Baby's first Ramadan

Ramadan Mubarak to all my Muslim followers! Hope you're having a blessed third of Ramadan so far... Baby has been keeping me very busy but I wanted to quickly share a couple of shots of my Ramadan decor, these beautiful pieces are by a lovely sister who is starting up a little Eid business both on Etsy and locally, please check out her shop - MyLittleEidShop  for these gorgeous birch mosque cutouts and many more upcoming products that she's working hard to bring to all of us.

And I can't leave you all without a recipe so I'm sharing my favourite Ramadan sweets, the famous Luqmat Al Qadi which we make all across the Middle East. Of course we covered it before on the blog but I have perfected and tweaked it a little so here it is
Luqmat Al Qadi 

... more of my favourite things!

Food is such an amazing journey, and lately I've been experimenting and discovering many new things in the kitchen! 

Last night I made my first rack of lamb, I was terrified but kept it simple and boy was it such a hit! All I remember hearing chef Ramsay's voice in my head and trying to avoid those mistakes that I've seen too many times on Hell's kitchen. The picture of him grabbing a flimsy lamb chop and throwing it around or asking "Come here! What is this?"  was playing over and over in my mind.   

Lately another favourite food of mine is Lebnah,with all that leftover yogurt in my fridge from Ramadan I whipped up a huge batch!  During ramadan yogurt was on sale and in the flyer almost every week so I stocked up and would prepare a yogurt drink of creamy plain balkan style yogurt mixed with water and seasoned with a sprinkling of salt.  This was the perfect drink to enjoy with a delicious date at sunset when we break the fast. 

If you want to prepare your own lebneh then head over to my other posts on the subject, here 

The perfect accompaniment with lebneh is a nice generous drizzle of good olive oil and every day of this week I've used a different (plain) olive oil from Olive That! ... Tunisian, Spanish, Mission... What an amazing canvas to showcase the olive oils.  All you need is a sweet mint tea, a piece of fresh bread for dipping and some nice juicy watermelon.  This is is my ideal breakfast and it reminds me of my childhood back in the Middle East.

A couple of weekends ago I also got lucky and found myself a frozen free range organic turkey at the most amazing price! Being the impulsive person I can be I put my money down and walked out of the store with a box of two huge frozen turkeys... one I've thawed immediately for the weekend and the other I stashed in my freezer for the coming Eid celebration which falls practically around the same time as this year's Canadian Thanksgiving!

First time I've grilled an entire turkey on the BBQ but it was delicious, I really love the taste of turkey and these organic ones are not dry at all, especially if you brine them beforehand. 

A couple of stuffed zucchinis I made back in Ramadan.  These zucchini boats were stuffed with a spiced ground beef (you could do lamb) and then smothered in a creamy bechamel sauce with a bit of cheese.  Baked to perfection! 

Balsamic fruits are another easy dessert idea, and if you're in Ontario I highly recommend heading over to Olive That not only their selection of fabulous and fresh olive oils but also their flavoured balsamics.  I picked up a big bottle of 18 year old balsamic vinegar and love adding it to fruit. Strawberries and cherries roasted in the oven with a splash of balsamic is so perfect to have around when you want to top ice cream or  pretty much any dessert!

Biryani

Hope everyone's Ramadan is going well so far!  Today I made biryani and I simply LOVE this dish, it's actually amazing how good AND simple it is.  Really doesn't involve any effort at all (but tastes like you've slaved away making it)

- 1 whole chicken, 8 pieces, skin removed - cut legs off, divide drumstick/thigh. Cut each bone in breast in half. 

- Shaan spice pack, I use bombay beef biryani blend. Half a package is plenty!

-1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

- Juice of half a lemon

- 1 thumb size piece of ginger, minced/grated

- 2 cloves garlic - minced/grated

-Salt

-1 whole red onion, peeled and sliced

- 3 tbsp oil 

Add the chicken to a casserole dish, sprinkle with the spice blend and mix until all the chicken is coated.  Add lemon juice, grated ginger, grated garlic and salt to season.  Add the yogurt and mix well. 

Now heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, fry on medium heat until brown and crispy almost (don't let them burn!) 

Allow the onion/oil to cool a little bit and then drizzle over the yogurt/chicken. Set all of this in the fridge until the next day. 

Following day: 

Either the night before or the morning of soak a few golden saffron threads in warm water and set aside on the counter. 

4 hours before baking: 

- 2-3 cups golden/sila parboiled basmati rice (wash and soak for 3 hours at least) 

- Lots of salted water. 

-A few drops of oil

- A couple of cardamom pods and cloves (optional) 

-Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the oil and spices (except saffron!) as well as the strained rice, cook until al-dante (like pasta!) 

Strain the rice and wash with cool water and strain again, set aside. 

30 minutes prior to baking remove the chicken mix from the fridge and allow to come to room temp. Preheat the oven to 400 F

 I also halved tiny new potatoes and threw in a handful with the masala, once coated I layered in the pan with the chicken. 

Layer the chicken masala mixture into a larger casserole so it's evenly distributed on the bottom and chicken is in 1 layer. 

(Optional: Throw a handful of frozen peas on top, or cooked/canned lentils) 

I put in some frozen green chickpeas! 

Scoop the rice over top until it's just about to the top of the casserole rim. 

- Saffron (previously soaking) 

- Sprinkling turmeric

- Sprinkling cinnamon

- 2 tbsp oil/butter/ghee

- 2 tbsp warm milk

Heat the milk and oil in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Drizzle over top of the rice along with the saffron.  Add a few dashes of spice randomly to the top (the turmeric will color some of the rice grains which will make for a pretty biryani!)

Cover with foil and Bake at 400 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken and potatoes are cooked through! 

I like to remove half of the biryani and layer it into another casserole, so I scoop some rice and remove the delicious masala from the bottom and gently layer on top then I've got 2 casseroles where the rice and chicken mixture are layered nicely together and ready to serve!

Serve with yogurt/cucumber raita (simply dice cucumber finely, add yogurt, lemon juice, salt and black pepper and a bit of fresh mint or dry mint)

Enjoy !

Ramadan Iftar Time

Ramadan Mubarak Everyone!!

Here are just a few glimpses of what I've been up to these first two days of the fasting month.  These shots are of Iftar (breaking fast/dinner) prep in the kitchen.

I've attempted Baklawa on my own for the first time and am pretty pleased with the results!! (Recipe coming soon since we're planning on a bigger batch closer to Eid)

 With the leftover phyllo from the savoury burek pies I could only make a small batch of Baklawa.

... and speaking of my burek .. which I stuffed with .... of all things LAMBSQUARTERS!)  Yep, that's my foraged weed/goods from the other day, blanched in salted water and finely minced.  It was excellent but I liked it more thrown into minestrone like spinach.

Hope you're all having a blessed month of Ramadan!

Simple Broad bean soup تشريب الباقلاء

Iraqi broad bean soup

This is a simple yet delicious traditional recipe that is often eaten in the fasting month of Ramadan.

These are not fava beans but broad beans and they're dried, they are large and flat, you may be able to find them at your local supermarket if you have a wide variety of legumes or try a middle eastern shop

Measure out desired amount of beans and soak the night before in a large bowl of water.

The following day place the beans and their water in a large pot and add more water over top.

Peel one or two large onions and throw them in whole then boil and simmer until they are tender. Salt it and simmer some more, at this point the onion may totally fall apart but thats ok.

If you have a pressure cooker this is a good place to use it, also if you salt beans too early sometimes they can become tough and not cook properly so I tend to salt once they become a bit tender.

You could add garlic in if you like but I like it very plain like that and then eaten with flat bread (even day old bread works because it will be torn into small pieces and placed in the soup, traditionally you place the bread in the bowl first and then pour the soup and beans over)

Add a wedge of lemon and enjoy!
** Usually because the peels of these beans are tough we don't eat them, so gently apply pressure to one side of the bean, either the top of bottom and the inside should come out easily to eat.

Here I made the bread myself because I did not have time to go to the store.

Here's my recipe for a tanoor style bread using an outdoor BBQ grill.

1 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp sugar

some water

proof for 10 minutes

Add 3/4 cups yogurt

1 tbsp oil

A dash of salt

3 cups flour and blend with hands until it comes together, it will be sticky but knead it with hands in a bowl until it is smooth.

Allow it to rise at least 2 hours.

Divide in smaller balls and place them on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap and let it rise until ready to use.

Heat bbq outdoor grill until it reaches above 500. Oil the grill, I have a cast iron so I clean and oil it every use.

Set a little bowl of flour close by and flour hands then pat the balls of bread one at a time into a flat shape, stretching and flattening

Place on the grill and flip over as soon as it is browned slightly on the bottom and bubbles formed on the top, it all happens very quickly.

Flip it over just until the puffy spots turn slightly brown and charred then remove it and place on a clean plate. Use a stick of butter to butter the top of each one.

Serve hot or set in the fridge or freezer for later use.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and a sprinkling of salt.

For the salt chop tomato and cucumber finely into small squares and season with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice, mix and enjoy with any arabic meal!

Kleacha (Eid Celebration Date Filled Pastry)

As the Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting comes to an end the Eid celebrations begin.

Usually the last week of the month is filled with holiday baking, but many people begin serious Eid preps around the last ten days, organizing their houses, decorating, buying gifts and lots of baking and menu planning!

Kleacha is a traditional cookie, it has a date filling (and some filled with nuts and such) and it's very popular in Iraq, Kurdistan and other parts of the Arab world. Ma'moul or Ka'k is a similar but more flakey pastry that also has a filling and then formed in an intricate mould and dusted with powder sugar, recipes vary by country and region.

What I remember about Kleacha is that it's a Eid staple. Around Eid time people bake big batches of them and store them away. Most of the time there is too much to bake for a conventional home oven so us kids would borrow some trays and take them to the bread baker down the street or in the local neighbourhood market and ask him to bake them for us in his big oven.
Mother would give us a small dish of beaten egg and we'd egg wash the cookies at the baker's before he bakes large batches at a time.

My sister and I would hang out there supervising until they were done.

On Eid when guests pop in for greetings and short visits to exchange gifts you serve them some kleacha along with tea or coffee, candies and roasted nuts.

The cookies also keep well and can be frozen and defrosted when needed.

Everyone has their own recipe, but this is my mother's recipe, some people like the hint of spices and some omit it as well as the sesame seeds in the dough.

It's not a complex recipe at all, and it's just a matter of prepping the fillings and dough beforehand.

Date Cookies (kleacha)


Dough ingredients:

6 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Optional ingredients:

1/3 cup sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)
1 tsp cinnamon ground

1/2 tsp all spice

Mix the above in a big bowl. Add in and mix until it is resembling crumbs:

1 1/4 cups oil (or instead 3/4 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup oil)

In a small bowl proof the yeast:

1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water

When foamy in 5 mins or so mix a little warm milk (below ingredient) into it and dump the yeasty mixture it into the dough.

Begin adding the warm milk below little by little until it looks like a good dough.

1 1/2 - 2 cups warm milk

Allow the dough to rise for two hours.

Filling ingredients:

Date paste or pitted whole dates from the bulk store (a large bag)

Walnuts, chopped up, mixed with some sugar to sweeten

Shredded coconut, mixed with sugar to sweeten

Prepare date filling by putting 4 cups pitted dates into a pot add 1/8 cup oil, 1 cup water and 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional) then bring to a boil until it turns into a soft sticky paste. Set aside to cool flattened out on a plate.

Roll dough into a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) into a big square.

Spread the date mixture all over.

Roll it up like a cinnamon roll, but tightly and slice 1 inch pieces.

Lay them on the tray, the same way they were sliced (unlike cinnamon rolls which are laying on their sides).

Wipe the tops with beated egg then bake until browned on preheated 375 Oven until dough is cooked and they are golden brown.