested by her sweet sister-in-law,I also made an Apple Pecan Pie as a gift from me. Happy Birthday dear doc and Happy New Year to you and all your family, love you all.

As for our new year’s eve, we had a small special candle lit dinner at home , very early so as not to eat heavy late at night then ended it with our usual coffee with chocolates, typical family celebration, we’ll watch T.V for the rest of the night.

Dinner was steaks with sauteed veggies, cheese pastries, mixed green salad with lentils pomegranate and feta cheese  and a new dish which was extremely delicious “Italian Mushroom Risotto” got these dried mushrooms from my cousin living in Rome, soaked them in water then sauteed them with onions and butter then cooked the rice with mushroom soaking water, really yummy yummy.

 

Ingredients and method of Apple Pecan Pie:

* pie crust.( same as apple pie)

* filling:

* 3 big peeled chopped apples.

* 3/4 cup chopped pecans.

* 1/2 cup sugar ( brown or regular)

* 1 tablespoon starch.

* 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

* 1 tablespoon butter.

 

For the crumble:

* 1/2 cup finely chopped pecan.

* 2 tablespoons butter.

* 3/4 cup flour.

* 1/2 cup sugar.

 

* spread pie crust in special pie pan.

* mix filling ingredients together and add on crust.

* mix crumble ingredients in food processor till crumbly .

* add on top of pie filling.

* bake in a medium heated oven till golden from sides. (30-40 minutes)

 

Enjoy your night everybody and wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR <3 <3 <3

20141231_114632   20141231_114233   always a delight !!

20141231_170223  Apple Pecan Pie.

20141231_170107  20141231_110049

20141231_103713  20141231_105803

 

DSC_0140  lovely family candle lit dinner .

DSC_0147  20141231_193917  cheese pastries and lentil pomegranate salad.

By the way Italians believe that eating pomegranate and lentils at new year’s eve is a good omen,the more you can eat the more money you get, so we’ll see what will happen next year !

DSC_0137 20141231_194015  Mushroom Risotto.

DSC_0145      DSC_0153

20141231_201739~2  Great end to a nice dinner <3

 

 

 

Red Velvet Cake <3

Hello everybody.

As I mentioned yesterday we have a big gathering today,actually our lovely guests just left. Both company and food were awesome,we really had a good time.

I made lots of stuff ,spinach tabouleh,cooked brown lentils ( حراق اصبعه),thyme buns,cheese platter and my sister in-law made chicken pie plus we ordered kibbeh and halouva .

Sweets were Red Velvet Cake, rice pudding and fruits.

Here are ingredients and method of the cake:

* 2 large eggs.

* 1 1/4 cups sugar.

* 1/2 cup oil.

*1/2 cup butter.

* 2/3  cup yogurt.

* 1/3 cup milk.

* 1 tablespoon cocoa powder.

* 1 tablespoon vinegar.

* 1 teaspoon baking soda.

* 1 teaspoon baking powder.

* 1 tsp vanilla.

* 2 teaspoons red food coloring.

* 2 1/2 cups flour.

Icing:

* 2 packs cream cheese.

* 1/2 cup whipping fresh cream.

* 2 cups powdered sugar .

or :

*1 pack cream cheese.

* 2 packs dream whip.

* 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

* some red colored food glitter for decoration.

* beat eggs,vanilla,sugar  till frothy and creamy.

* add rest of ingredients consequently.

* bake cake in two round baking pans (same size)

* Beat frosting ingredients well together and leave to cool in fridge.

* when cake is done and cooled assemble the two layers with frosting in between and all over.

 

* leave in fridge to settle for couple of hours.

* decorate top with sprinkles in any shape you like.

20141118_154727

DSC_0606

DSC_0607

 

DSC_0661  tabouleh,kibbeh,halouva.

DSC_0654

20141118_143713  yalanji.

DSC_0637 turkey pesto sandwiches.

DSC_0645  thyme buns and cheese.

DSC_0655  حراق اصبعه

DSC_0649   Awesome cake,thank you dear Flora for the recipe.

Mjadara.

Hello everybody.

Busy day,preparing for a big gathering tomorrow afternoon for a lovely group of ladies,hope everyone can make it, lots of tasty food I promise 🙂

Most important thing is I bought all groceries and arranged all stuff .After all these years of experience when having a lunch,dinner or any gathering best thing to do so as not to run out of time or have a messy kitchen is to write down a menu that is suitable to number of guests and occasion,of course each occasion has different type of food and different kind of people.

Buying grocery ahead of time is an extremely useful and time saving issue,also try to chose dishes that can be done a day or two before and leave on the spot things till the same day.

So lunch today is mujadara (lentils and rice) plus the spinach from yesterday.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s post ,welcome everybody.

wpid-wp-1416233107041.jpeg

wpid-wp-1416233116970.jpeg

wpid-wp-1416233122177.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cha3acheel ( brown lentils in yogurt ) شعاشيل.

Hello everybody.

I’m sure many of you are asking what is this you’re talking about? I know it’s a weird name for lots of people, even strange to some living in Jordan cause it’s a traditional very old dish from Irbid region North of Jordan.

My mom never did it  cause she doesn’t like anything that contains lots of eggs in it,personally I started doing it only recently,took the recipe from my dear aunt Eman, it’s a kind of dish you make once or twice a year usually in Winter or when you have leftover Mansaf (cooked jameed)

In fact it’s a very nutritious meal,full of proteins and herbs, though many find it hard to make or fails sometimes,it may become very loose or hard,the trick is to add enough flour to have the correct consistency.

NOTE: these ingredients are for a big amount,you may use half of it according to quantity you want.

Ingredients and method:

* 12 eggs.

* 5 cups flour (half whole wheat and half white)

*1 finely chopped onion.

* 1/2 cup fresh green thyme.

* 1 bunch chopped parsley.

* 1 tsp baking powder.

* 1 cup cooked brown lentils.

* 1 tablespoon dried thyme,salt and pepper.

* cooked yogurt or Jameed .

 

* Mix 1/2 the lentils,eggs,parsley,fresh and dry thyme,salt and pepper.

* saute onions till soft then add to mix.

* add flour gradually and mix well till you have a sticky dough ( not hard nor soft).

* boil the yogurt with the rest of the lentils.

* boil some salted water then drop a tablespoonful of the dough in it,it’ll directly form a stiff ball, if it crumbled or didn’t hold together this means you need to add more flour.

* remove balls as soon as they float to the top then leave to dry on paper towel.

* drop them in the yogurt while boiling then leave to simmer on low heat for 40-50 minutes.

 

Hope you try it some day!

مقادير وطريقه عمل الشعاشيل:

(مقادير لكميه كبيره, طبعا يمكن استعمال نصفها حسب العدد)

* 12 بيضه.

* 5 كاسات طحين, نصف اسمر بلدي ونصف ابيض.

* بصله مفرومه ناعم.

*كاسه عدس مسلوق.

* 1ظ2 كاسه زعتر اخضر.

* بقدونس مفروم ناعم.

*1 ملعقه باكينغ باودر.

* ملح وفلفل حسب الرغيه.

*جميد او لبن مطبوخ

* تحمس البصله في شويه زيت حتى تذبل.

* تخلط المقادير مع البصله ثم يضاف الطحين حتى يصبح الخليط كالعجينه الطريه.

*ملاحظه: يضاف نصف كوب العدس الى الخليط والنصف الاخر الى الجميد

* تغلى ماء مع ملح ثم اسقطي بها مقدار ملعقه كبيره من الخليط, اا1ا لم تتماسك راسا وتصبح كره يعني يجب اضافه طحين.

* انشلي الطابات عندما تطفو الى السطح وعندما تنشف اضيفيهم ال الجميد.

* يغلى على نار هادئه لمده 40-50 دقيقهز

صحه وهنا.

20141104_155155

DSC_0288

DSC_0294  DSC_0297

DSC_0300  DSC_0306

DSC_0308 DSC_0314

DSC_0317

20141104_155110

 

*

*

Black Forest Cake.

Hello everybody.

I know I said I’m on diet,still holding on honestly, lunch was one cup Mujadara with yogurt and that’s it.

As for the cake,I actually did two today,one plain with chocolate frosting for my cousin who’s resting after a minor operation and the the other chocolate black forest for the afternoon visit at my mother in-law’s cousin who moved to a new house. So I’m not guilty till now right?

Ingredients and method:

* 2 eggs.

* 1 1/2 cups both brown and regular sugar.

* 3/4 cup cocoa.

* 3/4 cup vegetable oil.

* 1 1/4 cup yogurt.

* vanilla and 2 tsp baking powder.

* 1 1/2 cups flour.

* whipping cream and blueberry topping for decoration.

 

* beat eggs,vanilla and sugar till creamy.

* add cocoa ,oil and yogurt and beat well.

* add baking powder and flour.

* split batter in two round baking pans and bake in a medium heated oven for 30-40 minutes or till done.

* beat the cream and put in fridge till stiff.

* remove cakes from pans and then assemble by adding cream and blueberry in middle and top.

*Note: you can add grated chocolate pieces on top also.

20140902_170143

20140902_105617

20140902_150948

20140902_122530  simple cake with chocolate icing.

20140902_150849  mujadara (lunch)

20140902_170229

Chicken with Cream and Mushrooms.

Hello everybody.

Exhausting hot day!

Grocery shopping,hot weather and fasting are a lot in one day don’t you think?

Today I made chicken with mushroom and cream ( Sa’ed’s recipe as it’s known by now) with mashed potatoes,lemon risotto and Armenian tabouleh or lentils tabouleh.

I also made some sausages with onions,garlic and hot pepper,all yummy yummy 🙂

Dessert is semolina cake from yesterday.

20140712_193623

20140712_194324

20140712_19452120140712_194315

20140712_194714  20140712_194701

%d bloggers like this: