Grains: Bulgur

I love bulgur. I used to LOVE couscous. Now that I've found bulgur, couscous has fallen by the wayside. For several reasons:

1. Bulgur's nutritional value is higher- less calories, higher protein, fiber etc. (It's processed less.)

2. You can interchange bulgur for couscous. (This is because they are both wheat based products.)

3. It has better flavor- it has one! Couscous just tastes like pasta, bulgur has an almost nutty quality to it. It really adds to a dish.

4. I can find it cheaper at my local stores than couscous.

So try something new- you just might like it!

Desserts: Blueberry-Lemon filled and iced Lemon cake

So yesterday we had a New York style Pizza Party with my husband at the oven. (No photos cause everything went before I could!) Even w/out cheese the pizzas were delicious!

Well, before the pizzas were made, I wanted to make a Strawberry-filled Lemon cake. I did not how to approach it- but I looked in my fridge, saw lots of strawberry jam and thought to myself... Maybe that could work. Before I made the cake, I looked up recipes and came across this one: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000642292

One problem, I don't have strawberries! I do however have a ton of blueberries in my freezer... So off I was on my little experiment- what could happen? It turn out wrong and I have to go with traditional frosting? I didn't get any pictures but the flavors of lemon-blueberry filling in and on lemon cake were a hit! Everyone liked it.

If I would change anything, I would try to figure out how to get more moisture into the filling. It ended up being more of a consistency of a jam. But it was so good! We had enough to fill the middle, top and sides.

Happy eating everyone!

Spices: Lapsang Souchong Tea

My favorite grocery store, which is both good on price and in selection, is Wegman's. This store makes me happy- if only for the fact they have an entire organic section and an entire isle dedicated to teas.

I went shopping after work the other day, and saw Lapsang Souchong tea and decided to try something new. When I got it home and opened the box, it was the smokiest smell! From a little research (also known as Wikipedia...) this tea is made by drying it by smoking it with pine trees. I knew I couldn't drink it, but this had definite possibilities for a spice.

http://www.twinings.com/au/product.php?productid=13

Well, today I took one tea bag and mixed it with garlic, pepper, salt, a little of my dear husband's barbecue rub with a little oil and the chicken. I baked it and let it cool. Let me tell you, it tasted like it had been barbecued! Definitely going to experiment with this in the future.

My recommendations: However you like your barbecue spiced, then add some of the tea, then cook it on/in your stove/oven. It will turn out amazing.

Hope everyone has a great day. Happy eating!

Chicken: Chicken Shawarma w/ Tahini Sauce

Thankfully, the food got great reviews, especially the tahini sauce and the naan. We marinated the chicken for about 6 hours before we cooked it. We did not have time for the vegetables, but that's just fine because at the gathering there was many different types of food. My husband and I researched this recipe as soon as we were asked to help out, trying to find the Arabian type spices. I've now come to feel that Arabian spiced items are half way between Greek and Indian, because it uses many spices used in Indian cooking but it is very parred down and quite simplistic like Greek. If you notice, the recipe below calls for "mixed spices" however does not state what they are. Hence, we were on the hunt to find what spices to are to be used in Shawarma. Now, there are many different versions of the recipe and after looking at many of them, we saw two spices that were in every one- mace and allspice. So those are what we used. We are very happy with how it turned out. While I did not get photos from the gathering, there was plenty of left overs, so I will be posting once I've cleaned my kitchen...

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chicken-shawarma/Detail.aspx

Until then, happy eating, enjoy your friends, and don't be afraid to try something new- you just might be surprised!

P.S. The Naan did not survive for photos... But some chicken shawarma did:

Breads: Naan

Last week, some dear friends of mine asked us to help with making authentic middle eastern food for their get-together. It seemed that this week, everything that could go wrong did in regards to our part, since we had planned on making the Naan Wednesday/Thursday.

So here I am it is 5:04 am, still up from the night before, making Naan and marinating some chicken, which most likely, I'll post pictures up on my next post for the recipe of Chicken Shawarma.

I am taking a break at the moment, while I know I am nearly one bowl down of dough, I have another full bowl of dough to go. I am measuring the weight of the dough balls about 2- 2.5 oz. The key to flat bread of any kind is to not over cook it. I am using a steaming method to make sure that the bread does not dry out- that I commonly use when making flour tortillas. You take a small cloth and wet it and then wring it out and put it on top of the bread, effectively steaming it. We also like to measure in weights if we can as it is more accurate and requires less utensils. I got home last night at about 9 pm, taking breaks from cooking, but all in all, we are cooking some very delicious flatbread!

Hopefully I'll be lucid enough to take pictures, but if not, I'll definitely report back!

Have a great day and enjoy your cooking. And remember- Promises are promises, you should honor your commitments.

Breads: Biscuits (Vegan and Dairy-free)

I was looking to have some biscuits today and realized I did not have any shortening. Furthermore, I am allergic to most dairy products- so when I looked up a recipe I had to do some modifications, because, let's face it, when you look up non-dairy biscuits they either take 20 hours to make or they look/taste horrible. So today I am trying a new recipe from The Purity Cook book posted by this blogger: http://spicymayo.ca/recipes/best-biscuits-and-the-purity-cookbook/
Here are the substitutions:

Water for milk
Coconut oil for shortening

I am interested in seeing how this little experiment turns out. I am also hoping they are as delicious and pretty as the original blogger put up.
They are quite moist and delicious. They are also very flaky. All in all I'm very pleased with how they turned out and now it's time for breakfast!



Until next time, happy eating!

Fried Fair: Homemade Potato Chips

Thanks to the invention of siblings, I have potato chips homemade!
Seasoned with Garlic and Pepper seasonings and salt of course.

Very cool. Hope you all have a good day and take care to appreciate your siblings and family, whether they be related or not. :)

Product Review: Silk Almond Milk

When you think of Silk, most people think of soy milk. Which really has been their only product for a while (soy based products) but this year they ventured into making almond milk (Which is my preferred choice of non-dairy beverage.)

I wanted to try Silk Almond Milk and had the opportunity to do so today. I found a coupon for $1.00 off and thought hey can't hurt!

I tried Silk Almond Milk Vanilla sweetened version.

Well, my verdict is- it's a great almond milk, a bit sweet. But this will be great in my coffee and in my cereal!

http://www.silkpurealmond.com/#a=3;r=1

Until next time, I hope you have a great day!

9/20/11 Update: Since this post, I've been using the unsweetened version with much success as a replacement to regular cows milk. The bonus? It's only 35 calories per cup! Make sure to throw it out if it changes flavor and goes though.

Dips and Sauces: Hummus

Chickpeas, I love them. This is my Hummus recipe, very basic, but also very delicious. It's more of a science experiment than a recipe though. Haha.

My Hummus

Chickpeas (at least 15 oz can)

Garlic (at least 2 cloves)

Salt

Pepper

Lemon juice

Olive oil or sesame oil or canola oil (at least 1 tsp)

Roasted peppers (optional)

Onion(optional)

Cumin, Ground red pepper, other spices (optional)

First, have chickpeas (either reconstituted or canned) drained- you can reserve the liquid if you are trying to avoid oil. Put garlic and other vegetables in processor and chop them up first, add your chickpeas and a bit of oil (or liquid), a bit of lemon juice and process until smooth and creamy, continue to add a little oil or liquid until you reach the consistency you desire. Then add the seasonings you desire, I love putting salt and pepper in it. This particular batch has roasted garlic and pepper seasoning with cumin, ground red pepper and salt. It is traditional to use sesame oil in your hummus but I found olive oil and canola work just fine.

You can eat this now, but seriously, wait a day let the flavors marinate- it's more awesome that way.

Hope that your adventures are tasty and until next time, have a great day!

Beverages: Almond Milk Café au lait

I love coffee. Though I try to practice moderation, I really could drink gallons a day. Hot, iced, chilled, or baked in things, I am not particular. The only thing I am particular about it is, it must NOT be stale and needs some sort of milk and sweetener. Seriously- old coffee doesn't taste good, the acids really do a number on your stomach, so why not just make it fresh? You can chill it in the fridge right after making it and it will still remain fresh for a few days if that is your concern. Here is a favorite recipe I have for making Café au lait. Oh if I only had an espresso machine!

Almond milk Café au lait

Home made almond milk

Strong coffee

In a tall bowl or cup (depending on your whipping apparatus) whip the warm milk up to froth it (I used a battery operated milk aerator). Place coffee in cup about half full then sweeten to taste, pour frothed milk into cup to top it off. The foam will remain at the top. Enjoy.

You can also use an aerator from an espresso machine. It does not work with a regular hand mixer.

I haven't made one of these in a little while. I really enjoy it. You can make this with cow's milk and just about any nut milk. I have not had any success with rice or oat milks as they don't have the right amount of fats and proteins in order to hold the froth.

Until next time, have a fantastic day!

Breads: Dinner Rolls

I love bread, have always loved bread, and will always love bread. Until recently, I didn't know how easy it was to make bread. I've made a few things here and there but not really make them make them. And now thanks to an awesome food processor with a dough hook, things are easier than ever. Fresh bread is just about the best thing you could ever eat. (Besides bananas or chocolate of course!)

A Betty Crocker recipe for dinner rolls. Man they were delicious too! I made them several times and they just were GONE! :) I did tweak the recipe a bit- using less milk and substituting with more water. But other than that I used it as it was in the recipe.

Well, my next bread post will be about pretzels I'm sure. :) I have some to make for a dear friend.

Until then, have a fantastic day!