Teacakes

بسم الله

This recipe is a favorite at the masjid and goes well with tea OR coffee since it is a little sweet, but not TOOOO sweet :-D

This one makes about 18 cookies



Ingredients:
1/2 c Butter, melted
1/2 tsp Vanilla
3 tbsp Powdered Sugar
1 c Flour
1/2 c Chopped Nuts
Extra Powdered Sugar

Method:
1. Combine butter and vanilla
2. In a separate bowl combine flour and sugar
3. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients until just blended (DO NOT OVER MIX, THE TEXTURE WILL COME OUT WAY WRONG)
4. Add walnuts to dough (I lightly fold them in so that the dough isn't overworked)
5. Roll into 1 inch balls, set on baking try 1-2 inches apart
6. Bake for 12 minutes at 350F
*note* do not cook longer because they will come out hard as a rock. Take them out after 12 minutes even if they don't look any different than when you put them in.
7. Roll in the extra powdered sugar

ENJOY!! :-D

Poppyseed Chicken

Salam!

Bismillah

This is a really easy recipe and the taste is really great!!

Ingredients:
about 3-3.5 lbs of chicken, boiled and shredded (I like to use a blend of thighs and breasts to get that "whole chicken" flavor)
1 can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Condense Cream of Mushroom Soup
8oz Sour Cream
2 tbsp Poppyseeds
2 tubes Ritz Crackers, crushed
1 stick butter, melted

1. Mix Cream o'Chicken, Cream o'Mushroom, and Sour Cream in a large bowl until well blended
2. Add Poppyseeds and Chicken
3. Spread evenly on the bottom of a 9in x 13in casserole dish or pan
4. Mix Crackers and butter (try to have each crumb have a bit of the butter)
5. Spread cracker mix on top of chicken in pan
6. Place dish in a 400F oven
7. Cook for 30-45 minutes until the crackers get a little brown
8. Let cool slightly and then serve!

Ma'amoul: from Finding Guidance...

Salam!

Bismillah

Another repost from Finding Guidance...

So HERE is how I made the ma'amoul. I wasn't completely satisfied with the recipe, so next time I make it I will modify a little, inshaAllah. Traditionally this is made with a really cool wooden mold, but I don't have one so I just shaped them in my hand and decorated with a fork. Oh and you need to start it the night before!!

INGREDIENTS
Cookie:
1/2 cup shortening
8 tbsp butter
1 cup flour
2 cup semolina
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar (next time I will use a little more)
2 tbsp rose water (next time I will use 1 tbsp rose water, 8 tbsp regular water)
7 tbsp water
(next time I hope to add black seed or mahlab to the dough)

Filling:
1 1/2 cup chopped dates
5 tbsp butter (next time I will use 3 or 3.5 tbsp butter)
(Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes mashing occasionally, cool before filling. Be careful to not cook too long because it makes the dates tough and gives it a kind of *burned* taste when the butter starts to brown.)

This is what it looks like when you start cooking. I did NOT like the amount of butter in this recipe at this point and next time will use only 3 or 3.5 tbsp butter here.

DAY ONE
~melt shortening and butter together and cool a little
~mix flour, semolina, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl
~add melted shortening and butter, mix thoroughly (it should be a little sandy feeling)
~cover with plastic wrap and rest overnight


DAY TWO
~make filling
~add rose water and water mixture to the dough and combine with a fork
~take the filling and make small rolled balls


~mold cookies by wrapping in a layer of the dough and then making marks on top with a fork if you want


~bake at 300-325F until the top is slightly brown (the time varries WIDELY depending on the amount of dough and size of each cookie) If you aren't sure if it's cooked, reach in a squish one. If it is still doughy, it isn't done!

This is what they look like before they go in the oven.

~you can add powdered sugar to the top if you want

DONE! :D

I hope this is clear!! Let me know if you have questions or if you tried it!!!

Making Bread: from Finding Guidance...

Salam!

Bismillah

This is a repost from Finding Guidance...
InshaAllah soon I will start putting up new recipes to help beat the boredom!

Peace!

So a couple months ago I decided I was going to learn how to make bread. I looked up a Naan recipe, but I didn't like the taste and couldn't get it to cook well all the way through. I then looked up a simple flatbread recipe, and this is kind of my variation of it. It's easy to remember and pretty tasty. I never make it exact... I just sort of throw whatever I want in it. On the upside, one my friends from Dubai said it tastes just like home! :-D

Ingredients (roughly):
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder, baking soda, and salt (each)
1tbsp butter ghee
1.5 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp shortening
1 cup cold water



The butter ghee, olive oil, and shortening can all be substituted for the other if you want. I've made it with all butter ghee, all vegetable oil, all olive oil, etc. It all works and the amount doesn't have to be exact. If it wont stick together, add just a spoon full of water or vegetable oil. If your dough feels really soft or sticky, just add more flour! :-)



Melt all of this stuff, then combine it with the dry stuff!



Break the dough into 4 pieces if you want 8 large pieces of bread, 6 if you want 12 medium pieces, and 8 if you want 16 smaller pieces. I usually do 6 or 8.



This is about how big the piece should be if you are going to do 12. (This is half of one of the larger pieces in the bowl)



Roll the dough out as flat as you can. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle or anything. Any shape works. I've used this rolling pin, my hands, and a cup to do this part. Do it however you want!



Put a little vegetable oil or butter ghee in a pan and heat it up to about medium high. Be careful if you use the butter ghee for this part because it smokes really really fast. I usually use vegetable oil for this part. When it gets hot, add the bread!



You should see bubbles start to form, which is good. Even really big ones are okay! When you see a whole bunch of bubbles and no new ones are forming, you are about ready to flip it over. It should cook pretty fast. If it isn't, then turn the heat up just a little bit. (I wouldn't go over medium-high though)



This is what it looks like when it is finished! It will have those brown spots on both sides when you are done.

You can eat it fresh, but I prefer to make a WHOLE bunch at once (the last time I made this, I made about 36 pieces) and then put them straight into a grocery sack when they come off the pan. After I'm done cooking I put them into the freezer.

When you are ready to eat them, take the amount you want out of the freezer, turn the oven on broil, put a little bit of water on both sides of the frozen bread, then stick it in the oven for just a little while until it gets soft and warm. Make sure to turn it over a couple times while it is warming so both sides get un-frozen. Be careful to watch it while you do this, because if you leave it too long it will get crunchy like a cracker and there is no saving it after that, lol.


I hope you guys like the bread!! Let me know if you try it!

Food

Salam!

Bismillah

Food is definitely NOT my life. I don't spend all of my time cooking and really I'm not very good at it. But it is something I do as a hobby when I get bored or really hungry. I do it for friends and family usually, but sometimes just for me, although my motto is "food always tastes better when you share."

So my aim in this blog is to SHARE SHARE SHARE!!!

Hope you guys enjoy the food and recipes. Let me know if you try anything :-D

Makarona Beshamel: ala Ange

Salam!

Bismillah

Today I made makarona beshamel. I got the recipe from Ange at Mama... I married a Masri

I made my own marinara type bolognaise sauce and a "lower fat" version of the beshamel with margarine and egg beaters instead of eggs and butter. It worked pretty well and still tasted SO YUMMY!!

It is an excellent recipe and you guys should try for sure.

Al Mandy Al Dajaj (Chicken Mandy)

Salam!

Bismillah

One of my friends from the gulf told me about how they would go out in the desert and dig a pit to make this kind of chicken (or lamb) and rice called "mandy."
I could just picture the set up with the coals under the pot with the rice and the chicken hanging suspended over the pot to cook in the steam and the smoke of the coals.
I set out to recreate this lovely dish in an apartment kitchen, to the best of my ability, and this is what I came up with...

Please let me know what you think!!! :-D
Ingredients:
For the Chicken:
1 Small Chicken (cornish hen) halved
2 tsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Vinegar
2 tsp Olive Oil
Spices: Cumin, Black Pepper, Curry Powder, Paprika, Tumeric, Cardamom, Coriander, Salt, Galanqa
*amounts to your liking. Mine is HEAVY on the coriander and cumin.*

For the Rice:
2-3 Tomatoes
1 Green Pepper
2 Onions
1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Olive Oil
5-8 Cardamom Pods
1 stick Cinnamon
2 Bay Leaves
2 Chicken Bullion Cubes
Dash of Ground Galanqa
Salt to Taste
2 cups Basmati Rice
2-3 cups Chicken Broth (room temperature)
2 cups Water (room temperature)

Method:
1. Chop Veges in thin rounds/ circles




2. Mix all ingredients for the chicken and poke with holes, let rest

3. Soak the Rice for 30 minutes in some room temperature water

4. Run two wires through the chicken halves (make sure it is stainless steel wire... no weird alloys, lol)

5. Melt butter and Oil for the rice in a pan over the stove, add onions, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and green peppers and cook until soft

6. Add bullion cubes, salt, and tomatoes until tomatoes are warm

7. Add soaked rice into the pan and stir until thoroughly mixed

8. Spread rice and vege mixture into roasting pan and add broth and water


9. Next, hang chicken from wires inside the oven over the place where the rice will cook (so that the steam will directly hit the chicken as it cooks


10. Cook in 350F oven for about an hour and a half until rice is done (you may have to add liquid or use less than the 5 cups I recommended depending on the humidity of your home and the ventilation in your oven.)


I hope you enjoy!!!!