Egyptain Cauliflower Salad

This is a simple cauliflower salad adapted from My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen by Magda Mehdawy.
The Ingredients
1 small cauliflower
1 tbs. olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tbs lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs chopped parsley

The Recipe
Separate the cauliflower into medium sized pieces and steam in a steamer (if you don't have a steamer you can boil the cauliflower whole in water and then cut it into pieces). Place in a bowl. Mix the olive oil, cumin, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Pour over the cauliflower and mix. Garnish with parsley.

Julia Child's Baked Cucumbers

The other night, tucked under a blanket, we watched "Julie & Julia" on DVD. Why? We're not sure. The movie itself was pretty boring, but it left us wondering about baked cucumbers... We had to try them. The next day, and one cucumber delivery later, we had cucumbers baking in our oven. We were initially skeptical, but  they turned out truly AMAZING. This dish is simple and quick to make and the result is surprisingly delicious. Baked cucumbers, who would have thought?

Baked Cucumbers / Concombres au beure: adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
6 medium cucumbers (about 15 cm long)
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1 tbs melted butter (the original calls for 3 - your choice...)
1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill
4 tbs chopped green onions
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

The Recipe
Peel the cucumbers, cut lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then cut into strips of about 1 cm wide and 5 cm long. Toss the cucumbers with the vinegar, salt and sugar. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry in a towel. (This process is extremely important. It creates the delicate tenderness of the cucumbers once they are baked, by extracting the liquids out.)
Heat the oven to 200 C.
In a baking dish, toss the cucumbers with the butter, dill, green onions and pepper. Place uncovered in the middle of the oven for about one hour, tossing 2 - 3 times until cumbers are tender but still have a bit of of crispness and texture.
Serve warm.

 

Healthy Low-Fat Cornbread

We have been experimenting with cornbread for a while, trying to create a healthy recipe (butter free and not overly sweet). After many trials we think we found it.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3 tbs. brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (you can use soy milk or regular milk)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Lightly grease a 9 inch round spring-form pan.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. It's ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

A Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast

We don't like eating a sugary breakfast and this delicious whole oatmeal is a healthy alternative.

Ingredients:
6 tbs. raw whole oats (not Quaker)
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup almond milk (you can also use soy, rice or regular milk)

for the topping:
1 banana. sliced
1tbs. raisins
1tbs. pumpkin seeds (not salted, we like to use organic)
1tbs. sunflower seeds (not salted)
1tbs. almonds

The Recipe:
Cook the oatmeal and liquids in a small pot over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. When done, remove from heat and top with bananas, seeds, nuts and raisins.

Egyptian Black Lentil Soup

In our everlasting attempt to expand our cookbook collection we traveled to Egypt and picked up a copy of My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen by Magda Mehdawy (on our way we managed to see the major sites and taste some local specialties). Our first recipe trial was very successful, resulting in a hearty lentil soup, excellent for any time of year. For a nicer look and a lighter consistency, you should use yellow lentils.

Ingredients:

500 gr black lentils

1 tomato, quartered

1 carrot, quartered

1 tsp salt

1 large onion

1 tbs veg oil

1 cup water

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tsp cumin

chopped parsley

The Recipe:

Wash the lentils well. Transfer to a large pot, add the tomato, carrot and salt and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree in a blender.

Chop the onion and fry it with the oil in a large pot until golden brown. Add the pureed lentils, water, lime juice and cumin. You may add more water as needed. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Transfer to serving bowls, garnish with chopped parsely and serve. The soup will taste even better tomorrow. When reheating you might want to add some water since it tends to thicken in the refrigerator.

Thai Black Grape and Cashew Muffins

In Bangkok we bought the wonderful Doi Khan Cookbook. It's a funny little cookbook, with a collection of recipes compiled by the Royal Project Foundation. The recipes are all written by Thai aristocrats including the Royal Highness herself! Though most of the book is Thai food, we found this delicious recipe for Black Grapes and Cashew Muffins and had to try it out. Apparently, Thais don't only eat Thai food, and if it's fit for their Queen, it will most certainly suit us Royals.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup lightly crushed cashews
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
125gr melted butter
1 cup fresh black grapes

The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Mix in the cashews.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together with the butter and milk and then combine with the flour mixture. Finally, lightly stir in the black grapes.
Spoon into buttered muffin pans, making sure you don't fill them up completely (allow room for them to rise).
Bake for about 20 minutes, and serve warm.

Citrus Juice!

Our weekly organic produce delivery has been delivering tons of citrus fruits lately. So after many orange-lemon-grapefruit jams we made a big batch of citrus juice. Summertime is near!

Carrot Tomato Soup

We were looking through old photos of dishes we made and discovered these great photos of a carrot and tomato soup recipe we threw together not so long ago.

The Ingredients
1 tbs. butter
6 carrots, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
3 tomatoes, cubed
1 round zucchini, cubed
1 small red chili pepper, chopped (if you don't like it too spicy, add the chili whole)
1 tbs. brown sugar
1tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
juice from 1/2 lemon


The Recipe
In a soup pot, saute the carrots and sweet potato in the butter until they begin to soften, add the tomatoes and zucchini and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add enough water to the pot to completely cover the vegetables. Add the chili pepper, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Puree soup in blender (or with a hand held blender). Add lemon juice and salt to taste.

You can top each serving with a pinch of lemon zest. It makes a big difference.

Borscht with Shrimp

This week our pile of root vegetables continued to grow, amounting from our weekly organic vegetable delivery. So, we asked ourselves: What can we make with carrots, sweet potato, beets and zucchini? We hadn't made soup in a while and decided to try our luck and make something up. This experiment resulted in a very tasty (and slightly spicy) borscht soup. Our twist on a Russian classic.

Ingredients:
1 tbs. butter
3 carrots, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
2 small beets, cubed
1 round zucchini, cubed
1 cup white cabbage, shredded
3 tbs. hot pepper relish (Adzhika) or 1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1/2 cup of coriander, chopped
10 peeled shrimp
salt and pepper to taste

The Recipe:
Saute the carrots, sweet potato and beets in butter in a large pot until slightly softened, about ten minutes. Add the zucchini and cabbage (which cook faster) and saute for another 5 minutes. Add water to the pot until it almost covers the vegetables and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the hot pepper relish or chili, cinnamon and fresh coriander and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the shrimp, watching them closely and as soon as they turn pink, about 2 to 3 minutes, turn off the heat and serve.

 

 

Tofu Stuffed Peppers

Lately we've been getting a weekly delivery of veggies from an organic farm. Even though it's nice to receive fresh organic produce to our doorstep, we don't have control over it. It's all about seasonal cooking. Though some would find it intimidating, we see it as a challenge. 

Last week we got a bunch of beautiful long red peppers, and with a bit of creativity we made up a delicious tofu stuffing to go inside them. It's very quick to make, and the result is tasty and surprising.

We also tried to stuff tomatoes with the same stuffing. It turned ok, but we found that with the red peppers it worked much better.

Ingredients:

4 long red peppers

for the stuffing:

1 cup cooked white rice

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup roughly chopped coriander

1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley

300 gr tofu, cubed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 to 1 tbs vanilla extract (to taste)

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup peeled walnuts

olive oil

The Recipe:

In a food processor, grind together the onion, garlic, coriander, parsley, tofu, cumin, salt and pepper. Transfer into a bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients. 

Now cut open the peppers lengthwise. Remove the seeds with your hands.

Arrange the peppers on a baking dish with covered with baking paper, drizzle olive oil  on top and bake in the oven at 180 C for 30 minutes. After baking let the peppers cool for a few minutes, and serve warm.

 

 

 

Maronchinos (Almond Biscuits)

With Passover coming soon, it's a great time to try out some wheat-free recipes. Adapted from Claudia Roden's Book of Jewish Food, we made these little almond biscuits and they turned out a huge success. It takes about 10 minutes to make, but the richness of the almond and rose essence give the impression you labored over them for at least a day. The biscuits are delicately moist and can go well either with coffee or tea or as a dessert.    

The Ingredients:

400 gr ground almonds

125 gr sugar

3 drops almond essence

3 drops rose essence

1 tbs vanilla extract 

2 eggs, lightly beaten

The Recipe:

In a large bowl mix the almonds and sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands to get a smooth paste. Roll into walnut-sized balls, flatten them slightly with your finger and place in a baking dish on a greased baking paper. Bake in the oven at 180 C for 20 minutes. Let cool before serving.

 

 

 

Steak with Onion and Tomato Sauce

We had a long day working at home and we craved something a bit decadent for lunch. It was a matter of minutes before we realized we had two beef fillets waiting in the freezer! With no extra thought we defrosted the steaks and threw together an incredible onion and tomato sauce to go with them. The result was just perfect.

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tbs chopped fresh ginger

1/2 tbs black peppercorns

1 large onion

1 tomato, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped

1/2 cup white wine (can use also red)

25ml balsamic vinegar  

1 1/2 cup water

1 tbs salt

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dried red chili

The Recipe:
Heat the olive oil in a medium pot. Over medium heat, saute the onion, garlic, peppercorns and ginger for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix in the tomato and let simmer for 2 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients, first the fluids, then the spices and mix well. Bring to a boil and let simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until only thick fluid remains.

This is the time to make the steaks. We made ours by rubbing olive oil and chopped garlic over the steaks and searing them in a very hot skillet on all sides. Then we let them cook for 10 minutes more on each side over medium heat.

When the steaks are ready, place them on a plate and pour the sauce on top. Voila!

Served with cooked wheat and steamed carrots