Elegant French Bread

French Bread
5-6 Cups White Flour
3 Tsp yeast (or 2 1/2 packages active dry yeast)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
cornmeal-to sprinkle

1) In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, yeast, and salt.
With a wisk, beat in warm water.
2) With a wooden spoon, mix in additional 3 cups of flour.
3) Kneed dough on a lightly floured surface with additional flour (up to 1 cup, if needed).
4) Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes (During cold months, I usually preheat my oven to 200F and turn it off. Then I set the dough to rise there).

5) Punch dough down, separate into two balls, cover, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
6) Grease a pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. In a small bowl, beat egg white and water. Preheat oven to 375F.
7) Roll each ball out into a rectangle, Roll up the rectangles and pinch ends in.

8) Place dough on a greased pan sprinkled with cornmeal.
9) Cover and let rise for 30 more minutes in a warm place.

10) Cut 3-4 diagonal slices on each loaf and brush on egg white.Bake for 20 min, brush more egg on, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

No Bake Cookies from scratch

I emphasize from scratch because I dont use maple syrup in the recipe (I make the syrup), and the peanut butter is freshly ground (nothing added). These cookies are dairy free, and vegan. But they are high in fat and sugar.

1 1/2 Cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup water
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Olive Oil
5 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp cinnamon

1)Boil down water, sugars, and salt till thick and bubbly.
2) Add in vanilla, oil, cinnamon, cocoa powder and stir.
3) Add in peanut butter and mix well.
4) Add in the oatmeal and mix well.
5) Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

Roasted Chicken

I like to make roasted chicken and the potatoes all in one swoop. This lets the potatoes cook in the chicken juices and spices added to the chicken. I also remove the chicken skin because I think its kinda gross and fatty. Its an optional thing.

1 Whole Chicken
1 Onion
2 Potatoes
2 Carrots
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
1 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp pepper
1 TBsp Salt
3-4 Cloves minced garlic

1) Mix together the oil, lemon juice, spices, and garlic in a small dish.
2) Prepare the chicken-remove skin, extra fat, and rinse in cold water.
3) Peel potatoes, carrots, onions, and chop.
4) Lay down a thin layer of onion in a large baking dish.
5) Set Chicken on top of onion layer.
6) Pour and rub spice mix all over chicken, including the back.
7) Sprinkle the rest of the veggies all over the baking dish.
8) Cover with Foil and bake for about an hour (depending on chicken size).
9) Remove foil and let chicken complete baking uncovered for another 15-30 minutes to get crispy.

Quick Potato Cakes

These go great as a side dish, and anyone can make them. This is just the basic recipe, but you can add a whole bunch of other items to these cakes such as parsley, onion, garlic, pieces of cooked meat, whatever. They are very versatile.

Basic Potato Cakes
2-3 Potatoes
Salt and Pepper
1-2 Eggs
2-3 TBSP oil (or more as needed)

1) Peel Potatoes. Shred with carrot shredder.
2) With your hand, squeeze out water from the potatoes one fist full at a time.
3) Add eggs, salt and pepper to the squeezed potatoes.
4) Add some oil to a pan and drop small balls of potato cakes onto it. Flatten the balls.
5) Fry on medium-high till crisp on both sides.
6) Makes 8 cakes.

Simple Salmon

Simple Salmon
Ingredients
Wild Caught Salmon
Garlic
Onion
Lemon
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Thyme
Rosemary
Brown Rice

1) In a small dish, mix garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and all spices.
2) lay out onions over the fish and pour over the spice mixture.
3) Bake at 400F for 20 minutes (depending on size of fish).
4) Serve with brown rice.

Sweet Whole Wheat Bread - Homemade!

I made this bread in hopes of eating something more natural than the stuff they sell at the store packed with all kinds of additives. I was surprised how tasty it was. I was not expecting such good results.

Sweet Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
2 Cups White Flour
3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 packet of Dry Yeast
1 1/3 Cup water
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar Packed
1 Tbsp Honey
3 Tbsp Butter
1 1/4 tsp Salt


1) In a large bowl, mix together Whole Wheat Flour and Dry Yeast. Set aside.
2) Lightly heat water, sugar, honey, butter and salt in a sauce pan unitll butter is dissolve.
3) Add water mixture to flour mixture and blend with a whisk or hand beater.
4) Slowly add the white flour, more or less if needed until you have a soft dough. It will be slightly sticky. Do NOT add so much flour that the dough is completely dry.
5) Place dough in a bowl and cover with a towel. Set in a warm place for 1 hour.
6) Punch dough down, divide into 2 pieces. Shape into loaves and place into greased loaf pans.
7) Let down rise for another 30-45 minutes in a warm place.
8) Bake at 375F for 35 minutes. Once baked, cover with a towel and cool on a wire rack.

Steak Dinner

Ingredients:
Several Thick Slices of Beef
1/2 small onion
3 cloves of garlic minced
salt n' pepper
paprika
Garlic Bread
Fresh Salad

1) Chop up onions.


2)Cut meat slices and mince garlic.


3) Toss meat in garlic and all the spices. Put some olive oil on a pan and brown meat on medium high for a couple minutes on each side.


4) Add onions, lower heat to low, cover and cook till meat is cooked through.

Sweet Moroccan Chicken: One pot Recipes

I love this recipe because it is so fool proof. It tastes really fancy and looks like it too a long time to make. But in fact, it is one of the easiest recipes and only requires one pot. It is a mildly sweet chicken cooked with spices and some dried fruit like apricots or prunes. It is usually served with some warm french bread to dip into the sauce, but I used to eat this dish with a side of basmati rice. The entire recipe is cooked in one pot, so it eliminates some extra dish washing. To save some prep time, I like to measure out a bunch of little bags of the spice mixture so I dont have to measure when I actually make the recipe. This chicken and sauce are great to serve for any dinner party or just to make for your family.

Sweet Moroccan Chicken
If you use the saffron, it will give the chicken a very beautiful yellow color. I ran out, so mine looks a bit pale :(
2 lbs of Chicken
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup water
1 Minced Onion
1 cup chopped Cilantro
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of Saffron (optional)
Dry Apricots or prunes

1) Mix the spices and set aside.
2) Remove any extra skin from the chicken. You can use a whole chicken, chicken thighs, or chicken breast.
3) In a medium pot, pour in the oil, honey, butter,water, and spices. Heat the pot to medium heat.
4) Once the mixture is simmering, add in the onion, cilantro, chicken, and dried fruit.
5) Mix everything well, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or till chicken is done through. You dont have to mix while its cooking, but do check on it once in awhile to make sure the heat is not to high or too low. It should be at a constant simmer and stay covered.

Chop up the onion and cilantro.

Skin the chicken.

Bring butter, oil, water,honey, and spices to a simmer.

Toss in the chicken, cilantro, onions, and apricots.

Mix well.

COVER and cook.

Russian Piroshki with American Conveniences

In America, there are some pre-made doughs that work well for russian piroshki recipes. This specific dough was recommended to me by one of my older sisters. It can be found at any local grocery store in the frozen dough section. This includes places like Safeway and Fred Meyers. Using pre-made doughs saves a lot of time that would go into making traditional piroshki. In addition, the frozen doughs are not at all expensive. This recipe is a time saver. I have listed the steps to a same-day defrost of the dough. If the dough is defrosted using the over-night method (instructions on package) and the filling is made the night before, then these piroshki will take only 10 to 15 minutes from assembly to serving.

Beef Piroshki
(Russians prefer to add chopped boiled eggs and cooked rice to the beef filling. I leave them out. They also do not use the cumin or the paprika)
1 lb ground Beef
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped Parsley (optional)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Cumin
1/2 package frozen dough

1) Heat oven to 200F. Spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray and place frozen dough balls on it.
2) Cover the frozen balls with plastic wrap. Turn off the oven.
3) Place the frozen dough balls to defrost and rise in the warm oven for 2 hours.
4) Meanwhile; prepare the filling.
5) Saute the ground beef. Pour out any excess oil the comes from the meat.
5) Add the chopped onions and spices. Saute till meat is cooked completely.
6) Cool the filling mixture completely. This mixture can be prepared overnight and refrigerated.
7) Once the dough has risen, Fill the dough balls with meat and seal them.
8) Fill a large pan with a 1/4 inch of cooking oil and heat to low-medium heat.
9) Fry the piroshki on all sides till golden brown.

Rhodes brand Frozen Texas Rolls: work great for the piroshki dough

Moroccan Mint Tea- My way

I love mint tea. Moroccans are very proud of their mint-tea tradition. I dont have any fancy traditional moroccan tea sets, so I prepare it my own way. The process is very simple, and it comes out great. Since I drink a lot of tea, I like to sweeten mine with Stevia. I dont want all the calories or the glucose from the sugar.

Mint Tea
Gunpowder Tea
Fresh mint
Water
Sugar or other sweetener

1) Boil water in a tea kettle.
2) Place a tablespoon of gunpowder tea in another kettel.
3) Rinse the gunpowder tea with a bit of the boiling water. This step is crucial. If the gunpowder tea is not rinsed, it will make the tea bitter.
4) Pour the rest of the boiling water into the pot with the rinsed gunpowder tea.
5) Add in the fresh mint leaves and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.
6) Pour the tea back and forth between two kettles to mix it.
7) Add sugar and serve.

Coconut Chicken and Rice

I love coconuts. I love coconut milk and almost anything made with it. I believe this is a Thai recipe, but I am not sure. Its absolutely tasty and goes great with jasmine rice (which I will explain how to cook below). The rice in the picture above is regular rice, but in my opinion, jasmine rice is tastier.

Coconut Chicken and Jasmine Rice
3 Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Minced Cloves of Garlic
1 Can of Coconut Milk
Salt and Pepper-to taste
2 tsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Boullion (or 1 cube dissolved)
1 Zucchini, sliced

1) Fry the chicken in the oil till browned.
2) Add the garlic and stir for a minute,
3) Add in the coconut milk, spices, and boullion. Simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.
4) Add in the zucchini and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Cooking Jasmine Rice
1 cup Jasmine Rice
4 cups of Water
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp oil

1) Boil the water.
2) Add the salt, oil, and rice. Stir.
3) Once the rice boils, set the timmer for 10 minutes. Cook uncovered.
4) Drain all the water from the rice in a strainer and let it sit for 5 minutes.
5) Serve.
4

Pineapple Cake

This is a recipe I have from my mother. She has been making this for years, and I have made it quite a few times (since it is well liked in my home). A thick cake like this is called a "pirog" in Russian, not a "tort-or cake". The difference is that this kind of cake is not frosted. It is usually served with hot tea or coffee for breakfast or after dinner.

Like all traditional russian cakes, this one calls for a lot of sour cream, butter, and eggs. Unlike the american Pineapple Upside-down Cake (which I've never had the opportunity to taste), this cake is not upside down.

Russian Pineapple Pirog
(This is a large recipe, feel free to make only half)
1/4 cup Butter
1 cup Sour Cream
1/2 tsp Soda
1 tsp Vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
5 eggs
1 1/2 cup Sugar
2 cups Flour
1 can Pineapple Rings
1 can Peaches (optional)
Raisins (optional)
Pecans (Optional)

1) Melt the butter and let it cool off completely.
2) Pour out the liquid from the canned fruit, and set the fruit aside to drip dry.
3) With a mixer, cream together sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
4) Dissolve the baking soda in the baking powder and add to the mixture.
5) Add in sugar and beat well.
6) Add in the flour and beat.
7) Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a pan.
8) Stir the raisins and nuts into the batter with a spoon.
9) Pour the batter into the baking pan, and top with peaches and pineapple rings.
10) Bake for 30 minutes or until insterted toothpick comes out clean.

Hearty Dinner: Potatoes, Shrimp, and Scallops

I started out with Alia's "Potato Tajine" from cookingwithalia.com, and of course I made changes of my own. I didnt have a tagine (or tajine), so I made this dish in a medium sized pot. The final result was tasty and filling. I will definitely make this again.

One-Pot Potato and Shrimp

1 Chopped Onion
3 Minced Cloves of Garlic
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Ginger
2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp pepper
1 crushed peeled tomato
1/2 cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
3 Medium peeled Potatoes cut into chunks
1 sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup Raw, peeled shrimp
1/2 cup raw scallops (optional)
1/4 Lemon

1) Saute the onion in some olive oil for a few minutes. Set some water to boil.
2) Add in the garlic.
3) Add in the spices and mix well.
4) Add in the crushed tomato and parsley. Stir for a few minutes.
5) Add in about 1 cup of boiling water (more or less) and the potatoes. You may add more water in the cooking process if the potatoes dont have enough to cook in.
6) After potatoes are half way cooked, add in the shrimp and scallops.
7) Once the shrimp has curled and turned pink, the dish is ready.
8) Turn off the heat, squeeze in the lemon, and stir.

Sellou: Almond Halwa

I've heard many great reviews on Sellou: a Moroccan almond and flour paste dessert (more like candy). I decided I had to try it for myself. I have to say, its nice. But moderation is important. This tasty sweet has lots of fat, sugar and calories.

The original recipe came from cookingwithalia.com. I made the following changes: I used blanched almonds instead of almonds in their skins. I used clarified butter instead of regular butter. I also added a quarter teaspoon of crushed mastic (which turned out to not be enough to give any disctinct change in flavor).

Sellou
2 1/4 cup Flour
2 cups Blanched almonds
1 cup Sesame Seed
1 tsp Anise seeds
1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Mastic (optional)
Pinch of salt
1 cup Powdered Sugar
8 Tbsp Clarified Butter
1/2 cup Honey

1) Bake flour in a 350F oven for 40 minutes. Mix every 10 minutes.
2) Roast almonds, sesame seeds, and anise seeds for 15-20 in a pan. Stir constantly.
3) In a food processor, grind 2/3 of the nut mixture, cinnamon, mastic, and salt finely.
4) Remove from processor and grind the rest of the nut mixture coarsely.
5) In a large bowl, combine nuts, sifted powdered sugar, and sifted flour.
6) Add in the butter and honey and mix with your (clean) hands.
7) Form a dome with the entire mixture and decorate with nuts.

Baghrir: Moroccan Crepes

I found this recipe on cookingwithalia.com. This turned out to be some of the fastest cooking crepes I've ever made. They taste great with some honey and butter. They are soo cute when they cook and bubble up with all those little holes! I found that the recipe calls for a bit too much water. Here is the recipe written in my own words.

Baghrir
1 1/2 cup Semolina
1 1/2 cup White Flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Egg (optional)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 packet of Yeast
3 3/4 cup Warm Water (you can add up to 4 1/2 cups of water)

1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
2) Blend ingredients in a blender.
3) Cover and let the mixture sit for 15-30 minutes.
4) In a frying pan, Cook Baghrir on one side.
5) Melt some butter and honey in a pan to create a sauce.
6) Dip the uncooked side of the baghrir into the sauce.

Baghrir cooking on a frying pan-soo cute!



September Update: Graham Flour Baghrir
I decided to try this recipe with a healthier twist. I used graham flour instead of white flour because graham flour is healthier. Graham flour has fiber and more protein than regular white flour. I aslo used only an egg white instead of the whole egg. The baghrir still bubbled up well and tasted great. The texture also stayed nice and fluffy. Instead of a honey topping, I used sugar free syrup. Below are the pictures of these healthier baghrir.

Carob and Chocolate Peanut Clusters

I guess Im letting my chocolate cravings get to me. I made yet another round of chocolate treats this week. I decided to try out carob instead of chocolate. I used 90% carob chips, and 10% dark chocolate. This was probably the easiest dish I have ever made. And it tasted sooo good. This came out much cheaper than buying the carob clusters sold at the store. Carob chips are also cheaper than chocolate chips. The bit of unsweetened chocolate went a long way in this recipe. I could not tell the difference between chocolate and carob clusters.

Carob and Chocolate Peanut Clusters
9 parts Carob Chips
1 part Dark Chocolate
Roasted Peanuts

1) Melt carob and chocolate together using the double boiler method.
2) Stir in nuts.
3) Drop nuts by spoonful onto wax paper.
4) Cool in fridge for 1 hour.

Clusters cooling on wax paper. One thing to note is that they start out a light brown color, but turn dark after they set completely.