Jul 31, 2012

Atayef With Cheese (Arabic Version of Pancake Filled With Cheese)

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The Holy Month of Ramadan, which started about twelve days ago, is the month of fasting for the Muslim. But, after fasting for more then 14 hours, the dinner in Ramadan consist in the most variety of rich foods and desserts. Atayef is a kind of sweet very popular in Ramadan, the dough could be filled either of cheese or with Ashta (kind of Arabic cream). This sweet requires quite some time to prepare but it is worth it.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of flour
  • 2 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup orange blossom water
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 500 grams Akawi cheese (or Mozzarella). Akawi cheese is a kind of salted cheese like feta
  • sugar syrup
  • about 2 cups of frying oil

Preparation:

  • Start by cutting the cheese into small pieces and soak in water to remove the salted taste, change the water every half an hour for about 3 times, or until you find the cheese is sweet enough,(if you are using mozzarella cheese you can skip this step)
  • Prepare the dough: dissolve the yeast in a cup of warm water and leave for few minutes

  • Mix the flour with the baking powder, add the yeast with water, the orange blossom water and the water until you have the consistency of a pancake dough. Let it set for about one hour, until it double volume
  • Heat a large non stick saucepan, and place about half cup of the dough and cook from one side only, you will see on the uncooked side some bubbles formed, that means that the dough is perfect

  • Place the cooked Atayef on a plate until they cool down
  • When the cheese is no longer salty, discard the water, place on a strainer and rub it with you fingers
  • Pinch each piece of Atayef and fill it with a teaspoon of cheese and close it tightly

  • Heat the oil and fry the Atayef about 4 to 5 minutes, place them on a kitchen towel to remove the excess oil, then dip them in sugar syrup

For the sugar syrup:

  • In a casserole boil 4 cups of sugar with 2 cups of water, then add the juice of half lemon, allow to cool a little then add about 1/4 cup of orange blossom water.

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT..BON APPETIT 🙂

Filed Under: Dessert, Lebanese food ·
Jul 19, 2012

Red Lentil Cakes

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I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written something, but the summer feeling has taken over, and family get-togethers and trips are filling up my days leaving me very little time to write much. I hope you’re all enjoying these hot, lazy summer days 🙂

This is a recipe I adapted from a french magazine (Nous Deux) and although the original recipe was well-made, the spices had to be modified to suit my young grandchildren.  It’s a lovely, filling recipe and makes a great vegetarian dish.

Ingredients:

  • 400 grams red lentil
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 150 grams flour
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 dash paprika
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

  • Boil the lentils in a large casserole filled with water, for about 10 minutes
  • In the meantime, In a casserole heat one tablespoon of oil and fry the carrots, the onion ad garlic for 5 minutes
  • When the lentils are cooked, drain them and add the cumin, paprika and coriander, then season with alt and pepper and puree them with a hand mixer
  • Add the flour to the mixture, form a medium sized balls with your wet hand
  • In a saucepan heat the remaining oil and fry the balls of lentils about five minutes until golden brown, then place on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess of oil
  • Serve them with plain yogurt, it is so refreshing in this hot weather

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT.. BON APPETIT.

Filed Under: Lent, Main dish, Side dish, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
Jul 1, 2012

Spaghetti Gratin With Chicken

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While I was thinking about Tabkhet el Yom ( what to cook for lunch today), I checked my fridge and I found boiled chicken and chicken stock. And checked the pantry and found spaghetti. And, always there is cooking cheese and tomato in my fridge. Because, I like from time to time try something new, I decided to cook them together in Lasagna way, but by using the cooked chicken instead of minced beef. And the result was really amazing. The recipe turned out Delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 1 packet of 500 grams spaghetti
  • 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon corn oil ( to be added to the water for boiling spahetti)
  • about 2 cups of shredded boiled chicken, skin and bones removed
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 red tomatoes, finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 liter chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup powder milk
  • 1 cup and a half shredded cheese ( I mixed parmesan and gruyere)

Preparation:

  • In a large pot, boil water, add the tablespoon of salt with the tablespoon of oil, boil the spaghetti for 2 minutes less than instructed, drain the spaghetti and wash is with cold water
  • I another pot, heat the oil, fry the onions until light golden, then add the chopped tomatoes, and cook with lid on for about 10 minutes
  • Add the shredded chicken to the tomatoes and onions, season with salt, thyme and mixed herbs and the ketchup, cook for another 10 minutes
  • Preheat the oven to 200 C
  • In another pot, boil the chicken stock with the milk powder
  • Dissolve the flour with 1/2 cup of water and add it to the stock, let it boil stirring constantly, reduce the fire and let it cook until it starts thickening, then remove from fire
  • In a tray, place 2 tablespoons from the chicken stock sauce, one layer of spaghetti, half the chicken sauce and cover it with half of the white sauce
  • Repeat the same procedure another time, then top with the shredded cheese and bake for about 30 minutes, until the top becomes golden color
  • Serve it with salad

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT. BON APPETIT 🙂

Filed Under: Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,