Egyptian Pea Stew

Egyptian Pea Stew

- Fresh or Frozen peas

If using fresh, shell them and blanch them in boiling water until they float then strain and dump them into an ice bath. Now they're ready for use.

- Oil

- Ground beef

- Tomato paste

- Plain strained tomato puree

- Salt & Black Pepper

- Boiled water

1. In a pot add the oil and then brown the beef very well, seasoning with salt and pepper.

2. Add your tomato paste and fry it around well so remove the raw flavour and create a caramelized taste.

3. Dump in the tomato puree and fry that around for a few seconds. Now add boiling water from the kettle to achieve a stew consistency.

4. Add your peas and reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 30 mins or so.

It's done!

*I think a dash of cinnamon in the stew for a variation really complements this dish, but my mother does not agree.

To make Rice to go with it. Prepare your rice, either long grain or short grain. What we use is "round rice" which is an Italian calrose rice.

- Rice

- Boiled water

- Oil

- Vermicelli noodles (a small handful)

- Salt

I measure out the desired amount of rice and wash it until the water is clear in my rice bowl. 2 cups makes a big pot that is more than enough for a family. I used 1.5 cup today.

1. In a pot I add a few tbsp of oil and fry up my vermicelli noodles, if you buy the long kind or the bird nest type for soup just throw it in a bag and beat it up to crush them into small pieces.

2. Sautee your vermicelli noodles and keep a close eye, you just want them to turn golden (NOT to brown too much, they burn quickly!)

3. Once they are golden add your strained washed rice and it will create a bit of a splash (so beware!)

Stir it around for a few seconds so all the rice is coated with oil.

4. Grab your kettle with freshly boiled water and measure our the water. 1 1/2 cup for every 1 cup of rice works. Today I added 2 1/4 cups water for my rice.

Stir it around and throw in 1 tsp salt for every cup of rice, so I put in 1 1/2 tsp and let it boil vigoursly for a few seconds (my mother says 90 seconds or so) and then cover and turn the temperature to low.

It'll be done in 15-20 mins.

Now enjoy your "Peas and Rice"!

Oh and this recipe can easily be vegetarian, we just make it without the meat sometimes! It's just as delicious.

Chicken pot pie

What do you do when you have a whole chicken and lots of peas? Well I was in the mood for chicken pot pie!

When I realized I didn't have any butter at home (from all the baking over the weekend) so I had to run to the store to get some. As soon as I set foot outside I realized "chicken pot pie" was a bad idea. It is one of the hottest days of the summer so far!

The chicken was already roasted the night before (lots of salt and lemon for a flavourful tender chicken) took all the meat off the bones and reserved the liquids from the pan in the same container for the meat to soak it up in the fridge, yum!

With fresh peas I shelled them and blanched for a few moments (as soon as they float) I threw them into an ice bath and then put them in the fridge for the next day.

All the vegetables like carrots, celery, onion, small chunks of potato and a few cloves of garlic got boiled in a stock until tender then it was time to make the roux... butter and flour in the pot and milk added to that, some black pepper and a bit of salt in the end.

Veggies and chicken got layered in the casserole, cream sauce was poured over and the oven was preheating on 375-400.

The pastry was made before hand (as soon as I got home with my butter!)

Chopped butter into small cubes and worked it into the flour then some cold milk brought it all together and the dough was shaped into a disk and refrigerated.

At this point it was ready for use so I rolled it out and draped it over the casserole/pan, poked a few holes in it and did an egg wash over.

Baked until it was bubbly and the crust was flaky and browned.