Gardening !

Hello everybody,hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

Today is gardening Friday, it’s a ritual each year to go to plant nurseries and remodel our garden,we’re even late this year,so today is the day.Started early in the morning and just finished planting now,not me of course, I’m only my hubbies helper,to be honest I never planted anything and lived so I gave up long time ago!! all credit goes to Abu Khalil for sure <3.

At lunch time we crashed at my mother-in law,she already made roasted chicken and potatoes and I quickly made pasta with white cheese,pesto sauce and parsley as a side dish.

As a reward after a long hot day working outside I made a dish of Banana Split but without cream, only ice cream,bananas,biscuits,fruit salad and chocolate syrup.

Lovely day,but work is yet not finished,we’re continuing tomorrow Insha’Allah.

Stuffed Mushrooms.

Hello everybody.

Weekend is here again,final exams next week and then done with school,next year will be last one for my youngest,can’t believe how kids grow so fast 🙂

Today’s lunch is beans with garlic and tomatoes in olive oil (لوبيا بالزيت), similar to the string beans I did once ( فاصوليا بالزيت),but this kind of beans is thinner and has different taste. you simply saute crushed garlic then add cut cleaned beans then chopped tomatoes,season with salt and pepper then leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes or till done.

I also made my friend Rula’s recipe of stuffed mushrooms,wanted to make my cousin Sa’ed’s ones but those needed spinach and bigger mushrooms than the ones I have,next time maybe.

Ingredients and method;

* fresh white mushrooms.

*butter.

*bread crumbs.

* cheddar and Parmesan cheese.

* parsley.

* remove mushroom stems, chop them then add cheeses,crumbs,parsley and a bit of butter and mix all very well.

* grease oven pan with butter,line mushrooms in it then stuff them.

* cover with foil then bake for 20-30 minutes.

Delicious appetizers 🙂

Lentils ( mujadara)

Hello everybody.

Lots of events going on today,I went out to breakfast with my lovely friends to celebrate dear Wafa’s birthday, early this morning I baked another Nescafe Cake, I think this one will be my trademark from now on,with the same ornament and flowers. Everybody enjoyed it and was a delightful surprise.

Back home I got the nicest present from my lovely niece Layan,a box of mixed herbs from Istanbul, thank you dear 🙂

At lunch time plans changed a bit,I’ve already cooked some lentils before I left ,thought I’ll make one of Mary’s recipes from her lovely book “On Healthy Cooking” but then discovered I don’t have all ingredients available,so ended up making mjadara with fried onions and some salad.

here are links for today’s recipes;

* Mjadara.

*Nescafe cake.

* Mary’s Dinner Clubs Limassol.

beautifully packed spices and herbs from Istanbul.

Artichokes.

Hello everybody.

Didn’t know whether to cook or no today cause I still have courgettes from yesterday but not that much,it needs an appetizer or a small thing with it.

Had to manage something from what I have in fridge or freezer cause my son took my car,so after searching I took out a bag of frozen artichokes,cooked mince meat and some carrots and peas, they’ll do for a stew !

Out of curiosity I searched for benefits of artichokes and usage, turned out to be a very useful plant, actually great for liver and digestive system,read the link for more info if you like.

As always when staying home,I baked something,za’tar sticks but added cheese and coarse sea salt on top and made Rita’s salad ( this is its name from now on )

Ingredients and method of artichoke stew:

* 1 pack frozen artichokes.

* cooked mince meat.

* cubed carrots.

* peas.

* small onion.

* salt,pepper and lemon juice.

* saute chopped onions in some oil till tender then add carrots,peas,salt and pepper.

* simmer on low heat till tender.

* stuff meat in artichoke hearts and arrange them on top of veggies.

* add lemon juice and a bit of boiled water and leave to simmer for another 30 minutes.

* serve alone or with rice as you like.

Fig Jam and Raisins Cake.

Hello everybody.

Back to school,which is by the way last week of it,I can’t believe how quick this academic year was,do you like Summer vacation or no?

Today’s lunch is stuffed courgettes like the ones I did before with it’s pulp as a side dish, it’s my eldest son favorite so it must be repeated at least once every month 🙂

I found a jar of fig jam about to be expired in the fridge,then remembered that I do have a recipe somewhere that has it in the ingredients,so I took out all my cookbooks,searched till I found it in my small favorite book Cafe Cakes, you know that these small specified books you find in bookshops are a lot better than big famous ones, that’s what I found out after all these years of cooking and baking .

Very easy to do and delicious.

Ingredients and method:

*125 gm butter ( I used 2 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup vegetable oil,worked out just fine)
* 2 eggs.

* 1/2 cup brown sugar.

* 1 1/2 cup flour.

* 2 tsp baking powder.

* 1/2 cup fig jam.

* 1 cup raisins ( I added a bit of walnuts also)

*1/2 cup milk.

* beat butter and sugar till creamy then add eggs,jam,raisins,flour and baking powder till you get a creamy batter.

* pour in a medium sized baking pan ( any shape you like) and bake in a medium heated oven for 45-50 minutes.

* cool and decorate with cream cheese topping or whipped cream if you like.

today’s lunch.

Steak Rolls (stuffed with vegetables)

Hello everybody.

last day of this long weekend,I was intending to do a cake and decorate it like the Jordanian flag on the occasion of Independence Day but I had to make date rolls order so no time left, maybe tomorrow.

I cooked for lunch early in the morning, took out some steak pieces and prepared to do this dish that I used to do a lot long time ago, easy to do but if you’re in a hurry you can do it chopped not rolled.

Ingredients and method:

* Steak pieces.

* carrots,peppers,green onions,mushrooms and cabbage. all chopped to thin strips.

* soy sauce,ketchup,salt and pepper.

* sesame oil or vegetable oil.

* chop a bit of the carrots,peppers,green onions and mushrooms to small thin strips and saute them in some oil and sprinkle them with soy sauce.

* with a steak hammer make the steaks as thin as you can,salt and pepper them then stuff with veggies and roll.

* close rolls with thread or toothpicks then saute with some oil from all sides till brownish.

* remove from pan then all all veggies and saute till tender adding soy sauce,ketchup a bit salt and pepper ( you can ginger and a bit sugar to give the sauce a sweet and sour taste if you like)

* add the rolls and leave to simmer on low heat till done,some boiled water can be added to keep sauce from drying.

* serve with rice or alone.

Enjoy and Happy Independence Day Jordan <3

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Sheep Pluck (معلاق خاروف)

Hello everybody.

I know many didn’t understand my title,both English and Arabic.

Well sheep pluck means liver,kidneys,heart and lungs of sheep, personally I never tasted or cooked it ,it’s my hubby”s specialty ,many people consider it a fancy meal,mostly done in Eid Al-Adha where sheep parts are abundant and fresh or you can ask your butcher to keep them for you,we usually bring them cut and ready to cook.

Today I invited my sister in law and her husband,who usually dig in with my husband,it’s a favorite of both. Of course I made extra things to go along with it and for me to eat 🙂

I made french fries,aubergines and fatoush and my mother in -law made mloukhieh with minced meat. It was a lovely Saturday lunch,followed by the sweetest most delicious melon ever.

Ingredients and method:

* cut,cleaned pluck.

*2-3 big coarsely chopped onions.

* 1 hot pepper.

* salt,pepper and bay leaves.

* olive oil.

*saute onions and pepper in olive oil till tender then add meat parts.

* keep stirring till color is changes to brown,then lower heat and leave to simmer for 1 hour,keep stirring it every 10-15 min,

I know it might be a strange dish but everybody who eat it say it’s very good,a delicacy even 🙂

Cinnabon Pancakes

Morning everybody.

Long weekend this week,public holiday this Sunday,Jordan celebrating Independence Day .I’m sure many working moms are happy now,wish you all a relaxing enjoyable time.

As a change this morning cause all of us have plans at lunch time,I made a rich fulfilling breakfast. saw this recipe on Pinterest ,it’s a combination of pancakes and cinnabons,really tasty but a bit too sweet,first two pieces were really sweet so next batch I lessened amount of cinnabon mix on pancake so itwas better.

I ended my breakfast with a piece of white cheese to reduce sweetness in my mouth !! other than that it’s really good.

Ingredients and method:

* For pancakes ( you can use ready mix and add on it the cinnabon mix also)

* 1 egg.

* 1 cup flour.

* 1 cup milk.

* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.

* 1/2 tsp baking powder.

* pinch of salt.

* Cinnabon mixture:

* 2 tablespoons butter.

* 3 tablespoons brown sugar.

* 1 tsp cinnamon.

* For the glaze:

* cream cheese ( I didn’t have it today so you can do without it)

* 1/4 cup icing sugar.

* 2-3 tablespoons milk .

* Mix pancake ingredients very well.

*Mix cinnabon ingredients after melting the butter.

* mix glaze ingredients well also.

* pour pancake mix in a heated non stick pan or skillet ( enough to cover it)

*add a small spoonful of cinnabon mix on top as a swirl.

* lower heat till pancake is dry.

* top with glaze and walnuts.

Apricot Jam.

Hello everybody.

A dear friend of my mother in-law called me saying that her apricot tree is overloaded and most of it is over ripe so she wants me to come pick as much as I want

A custom of mine each year I make this jam just as my late grandma used to make it,she had a big tree in her garden and we used to help her pick it and make ripe ones jam,she even used to break the seed and add the nut inside to the jam,but this is really hard work,poor teita. she was very patient and did them all without grumbling at all,God bless your soul my dear grandma<3

Well I did go yesterday to auntie Haifa’s ,had a cup of coffee and took a big big bag of beautiful fresh apricots,perfect for jam.

last night I cleaned and pitted them then added sugar and cooked them today, by the way lunch today was steak sandwiches,same that I did before.

Ingredients and method of jam:

* 1 kg ripe apricots.

* 1 kg sugar ( you need equal amounts of fruit and sugar,you can measure in cups also)

* 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

* add sugar to apricots stir well then put on gas on medium heat till bubbly.

* reduce heat to minimum and keep boiling for 40-50 minutes removing froth whenever it’s formed.

* keep stirring mixture then blend it with hand mixture if you like or leave it in chunks as you prefer.

* add lemon juice and leave it boiling for another 15-20 minutes or till it’s thick .

* cool and fill in cleaned glass containers,then keep in fridge.

I usually wrap jars with ribbons or accessories, great gift full of love 🙂

tasty with white cheese!

this is today’s lunch.

Msakhan ( مسخن)

Hello everybody.

Today’s lunch is a very traditional dish,Mediterranean and specifically Palestinian to be exact, it’s very common in big lunch or dinner invitations, usually done in olive harvest and oil production season,when it’s still fresh.

To be honest I’m not an expert in doing it, not a dish that I do often, my late grandma used to do it a lot,my mom now also,so I usually go to Mom’s eat it !! but today I did it upon my youngest son request,so msakhan it is.

Ingredients and media:

* whole chicken.

* 4-5 big onions.

* summaq.

* special taboun bread (خبز طابون)

* olive oil.

* spices used in chicken cooking like cinnamon sticks,cardamom,pepper corns,bay leaf and salt and pepper definitely.

* clean and rub chicken with lemon,salt and cinnamon then cook it with all spices and boiled water till tender.

* chop onions finely then cook them in a generous amount of olive oil ( actually I do use vegetable oil with the olive to lighten it a bit,this is optional of course).

* when onions are done add summaq and a bit of chicken broth and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

* before serving,cut bread to halves or quarters then dip the ends in onion mix and arrange on a wide oven tray next to each other.

* add onions on each peace of bread,try not to add too much oil with it.

*sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

* add another layer of bread then spread chicken pieces on top, I dip each peace with remaining oil onion mix.

* sprinle all with summaq and some of the chicken broth then bake for 20-30 minutes and roast chicken at the end.

*always serve it with rich fresh yogurt !

I know many people may do it in a different way or better way let’s say,but it was very tasty and everybody loved it 🙂

What to cook today?

day by day cooking ideas

Author: kgharaibeh@gmail.com

Gardening !

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Stuffed Mushrooms.

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Lentils ( mujadara)

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Artichokes.

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Fig Jam and Raisins Cake.

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Steak Rolls (stuffed with vegetables)

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Sheep Pluck (معلاق خاروف)

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Cinnabon Pancakes

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Apricot Jam.

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Msakhan ( مسخن)

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