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Onion and Mushroom Stuffed Potato with Garlic “Butter”

April 14, 2016 by Nevine 2 Comments

Apparently everyone is an aspiring vegan these days, even committed carnivores are having at least one vegan or vegetarian day a week. And I want to help, which is why I made this baked potato stuffed with onions and mushrooms while I ate my beef and chicken sandwich (kidding. kind of.).

This baked potato is not just any baked potato. It’s a gluten free, plant based, vegan, low calorie caramelized onion and mushroom fest.

Did I mention it doesn’t taste like cardboard either?

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes
1 onion, diced
500 grams mushrooms, diced
1 head of garlic, whole
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon oil (optional)
1 teaspoon dried herbs of choice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh oregano (optional)
1 Tablespoon sweet soy sauce (optional)

Directions:

Scrub the potatoes and stab them several times with a fork. That’s for steam to escape, otherwise you risk a potato explosion in your oven.

Rub the potatoes with a little oil and salt and bake for about an hour at 180 c. Don’t forget to put a head of garlic drizzled with a little oil.

Meanwhile saute onions until they are as dark as you like (anything from golden yellow to deep caramel brown- depends on how patient you are). Add minced garlic and mushrooms and season with salt, pepper and anything else you like. I added a little oregano and soy sauce.

When the potatoes are done wait a second and carefully slice one open (don’t cut in half). Just look at that lovely steam coming out!

Remember the garlic head you roasted along with the potatoes? Squeeze out a couple of golden cloves and use a butter knife to rub them into a creamy paste inside the potato.

Now spoon a generous amount of onion and mushroom mixture into the baked potato.

Mushroom Soup

July 22, 2015 by Nevine 2 Comments

This is mushroom soup for hardcore mushroom lovers. No cream of anything is involved.

So not for me.

Ismail had something like this at Casper and Gambini’s and couldn’t stop raving about it. What’s great about this is that it is quick, super easy and healthy on top of that.

Since I don’t like mushrooms I have no idea if it’s good or not- and Ismail might be lying to save himself a “I am soooo unappreciated around here. I cooked, washed the dishes and bravely faced six potty training accidents today” angry wife tirade- please let me know if this in fact tastes like crap.

Ingredients:

200 grams mushrooms, any kind
2 cups chicken or beef stock
1 large garlic clove
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon oil
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh thyme or rosemary spring (optional)

Directions:

Chop mushrooms.

Saute garlic and onion in oil for a couple of seconds. Add mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add stock, bay leaf and seasoning and let simmer on medium high heat for 10 minutes.

Discard bay leaf and fresh herb sprigs. Set aside a couple of mushroom pieces. Puree the rest in the blender.

Add mushroom pieces for chunk factor.

Salsa

April 9, 2015 by Nevine 2 Comments

I have two year old twins.

If you stick with me five or six years I’ll be able to update this blog more often. No? I thought you wouldn’t.

So anyway, salsa. If you live in Egypt then the only reason you go to Chilli’s is to have their big basket of chips and salsa and try to get away with not ordering a meal because their main dishes aren’t the greatest. Otherwise you buy really overpriced supermarket jarred salsa, try to eat it, then throw it away and go to Chilli’s again.

I’ve been trying my hand at homemade salsa for a long time and I think I’ve finally made a version that is kind of tasty if I do say so myself. I’m not a big fan of raw onions so I sauteed them a little first and that also gave the salsa a nice touch of sweetness.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes, chopped
Onion, diced
Jalapenos, jarred or fresh (quantity depends on how spicy you want the salsa to be)
Pinch of sugar
Salt, to taste
Cilantro
Juice of half a lime
Garlic (optional)
Pinch of cumin (optional)

Get your ingredients ready. Sorry some are missing in this picture.

Saute the onion in a dry pan (add a pinch of sugar first if you like) for a minute until it starts to caramelize. If you want to use garlic add it now and don’t let it brown.

Add tomatoes and let it cook for another minute. Add jalapenos and cilantro.

I like my salsa smooth so I gave it a quick whir in the food processor. Add lime juice and cumin if you like.

Voila.

Really good salsa.

Get some chips and go.

Almond Date Oatmeal Cookies

February 1, 2015 by Nevine 2 Comments

These cookies were basically an accident. My twin terrors were screaming for more “kota”- their word for biscuits-and I had just run out. So I hurriedly threw together a couple of what I considered healthy ingredients I had on hand in the food processor and found myself with a pile of delicious cookies I couldn’t get enough of.

The best thing about these cookies is that they’re really easy to make and actually full of good stuff. They’re pretty filling too so you won’t be tempted to eat more than a couple.

Oh yeah, and they’re oil and butter free;)

Ingredients:
1 cup instant oats
1 cup wholewheat flour
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup almonds
¼ cup raisins
7-10 pitted medjool dates
¾ Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt

Directions:
Mix everything together in your food processor and pulse until mixture comes together.

Use a spoon to scoop balls of sticky cookie dough onto greased baking sheet. Flatten them with the back of the spoon.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for around 12 minutes and be careful not to over bake or they will become dry and break-your-tooth tough.

Two-ingredient Mini Nutella Croissants

January 15, 2015 by Nevine 2 Comments

I had a hell of a time coming up with a name for these things. I really wanted to go with Super Easy and Quick Two-ingredient Mini Nutella Chocolate Stuffed Croissants that Taste Just Like Molto. Molto is a super addictive snack beloved by Egyptians everywhere, by the way.

There’s really not much to say about these delightful little morsels. Croissants stuffed with chocolatey Nutella in under 20 minutes.

Need I say anything more?

Ingredients:
1 package of frozen puff pastry
1 jar of Nutella

Let pastry thaw at room temperature until it’s still cold but easy to work with.

Flatten it into a large circle.

Divide circle into equal sized triangles (I used my pizza cutter for this)

Put a dollop of Nutella at the base of each triangle.

Roll triangle into croissant shape, making sure to seal the edges well so chocolate doesn’t ooze out during baking.

Now pinch the tip of the triangle so that it sticks. That way the croissant won’t come apart as the pastry puffs up in the oven.

Arrange croissants on baking sheet and brush the tops with a little milk to give them a nice browned colour as they bake.

Bake in a 200 c degree pre-heated oven until they are nice and all puffed up.

You’ll have to eat these up on the same day because they don’t keep very well. Sorry, I know that will be difficult.

What to Eat When There’s No Electricity

August 20, 2014 by Nevine 4 Comments

In case you don’t live in Egypt, here’s the short story: we have no electricity for at least 6 hours everyday. It’s 40 degrees Celsius. Yeah.

So this morning I got the bright idea to grill chicken and kofta for lunch. One and a half hours later I found myself slaving over a hellishly hot stove turning chicken skewers in a closed kitchen without a fan. I then tried to take a shower to get the grilling stink out of the crevices of my hair, but surprise! No water either. So I had some chicken. And it so wasn’t worth it.

Therefore I’m not cooking anything that requires grilling/steaming/poaching/baking/refrigerating/processing until the damn electricity fiasco is resolved in 2018 (we tentatively hope).

Without further ado, here are some ideas of stuff we can make and eat in the dark:

1) Sandwiches
– Nutella (although I’ve heard there’s a worldwide Nutella shortage. Not a great year so far, is it?)
– Honey and banana
– Halawa spread
– Tortillas or shami bread stuffed with shredded supermarket rotisserie chicken and vegetables.
– Peanut butter and jam
– Cold cuts
– Cheese

2) Salads
– Green
– Mexican
– Asian
– Egyptian (balady)
– Greek
– Italian
– Lebanese
– Fruit

3) Dips
– Tortilla chips and salsa (or guacamole)
– Pita chips or vegetable sticks and hummus
– Lebanese bread and garlic sauce
– Baguette and olive tapenade
– Egyptian balady bread with tahini and molasses

4) No cook appetizers
– Cheese, crackers and fruit platter
– Bruschetta with tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar
– Pickles
– Mixed nuts
– Rice-less sushi
– Bakery sandwiches and pizzas
– No bake flatbread pizza

5) Cans, tins and packets
– All condiments like ketchup, mustard, soy sauce…
– Ramen noodles (yes, I know it’s unhealthy. But we’re in survival mode, ok?)
– Cereal
– Beans
– Tuna
– Fruit in syrup
– Mini hotdogs
– Sweet corn
– Peas, green beans and carrots
– Chickpeas
– Corned beef
– Mexican salsa
– Italian chopped tomatoes
– Chocolate! (have fun with this, after all you’ve been through you deserve it)

Peach Kunafa

July 17, 2014 by Nevine Leave a Comment

So Ramadan is coming to an end and I kind of dug myself into a hole. I posted a Facebook status saying that kunafa with Nutella is kind of disgusting. And apparently everyone thought that meant I was a kunafa purist. Which I’m totally not. I just think that syrupy kunafa doesn’t go with sickly sweet chocolate goo. Ew.

But kunafa and fresh peaches, now that is another story.

Imagine this; warm slices of peaches with hints of vanilla and cinnamon sandwiched in between two layers of kunafa, topped with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.

Nothing more to say, is there?

Ingredients:
Peach filling:
1 kilo fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons corn starch
I teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Kunafa:
500 grams raw kunafa, fluffed and cut into short strands
1 cup sunflower oil
2 cups thick sugar syrup, chilled

Garnish:
4 cups whipped cream
¾ cup caramel sauce

Grease your pan and work oil well into kunafa strands. Pat the first kunafa layer into the bottom of the pan, pressing on it until even.

Prepare peach filling by boiling water, corn flour, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla and stirring in peach slices.
Pour mixture on top of the first kunafa layer in the pan.

A little caramel here can’t hurt.

Press in more kunafa on top of the peach filling to create a second layer, creating a kunafa “sandwich”.

Bake in a preheated 220 c oven until the kunafa turns LIGHT golden brown and take it out.
Immediately pour the cold sugar syrup over the hot kunafa while it’s still in the pan, drenching it.

Flip it upside down on a serving plate with one quick motion. The bottom (now top) kunafa layer will be a darker golden brown than the other side, which is what you want.

Let the kunafa cool down, then garnish it with the whipped cream and drizzle more caramel on top of it. You won’t be sorry.

Peach Kunafa

Ingredients

Peach filling:
1 kilo fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons corn starch
I teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Kunafa:
500 grams raw kunafa, fluffed and cut into short strands
1 cup sunflower oil
2 cups thick sugar syrup, chilled
Garnish:
4 cups whipped cream
¾ cup caramel sauce

Instructions

Grease your pan and work oil well into kunafa strands. Pat the first kunafa layer into the bottom of the pan, pressing on it until even.
Prepare peach filling by boiling water, corn flour, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla and stirring in peach slices.
Pour mixture on top of the first kunafa layer in the pan. A little caramel here can’t hurt.
Press in more kunafa on top of the peach filling to create a second layer, creating a kunafa “sandwich”.
Bake in a preheated 220 c oven until the kunafa turns LIGHT golden brown and take it out.
Immediately pour the cold sugar syrup over the hot kunafa while it’s in the pan, drenching it.
Flip it upside down on a serving plate with one quick motion. The bottom (now top) kunafa layer will be a darker golden brown than the other side, which is what you want.
Let the kunafa cool down, then garnish it with the whipped cream and drizzle more caramel on top of it.

The Curious Case of the Gasp Non-Identical Twins

May 12, 2014 by Nevine Leave a Comment

Stranger/Friend/Relative: Are they twins?

Me: Yes, they are.

Stranger/Friend/Relative (pause): But they don’t look like twins.

Me: No, they don’t, because they are not identical twins.

Stranger/Friend/Relative (longer pause): They look very different. Aren’t they identical? Since they’re both girls they must be identical.

Me: They are fraternal twins, not identical. They do not look the same.

Stranger/Friend/Relative (looks at me suspiciously): But why don’t they look similar? One has dark hair and the other is blonde!

Me (stares in disbelief): I’m sorry, I really don’t know why they look so different. They were kind of, um, born that way.

Stranger/Friend/Relative (disappointed): So strange, they don’t even look like sisters.

Me (getting desperate): It is really okay, we don’t mind that they look different.

Stranger/Friend/Relative (murmurs to themselves): That one is prettier…

Me (barely surviving the conversation): Each one is unique, we never compare them.

Stranger/Friend/Relative (clueless): Oh well, God bless the little munchkins. They sure look different though…

Me (in a defeated whisper): They. Are. Not. Identical.

Stop.

Repeat 12000 times a month.

photo credit: bambibabe48 via photopin cc

Zoodles

May 8, 2014 by Nevine Leave a Comment

Ismail has been on a diet since 2008. He thinks he has anyway.

What happens is that every Saturday night he resolutely announces that he will only consume water and lettuce for at least the following three months. I would then be strictly informed not to make anything with rice, pasta, bread or sugar because he would refuse to eat it.

Sunday rolls around and he happily consumes the cardboard I made. Monday he’s a little less enthusiastic. By Tuesday he starts to feel sorry for himself and has a small cheeseburger at work because he’s bored with my grilled cucumbers. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are his days off.

So much for the weight loss.

I needed to go back to saucy, meaty, fun-ner dinners that would fill up a big plate and trick him into feeling less deprived.

Enter “zoodles”.

Zoodles are basically zucchini sliced very, very thinly to resemble noodles. Sautéed with some garlic and onion and topped with any kind of sauce they look and feel like spaghetti (don’t taste the same but then I have a trick for that;)).

Plus it’s really fun to say “zoodles”. Zoodles. Zoodles. Good job, whoever came up with the name.

Ingredients:

Zucchini (number depends on size)
½ medium sized onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Salt

Supplies:

Any kitchen device designed to julienne vegetables

I used my mandolin slicer to julienne the zucchini into “angel hair” pasta like strands. You can also use your good old vegetable peeler to make more fettuccine style zoodles.

Sauté onions, garlic and “zoodles” very lightly until just done. Don’t overcook or it will turn to mush. Season with salt.

This is what you’ll get.

Honestly plain zoodles don’t really do it for me, so I add a very small amount of regular spaghetti and mix them both up. The zoodles bulk up the dish while the real pasta gives it that missing yum factor.

Served with meatballs in marinara sauce or whatever else with lots of sauce, you’ll be able to enjoy your favourite pasta dish without all the carbs plus an extra boost of sneaked in veggies.

Zoodles

Ingredients

Zucchini (number depends on size)
½ medium sized onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Salt

Instructions

Slice the zucchini into pasta like strands using a vegetable peeler.
Sauté onions, garlic and “zoodles” very lightly until just done. Don’t overcook or it will turn to mush. Season with salt.
Serve with anything that goes with pasta.

Roasting a Chicken: A Tale of Terror

May 8, 2014 by Nevine Leave a Comment

I’ve never cooked a chicken before.

I’m completely fine with various chicken parts; chicken legs, chicken breasts, chicken wings. I just have this thing about dealing with a whole, dead chicken carcass. The idea has always terrified me.

After a year of feeling pretty ridiculous, I decided to face the music. What was I afraid of? No, really. It’s not like I’d be the one murdering the damn thing, I’m merely the one transferring the killed, de-feathered and cleaned bird from the fridge to the oven. Kooki has done all the hard work already. How challenging could it be?

So two weeks ago week I bought a chicken from the supermarket. I admired the packaging, very airtight. I put it in my trolley and then proudly placed it on the belt with my other stuff and paid for it. Did you know it’s actually much more economical to buy a whole chicken than a cut one? It’s great, I’m going to buy a chicken every week now.

As soon as I got home I quickly stuck the bird in the freezer, it would’ve been terrible if it thawed too soon, since unfortunately I couldn’t cook it the next day. I had to go to work and felt I’d like to save the chicken-cooking experience to my day off. I couldn’t wait till the weekend.

The following weekend I had a little cold, so I didn’t take the chicken out since it’s the kind of thing that needs my full attention and maximum culinary prowess. I downloaded 13 roast chicken recipes to prepare myself instead.

I felt much better a couple of days later but I had the sudden urge to make pizza. Of course, you can’t make pizza and chicken on the same day. They don’t go with each other and you can only use the oven for making one of them. Baking the pizza was good practice anyway. I hadn’t baked anything in a while.

This morning I opened the freezer to get some ice-cream to find the chicken staring me in the face. Several people I’d boasted to 2 weeks earlier have been asking me about the allegedly incredible chicken I was planning to make. I was beginning to feel a little embarrassed. It was time.

I opened the packaging to discover that my fears were completely off base. Raw chicken isn’t scary; it’s utterly the most disgusting, blood curdling sight in the world of food. No, scratch that. In that state, it shouldn’t have the honour of being called food. The colourless, naked little blob just sat slumped there like a lumpy jellyfish. Yekh…

Now comes the really gross part, touching the blasted thing. I wore gloves of course, but they couldn’t even begin to camouflage the slippery, slimy, pimply texture of the skin. And I had to touch it, how else would I be able to stuff it? Stuff it! Good grief! I was going to have to stick my hand in its, what’s it called…cavity, and put stuff in there!

I can’t really remember what happened next because that’s when things got so traumatic for me that I blocked the rest of it.

The thing (I’m calling it a thing to disassociate it with the tasty, succulent food I know and love called chicken) is in the oven now. God knows if I’ll be able to look at it the same way I’ve looked at chicken my whole life.

photo credit: eyesore9 via photopin cc

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