Spinach and mince Bastilla

I looked through the window this morning. I could not believe that the snow had completely melted. I could not fight the urge to walk; the sky was clear and I had not exercised since the beginning of the snow!

After half an hour of walking, I actually felt warm. I took off my gloves and the scarf I had around my neck. I kept checking my phone, the temperature marked 4˚C but for me it felt like summer. A Bastilla and a big bowl of salad were just the perfect finish to the beautiful summer picture I had painted in my mind. I could swear I even smelt a good Barbecue!!!



















Recipe
Ingredients:

1 pack of fillo pastry/spring roll pastry

Oil for brushing

500grs minced beef

1 pack spinach- I used frozen spinach and used around 8 cubes

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 fresh tomatoes peeled and diced

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp coriander

2 tbs fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Method

In a pan, heat two tbs oil, add onion and fry until translucent. Add mince and fry until brown. Add tomatoes, garlic, spices and spinach. Season and let cook for around 10 mins. Keep aside.

Brush a round tin with oil and inter-lay the rolls in a round motion leaving half of the pastry outside the tin until you cover the bottom of the tin (see picture!). Brush each sheet of the pastries with oil and add a second layer of oiled sheets, spread the stuffing in and fold all the extra pastry to cover the pie. Brush the surface again with oil and cook in a medium oven until golden brown. Enjoy the summary dream before it snows again!

Chocolate bread roll

No body loves the kitchen as much as my children do during the holidays!

I tried to understand their frequent visits, I hear noises even at midnight!. Is it hunger? is it the cold? or boredom? One thing is sure: If they do not find something ready, they would serve themselves to a full messy sink, to my horror in the morning! (My daughter says this last sentence does not make sense language wise, but I am sure you understand what I mean!)

That is where pastries come in handy.

Sweet or savoury, they are always welcome. No need to heat them up and they are quiet filling.

So a batch made in the morning would last the whole day… and (with a lot of luck) night!

Today I opted for a sweet one.

                    

Ingredients:

300g bread flour

1 tbs instant dried yeast

2 eggs (I used 1 egg and one 1 egg white in the dough and used the remaining egg yolk to brush the loaves)

2 cups mixture of lukewarm milk and water (that is not very accurate, I suggest you pour a little at a time when you are kneading until the dough reaches the right consistency which is soft and elastic)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate (There is no precise amount or kind of chocolate, Cooking chocolate, Buttons. etc. I used Nutella! And it is delightful!)

Method:

I used a stand mixer to knead the dough for about 6-8mins

I just poured all the ingredients in except the chocolate and the egg yolk (Make sure you do not pour salt over the yeast as it kills it!)

Leave the dough in a warm place until it doubles in size as it rises.

Knead again (by hand this time) for few minutes.

Roll out the dough and spread the chocolate. (Dust your working surface with flour to help you handle the dough)

Roll to form a loaf (this quantity makes two loaves.)

Brush with the egg yolk.

Place on a tray and let it rise again for 1/2 hour.

Cook in a hot oven (200˚ in mine!) until golden brown in colour.

Cut as you would for a Swiss roll and enjoy!

Stir fried noodles a l'Agerienne!

Why a l’Algerienne?

Well today I feel like cooking stir fried noodles and the only  "Chinese" ingredients I have at home are: noodles and Soy sauce.

The rest are ingredients I usually use for an Algerian dish!

The result? The dish looks Chinese. It tastes “Algero-Chinois” and it is delicious!


Recipe:

Ingredients (to feed 4-5 people) (For my family I used double!!!!)

500g egg noodles

350 g kings prawns marinated in soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and fresh coriander for around ½ hour

1 big onion sliced

1 carrot sliced finely

1 red pepper sliced

1 green pepper sliced

1 yellow pepper sliced

1 tomato skinned and diced

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1tsp cumin

1tsp coriander

1 medium bunch of fresh coriander

100ml(approx) Dark soy sauce (I usually use light Soy sauce. Bought this one by mistake!!!)

½ cup of mixed olive oil and vegetable oil! (do not have sesame oil!!).

Method

Heat the oil in a big wok.

Fry the prawns until the colour changes to pink. Drain and put aside.

In the same oil, fry the onion for few minutes then add other vegetables starting by the carrots then the peppers the tomato then the garlic

Add all the spices then the soy sauce. Season.

In a large pan, boil the noodles for 4-5 mins, drain and then add to the mixture an toss. Add the prawns and fresh coriander for a beautiful and colourful dish.

Broccoli and Spinach Soup

What is more satisfying on cold snowy days than a good soup?

But what is a good soup?

A good soup is a soup that children enjoy.

My 11 year old daughter has always been fussy about eating vegetables.

Thanks to my “Green soup” Wissam has eaten vegetables she has never thought she would!

Too late, after today’s post she knows!

When I first made it, it was purely broccoli. Once accepted and loved, I managed to blend in peas, spinach, carrots, parsnips, cabbage…just name it. The greener the better, as long as broccoli dominates. We then called it “Green soup” to remain unidentifiable but always appreciable!

The little hearts on the surface are kisses of gratitude.. Thank you!

Ingredients:

1 small onion chopped

2 large broccoli heads cut into florets/you can use frozen if you prefer

A big bag of fresh spinach/ Use frozen if you want (5-6 cubes)

Any other vegetable but with smaller quantities(2 carrots/ 2 parsnips…)

500ml chicken stock (home made ones make it taste like heaven! But feel free to suit your convenience)

A knob of butter

300ml double cream or single cream or full milk or even semi skimmed milk when you feel the guilt!!

½ tsp dried rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Fry the onion in the butter until translucent. Add broccoli, other vegetable, spinach and rosemary. Fry for few more minutes to sweat the vegetables. Season.

Add the stock and simmer until the vegetables are cooked and soft.With a blender mix to puree all. Add the cream (or milk) and simmer for an extra 6-10 minutes.

Serve with grated cheese and home made bread.

Ice Cream Cake

Last Monday was my twin’s birthday. We do not usually make a big fuss about birthdays but we make it an opportunity to buy those lovely Ice cream cakes from ****.

(Well we do not buy an ice cream cake just because we feel like it.. There needs to be an occasion for it. If it was up to me, I feel like an ice cream cake every day!)

We went to order it on Friday and they said you should allow two working days to get it. What do I do?  Well it is the week end, I decided to make one.

Home made Ice creams are easy to make you just need time, patience and… a good occasion!

The result is rewarding and my family was delighted.

Happy Birthday Twins!

 

Make a sponge cake:

Whisk 3 egg whites until stiff,

In a separate bowl mix the egg yolks with sugar.

Fold in alternatively one spoon of flour and 1/3 of the egg white in the yolk mixture until all the flour and egg white are incorporated.

Cook in a round lined tin in a medium heat oven for 10-12 mins.

Once cooked remove from tin, wash the tin, line it again with parchment paper and put the sponge base back. Freeze.

Basic ice cream:

Ingredient:

4 egg yolks

6 tbs sugar

1 tsp cornflour

1 ¼ cups semi skimmed milk boiled

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups whipping cream

Method:

Make a custard by mixing the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour first.

Pour the hot milk over it while mixing (I used a whisk) pour into a pan and stir constantly until thickened and smooth. Leave it to cool.

Whip the cream until just thickened, add vanilla and fold into the custard.

Freeze in a container for 4-5 hours, beating twice.

Make two batches of the ice cream!

Toffee sauce:

Ingredient:

1 can evaporated milk (unsweetened)

2 tsp cornflour dissolved in 2tbs of milk

6 tbs dark brown sugar

2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbs boiling water

Method:

Cook all the ingredients in a pan and stir on low heat until thickened and smooth

Strawberry coulis and jelly:

Cut around 12 strawberries into slices add 6 tbs sugar and cook until just soft.

Remove the strawberries from the pan.

Keep boiling the liquid until it reaches the jam temperature: that is the jelly.

Keep some slices for decoration and mash the rest to make a strawberry coulis for our ice cream swirl.

Combining the cake:

After 4 hours of freezing and beating the 1^st batch of ice cream, drizzle the toffee over it and spread over the sponge base.

2 hours later spread the second ice cream to which you added the strawberry coulis as a drizzle.

2 hours later decorate with strawberry slices, cover with jelly.

Et Voila!

I know, It is a long process but it was a good pass-time as… we were snowed in!

Stuffed Turkey (Twisted!)

Being a Muslim, I do not celebrate Christmas, but I could not resist the temptation to stuff and roast a turkey.

Pictures of stuffed turkeys are everywhere! They look beautiful, they look irresistible. Something else! It is not easy to find a Hallal fresh Turkey here in Aberdeen! Well you need to order it in advance... and I just was not prepared.

So the Twists: I used a big chicken and for stuffing I used Bulgar (cracked Wheat) and this is the result!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1big chicken (mine weighed 2.8Kg)

To  marinate the chicken, I used:

2 cloves of garlic

1tsp cumin

1tsp ginger powder

1tsp pomegranate paste (Dibs rumaan, you will find this in any middle-eastern shop/ Asian shops)

1 tsp sumac (This is also a middle eastern ingredient)

¼ cup Olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

Stuffing:

1&1/2 cups Bulgur (cracked wheat, medium)

1 cup beef mince

1 chopped onion

3 tbs parsley

2 chopped cloves of garlic

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp ginger

Method:

1 Make a paste with all the marinade ingredients and rub it all over the chicken. Loosen the skin from the flesh an insert the paste. Leave the chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Prepare the stuffing

In a bowl, put the wheat and add twice the amount of boiled water. Let it soak.

Meanwhile fry the onion in 2 tbs of oil, add the garlic,mince, salt and spices.Fry for 4-5 mins
Fluff the wheat with a fork.

Add the onion mix to the wheat and the parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Insert the stuffing under the skin of the chicken, fold the skin and secure with a toothpick.

Put more of the stuffing inside the chicken. Tie together the legs and cook in a very hot oven for 15 mins and then in a low/medium for around 1&1/2 hour or until the liquid comes out clear when pricked with a skewer.

Et voila!

Bon  appetit.

I served mine with roasted vegetables! Yummy!