Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Click the Title to be transported to the recipe! My only advice for this recipe is to make the size of the cookie small, not big. Use a teaspoon and drop a generous size tsp of dough on the baking sheet. Then bake as normal. You can also add M&M's!

Le-ge-matt!

Click on the Title to be transported to the recipe.

After they are done, drizzle natural honey over them to coat them thinly with a sticky sweet layer of natural goodness!

Halloumi Sandwhich

Youll need:

1 pack of halloumi cheese (or any halloumi like cheese unsalted) sliced thin

1 thin sliced tomato

1 longways sliced thin cucumber pieces

lettuce

mayo

4 hot dog buns

Fry the halloumi slices gently till browned a little. set aside. slice open the bread and spread mayo over,place onto bread the lettuce,tomato,cucumber slices and then halloumi pieces. your done!

this makes 4 sandwiches.

Todays Dinner-Recipes to Follow

Chicken Bashamel

Chicken Bashamel

Lentil Soup with Coriander Garnish




For the Salad:
sliced purple onion
cubed small cucumber
shredded lettuce
cubed tomato
chopped coriander
mix and serve with any salad dressing you like!

Tonights Ramadan Menu

Dates for breaking our fast, we usually only eat these in odd numbers with glasses of Laban Up and Fruit Cocktail Juice on the side.
Batheeth up-close
Usually we serve this for guests and with Arabic Coffee.
Batheeth

Khanfaroush
Made with Rice Flour.

Khanfaroush

I decided to try out some recipes found in Fahad Inc.

The recipes for these 2 dishes pictured above can be found here......

Next, I will be posting Chicken Nashif and Lemon & Rose Flavoured Punch...

Enjoy!

Maamoul Treats!

Hi Everyone!

I have to apologize for not posting more frequently, but now is the time of year here in UAE when we like to GET OUT of our "cement cubbie holes" and explore and enjoy the beautiful UAE in the cool breezy weather. So, because of this reason I have not been here much!

So Sorry...

You can check out my latest adventure here:

http://sultanaseye.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-quick-trip-to-al-ain.html

On a FOOD note: Above are some pictures of what I think is called Maamoul...My husband brought them home when I had asked for Date Maamoul and it turned out that he got the wrong thing, BUT, OH were these delicious!

They had 2 fillings: one was pistachios and sugared semolina and the other was like a basboosa filling. In case your wondering whats basboosa you can find the recipe for it in this blogs dessert menu...

They go very well with Arabic coffee or Tea.

I do not have to recipe for these as they came from the bakery, and i know the bakery will not give me the recipe! sorry...But I will be on the lookout for it!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I will be posting the recipe as soon as my friend gets it to me!

These pancakes had a hint of sweetness and were a little bit addictive!

Baked Honey Quince-Uzbek Style

This is another recipe from my friend who is from Uzbekistan. She made these for me today. I must say it is not a taste I have had before! Its a mix between sour, sweet, and something else. It would be just right with Vanilla Ice cream...

The quality of the honey used is VERY important. If you use store bought honey it will taste different from natural honey, as natural honey has a distinctly different taste from store bought honey. You can use either one, but with store bought it will be ALOT sweeter.

_____________________________________________________________________

You will need:

4 Quinces (slice off tops and thinly slice bottoms off so they can stand up right and core, SAVE tops for later)

enough honey to fill each quince half way up

1 tbs butter for each quince

preparation:

Fill each quince half way up with honey and then put in 1 tbs of butter in each quince and then close the quince with the quince tops youve saved. Bake in a pre heated oven over med heat for one hour or until reddend and softend. The quince should stand on its own and the sides should be a little cracked open.

Serve with Vanilla Ice Cream!

Batheeth and Meatball Casserole and The Persian Guest!

Batheeth(UAE Traditonal Sweet)
Meatball Casserole
Hi everyone! Well Ive had an interesting 2 days! I have a temporary guest in my home, I found him yesterday wandering behind my house. He is a VERY sweet and gentle Black Persian cat!

He has obviously been thrown out of his home, and left to starve on the street. He is matted and stinky with a cold...But, you will not meet a sweeter cat! I cannot comprehend someone throwing him out! I mean, a cat is a major responsibility! No one forced them to go the the pet store and buy him, they chose to! So, I guess they liked him as a kitten and hated him as an adult cat, and considering he is a bit sick, maybe they didn't want to bother with him anymore...It really angers me! Fortunately, Ive found him, and on Monday hes going to be health checked at the vet and shaved like a lion to take out his matts! I hope I can find him a great home, he deserves it!

On a "food" note: Above is the dishes we had for dinner and dessert. I have the recipe for the Meatball casserole already written under Sahan Kofte in my blog archive, here is the link the the original blog recipe:http://almostturkish.blogspot.com/search/label/Meaty. I highly recommend this persons blog for yummy delicious Turkish food!

The batheeth Ill post later inshallah...

Horrible Photos for Carrot Cream

I know, I know...horrible pictures... My husband served us this dessert that I actually made. So do not blame me for the horrible presentation! LOL... Anyway, it was delicious either way. Ive posted this recipe in a previous post of Recipes without Photos and it can be found here:

http://sultanaspalate.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html#6942556084562836856

I HIGHLY recommend this recipe for dessert!!

Apple Bread

This bread is a very hearty thick breakfast bread, and would be equally delicious if served as dessert with whipped cream on top! I think it would also taste very nice if fresh ginger is added in the mixing process with the cinnamon :) The apple pieces are gooey and soft inside the bread once its baked, and, when you get a chunk of apple in your bite it is delicious!

This bread will fill your home with a freshly baked delicious apple cinnamon smell...

The only drawback is that it takes an hour and 15 minutes or so to bake! That's a long time!

This recipe from:

http://cooksrecipes.com/bread/apple-bread-recipe.html

Enjoy!

Henna,Dates, and Cookies!

The Rocky Road Cookies
Segai Dates
Look at the size and texture
And the Henna :)

So I'm in the middle of cooking Ash(irani soup) right now...It takes around 31/2 hours to make and I'm getting restless...So i took some photos to share with you...

I went to a Ramadan Bizarre at the exhibition center here in my city and found the most AMAZING dates(the edible kind,ha ha) there...We bought ALOT of them and also the usual girlish things such as perfume,bukoor,dresses and purses...It was really fun and to be honest we didn't really spend that much on all of the nice things we bought..al hamdulelah(thanks to God) we had a great time and were able to afford the lovely things we bought...I also received some rocky road cookies from my mother who pigged out on some and couldn't finish them, so Ive posted a pic of them and a recipe!

As you see in the photos, I also went to get the usual Eid Henna decor that the girls in my family get to celebrate Eid...Mine only took 25 minutes to do but the rest of the girls I was with took 3 hours from start to finish for hair,henna,mani,pedi,etc...

Needless to say, I got really BORED waiting and couldn't sit still! I am not a patient person when it comes to beauty treatments and sitting for long hours....So I started walking around,ordering coffee for everyone(the entertainer and hostess in me,lols),peeling my henna before it was ready, annoying my sister(who had both hands and feet done, so she couldn't move, ha ha)...I also played superwoman for a couple seconds when the heater drying my sisters feet started to spark fire, so i dashed under the table to pull its plug out the wall..this salon has MAJOR safety issues I find out!

Overall we had a great time with "all that DRAMA"...

we girls love drama :)

Rocky Road Cookies

recipe from(http://www.godiva.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?id=474)

Yield: About 1 dozen sandwich cookies

Difficulty:Easy

Preparation: 30 minutes plus baking and cooling times

Rocky Road Cookies:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 bar (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 bar (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Solid Ivory,

coarsely choppedMarshmallow

Filling:

12 large marshmallows

Make the rocky road cookies:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly butter two baking sheets. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat butter in large mixing bowl until creamy, using electric mixer at medium speed. Add both sugars and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.
Beat in flour mixture in two additions, using low speed. Stir in walnuts and chopped chocolates. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Make marshmallow filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with foil and butter lightly. Cut each marshmallow into horizontal halves and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 3 minutes or until marshmallows are slightly softened.
Using lightly buttered spatula, remove two marshmallow halves from baking sheet and place on bottom-side of 12 cookies. Top with remaining cookies, top-side-up, and press together to make sandwiches. Serve immediately.

Tip: If you wish, you can fill cookies with marshmallow fluff instead of marshmallows.

Taste Testing .....

Coconut Besboosa
Coconut Cookies
Rahash
Corn Fritters frying ...
The end result was more of a corn pancake then fritter

BASBOOSA (makes a 9" x 13" pan)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups semolina

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 cup liquid butter or margarine

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or canned thickened cream)

1 tsp. pineapple flavoring or vanilla flavoring (optional)

almonds, pistachios or cashew nuts (optional)

In a large bowl mix the semolina, coconut and baking powder. Knead in the liquid butter until it is well blended.

In a blender (or with a mixer or hand beater) blend the eggs, sugar, yogurt and flavoring. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Stir with a spoon until combined and pour immediately into a 9" by 13" ungreased cake pan.

If desired, decorate the top of the batter with the nuts so that there will be one nut in the middle of each piece (which is cut when removed from the oven) or sprinkle a little coconut on top instead.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until done and nicely browned. Over the hot cake pour cool syrup (recipe follows). Allow to sit to absorb the syrup (a half an hour is good). Cut, eat and enjoy!

Syrup- In a small saucepan combine and boil for about 5 minutes: 1/2 cup water, 3/4 cup sugar and (optional) the juice of half a lemon.

Coconut Macaroons

4 large (120 grams) egg whites
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cake flour
2 1/2 cups (220 grams) sweetened coconut

In a stainless steel bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. When this mixture is warm to the touch, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, flour, and coconut. Cover and refrigerate (about one hour) or until the dough until firm.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place small mounds (about 1 tablespoon) of the dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen Macaroons.

An improvised recipe: 

RAHASH is the Gulf version of Al Halawah Altehiniyah,

made from sesame seeds paste, sugar and flavouring. Kuwait is very famous for its Rahash specially the variety sweetened with debs (date syrup), hence Rahash is a traditional gift from Kuwait. Al Halawah Alteheniyah is also ideal to substitute Rahash in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter or margarine

2/3 Rahash (125g)

1/2 cup sugar,

1 egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For Decoration:

1/4 cup chopped pistachios

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Method: Cream the butter, sugar, rahash, eggs and cardamom. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Cover and cool for one hour. Heat the oven to 190 degree C or 375 degree F. Form the dough into small balls (2cm in diameter). Arrange in a lightly greased tray allowing 5cm between the balls.Press the top of each ball with a fork dipped in flour.

Decorate with pistachios and sesame seeds.Bake until set and its bottom is golden.

Variations:

Rahash Lover’s Biscuits :Stick each biscuit with the other using date syrup or jam. Roll the side in roasted sesame seeds and serve.

Rahash Biscuits with Jam: Reduce sugar to 1/3 cup. In step 5, roll each ball in chopped pistachios. Press your thumb or a small spoon in the centre. Bake and cool, then fill the centre with strawberry or apricot jam.

Marble Rahash Biscuit: After step 3, divide the dough into two equal portion. Add two tablespoons of date syrup or one tablespoon cocoa powder plus one tablespoon of icing sugar to one portion. Mix cover and cool.Take a small piece of each portion, form each into a small rope. Twist the two ropes forming a spiral, arrange in the tray and bake. Alternatively, roll between your palms the two small pieces into a small ball to obtain a marble effect. Decorate with sesame seeds.

Quick Sugar and Spice Fruit Pie

This is a VERY FAST easy dish to make children want to eat their fruit! It is packed into a layer of digestive biscuits and custard. Very tasty as a treat for the children once and while, not alot though, its full of sugar, and theyll be banging thier bodies into walls at 50 kph if you serve it more often!

you will need:

1 pack digestive biscuits
300ml custard with banana essence(make ahead) see my recipe for this in previous post
1 lrg can mix fruit in light syrup
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs butter
1 tbs white sugar
1 tbs cinnamon powder

Crumble biscuits into pie pan, leave 2 for topping. Heat pot on med heat, add butter, then brown sugar, mix till melted, add fruit and cinnamon and white sugar, cook till fruit is mushy and fragrant. Pour into pie pan and spread evenly. Pour custard over this, and crumble reserved 2 biscuits onto it.

Enjoy!

Le-ge-matt!.......Dough Balls

Le-ge-matt~ Dough Balls

Le-ge-matt, a traditional dough ball served with a sticky syrup has been a popular dessert in local cuisine for generations. I have discovered three variations for the ingredients, although the method remains the same with each. Very filling, yet very delicious, the trick when deep frying the balls is to have the fat hot, but not smoking and to allow the dough balls to crisp quickly and turn golden rather than go brown. The syrup is simple to make and the one recipe will suffice for the different variations of the dough balls.

4 cups plain flour

2 1/2 cups tepid water

2 teaspoons yeast

pinch salt

oil for frying

Syrup for serving

Dissolve yeast in water. Sift the flour and salt together, add water and dissolved yeast and mix well with a whisk. Add a little more water if necessary: the batter should resemble a bread dough, though be slightly thinner. Cover and leave to stand in a warm place for six to 10 hours, the longer the better. Heat oil and drop in teaspoons (I tend to make them HUGE) of the dough mix. The balls will swell and float on top. Turn then over until they are brown all round. Remove and drain on paper towel. Serve warm with syrup poured over.

taken from:From the book "The Complete United Arab Emirates Cookbook"by Celia Ann Brock- Al AnsariCopyright © 1994 by Celia Ann Brock-Al Ansari

Pistachio and Cardamom Date Balls

FeeBi in Dreamland (mashallah, adorable)

Today was the First day of Fasting for us Muslims for the Occasion of the Blessed Month of Ramadan. I made a family favorite that we eat for a light dessert with Arabic coffee after meals and sometimes on its own.



Its very simple to make, and requires no cooking!



you will need:



2 cups of dates sticky dates mashed and pitted soaked in 1/2 cup warm water for 20 minutes

2 tsp cardamom powder

1 cup blended pistachio nuts, to a consistency to your liking(my family likes them a bit chunky)



Preparation:



Take dates out of water and make sure no water remains in dates, Mix with blended pistachios and cardamom, roll into small balls and sprinkle with a bit of pistachio powder. Serve in pretty platters with Arabic Coffee.



tip: coat your hands in olive oil a bit so that the date mix wont stick to them when your rolling it.

Lemon and Chocolate Chess Pies

Lemon Chess Pie

Chocolate Chess Pie

The Apple Pie baked Yesterday!

Here are the pies as promised yesterday...Again, its my first time to make pies! Keep this in mind when looking at my photos..lol.... They were VERY tasty even though they look messy...

The pie filling actually didn't fit the baking trays exactly, but, who notices that in my house!

Lemon Chess Pie

Ingredients
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbs. flour
1 tbs. cornmeal
1 lemon rind, grated
1 pie shell, unbaked

Preparation
Beat egg yolks & add melted butter. Add lemon juice & grated rind. Combine sugar, flour, & cornmeal & add to egg mixture. Beat whites until stiff & fold into mixture. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

Chocolate Chess Pie

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 tbs. cocoa
2 tbs. flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 small can evaporated milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs, beaten
1 pie shell, unbaked

Preparation
Beat eggs & add melted butter, milk, & vanilla. Sift together cocoa, sugar, & flour. Gradually add sugar mixture to egg mixture. Mix well & pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top and leave to cool.

ENJOY!