Artichoke with Dip and Mloukhieh.

Hello everybody.

What a long Saturday !

Went grocery shopping as usual,found these lovely fresh artichokes and bought a couple to try them, first time I buy them like this I usually get them frozen or canned. Even the man working at the grocery shop asked me:” what are going to do with these? ” told him I really have no idea.

Well after a quick search I combined many recipes together and came out with this easy conclusion, boiled the artichokes with lemon slices,clove of garlic and some bay leaves then made a dip which is a mix of yogurt,lemon juice,balsamic vinegar,mayonnaise and some salt. Really yummy and great as appetizer before dinner or if you have a gathering,it’s also a healthy substitute to chips or crackers.

Lunch was coarse mloukhieh (ملوخيه ورق) ,as a friend told me this morning make mloukhieh it’s the lazy lady’s choice , well I’m not lazy but needed the quickest choice I assure you.

Cherry cookies and Eggplant Tajeen (منزلة باذنجان).

Hello everybody.

December is a festive month,many people celebrating Christmas like to try new recipes for dinner or lunch or as Christmas treats or cookies. I’ll try to make something new each day this month to give you some ideas, food websites have thousands of recipes but not all are feasible or easy to make so I’ll be picky and try them before publishing don’t worry.

Today I tried these cute cherry cookies since my husband bought a big jar of preserved cherries, very easy and quick to do,you can even use any kind of preserved fruit you like but cherries have this beautiful red happy color that’ll look great on your table .

Lunch today was eggplant tajeen or a more precise description Arabic style Moussaka, it’s very similar but without white sauce , it contains baked or fried eggplants with cooked minced meat with onions ,with layers of green peppers and potatoes ( optional ) some people make it with only eggplants and meat . After layering them you add a pack of tomato paste with 2 cups of water then leave to cook in the oven or on very low heat ( I added a cube of chicken stock to enhance the flavor)

Ingredients and method of cookies ( makes 2 dozens)

* 1 cup butter.

* 1 cup sugar.

* 2 1/2 cups flour.

* 2 tablespoons milk.

* 1/2 cup crushed walnuts.

* 1 cup cherries.

* Beat butter and sugar very well till creamy then add salt and flour.

* add milk till you get a firm dough.

* roll dough to a long rectangle on wax paper.

* arrange cherries in a line in the middle then close dough on them.

* roll the cylinder formed over crushed walnuts then wrap all in the wax paper and refrigerate for 1 hour till firm.

* cut the log to 1 cm pieces and arrange in an oven pan and bake in a medium heated oven for 15-20 minutes.

* cool then store in a well closed jar.

* NOTE: these cookies can be done a week ahead and will stay fresh if stored well.

Rice in Dough and Marble Cake (اوزي صرر).

Hello everybody.

Nice weather this morning,best thing the sun is up at least for the next couple of days.

Lunch today was Ouzi in pastry or in other words cooked rice with meat,peas and carrots all wrapped in puff pastry. Some people use plain phyllo pastry or make a dough from scratch, simple one with no yeast. Personally I use puff pastry cause you don’t need any kind of butter or ghee and it puffs and becomes crunchy and tasty plus very easy to use.

I also baked a marble cake and took it to my cousin this morning to visit her in her new house, this time I poured a small amount of white batter then added a another of cocoa subsequently till both mixtures are done, it was really fluffy and great with minted tea <3

Cake in Paris tray as my cousin’s son says.

Chicago Style Burgers with Beef Bacon.

Hello everybody.

Nice sunny day after a gloomy rainy week,feels great to have your coffee outdoor with some delicious biscottis.

Lunch was fresh Chicago style burgers from Miles stores with crispy beef bacon and sauteed mushrooms onions mix.These burgers are really tasty and well spiced specially with the crispy beef bacon.

Of course French fries and mixed veggies are a must with burgers 🙂

Enjoy your weekend.

morning coffee in the sun.

Roasted Leg of Lamb.

Hello everybody.

Took out this leg of lamb I had in the freezer for a while so it’s time to cook it, I don’t like keeping food frozen for so long.

I mixed all spices,pepper,cinnamon and salt all oven the meat,sealed it in hot oil from all sides then added some onions,carrots,garlic,bay leaves,cardamon and cinnamon stick to meat with boiled water and cooked it in the pressure cooker cause I was in a hurry.

When done I removed it,added it with some potatoes,carrots and onions in a big pan and added some flour to the meat stock and sieved it over the meat.

Cooked it in the oven till meat and veggies are well done, nice meal in a cold day.

Spinach Pastries.

Hello everybody.

Cold and rainy this morning and expected to continue till tomorrow, a warm comfort meal is in demand !

I cooked spinach with minced meat and rice on the side,kids love this dish though my husband hate it,so I made this new way of spinach pastries which are usually done as a big loaf ,very thin and full of olive oil, but made them as small squares and not soaked in oil a lot.

You make a simple no yeast dough,flour,salt and water only. leave to rest then form it into small balls, roll each one into a thin layer then add spinach mixed with cooked onions,salt,pepper,chili and lemon juice to make 2 layers of spinach and three of the dough then fold it as square and pat them as thin as you can.

Bake in a greased pan in a well heated oven till golden, really good with some fresh yogurt from Irbid.

Cold Days= Dry Beans.

Hello everybody.

Definitely cold these days,crisp wind specially when the sun goes down,best place to be these days is in the car !

Dry white beans are a good option in this case,though I’m not a big fan of it, so I did some avocado dip or kind of guacamole and remember the olives I pickled the other day with veggies and walnuts? well they’re perfectly done now,really yummy with hot bread !

pickled olives.

avocado dip.

Lovely Lunch at My Sis.

Hello everybody.

Busy Saturday morning as usual,grocery and many errands, good news is no cooking cause we’re invited at my sister’s house,very good feeling sometimes 🙂

Lunch was superb,well done and tasty as always, tomato soup, baked fish with saucy tomato garlic and herbs sauce,spiced rice with nuts and raisins and fatoush. Dessert was a new recipe,cream with Oreo yummy yummy.

I baked her favorite cake and took it with me Orange Poppy Seed Cake.

We really had great time,thank you my lovely sis.

tomato soup.

Oreo dessert.

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.

Moroccan Dish: Chicken with lemon and green olives.(دجاج بالزيتون)

Hello everybody.

As I said yesterday today’s lunch will be special to compensate for the lousy one, have this recipe ripped off from some magazine long time ago, really rich and juicy and of course it’ll be much tastier if you cook it in the tajin dish or pot Moroccans usually use.

Ingredients and method:

* chicken pieces with bones.

* 1 big chopped onion.

* 4-5 cloves garlic.

* 1 lemon peeled and slices.

* 1 tsp fresh ginger.

* pinch of saffron (زعفران)

* 1 cup green olives pitted.

* 1 tsp dried thyme.

* salt pepper and olive oil.

* Marinate chicken in salt,pepper,onions,garlic,thyme,saffron and ginger for 1 hour.

* heat the pan then add some olive oil, then add chicken pieces without marinate and saute till golden on all sides.

* add all marinade and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

* add lemon slices and olives,some more slat and pepper if you like.

* add 1 cup water and leave on very low heat till done or you can put it in the oven if you wish.

* serve with rice or pitta bread .

Really yummy try it!

photo in magazine,they used preserved lemons but you can use ordinary ones no problem.

What to cook today?

day by day cooking ideas

Main dish

Artichoke with Dip and Mloukhieh.

Like this:

Cherry cookies and Eggplant Tajeen (منزلة باذنجان).

Like this:

Rice in Dough and Marble Cake (اوزي صرر).

Like this:

Chicago Style Burgers with Beef Bacon.

Like this:

Roasted Leg of Lamb.

Like this:

Spinach Pastries.

Like this:

Cold Days= Dry Beans.

Like this:

Lovely Lunch at My Sis.

Like this:

Cha3acheel ( brown lentils in yogurt ) شعاشيل.

Like this:

Moroccan Dish: Chicken with lemon and green olives.(دجاج بالزيتون)

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