Les Millefeuilles

You know what happens when you start thinking about a diet to loose some weight?

Well the first day it goes fine… you say to yourself it is not bad after all..I managed my first day with a fat free, sugar free diet. I could do that for ever… and soon your mind digs deep in your memory to remind you about the good old days when you were in your teens and twenties ... when what ever you ate never affected your waist…

Can’t remember the last time I made millefeuille …Ages ago!

Here I am today…thinking about…a diet!

As for the recipe

I used to make my own Puff pastry…It took me all day!

Now I buy ready made! It is equally nice..

Please do not use custard…I was tempted once and used it…It just won’t  be the right thing…

Make your own crème patissiere,; I flavoured it with coffee.
For the fondant use either simple icing sugar and hot water or  (my little secret: heat up some ready to roll white icing!!)

Cake and Go!

Cake and go!

It is the same idea as the Wash and go??? No need to condition, just lather and rinse…all done.

For this cake, apply the same principle, put in all the decoration then the cake and cook… turn into a plate and serve.

My daughter said if I put glace cherries it would add some colour and will look beautiful…

I said you should have told me earlier I would have cooked the cherries with it…For this cake, I will hold on to the one principle: It is an all in one, cook and go… Besides what is wrong with one colour?.. in fact I find it very beautiful It is all merging…no add on…It is cake and go.

Recipe

Ingredients:

200gr plain flour sifted

4 eggs

1Tbs baking powder

200gr dark brown sugar

100gr margarine

100gr vegetable oil

100gr dark brown sugar

4 rings of pineapple

¼ cup pineapple juice

You will need a loaf tin (38cm long) lined with grease proof paper.

Method:

Put the 75gr of sugar in the tin first . Line the pineapple and then the juice. Leave aside

Mix the cake’s ingredient starting by creaming the margarine, oil and sugar,

Add the eggs one by one mixing each egg with a tablespoon of flour. Fold in the remaining flour and baking powder.

Spoon the mixture on the top of the pineapple. Level. Cook in a moderate oven 170, until cooked. Check with a skewer which is supposed to come out clean if inserted through the cake.

Once cooked transfer upside down onto a serving plate.  

Pizza Hearts

     

These little pizzas are for my 3 year old daughter for the love she spreads and clearly expresses all the time to me, her dad, her brothers and sisters.

Since her first visit to Pizza Hut, she calls any pizza: “Pizza hut” but with her baby accent it comes out as “pizza heart” hence the idea...
There is no need to give a recipe here. It is all about the idea!
Use your favorite pizza dough, your best pizza sauce.. cut to shape and cook with love...
These little beauties would be perfect as part of a finger food buffet... or simply to offer to your loved ones..

                            

Rechta

I want to invite you to visit my family in Algeria…

Special guests eat Reshta on the first day..

The next day you will feel so homely you would ask for the leftovers!

And who wouldn’t….It is Reshta…

We also prepare Reshta for very special occasions.. El Mawlid, Ashoura..etc.

Last Monday was a very special day….

Orange mousse Cheese cake

I went to Inverness yesterday…for work…

It was a beautiful day up there…Clear sky …crisp sceneries and, strangely enough, the presentations were kind of interesting and informative…

On my way back, in the train, I sat with a group of people who attended the conference as well. They all work for the same organisation..

Although I had met them before, it is the first time I sat with them and had interesting conversations.

I wish I could say they are really nice and genuine people but I learnt in life to never judge people from the first conversation…

One fact is sure they were very good at making time fly and the journey agreable.. Many thanks!

Sun-dried tomatoes and black olives Bread

Sun-dried tomatoes and black olives bread

Mounirah, Thank you for joining my blog, I was really happy to see your name. As for the bread recipe, I need to confess.I have 2 recipes: A secret recipe and a general one that I give away to people. But today and just for you I will give both:

My secret recipe:

Find an issue. This could be a concern, a worry, a memory or even an idea of a project you want to progress…

Ask your children (or members of your family) not to enter the kitchen with you. You will need all the space. Create an ambiance by putting on your best radio programme or CD.

As for the ingredients: let your mood and instinct guide you but most importantly keep an open mind.

Mix and knead firmly…Don’t mind the time..knead from all sides and explore all options

The dough is ready when the issue is clear in your mind..if it is still not clear, you should at least feel relaxed by then…take a break and gather your strength to start another  dough…

Cook your bread and consume with pride.

The general recipe

3 Cups Strong white bread

2 Cups Wholemeal flour

1Tbs salt

1Tbs instant dried yeast

1/3 Cup olive oil

1Tbs sugar

1/3 cup shredded dried tomatoes

1/3 cup sliced black olives

First make the dough by mixing the dried ingredients making sure not to mix salt with yeast directly.

Add oil and enough water to gather the dough. Knead firmly until soft and elastic (Use a dough machine if you have one). Oil and let it rise in a warm and draught fee place until it doubles in volume.

Knead again for few minutes and divide into 2-3 loaves

Roll out each dough, drizzle with some oil, sprinkle with tomatoes and olives and roll to form a baguette. Transfer to appropriate tins and let rise again for half an hour. Brush with oil and cook in hot oven.

Carrot Soup

Carrot soup

After the dolma (as a main dish) and the carrot cake as a desert, carrots do good jobs as starters as well… what best could you offer on cold days other than a good warm soup?

Any way I insist at eating carrots these days….don’t they say they are good for your sight??

Well I am getting all confused with what happens around me!

I just can’t see clearly and tell apart the wrong from the right….Yes I really need carrots….a lot of carrots!

K'bab with options

Memories come with options...

The ones you like to push away …as far away as you can….

Others.. you like to keep, value and review..

When you find the triggers, you play them again and again.. they draw smiles in your face…

I fry egg battered cauliflowers to travel to El Harrach (my birth city in Algiers) in the eighties.

I fry pre boiled potatoes in olive oil to travel to M’ghanem, the village where I spent most of my holidays as a child.

I make both to complement an Algerian djwaz for my family to enjoy their dinner while I create a
new memory!

Recipe

Djwaz

500grs meat with bones cut into chunky pieces

300 grs chick peas soaked overnight

1 onion finely diced

Salt

Pepper

1Tbs finely chopped parsley

½ tsp cinnamon

Boiled water

2 small cauliflower cut into florettes preboiled, drained and cooled

3 eggs lightly beaten

1Tbs finely chopped parsley

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp cinnamon

salt

 

5 large potatoes pre-boiled

oil for frying

Method

Make your djwaz:

In a large pan over a medium heat, fry the onion until translucent. Add meat and fry for extra minutes, season, add cinnamon and parsley . Add water to cover the meat and add chick peas. Reduce the heat and simmer until the meat is tender. Adjust the seasoning.

Meanwhile add spices, salt and parsley to the egg and fry the cauliflower after rolling each florette in the egg batter.

Cut the potatoes into chunks, sprinkle with salt, toss with olive oil and fry in sunflower oil.

Serve with French bread and slices of lemon.