Old Fashioned Date Cookies (نواعم)

Hello everybody.

Usual beginning of the week, cleaning,cooking and organizing.

Lunch today was mloukhieh with chicken though my family are not fans but it’s a good quick solution sometimes.

After all household work was done I thought I’d try a small quantity of these cookies so as to try the new mould my hubby bought from downtown and mainly cause I have this extra pack of dates from last Eid,don’t like to keep old stuff for long periods.

Found this recipe in various pages but I elaborated a bit on it, to be honest I used a bit of pure homemade ghee (سمنه بلدية) in order to have this old times smell and flavour.

Ingredients and method :
# 2 cups fine semolina.
# 4 cups flour.
# 2 cups butter or ghee ( I used 1/2 ghee, 1 butter and 1/2 vegetable oil)
# 1 tablespoon anise powder.
# 1 teaspoon fennel powder.
# 1 tsp special cookie spice (كلفه كعك)
#1/2 cup sugar.
# 1 tsp instant yeast dissolved in 1 tablespoon sugar and a cup of warm water.
# 2 tablespoons rose water.

# pitted dates mixed with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and anise powders.

# Heat butter then mix with semolina, flour and all spices very well till crumbly.
# leave for 2-3 hours till all butter is well absorbed.
# add frothy yeast and water and mix all well.
# add rose water and knead all together.

# start working right away by stuffing small portions of dough with dates and shape them in the moulds.
# bake in a well heated oven at first then reduce heat to medium till golden.

Serve with tea or coffee.

وصفه النواعم :
2 كوب سميد ناعم
4 كوب طحين
2 كوب زبده او سمنه( اليوم استعملت كوب زبده، نصف كوب سمنة بلدية ونصف كوب زيت نباتي)
ملعقة كبيرة يانسون
ملعقة صغيرة شومر
ملعقة صغيرة كلفه كعك
نصف كوب سكر
ملعقة صغيرة خميره مذوبه مع كوب ماء فاتر ومعلقه سكر
ملعقة كبيرة ماء زهر.
تمر مطحون ومعجون مع قرفه، هيل،كبش قرنفل ويانسون

اضيفي الزبدة الذائبه وهي ساخنه الى السميد والطحين والبهارات واخلطي جيدا.
يترك المزيج ليتشرب الزبد لمده 2-3 ساعات.
تضاف الخميره والماء وماء الزهر ويعجن المزيج جيدا
تحشى كرات من العجين بالتمر وتوضع في القالب وتصف بالصواني
تشوى النواعم في فرن حامي جدا من قبل ومن ثم متوسط عند الشوي

صحتين وعافيه

old fashioned cookies.

ready to go.

Soft Pretzels.

Hello everybody.

Stayed home today,a relief after busy days and a chance to put away heavy clothes and boots, hoping that no more cold rainy days are coming.

Since I have leftovers for lunch from yesterday which was fresh new baby string beans in olive oil and I had time before lunch I tried this recipe, been searching for the most suitable and light one for a while and did this with slight changes.

I also made a simple cake since the oven is on and hot,been craving it since I made it for my brother’s colleagues last week.

Ingredients and method :
* 1 1/4 cups warm water.
* 2 tablespoons instant yeast.
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 5 cups flour.
* 1 tsp salt.
* 1 tablespoon butter.
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
* 1/2 cup baking soda.
* 4 cups boiled water.
* 1 egg yolk.
* some kosher or coarse salt.
* some melted butter.

* mix water, yeast, sugar till bubbly.
* mix flour, salt, butter and oil.
* add water yeast mixture and knead well.
* leave to rise for 40-50 minutes.
* make long ropes from the dough, this quantity makes 10-12.
* shape them into Pretzels.
* mix soda with hot water then dip each pretzel into it for few seconds.
* line them in a floured pan.
* brush with egg yolk then sprinkle with salt.
* leave to rise again then bake in a medium heated oven for 10-15 minutes.
* brush with a bit of butter to keep them shining then roast till golden.

Turned out amazingly delicious, kids loved them.

lovely !

so easy to do dough.

ready to go.

lunch and dessert.

will definitely do them again.

Homemade Pasta !

Hello everybody.

After a chit chat with my cousin living in Rome last night discussing how fresh homemade pasta is much more tastier than commercial ones and since I do have a pasta making instrument stashed away in my kitchen cabinet,I decided to start rolling it while we’re already stuck indoors in the cold weather.

Basic egg pasta recipes are all similar ,only 2 ingredients but secret to a successful dough is to let it rest and flour surfaces and roller so as pasta won’t stick to each other.

Ingredients and method:

* 2 cups flour.

* 1/2 tsp salt.

* 3 eggs.

* on a clean surface or in a bowl mix flour and salt then make a well in the middle and crack eggs in it.

* start whisking eggs into flour with a fork gradually.

* continue working with your hands or in a food processor till you get a firm dough.

* cover with cling film and leave to rest for 30-50 minutes.

* divide to 4 pieces then roll in the thickest number in roller.

* keep dusting with flour so as layers won’t stick.

* roll again to a thinner layer and so on till you have very thin ones.

* last thing roll in pasta shape and dust them with flour when done ( an extra helping hand during this process is not a bad idea:) )

* cook in salted boiling water for 4-5 minutes only.

* remove and cook the way you want,today I made it with mined meat,mushrooms,onions with herbs and tomato paste .

* sprinkle with cheese when served.

Hope you try it if you have this magical machine ,really worth it, totally different taste !

flour eggs mix.

final result.

Voila !!

Turkish Pie.

Hello everybody.

Needed something to back up yesterday’s lunch so this pie would be great, since many of my cousins and aunties been doing it and posting its photos on my Facebook page so I think it’s time for me to try it. A success for sure, boys loved it.

Ingredients and method :
Dough :
* 2 1/2 cups flour.
* 1 cup warm milk.
* 2 tsp instant yeast.
* 2 tsp sugar.
* 2 tsp salt.

Filling :
* 1/2 kg minced beef meat.
* 1 small chopped onion.
* 1/2 cup sweet corn.
* some chopped green peppers.
* grated mazorella or kashcaval.
* some sesame and black seeds.

* Mix all dough ingredients together, knead well for 5 minutes then leave in a warm place to rest and rise.

* sauté meat and onions with some oil till done.
* add the corn and spices,I added salt, pepper, all spice and some chili powder.

* grease and pie pan the spread 3/4 of the dough to the edges.
* add the filling then half of the cheese.
* cover with the rest of the dough then cover top with remaining cheese,sesame and black seeds.
* bake in a medium heated oven for 40-50 minutes..

Serve with green salad or sautéed vegetables.

Potato Gratin.

Hello everybody.

This morning we were invited to a lovely breakfast at Mirabelle,tasty food and atmosphere as always,thank you dear Tamara for the invitation,we really had a great time.

Well I arrived home late to cook anything cause of the traffic jam,so a quick solution as always BURGERS,and to make a change to usual fries I made potato gratin with it.

Ingredients and method:

* 3-4 potatoes peeled and thinly sliced.

* 1 small onions also thinly sliced.

* 4 cups milk.

* 2 big tablespoons flour.

* 1 tablespoon butter.

* salt and pepper.

* parsley and cheese for top decoration.

* saute onions in butter till golden.

* add salt and pepper to potatoes.

* dissolve flour in milk then add potatoes and milk mixture to onions.

* cover and put in a low heated heated oven for 40-50 minutes or till potatoes are done.

* garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese and roast top.

Really easy and quick ,tastes exactly as the ones served in hotel’s weddings buffets,even better:)

Halawa ( حلاوة عراقية).

Morning everybody.
Today we have a big lunch with lots of dishes on the menu on the occasion of my sister in law’s visit to Amman. My mother in law is cooking her favorite dishes all this week long ♡♥.

As for me I made spicy potatoes as a side dish and a kind of sweet.

http://wp.me/p4fTDb-7p

Took this recipe from our Iraqi relatives. We ate it many times in lunch and dinner parties specially at Basma’s, very easy and tasty. It’s a very popular traditional dish done at home usually in small flat dishes or a big one.

Ingredients and method:
* 2 cups powdered milk.
* 2 big spoons starch.
* 2 big spoons flour.
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil.
* 1 1/2 cups sugar.
* 4 cups water.
* 1 tsp rose water.
* almonds or pistachios for garnish.

* Mix milk with starch, flour and oil.
* roast in a pan with continous stirring till golden.
* add sugar then water and mix very well till no lumps exist.
* if lumps are too much beat with electric hand mixer a bit.
* keep on low heat till it boils and thickens, add the rose water.
* spread in a wide serving plate and garnish when cooled.
Enjoy ♡♥.
Will post lunch later don’t worry.

What to cook today?

day by day cooking ideas

flour

Old Fashioned Date Cookies (نواعم)

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Soft Pretzels.

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Homemade Pasta !

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Turkish Pie.

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Potato Gratin.

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Halawa ( حلاوة عراقية).

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