Louisiana crab, shrimp and corn bisque

Cooking the veggies
making a "blond" Roux
Simmering!

All Done!

Here's a delicious recipe I found for Bisque. Naturally, as I'm a Muslim, Ive left out the wine,but its no less delicious!

You can also just click on the title and youll transported there in no time!

Bisque is a thick, creamy, highly-seasoned soup of French origin, classically of pureed crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp or crayfish. Also, creamy soups made from vegetables instead of seafood are sometimes called bisques.

If you would like, you can puree the ingredients before adding in the shrimp in the end, i like to leave the shrimp whole so i can savor them!

Rotisserie Chicken and Tom Yum Soup

The Rotisserie Chicken is found here:http://www.recipezaar.com/152116

The Tom Yum Soup here:http://www.bigoven.com/26201-Tom-Yum-Soup-recipe.html

Vegetable Soup

I know I have not updated in a while, its only because I don't have any new recipes that Ive made over the last few days! I have been eating dishes that can be found within my blog in the soups and salads section.

To be honest, I'm so drained of energy from the Gym and College...Not to mention the Cats and their need for affection 24 hrs a day, oh yeah, AND my husband...lol...Phew! My coffee no longer works as effectively as it should to wake me up. On top of all this I haven't lost anymore weight, but I know its too early to tell, but i still wish i could have lost a teeny bit more from all that running and climbing on the StairMaster and Treadmill! On top of all that "something" is wrong with my stomach. The Doctor says theres nothing wrong, but I keep getting this nauseous burning feeling and bloating in the middle of my stomach. It comes and goes in waves...I don't know what to do now that my Dr says it nothing! Drinking laban or eating yogurt seems to help, but that's not a solution.All I want to eat is cereal and milky stuff because of it, and that makes my blog suffer too!...I just hope it goes away!


I made Vegetable Soup 2 days ago for dinner but did not take pictures, so below you'll find a link to a similar recipe to the one I made. Try it out! Its delicious!

http://www.myhomecooking.net/soup-recipes/vegetable-soup-recipe.htm



And.....Here is the cereal I eat for breakfast and sometimes dinner too. It doesnt need anything added to it but milk, unlike cornflakes that I always have to sweeten myself. It is VERY good!
http://www.kashi.com/products/organic_promise_cereal_strawberry_fields

Ash-e-Joe and Eid ul Fitr Kids Treats!

Cutting the Herbs
After boiling the beans you add rice and barley...
Then later add the herbs...
Cook for 1 1/2 hours! and...Voila! Its done!
Mixing the Eid Candies(dont forget the coins!)

The recipe for this soup can be found at: http://www.iranonline.com/iranhall/recipe/barley.html

Ash! (Irani Soup with fresh herbs and beans)

Here are a few variations on Ash below, all very similar but with a small twist on the taste,click the link to get the recipe:

http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/12/06/ash_e_reshteh_bean_and_pasta_soup/

http://www.anvari.org/iran/Persian_Food_Recipes/Ash_e_Reshteh.html

Closest recipe to mine:

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/F.Mokhtarian/recipes/aash-reshteh.html

tip: use canned beans! not dried....you can use Greek style yogurt too instead of kashk...

Ash is a VERY filling Irani Soup made with fresh herbs and beans. It can be made many different ways...It doesn't use spice much, it is all VERY fresh herbs that gives the amazing taste you get with this soup...In winter my family eats this mixed with paper thin bread soaked into it...In Ramadan this is a favorite in my home...

Meatball Casserole (Sahan Köfte) and Lentil Soup

Today I was inspired by two different blogs for our evening meal....Both of these blogs I have found recently and they have become quite a blessing to me! I LOVE all the photos and recipes of both equally.

So, tonight's ftoor(dinner) was a recipe from each. Thanks alot to:

http://almostturkish.blogspot.com/search/label/Meaty for the DELICIOUS meaty main course, and to:

http://arabicbites.blogspot.com/2007/09/lentil-soup.htmlfor the Slurpy rich Lentil Soup!

For these recipes and more from these talented Cooks visit their sites and explore their TASTY blogs!

The only alterations I made were these:

In the Meatball Casserole I didn't use bell pepper because I was not about to walk to the grocery store while I'm fasting in the middle of abu dhabis heatwave of an afternoon! So NO pepper for me! Also, I couldn't make it look pretty like the original recipe says to, because, I do not have an oven proof pot. I did not realize this until after I had cooked it on the stove and was ready to transfer it to the oven, SO, I had to mess it all up to put it in an oven proof pan...It didn't effect the taste though! It was gggggggreat...

In the Lentil Soup I went a little "shredder happy" (after my sister who was helping me went "shredder happy" and shredded her finger...duhhhhh woman!) and I shredded a whopping 5 carrots and 5 zucchinis and 3 potatoes to put into the soup...needless to say it was too much and almost didn't fit in the pot, but, I just added more water and salt and pepper and it tasted exactly the same, delicious!

note to sis: The extra protein never surfaced and is now either lost in the extra, or lost in the stomach. Either way, its our secret!

Meals in the Last 72 hours...

Banana Custard with Pistachio Sprinkles(for suhoor breakfast this morning)

Marag alone....and with raggag called Thareed

My absolute favorite meal.

Shourba Laham(Meat soup)...still in testing stage!

My Supervising Boss in the Kitchen

I was only away for a couple days and It feels like an eternity! I have food photos coming out the ears, and an appearance by "the boss".

Chicken Marag (recipe #2)

My family likes this dish best as a main course with raggag bread(thareed). It is very filling and you can use almost any vegetable to your liking. Sometimes I alternate between fresh green beans,koosa,carrots, and potatoes. This dish can also be cooked with lamb instead of chicken.

1 chicken or 1 pack chicken breasts
2 onions sliced
1/2 cup corn oil
2 tbs garlic blended
1 heaping tbs bezar
salt to taste
3 fresh tomatoes chopped
4 carrots sliced med thin
5 koosa(small zucchini) cut med thin
10 cups water
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 whole loomi (lemon)
1 small carton tomato paste
2 maggi chicken stock cubes

Put oil into a large pot, heat and add chicken, onion, bezar and salt. Brown chicken, turning frequently, then add spices, garlic and both loomi. Fry five minutes on a gentle heat then add all remaining ingredients and water and salt to taste. Boil slowly until chicken and vegetables are soft and tender. You can add more water if needed, just add one more maggi cube to it after. Serve by itself or add Raggag bread to make it Thareed...

Banana Custard with Pistachio Sprinkles

4 heaping tbs custard powder dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1000ml water
8 tbs milk powder
5 tbs sugar
1 tbs banana extract
Blended Pistachios for topping

Boil 1000ml of water in a kettle,put it in a small pot on the stove over med heat, add the milk powder to it and stir till smooth,add sugar,stir to dissolve. Add the custard mixed in 1/2 cup water to the milk,stir constantly until thickened and take off heat, add banana extract and stir through. Pour into bowls and sprinkle with generous amounts of blended pistachios. You can heat it hot, or cold. In my home it is served with tropical fruit salad.


And about the Meat Soup, it is very good as it is, BUT I'm not satisfied, and still testing ingredient levels. Ill let you know when I perfect it *rolls eyes*, to share the recipe!

Enjoy!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Homemade Chicken Soup and Tomato & White Cheese Salad

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Mixing the Pesto with Linguine and Olive Oil

Making Homemade Chicken Soup Stock

Homemade Chicken Soup Done!

Diced Fresh Tomato and Crumbled Salty White Cheese Salad sprinkled with Dried Mint

Homemade Chicken Soup

1 whole chicken

1/2 bushel fresh coriander

1/2 pack vermicelli or other small noodle

2 lrg onions sliced

2 Maggi chicken stock cubes

1 Maggi vegetable stock cube

2 small loomis(dried lemons)

1 1/2 tsp cardamom

salt and pepper to taste

about 10 cups water

Boil chicken with all ingredients except cardamom and noodles. When chicken is cooked add noodles and cardamom to pot and simmer on low heat till noodles are cooked,turn off heat and cover till ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

(excerpt from AllRecipes w/out red wine)

Unaltered recipe can be found at:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sun-dried-Tomato-Pesto-2/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS

4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped pine nuts
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/3 cup crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and cover with warm water for 5 minutes, or until tender.
In a food processor or blender combine sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, garlic, pine nuts and onion; process until well blended. Add vinegar, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and process. Stir in olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt to taste.