Hello everybody.
Today’s lunch was what we call in Arabic ‘Ablama ‘ which consists of fried minced meat courgettes cooked in creamy thick yogurt.
Many people consider this a royal dish, it is actually,specially if well done and courgettes are tiny.
These are steps of making ablama in photos taken by my mom two years ago.
Hello everybody.
This dish is a very very old traditional one, I remember till now that my grandma used to cook it a lot and we all hated it and run away lunch time to buy a falafel sandwich instead. I isn’t kid’s friendly I guess.
But since a have lots of pumpkin, courgettes, eggplants and tomatoes I thought I’d do some though I did it with small cubed meat pieces not big boned ones which is how it’s originally done.
Ingredients and method :
# 4-5 pieces of lamb with bones cooked till done with it’s stock (2-3 cups)
# 3-4 big courgettes cut to chunks
#1 bug eggplant cut to chunks.
# 1 slice of pumpkin or 3 big green pumpkins also cut to chunks.
#1 big onion sliced.
# 4 ripe tomatoes peeled and cut to small pieces.
# 4 cloves of minced garlic.
# 1 tsp dry mints.
# olive oil.
# salt, pepper, all spice.
# in a deep nonstick pan saute courgettes, eggplants and pumpkins till golden.
# add onions and leave to simmer till all veggies are a bit tender.
# add meat pieces and stock.
# season with salt, pepper and all spice to your taste.
# add the tomatoes and cover to cook over low heat till all stewed well together.
# add minced garlic and dry mint and leave for another 15-20 minutes.
# Serve with plain rice.
I also made a bowl of Ceazar salad in case keep kids didn’t like it.
Oh I forgot to mention that the exact translation of this dish Arabic name is ” cooked by itself ” cause it does actually!
Hello everybody.
Too hot to cook today and nobody gave me any answers about what they want so I did what I found.
End result was some okra in olive oil with garlic, onions and tomato and no meat, vegetarian style. Then I decided to do some stuffed mushrooms with garlic, coriander, cheese, breadcrumbs salt pepper and chili, and since I have some courgette flowers that I intended to fry I stuffed them same as mushrooms and all together in the oven.
Result was super, all gone in minutes
light nice lunch.
okra with garlic onions and tomatoes.
stuffed mushrooms and courgette flowers.
stuffing.
great appetizer dish.
Hello everybody.
Got some fresh vine leaves yesterday so better to cook them immediately, hate freezing fresh stuff feels like a waste of something valuable.
So I stuffed some courgettes with them, best dish ever. Plus I made this appetizer that my Italian cousin posted yesterday.
You simply grill your sliced eggplants after salting them then add sliced tomatoes, minced garlic, chopped parsley, lemon, salt and oil on top before serving, I even added some olives turned out absolutely delicious.
Happy day with good food and best friend coming for a short visit.
yummy easy dish.
fresh vine leaves,courgettes and cucumber yogurt salad.
Hello everybody.
Today’s lunch is my oldest son favorite dish ever,stuffed courgettes with tomato sauce.
On the other hand my youngest doesn’t eat it at all so I usually make the pulp with garlic and dry mint cooked in olive oil.
Mash ‘Allah all was wiped out in minutes.
Here’s the method again :
*Wash them from inside with salted water then stuff them with the same filling as cabbages, but be careful to leave an empty inch from top so as rice will fill it when done.
*Make a tomato sauce of fresh tomatoes, paste, small onion, some cloves of garlic and a cube if chicken stock.
*Boil the sauce, dip the courgettes and eggplants,, you can stuff green peppers also by the way.
*Boil for 10-15 minutes then leave to simmer for 1 hour on low heat.
*Add some dried mint powder to the sauce, it’ll give a nice aroma.
Hello everybody.
Well all locked up waiting foe the storm, though it was sunny this morning but as expected snow started this afternoon, I’m sure many will turn to the kitchen to make sweets and hot drinks to warm up.
Lunch today was stuffed vine leaves and courgettes,a favorite to most people here in Jordan specially when leaves are fresh green, though not the season but I did find some really good silky ones that’s why I was encouraged.Thank you dear cousin for coming by to help me,this dish needs a helping hand cause it’s a bit tiring and boring to make it on your own.
a royal dish don’t you think?
Dessert was Nutella cinnamon rolls,recipe from www.littlesunnykitchen.com. the blogger posted this recipe on my page last week, they’re really soft and taste is divine. I made half with Nutella and the other with pecan cinnamon mixture, all yummy. Thank you dear Diana for the awesome recipe.
all done and glazed.
pecan cinnamon filling.
Hello everybody.
Though general atmosphere in all Jordan is still sad and angry after the tragic passing of away of the Jordanian pilot but I’m sure he’s included in all our prayers all the time.R.I.P Muath Kasasbeh.
Lunch today was kofta with tomatoes and potatoes on top, Iranian rice, avocado dip, roasted courgettes and hummus. I tried to use all vegetables and stuff in the fridge in order to clean and rearrange the fridge for tomorrow’s shopping.
hummus,avocado and some olives.
courgettes with spices,breadcrumbs and olive oil.
kofta and rice.
nice colorful variations today.
Hello everybody.
Gloomy dark day,just hate when the sun is not out.
Lunch was courgettes in cooked yogurt (ablama كوسا مخشي) , suitable in this cold weather.
I also did these amazing amazing cupcakes maybe they’ll cheer up the mood. I have this box of chocolates,a gift from a dear friend and a pack of ready mix chocolate cake. I saw this done on the net once thought I’d try it before I end up eating the whole box of chocolate alone.
You simply mix cake as directed then fill half a cupcake with battery add the round chocolate then add another quantity and bake.
They were supposed to be more like molten chocolate but maybe kind I used is too smooth that it sank down but nevertheless it made a crunchy crust,shooo yummy with some ice cream.
Courgettes in cooked yogurt.
Hello everybody.
I saw this recipe on Pinterest last week,got some courgettes the to try it. turned out really good,healthy light appetizer can be an alternative to fried or heavy dishes.you simply cut them,dip them in egg white then coat with breadcrumbs and bake till crunchy,you can add pepper,chili,oregano and salt of course to the crumbs as seasoning.
Well lunch was okra in the oven,couldn’t resist not buying those lovely small green okra yesterday,always be sure that fresh vegetables when in season make the best dishes 🙂
When I was done cooking my husband called to tell me his friends are coming at night,so I baked a simple orange cake with syrup on top and small buns ( pizza dough recipe) with some oregano and dry basil, then filled them with different kinds of cheese and labaneh.
orange cake with syrup.
My hubby got me these cloths from Safeway,one for the roller and one to roll dough on,very useful , I liked them a lot <3
Hello everybody.
Today everybody agreed they didn’t want something cooked,eggs and frittata was the option,though when I was done just before Maghreb prayers I regretted the decision. Too much mess and frying plus that I’m known to be not a big fan of eggs,for me cooking a decent meal is much more easier.
I made courgettes frittatas,fried mushrooms and courgettes flowers dipped in special dough ( Rita’s recipe) ,boiled eggs,omelette with hot-dogs,tuna salad and magdoos salad which is normal one with chopped magdoos in it.
all was good and tasty,don’t think I’ll do the same mess all together again though !
