Moroccan beet salad

Moroccan Beet Salad

Why haven't I made this before?!!
It's such a delicious and EASY salad...  I read up on a few different recipes, most mention boiling the beets but I like to roast mine so here's my take on it.

Two beets went into this salad but I would do three (or more!) next time because it's yummy and usually the beets are sold in a threes here. 

To roast beets simply cut off stalks and stems, wash and wrap in a foil then place in a baking dish and bake for about 90 minutes on 400 F. 

The skins will be very easy to remove using the back of a knife, scraping in a downwards motion and the skin will come off almost like a jacket but make sure they cool so you don't burn your hands. 

Now to prep the dressing, in a bowl add the following ingredients to taste: 

- A squeeze of lemon

- A dash of white vinegar

- Olive oil 

- Salt

- Black pepper

- Ground cumin (just a small pinch)

- A dash of cinnamon (optional) 

Also chop some onion, red or white, I like red and sliced them thinly. 

Finely chop some italian parsley as well. 

When the beets are easy to handle slice them like an orange in segments or in rings, or even cubes, whatever you prefer. 

Toss the beets and onion into the prepared dressing and sprinkle with parsley. 

Enjoy! :) 

Easy Arabic Stuffed Chicken

Here's a really yummy dish, and it really began as one dish which turned into two over time (using the leftovers)

What we call "mince meat rice" in our household is one of my mothers' most favourite recipes to whip up whenever she is short on time and has a bit of mince meat (ground beef) around, even the smallest amount of meat works for this dish and stretches it for a medium sized family.   Normally we serve it with yogurt on the side and kids just LOVE it!

If you make 2 cups of rice it makes a pretty big amount, I'd go with 1 or 1 1/2 cup if you have a small family or want to serve it as a side dish.

Begin with the basmati rice, Tilda is a good brand, rinse it well and let it soak in cool water.

- Minced onion (optional!)
- Mince meat (ground beef, as much as you'd like to use)   -  I used about 3/4 lb of extra lean meat.
-  Salt
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp ground clove
- Black pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 1/8 tsp turmeric (I love to add it anywhere I can for health benefits!)
- 2 cardamom pods

- Boiled water or chicken/beef stock (heated)

- 1/2-3/4 cups frozen peas, pour some boiling water over them to warm up.

- 3 tbsp oil

Before beginning drain your rice and set aside, and boil your kettle.

In a medium sized pot add the oil, heat and add the mince meat (and onion if using), begin to fry it well until it is browned then add the spices and season the meat with some salt to taste.

Add the rice, fry it around briefly (not too much so it doesn't break, especially if it starts sticking to the bottom)
Now add your stock or boiling water.

For every 1 cup of rice I add 1 3/4 cups liquid and 1 tsp salt.

Now cover and reduce heat.  It will take about 15-30 minutes to cook depends on your stove and such but after 20 minutes take a peek and if the water dried up and the rice grains look done (taste!) then you're good to go.

Remove from heat and use a large spoon to bring the rice from the bottom to the top or gently fluffing it.  You could pour it out into a casserole at this point to cool without sticking together.

Serve and enjoy! :)

Now if you have leftovers a couple of days later and some chicken in your fridge you can revive this dish from the fridge and create something fabulous!

I began here by removing the breast from the whole chicken (I buy whole chicken, it is cheaper! and I can make stock out of the carcass too, also the legs are delicious just grilled up for later)

Slicing through the breast horizontally I was able to create a flat piece of chicken with relatively the same thickness throughout, I left the skin on too because it will crisp up.

With two chicken breasts now well flattened I seasoned them with salt, black pepper and a drizzle of lemon juice (this will ensure a tender chicken,  to be honest I can't eat chicken without a fresh lemon marinade on it, and I'm not a fan of chicken breast at all because I find it dry so this will help to keep it moist)

Wrapped it up and set in the fridge until ready to use.

Meanwhile I roasted/toasted up some almonds (you can use whole, halved, or sliced) toasted in a tiny bit of oil until brown (keep a close eye on it as they burn quickly)  and then setting them on paper towel for the excess oil to drain away.   Now the same process (but a little quicker) for the raisins, they tend to blow up in the oil and from the heat, don't let them burn because they are sugary and burn quickly.

Set aside and prep the thread, I used butchers twine, divided the thread in 3 and threaded a fairly large needle (had a pack of them from doing some ribbon embroidery)

Mix the amount of rice (about 3/4 - 1 cup) in a bowl with some of the nuts and raisins.

Remove the chicken breast from the fridge, set one flat (skin side down) on a cutting board and begin to stack up the rice mixture into a mountain on top of the chicken, now add the second piece on top (skin side up) and begin stitching using large secure stitches both pieces together around the side until it's like a large shut clam.

Prepare a small oven safe baking dish or casserole with a bit of oil and 1 tsp of butter, add your stuffed chicken "ball" and then top with another 1 tsp of butter and bake at 450 F for 10 minutes and reducing the temperature to 425 until the chicken is cooked, you need to flip it from time to time, and I broiled mine at the end to crisp up the skin at the top.

It must be cooked properly to be safe to eat, I wouldn't want anyone to get food poisoning so use a thermometer and insert it inside and follow proper chicken cooking guidelines.

Once it's out of the oven, allow it to cool, then slice and serve! Don't forget to gently snip a piece of the thread with a sharp scissors and pull it out of both pieces so you or your guests don't choke on the twine.  Your guests will be impressed with this dish, I assure you.  Each "ball" made out of 2 breasts can serve 2 people so you could made another one if you want to serve 4 or depending on how many people your cooking for.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe.  I served mine with a spinach salad (with nectarines in it)  I would have used apricots if they were in season because they complement chicken very well but you could chop up some dried apricots and use it in the rice stuffing if you like, I may try that next time!

Oh and one more thing...  I just wanted to mention that back home in the middle east women (including my Kurdish grandma) are incredibly skilled, they can debone the entire chicken and then stuff it with a rice mixture and stitch it back up beautifully before roasting it, it is an art but of course I'm not so talented (although I can debone a quail, think I just got some practice after prepping them for my cats) hopefully some day I can try to learn how to do it, at least once in my life! ;-)  

Sponge Toffee - Honeycomb Candy

If you're a foodie you probably saw that episode when Nigella Lawson makes a batch of sponge toffee as a hostess gift and by time she arrives at her guests house she must apologize for nibbling at the batch on the ride there in the taxi - it is quite funny!


I probably made my very first batch after seeing the episode, however it actually turned out pretty flat and brittle, it looks like the easiest recipe in the world considering how simple the steps and ingredients are so I knew it was something I needed to try again - someday. 


I guess yesterday was the day, but to be honest my first batch actually messed up, so I'm going to warn you to keep a close eye on the candy thermometer, because I turned my head for just a second and I think the sugar over cooked resulting in a more "creme caramel" burned type sugar flavour in the toffee and it actually puffed up so much that it overflowed from the original pan and onto the counter top around it. 


With my third batch I was very careful and made sure to keep a close eye on the temperature, gently whisk in the sifted baking soda while it was still on the stove and add the vanilla later on not early on in the recipe.


**My recipe called for 2 tbsp of baking soda, so I measured a rough estimate, the recipe below says 2 tsp so I'm not sure what the difference would be but you could give it a try and let me know.  


I also used my new Presidents choice non stick baking pan that was on clearance at my local superstore, it is a glass pan that has a bubbly rough surface so I oiled a parchment well and placed it inside, and whatever corners touched the glass did not even stick, pretty cool!     


Just another word of warning, if your kitchen is warm and the humidity is high in your home the toffee may begin to melt over time, so I would advise if you're making it as a gift to be careful and let it cool well in a colder dry place and package it at the last minute.   I'm not sure this batch will melt but my first one did when I woke up in the morning, it had fused together like a big gooey mess even though the night before it looked very much like a normal sponge toffee regardless of the burnt taste. 










Ingredients:


2-1/2 cups (625 mL) granulated sugar

2/3 cup (150 mL) white corn syrup

1/3 cup (75 mL) water

4 tsp (18 mL) baking soda

2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla


Preparation
In 12-cup (3 L) saucepan, stir together sugar, corn syrup and water over medium heat just until sugar dissolves.


Bring to boil; cook, without stirring but brushing down side of pan occasionally with pastry brush dipped in cold water, until candy thermometer reaches hard-crack stage of 300°F (149°C), or when 1 tsp (5 mL) hot syrup dropped into cold water forms hard brittle threads, about 10 minutes.


Remove from heat. Standing back and averting face, whisk in baking soda. (Caramel will bubble and sputter and increase in volume.) Whisk in vanilla.


Pour into greased foil-lined 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan. Let cool in pan on rack without disturbing, about 2 hours. Break into 1-1/2-inch (4 cm) pieces. (Make-ahead: Store layered between waxed paper in airtight container for up to 1 month.)
Source : Canadian Livng Holiday Cookbook: Fall 2009

Samsung Flex Duo™ (FE710DRS) range

I wanted to write a review about my new stove, because it is fairly new and just in case anyone out there is interested in buying one, here is what I have to say so far about my experience :)

Around February my old stove finally gave out, it was pretty old anyway so no surprise there! I went to look for a new stove but there was just so many options out there...
I learned that the only way to actually settle on something is to make a list of the features that were essential to me in a stove, and they were the glass top (no coil elements!) and convection fan in the oven for the option of convection baking.   Other options were stainless steel (to match other appliances in the kitchen) and then something with knobs, and not too confusing tech wise.   You'd think it was pretty easy to choose something with this criteria,

At the store there were just so many options to choose from, it became confusing, ideally it would have been great to pull features from each and make my own stove with all the elements I wanted, but that's not really possible.
I was drawn to the LG ranges because of the Lapis blue color lining inside the oven, it was really eye catching but the prices of the LGs were quite high.
The double door ovens with the two separate temperatures for cooking two different dishes were new to me, they were interesting but priced much higher than the regular ranges and this isn't really a feature I needed.

To my surprise I noticed the samsung ranges (did not know samsung made stoves!) then I saw the Samsung Flex Duo stove, it is interesting not only due to the fact that you could use two different temperatures in the oven because of the divider which works like a double door oven but also that it is a super large capacity so once the divider is removed (easily slid out) you have a big oven (perhaps one of the largest on the market) to roast a BIG turkey, pretty good!

Of course the temperature is not as accurate as a double door (each sealed and it's own separate oven) because in this one some heat can escape into the opposite chamber but it's still supposed to work fine.

The physical features in this range are really nice, the knobs with the red touch make it look quite attractive and everything electronic in the panel is easy to use, I did not struggle with it (complicated electronic things really bother me)

After a lot of research I made the purchase and it was shipped out within a week from my local big box store and I began using it right away.

Fast forward a few months, in late april the glasstop shattered, out of the blue, I was using all the appropriate pots and such so this really scared me.   Thankfully they sent out a repair man to replace the entire top, and that was easy and quick to install.   I'm very careful with it now, I've always been careful but not sure what happened to cause the cracking so to be on the safe side (and thanks to the mothers day sale at the Bay) I replaced all my pots just to be safe.

I've used my oven, stove and new pots quite a bit so far but it's going to be exciting seeing what recipes I can whip up this summer.