Tag Archives: cooking
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Tikka Masala
Super bowl party
Made lots of delicious Tex-Mex small bits….
Fresno chili cheese poppers
How to cook Spaghetti Squash
How to cook Spaghetti Squash
Fiesta chicken
Fiesta Chicken
We are the kind of people that could eat chicken every night and tonight was a no exception it was a slow cooker fiesta chicken night!
I called it fiesta chicken because of the the mix of the spices i used, this mix of spices added the most delicious mild spiced flavor!
Kofta – – Middle Eastern Meatloaf
Kofta-Middle Eastern Meatloaf
Kota is the most beloved and most famous dish in the middle east, its delicious and ohh its so easy to make.
Every home has its own recipe to prepare this dish, its widely made in a pan like my mom’s recipe below, or as a Kabob on skewers, or long shaped meatballs. Continue reading
Maqluba
Maqluba
Maqluba is the national dish in the middle east..Each recipe has its own variety of vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and eggplant!
my favorite way to make it with eggplant and cauliflower, chicken or lamb are the meats of choice to be used in Maqluba.
Maqluba latterly translates to “upside down” in Arabic, when the casserole is inverted, the top has the crusty layer of the rice, some chose to have the vegetable on the bottom instead of the rice, but my mom always made it with the rice on the bottom, I love it and so does my family.
4 LB boneless skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs.
8 cups cold water
1 stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaf
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 med cauliflower cut up to floweret OR
1 large eggplant cut up in to 3 inches circles
3 cloves of garlic minced
3 cups of Jasmin rice or long grain rice
1/2 tablespoon of black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon of salt divided
1 1/4 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon ground cardamom
6 cups reserved chicken broth
6 tablespoon olive oil divided
3 tablespoon butter
Preheat oven to 425
In a large stockpot add water, chicken, cinnamon stick and bay leaf, bring to boil, lower the heat to medium low and simmer uncovered to avoid spells for about 25 minutes, making sure to skim off the foam every few minutes until the broth is clear.
In the main time, spread the eggplant on to nonstick or lined baking sheet in single layer, drizzle 3 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle 1/4 of tablespoon of salt, rub the oil and the salt into the eggplant, bake for 30 minutes.
Rinse the rice with cold water drain, set a side.
In a medium size nonstick pot add the remaining olive oil, butter and Sauté the sliced onions until golden, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, make sure the pot is large enough in order to cook the entire meal in.
Add the sautéed onion and garlic to the rinsed rice, add all the spices and the remaining salt and pepper. mix well.
Remove the chicken from the broth onto a plate and let it cool for a minute, discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf, reserve the broth.
Shred the chicken into large bite size.
Line the bottom of the pot with a layer of the rice and onion mixture, add a layer of eggplant or the vegetable you chose to use, repeat until all of the eggplant used and end up with a top layer of the rice.
Add chicken broth, cover and bring to boil, lower the heat to simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes.
Let the rice stand in the pot covered for about 10 minutes.
Hold a large serving platter over the pot and invert the rice carefully and serve.
Some recipes have toasted nuts on top but I love this simple one!
Served with plain yogurt or middle eastern salad
Enjoy!
Cheese sauce
Cheese sauce
and cheesy goodness… And the meat added an extra delicious flavor.
I also used the same sauce to test my homemade Nachos and it turned out as
delicious as the Penne dish.
Also tested this sauce with steamed vegetables and there are no words to
describe the flavor, all I could say that it is absolutely delicious.
I am still in the testing stages with this sauce; I have to try and work on
it few more time, so I won’t post it just yet.
I promise I will once I get it perfect and up to standard to post.
Sauteed Mushroom
Sautéed mushroom
I am not a vegetarian by any means, I am a meat and potato kind of woman, but every now and then I like to have meat free meals and this one is one them!
According to medical research, mushroom has many health benefits, one of them is lowering cholesterol especially Shitake mushroom and that is one of our favorite mushroom to cook with.
This is one of the flavorful, healthy, simple and easy mushroom dinners to make in no time.
.1 1/2 lb Portabella Mushroom chopped
.1 1/2 lb Shitake mushroom chopped
.8 large Eggs
.1 tsp. Salt
.1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
.2 tbsp Butter
.1 tbsp olive oil
.1 tbsp minced Parsley
.2 medium Shallots chopped
Over high heat in a large sauté pan, add butter and olive oil add chopped shallots and sauté until golden add chopped mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, Add salt and black pepper.
Lower heat and add eggs and stir, cook until eggs are set.
Top with chopped parsley, serve with tomato wedges. Enjoy!
Green beans – stew
Green beans stew
One of the key ingredients to prepare this dish is to have a well-stocked pantry, having canned vegetables, and a variety of canned soups on hand will make your life easy and make you look like rock star with your family when dinnertime comes!
My mother always used fresh cut green beans because she does not approve of using canned green beans, but I had to tailor the recipe to accommodate the cooking time I have, without losing or compromising the delicious flavor.
.2 lbs. Beef stew small cut pieces
.5 cloves of Garlic minced
.2 cans of Hearty Tomato soup 19 oz. each
.2 tbsp. Tomato paste
.4 cans cut Green beans 14.5 oz. each
.1 tbsp. Salt
.1/2 tbsp. Black pepper
.2 1/2 cups of Chicken broth
On high heat in a large saucepan melt butter, add beef and sauté for few minutes, meat is not fully cooked.
Add garlic and sauté for few seconds add salt and black pepper.
Drain green beans and add to the meat, add two cans of hearty tomato soup, tomato paste, and chicken broth. Bring to boil lower heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes with occasional stirring.
Served with Rice pilaf and fresh lemon juice enjoy!
Ground Turkey meat could replace the beef in this dish and it is equally delicious.
Okra stew
Okra with beef
But the last few years I grow to like and since it’s my husband favorite dish I try to make at least it once a month.
Its garlicky taste with fresh lemon juice and fresh stow tomatoes is to die for.