Onion Flowers

This is a wonderful side dish, to accompany a roast, a ham or a turkey dinner. If you like the onion blossom at the Outback Restaurant… you will love these onions... Simple to prepare, elegant on your plate, and most of all no frying.

Feel free to substitute or change an ingredient you like. Add your touch.

I made these Onions on Sunday for Easter Dinner. Since we were only four, I used four medium, the bigger the onion the better shape the flower will open.

Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 4 large onions
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey( I used fresh maple syrup, my father in law still cooking the sap)
• 1/4 cup butter
• Salt and pepper

*If you don’t have honey or maple syrup, you can use 2 tsp brown sugar.

** serve it with a drizzle of the syrup on top.

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut ends off of onions and peel. Slice each onion 5 times, from the top to within 1/2 inch of the bottom. Turn onion 90 degrees and then make 5 more slices the same way, to create a crosshatch pattern, three quarters of the way down the onion. Place the onions into an 8" by 8" baking dish.
3. Put water, honey and butter into a small pot and gently heat until the butter melts. Season onions with salt and pepper and then pour the honey mixture over them. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, until the onions have opened into a flower shape and are tender and golden.

Amazing taste… Trust me you will love it, and will do it again and again.

Orange Tian - The Daring Bakers Challenge

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Note: There are quite a few steps to making this dessert; however a lot of them can be made in advance. The orange marmalade can be made several days ahead of time and the caramel sauce and orange segments preparation should be made the day before you make the dessert. Also, if you have a scale, try and use the weighed measurements as they will be the most accurate.

For the Pate Sablee:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
granulated sugar 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams
vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
Unsalted butter ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed
Salt 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams
All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
baking powder 1 teaspoon; 4 grams

Directions:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Marmalade: (I used my own home made with has oranges, grapefruit, tangerine, and lemon with some slices of citrus segment. I don’t use pectin; I use the old method of cooking until it thickens…

For the Orange Segments:

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

[See YouTube video in the References section below for additional information on segmenting oranges.]

For the Caramel:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the Orange Tian

For the Whipped Cream

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snugly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

To be honest this is not the flavour I wanted to use for this tart... I wanted to try Mango and Peach, toping and mango peach homemade jam .

Also an appetizer tart combines home made mascrapone cheese with Lebanese fig jam, and fresh figs topping...and drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar .

I was very sick the last couple of days, I had a bad sinus infection, all my face with hurting.

I couldn't do much . But keep checking I am going to prepare the new flavours soon, and post them as part two of the challenge.

French Vegetable Tian

Provençal cooking celebrates the earthy traditions of the French countryside and southern France in general, with food as simple and good as bread, wine, cheese. A Tian is a layered, baked vegetable dish that originated in Provence but is also common to city kitchens. The vegetable Tian is a savoury dish to complement the sweet dish for the March Challenge.

Unlike a gratin, a Tian does not include a dough, bread crumbs or cheese, which allows the juices in the vegetables to evaporate in the oven's dry heat, concentrating their flavours.

Summer Vegetable Tian

This recipe calls for aubergines (eggplants). Look for glossy, brightly coloured skins (eggplant with overly dark flesh tends to be bitter). As with many rustic recipes, ingredients are called for by size and quantity but not a measured amount. Try not to worry: If you use the sizes and quantities below, you should have the right amount.

2 medium leeks

4 medium cloves garlic (the recipe calls for 2 cloves)

1 or 2 small zucchini

1 or 2 small aubergines (eggplants)

2 or 3 medium plum tomatoes

2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme (I used 1 tbsp Herb De Provence)

1/4 cup dry white wine (you can use water or vegetable stock-wine gives the acid flavour)

Extra virgin olive oil

Butter (I didn’t use butter, instead I brush the veggies with olive oil)

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1. cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of a two-quart glass or ceramic baking dish. Set aside. Butter the inside of the dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Remove the root ends of the leeks and cut the leeks just where the white part meets the green top. Set the greens aside for another use (such as making stock). Slice the white leek segments in half lengthwise and halve each. Slice leek quarters crosswise into ribbons; scrape into a bowl and fill the bowl with water. Swirl the leeks around until they start to separate and release the grit between the layers. Repeat with one or two changes of water to remove all the grit. Once the leeks are clean, drain them in a colander.

3. While the leeks are draining, peel and mince garlic.

4. Remove the ends from the zucchini and aubergines and discard. Cut each crosswise into coins 1/8-inch thick.

5. Remove the stem ends from the tomatoes and discard. Cut each crosswise into rounds 1/8-inch thick.

6. Coat a small pan with a two-count of olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and swirl to coat. Gently add the leeks, avoiding splashing. Cook, stirring frequently, until the leeks have begun to soften and the garlic has released its fragrance, approximately two minutes.

7. Carefully spread the leek-garlic mixture across the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and a few grindings of fresh black pepper; strip the leaves from one of the sprigs of thyme and sprinkle over the mixture.

8. Layer the zucchini, aubergines and tomato on top of the leek-garlic mixture, alternating each and overlapping slightly. If working with a square or rectangular dish, layer in rows; if working with a circular or oval dish, work in fans from the center. Drizzle with a two-count of olive oil and splash with the wine. Sprinkle with salt and a few grindings of fresh black pepper; strip the leaves from the remaining thyme and sprinkle over the casserole.

9. Butter the cut parchment and carefully place, buttered side down, on top of the vegetables. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on your oven, until the vegetables are soft but not mushy while the edges are nicely crisp and brown.

Note: use a pie plate and not metal the acid in the wine will ruin the metal part.

Use a tray with parchment paper to catch the spill out juice.

If you have a convection oven, adjust the setting to convection roast, 400F; otherwise raise the oven temp to 425F. With the pan in the bottom and the paper on top the dish needs a higher temperature to roast and not steam the veggies. The last ten minutes take the paper off and let the veggies roast and caramelize.

I highly recommend this dish, it smells amazing, and tastes soooo good. A healthy side dish with your chicken or roast dinner.

 

Assyrian Kbeybatt or the Kubebeh (Kuttal)

You will be amazed from the information you get tracing a word you read some where and then the word, takes it to another world where you discover million things hidden through time and what interest you, is from a small search you end up in a big encyclopaedia of information you never thought that it will be available for you online.

I wanted to do a research about the Assyrian food and in specific the Kbeybatt which is a popular Assyrian Dish. One of the Assyrian old books mentioned that the Kubebeh as it was pronounced by the Assyrian was part of their diet. It was prepared by mixing cracked whole wheat with some kind of flour, to gluttonize the dough and make it playable to stuff, and the stuffing was kind of chopped meat and onions and green herbs, and was cooked in hot boiling water.

This Kubebeh was served on the table of the Assyrian Kings around the 500s BC.

The Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II added Lebanon and Syria as part of his Empire after Several campaigns 883-859 B.C. Ashurnasirpal II did not annex the Phoenician cities but instead only aimed to establish them as a source of raw materials for the Assyrian war machine. Iron was needed for weapons, Lebanese cedar for construction, gold and silver for the payment of troops; in the end however, Ashurnasirpal campaigns were only a short term success, the kingdom started to fall down after his death.

Kibbeh is another dish brought to us by the Assyrian Cuisine. the famous baklawa is also an Assyrian Dessert, and I did a posting about the origin of Baklawa with an original recipe of the Baklawa .
Kibbeh in our modern days is a mix of burghul (fine cracked wheat) and meat grind together using a mortar and a pestle and stuffed with cooked ground meat, chopped onion and pinenuts. The recipe has changed with time to more refined texture and ingredients…
I am going to share with you an old and still a popular recipe from the Assyrian Cuisine I hope you will enjoy it as we do, and becomes a favourite to you as well..

Ingredients for Kbeybatt:
2 cups of equal amount of Semolina and Fine Brown Burghul . Wash the burghul and don’t strain it add the semolina, salt and pepper cinnamon, and all spice, using your hand mix well to combine, dipping your hands in warm water to get a smooth combined dough and playable to use. Leave it aside, within minutes the grain will soak all the water, and you might need more water to reach a soft dough, able to work with it and stuff it.

Stuffing:
500 Gms Ground beef or lamb or a mix of both
Large onion chopped
¼ cup or so chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
couple spoons of Olive oil and butter

Start cooking your onions and when they welted add the meat and the spice and cook till the meat looses the red color (Most Assyrians stuff the Kbeybatt with uncooked stuffing its tastier as the meat cook inside the kibbee and flavour).

After you shape and stuff the Kbeybatt keep them on a towel till ready to boil.  Don't be shy with your stuffing.  If there is a leftover dough you can turn it into small balls , leaving a deep thumbprint for the dressing. 

In a big pot add cold water, salt and some bay leaves, boil the water, and when ready add the Kbeybatt, boil for 20 minutes .  Transfer them to a strainer and let them drain before serving them with homemade Greek Yogurt and fresh lemons juice.  As for the small kibbeh balls, they can be boiled in the same water for 15 minutes, drain and serve them with lemon garlic and olive oil dressing (mash some fresh garlic and salt then squeeze fresh lemon juice and mix in the olive oil) they can be served as an appetizer or a vegetarian dish.



….. Yummy. Enjoy

1-Wash and soak the burghul
2-Add coarse semolina and spices
3-Turn to a playable dough
4-By dipping the finger in water helps to open and shape

5-open it with the shape of a triangle and as thin as you can

6-stuff it then close the two ends together to seal

Leave it on a towel till ready to boil , leftover can be covered and kept in the fridge

Dandelion and Caramelized Onions - Hindbeh maa basal Mhamar

Ingredients:

1-bunch of dandelion

2-2 large size onions sliced half moon

3-olive oil

salt and pepper

Clean and cut the dandelion Wash several times until the water is clear

Steam in little water until they cooked and become tender. Cool, then Squeeze from all the bitter juice .

Slice the onions and start cooking them in couple spoons of olive oil to caramelized, and start getting the golden color, add the dandelion and if needed add more oil, and cook the leaves till they cook through. add salt and pepper, and when served squeeze lemon juice.

* Another alternative instead of carameled onions, steam the dandelion and squeeze, then prepare some sesame tahini and after the dandelion cooled enough mix it with the tahini sauce

both are very tasty and a good alterntive for a vegan meal.

Serve with pita bread...

Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves

Stuffed Grape Leaves is one of my favourite foods, either with ground meat stuffing or with vegetables.
Since we are at the last week of Lent, and we are eating vegetarian food I prepared this dish and I like to share it with you, as I know several readers love stuffed grape leaves, also this is a healthy meal for vegetarians. Its healthy full of nutrition, and the stuffing is very similar to the Tabbouleh salad, instead of using burghul we add rice.
The Leaves must be rolled firmly because the vegetables shrink after they cook; if the leaf is loose it will not hold and falls apart. As for the meat I suggest that we roll the leaves loosely giving the rice the space to expand and soak the liquid. It will stay firm and juicy.
Vegetable Grape Leaves are mostly served as part of a mezza, also can be served as main course.


Ingredients : 4 main course servings , or for 15 appetizers

1 large bunch of parsley
1 package of mint (if you have a bunch similar size to parsley use half)
1 bunch of green onions
2 pounds or around 5 tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
Dash of cinnamon
Around 3/4 of good olive oil
1cup of water
Around 1 pound of frozen grape leaves
Or a store bought jar

Directions:

Pick the parsley & mint and wash several times. Clean the green onions and wash as well. Drain the vegetables completely from water before finely chopped.
Add the dressings and spices and mix well. Use a fine sieve and drain the juice and keep it aside. I have a grape tree in my garden, and I pick my own leaves in the summer, wash them, then freeze them in small freezer bags, they are very tender, they dont require lots of cooking as soon as the rice is cooked the food is done.

boil water and cook the leaves for several minutes specially if you are using store bought jar they are tough, (separate the leaves one by one and drop them in water, this will be easier for you to work with later) they need several minutes in hot water, for hand picked leaves one minute is more than enough to soften them, strain them in a colander to drain before using.

These are my step by step photos to help you during preparation, it will easier if you clean all the veggies the night before and left in the fridge in a strainer. the second day you continue

with the rest.

Ingredients for Vegetarian Grape Leaves

Make sure to pick the vegetables and wash them several times
chop the vegetables and defrost the grapeleaves before boiling them

Using a fine sievestrain the liquid and keep in a clean bowl,

after the leaves defrosted cook couple of minutes in boiling water,drain on a colander

if the leaf is a torn add another one to cover

 

If its small add another one in the center to make it larger to hold the stuffing

add the juice and enough water to cover the leaves

add a plate to keep rolls in shape during cooking

taste if rice is cooked

this meal is served at room temperature, any time !!!!!!!!! Yummmy
I wish you are here to smell the aroma.

Vegetarian Pumpkin Kibbee

I don’t have a real recipe to give you for this recipe, but I know that for every cup of cooked unsweetened Pumpkin you add 3/4 cup of Burghul.

If you don’t want to go into the labour of peeling, cutting and boiling your pumpkin, feel free to use a can of pumpkin try with a small size Can, empty it in a glass container and warm it in the microwave to heat it to be more easy to mix with the washed and drained burghul, mix well by hands, add salt and pepper and softly cooked chopped onion. If the mixture is getting dry add more warm water to make it playable for you and looks like dough.

I will give you three kinds of stuffing you can use to stuff the Kibbeh:

A- 1 kg of Fresh spinach wilted to dry the water, or you can use defrosted frozen spinach package. Add one chopped onion, salt and pepper, sumac, one cup cooked Chickpeas split in half (using a kitchen towel add the soaked chickpeas on one half of the towel and close the other half over it, and run the rolling pin back and forth to split) or a small Chickpea can, mix well and adjusts the season.

B-Roasted potatoes cut into 1 cm squares, same ingredients without Spinach.

C- 1 pound chopped mushrooms, 1 large green chopped pepper, 4 sprigs of green onions chopped, 1 minced garlic, ½ tsp marjoram or thyme, salt and pepper

Preparation:

Put filling aside. Divide kibbeh paste into egg sized balls Dip your hands in cold water then roll each ball between the palms of your hands until smooth. Make a hole in the centre with your forefinger. Work finger round in the hole until you have a shell of even thickness. Fill hole with filling mixture and close opening. Moisten with cold water to seal well and to shape with two pointed sides. If any breaks appear in shell, close with wet fingers. Place balls on a tray. Heat oil in a pan or deep fryer to 370F, fry the Kibbee till brown evenly and cooked. Serve kibbi hot with salad

For instruction on how to make the kibbee check my kibbee balls.

It tastes good and healthy full of nutrition and a vegetarian !!

Zucchini Gratin

 Healthy meal, full of flavours with a crunchy topping, I am sure you will enjoy it

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion sliced
3 zucchini sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
2 tbsp flour
1 cup hot milk
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup of grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Direction
in a large non stick pan warm 1 tbsp of butter and cook the onion till tender and translucent, and starts to brown, add the zucchini and another spoon of butter and stir to melt and start browning
add salt and spices. when the zucchini is light brown on both sides, move them to a gratin plate,
melt a spoon of butter and brown the flour on low heat add the milk and stir to melt completely and thickens to a sauce . Pour it over the zucchini .
in a food processor process the bread to crumbs, and mix it with the cheese , sprinkle the top of the zucchini , cut the butter into small bits and dot over the zucchini . Bake in a warm 400F oven for 25 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSA-KA-AAH - Eggplant with onions and Tomatoes, Imam Bayildi

Msakaah - Imam Bayildi

a simple tasty meal, can be prepared in less than 30 minutes .


INGREDIENTS:
1 kg (32 oz) eggplants,(if they are big half peeled and thickly cut lengthwise if they are long a thin, peeled leaving some skin on for color -soak eggplant in salt water)
1 kg (32 oz) tomatoes, peeled and sliced
1 cup of dried chickpeas, cooked or canned , washed and drained
2 big onions quartered and sliced into rings
10 cloves garlic,
1 fresh red or green chili (optional) or
dash or chili powder
vegetable oil for frying (optional to fry eggplants) or
2 tablespoons of olive oil as a healthy option


PREPARATION:
Sprinkle salt over eggplant slices. soak in water , then squeeze well and dry on a paper towel. Fry eggplants in vegetable oil till golden brown and drain on paper towels.Fry onion rings until soft.
for healthy option brush your eggplants with on tablespoon of olive oil and bake in a hot oven at 425 F till golden brown, they take around 15-20 minutes.

in a thick pot, add the other tbsp of o.oil and the onions and cook on low to caramelize, and when the color starts to change add the whole garlic and just stir together.

Add tomatoes, chickpeas, chili, salt . Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, add fried eggplants. Cover pot, cook on moderate heat for 15-20 minutes.
This can be served at room temperature as a side dish, or a vegan main course .
in Lebanon we serve it with fresh pita bread, and fresh sliced onions