Chicken Tikka Masala.

Hello everybody.

No escape from cooking today I guess,though I was confused what to do after grocery shopping,I bought many vegetables and stuff so I have many options.

After family discussions I decided to do this recipe sent to me by my friend’s niece Hanin whom I saw the other day and everybody in her family recommended it, so chicken masala it is,since I have all ingredients which is the most important thing,sometimes I do cancel the whole dish cause one ingredient is missing,don’t you?

This is an Indian recipe of course,most Indian food is usually hot and spicy,well today I made it medium so that all can eat with comfort,it turned out very delicious and easy.

Ingredients and method:

* 2 large chicken breasts ( original recipe says thighs but nobody in my family loves them,but breasts were good also),cut to big chunks.

* marinate for chicken:

* 1 cup yogurt.

* ginger garlic paste ( 1 tablespoon fresh ginger with 3 cloves garlic pressed or finely chopped together)

* 1 tsp salt.

* 1/2 tsp pepper.

* marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes or overnight if you can.

*Sauce:

* 2 tablespoons olive oil.

* 2 tablespoons butter.

*1/3 cup ginger garlic paste.

* 2 hot peppers (didn’t have any so I used hot dried chili )

* 2 tablespoons tomato paste.

* 1 tablespoons gram masala spices ( Indian spices bought ready or homemade by mixing special spices including : 2 tablespoons cumin seeds,2 tablespoons coriander seeds,1 tsp pepper seeds,2 tsp cardamon seeds,1 tsp cloves,1 tsp fennel seeds,1 cinnamon stick,3 bay leaves,1/2 tsp fenugreek (حلبه) ,pinch of nutmeg. you roast all seeds except nutmeg very well then grind then to fine powder and add nutmeg)

* 2 tsp paprika.

* 8 small tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes.

* 1 1/2 tsp salt.

* 1-2 cups water.

* 1/2 cup heavy cream.

* minced fresh cilantro for garnish.

* cooked rice or naan bread for serving.

* making sauce and cooking:

* heat oil and butter then add ginger garlic paste and stir,then add hot peppers.

* add tomato paste and cook till brownish then add masala,paprika and saute for 3 minutes.

* add tomatoes,saltand water and simmer till sauce is thickened,you may need more water if it dries.

* meanwhile grill the chicken in some hot oil,try to shake excess marinate .

* cook till golden on all sides.

* now blend the sauce with hand mixer or blender.

* add chicken pieces to sauce and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

* add cream and stir then at the end add chopped coriander.

* serve with rice or bread.

Very tasty savory dish,not a piece left ,thank you dear Hanin,now it’s officially Hanin’s Chicken in my cook book 🙂

Creamy Avocado Tomato Basil Pasta.

Hello everybody.

Very hot and dusty today,need a cool dish to go with this weather. last night I found this recipe in my WordPress reader written by “ Cooking with a Wallflower” and since I have 2 avocados ripened from last week I thought this will be a good option for lunch.

Upon my youngest son request I made a kind of pizza called Calzone ,cause he bought some chili salami and wants me to make something with them,though I’m not in the mood to bake in this hot weather,but I kneaded a small dough,made half filled with salami,cheese,oregano and tomato paste then closed it like a pie and filled the other half with chocolate and bananas,will be a good dessert in the afternoon.

Ingredients and method for the pasta:

* 1 pack spagetti.

* 2 ripe avocados.

* 2 cloves garlic.

* 2 tablespoons yogurt.

* bunch of fresh basil.

* cherry tomatoes.

* Parmesan cheese.

* some sun dried tomatoes (optional).

* cook pasta as directed.

* mash avocados with salt,pepper and yogurt.

* chop garlic,basil leaves and tomatoes.

* just before serving toss all ingredients with the pasta and sprinkle with the cheese.

* As for the Calzone,knead a pizza dough then spread it and add filling then close it , you can use various kinds of fillings of veggies or cheeses or chocolate 🙂

Enjoy .

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.

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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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 🙂

Broad Green Beans Salad.

Hello everybody.

Grocery day again,ended up buying lots of fruits and vegetables,so fresh and tempting,couldn’t resist the red cherries and seedless grapes, don’t you just love Summer with all its colors and varieties?

I got some broad green beans and cherry tomatoes to make this salad that my cousin who lives in Rome posted in my Facebook group, turned out absolutely delicious,even kids loved it 🙂

As for lunch it was fresh mloukhieh with chicken,really good as always,dessert was a big bowl of fruits !!

Ingredients and method:

* broad green beans cut and boiled in salted water till a tender but not overcooked.

* cherry tomato.

* lemon zest.

* sauteed garlic cloves.

* salt,pepper,lemon juice,pomegranate sauce or balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

* just mix all ingredients and toss with dressing .

very easy healthy dish.

Enjoy <3

Watermelon Fiesta !!!

Hello everybody.

Nobody home for lunch today and I was busy all morning making Date Rolls for my friend, when when done I was in no mood to cook anything.

This morning I bought a lovely watermelon, been waiting for it’s season to make these lovely servings or decorations all done with watermelons,fruits and cheese, as usual shape wasn’t as perfect as photos you see in magazines or websites but not bad for a first time, I’m sure this needs lots of practice and special cutters and lots of Photoshop :).

I also made a lovely refreshing juice with them,thanks to my Facebook friend who recommended it, I mixed watermelons with Tang lemon and mint and two ripe bananas with lots of ice. Very cooling in this hot day 🙂

I’ll post my photos and the original ones, you compare and judge!!!

Rock Cookies ( كعك صخري)

Hello again.

As I mentioned earlier I also made some cookies and packed a bit as a gift, I think this is a very loving giveaway or gift, I mean when you cook or bake something for someone you love or care about, you can feel that in the taste or look, is this true or do I imagine this??

Rock cookies are very popular,In Irbid you can find them in every house you visit in Eid time, I have this recipe from my auntie who’s very famous in doing them, but I modified a bit by using brown sugar instead of white and added dried cranberries.

Ingredients and method:

* 2 eggs.

* 1 cup sugar or 3/4 brown sugar.

* 3 big spoons butter.

* 1 cup mixed nuts ( walnuts,almonds,pistachios,hazelnuts)

* 1/2 cup raisins.

* 1 tsp cinnamon,pinch of cloves,cardamom and nutmeg.

* vanilla,1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.

* 2 cups flour.

* mix eggs,sugar and butter till creamy.

* toast nuts in the oven for 10 minutes then crush them.

* add nuts and raisins to flour,baking powder and salt then add egg mixture.

* mix very well with wooden spoon till you have a not too soft nor tough dough.

* make spoonfuls of the dough on a baking pan,size of a small ball.

* bake in a medium heated oven for 10-13 minutes or till edges are golden.

* store in a well sealed jar or tin.

Enjoy 🙂

What to cook today?

day by day cooking ideas

jordan

Chicken Tikka Masala.

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Creamy Avocado Tomato Basil Pasta.

Like this:

Gardening !

Like this:

Steak Rolls (stuffed with vegetables)

Like this:

Cinnabon Pancakes

Like this:

Apricot Jam.

Like this:

Msakhan ( مسخن)

Like this:

Broad Green Beans Salad.

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Watermelon Fiesta !!!

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Rock Cookies ( كعك صخري)

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