Kitchen Carmen

Day 12 - Mante with Yogurt Soup

2015-07-14T14:37:00.001-07:00

Even though I grew up in Kuwait my mother would very often cook some delicious traditional Armenian dishes. One dish, that I favored the most was Mante. It's a sort of flour ball with diced meat in it and it tastes great with yogurt. Now that I live with two cultures I make sure to bring out the best of both sides. However, yesterday's dinner was mante.

The recipe is quite simple and requires the following:

For the mante you actually just need to follow the bread recipe from the Ramadan post and for the meat filling you just need to follow the Kuba recipe.

The yogurt requires:

1 l natural yogurt

1 cup water

3 tbsp corn flour

sprinkle of dried mint (for extra flavor)

Before making the soup, the mante must be prepared. Use the same recipe as the Ramadan post and flatten out the dough to then use a circular cake cutter.

Fill in the circles with the meat filling and fold them over to create half moons.

And then fold over the half moons like the picture above.

Keep going till there's no dough left.

Leave the mante in a preheated oven of 200 C for 10-15 minutes. Remember to sprinkle some olive oil over them to make them moist.

Start by placing a pot over the stove and add the yogurt, water, corn flour and a sprinkle of salt. This must be done while the pot is still cold. Keep stirring til it gets a thick consistency. When done add the sprinkle of dried mint.

Lots of love

Kitchen Carmen

Ramadan Day 10 + 11 - Rice with Green Beans & Veggie Pancakes

2015-07-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ramadan is going fast and we're already at day 10 and 11. For these two days we ate rice with green beans and dill with a side dish of veggie pancakes.

Ingredients

Rice

(For 4 people)

2 cups Basmati rice

500 g peeled green beans

1/2 cup dried dill

3-4 tbsp cooking oil

Veggie Pancakes

6 small eggs

1 tbsp flour

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp dried dill

1 large/2 small onions

salt

paprika

black pepper

pinch of ground cinnamon

Let the rice soak for at least an hour before starting.

Grab a large pot and add the cooking oil. Let it heat up and throw in the beans and leave for 5 minutes. Sprinkle some salt and 1/2 cup of dill. Add some boiled water after 10 minutes, so it covers the beans.

When another 10 minutes have passed you add the rice. Lower the heat, cover it and cook for half an hour or more.

Put the ingredients for the pancakes in a blender and mix well. Let the dough sit in the fridge for half an hour. Make small circles and fry in a pan till both sides are dark green/brown.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Ramadan Day 8+9 - Shish Taouk & Hummus

2015-07-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

For day 8 and 9 I decided to spoil my family. My husband and daughter love shish taouk, therefore it wasn't too hard to decide what to cook these days. During Ramadan I don't like to cook too much, so you'll notice that we sometimes eat the same thing for two days in a row.

Ingredients:

Shish Taouk

(For 4 people)

4 large chicken breasts (cut into pieces)

1 cup yogurt

3 garlic cloves

1 lemon (juiced)

2 tbsp cooking oil

salt

paprika

dried basil

chili flakes (optional)

Hummus

1 can hummus

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove

3-4 tbsp tahina

3-4 tbsp water

Starting with the chicken. We need to marinade it first. Grab a bowl and throw in all the ingredients. Make sure the garlic cloves have been grated before putting them in the bowl. When it comes to adding the salt, dried basil and paprika you just need a sprinkle of it. It's hard to say how much, as it depends on how you like it - it's also here where you add in some chili flakes if you like your chicken hot. Mix and make sure that the chicken pieces are soaked well through the night. If you need to make it on the day, let it soak for at least 4 hours.

Place the chicken on spears like the picture above and grill them. It takes about 5-10 minutes for each spear to finish.

Moving on to the hummus. Mix in all the ingredients, find a nice plate and decorate with olive oil, paprika, parsley and cumin. There are many options though! Some people prefer it with pomegranate, so it's entirely up to you.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Ramadan Day 6+7 - Tashrib & Sweet Bites

2015-06-28T07:09:00.001-07:00

Last Ramadan I promised I would post every single day, however, that promise was not kept since a lot of things got in the way. To keep this promise, I've decided to continue from last year. Starting with what we had to eat for day 6 and 7.

During these two days we decided to have tashrib, which is a tomato sauce with chicken and bread. The bread I'm using is homemade and you can find the recipe here. For dessert I made sweet bites, which is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert also known as legamat or awamat. It's mostly served during Ramadan.

Tashrib

(The recipe is for 4 people)

1 whole chicken (boiled)

8 small potatoes

1 aubergine

1 cup split chickpeas

4-5 tbsp tomato puree

salt

paprika

1 tsp turmeric

½ lemon juiced

½ tsp tamarind paste

Start off by preparing the chicken.

Place the chicken in a pot with 1 whole onion and cooking oil. Add some salt and turmeric. While it's frying, boil some water and prepare to add it to the pot.

3-4 pieces of cardamom

2 small cinnamon sticks

4-5 bay leaves

3 dried lemons

1 tsp black peppercorns

Let it cook for about an hour. Check on it every 15-20 minutes or so to make sure there's enough water. We need the water for the tashrib later.

Cut the aubergine and fry it.

When the chicken's ready we'll prepare the tashrib. Bring another pot and add some cooking oil, potatoes, the slit chickpeas, tomato puree, sprinkle of salt, and paprika. Mix it around for 10 minutes. Bring the chicken soup/water to the tashrib pot.

Let it cook until the potatoes have cooked fully. Then you add the chicken, tamarind paste and lemon juice. The last 10 minutes you add the aubergine.

You cut out the bread into small triangular shapes and place them in the bottom of a bowl followed by the sauce.

Time for dessert!

Sweet Bites

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cornflour

25 g fresh yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups water

Mix up all the ingredients in a bowl and leave it covered for about an hour to rise. Meanwhile we need to prepare the Arabic syrup.

Place the dough in a piping bag and prepare a pot with some cooking oil. When the oil is hot and ready, make small balls and let them fry till they are brown-ish.

Dip them in a bowl with the Arabic syrup and serve.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Nutella & Banana Pastries

2015-02-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I was browsing through Pinterest and stumbled upon some pastries with nutella and bananas. They looked really delicious, so I decided to give it a go and I must say, they're just as good as they look!

The ingredients are simple. All you need is puff pastry (the ones I used were pre made,) nutella and bananas.

Start off by cutting the pastry in half and spread nutella on one side, so the other side that we'll be flipping over is empty. After that you add some banana slices.

Fold the empty side over to cover the nutella and bananas. Make a lock by taking a fork and press it down on both sides. Take a knife and make two cuts to make sure that they bake from within as well. Finish off by brushing some egg on top. Leave in the oven for 5-10 min. The oven should be preheated to 275 C or 527 F.

They look so delicious! Editing this post made me crave for more. Good thing we have some leftovers.

Lots of love,
Kitchen Carmen

Date Cake With Caramel Sauce

2015-01-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

Coming from a Middle Eastern culture dates are really important (and delicious.) It's used in many dishes, but it's also good as a simple snack.

About a year ago I discovered a date cake recipe - and it's delicious! The cake is really moist and the caramel sauce together with the dates make it a perfect combo.

Ingredients:

Cake

2½ cups sugar

1 cup dates (without seeds)

1 cup boiling water

1 cup sifted flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup oil

1/4 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

pinch of salt

Caramel Sauce

½ cup thick cream

½ cup sugar

2 tbsp butter

Start by adding the boiling water to a pot containing the dates. Make sure to cover it with a lid. The dates need to be left in the water for 30 minutes. We're going to use the sauce for the batter afterwards.

While they're getting softer, go ahead and turn on the oven to 180 C or 356 F.

After the 30 minutes have passed, it's time to make the cake.

Beat the eggs with the sugar for 10 minutes and add vanilla, oil and finally the date sauce.

Then the dry ingredients; the sifted flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well for another 10 minutes.

Leave it in the oven for 20 minutes.

When the cake has completely cooled you can start with the sauce.

Place a pot over the stove and add sugar together with the butter. When the sugar and butter have melted and become golden brown, take the pot away from the heat. Place the thick cream and mix well till it starts drying up - then put it back on the heat again and stir till it creates a creamy caramel consistency.

Next take a bowl and sift the caramel sauce in order to remove any left over sugar crumbs. Let it cool for 5-7 minutes and pour it on the cake.

Decorate as you like - I added pistachios.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Ramadan Day 4 - Grilled Shrimps & Chickpea Salad (Fattah)

2014-07-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've made grilled shrimps and it certainly is a favorite here at home, therefore I found it most appropriate to make them today - with a side chickpea salad.

Start by peeling the shrimps completely before making the sauce.

After they've been peeled start preparing the sauce, which requires the following;

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp tamarind

½ tsp paprika hot (optional)

Leave them in the fridge for at least an hour.

Place the shrimps on wood sticks and leave them in the oven for half an hour covered in foil and then another half an hour without. Preheat the oven to 200 C or 400 F.

To make the salad, the chickpeas need to be in hot water and 1 tsp bicarbonate during the night. The day after they have to be washed and boiled with salt till they're soft.

For the dressing you'll need:

2 cups yogurt

2 tbsp tahina

1 tsp salt

2 pieces of garlic (crushed)

1 tsp lemon juice

Mix well with a whisk and add a small amount of water to avoid thickness.

For the salad I used fried bread, hummus (with a tiny bit of the water,) the dressing and topped it off with some parsley and paprika.

Ramadan Kareem

Kitchen Carmen

Ramadan Day 2+3 - Homemade Bread, Pizza & Oreo Cupcakes

2014-07-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

For day 2+3 we ate some leftovers, but I also added some homemade bread, pizza and a delicious and simple dessert. The homemade bread is a must in my family and I make it every Ramadan - it's really good!

I've already posted how to make the dough for the pizza here. You can add whatever topping you like, I've used pepperoni, tomatoes, olives, oregano and Havarti cheese.

To make the bread you'll need;

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp cooking oil

water (there's no exact amount of water, as it's added gradually till the dough becomes sticky.

When the dough has been made leave it covered for about 30 min. Create a round shape like the above and place it on a pan. Remember to keep turning it to avoid air entering the dough.

I use a towel to turn it around as it becomes quite hot.

After the bread is done make sure to cover them.

Now for the best part - Oreo cupcakes. Yum!

The ingredients:

Oreos

500 gram cream cheese

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

½ cup thick cream

1 cup whipping cream

½ tsp lemon zest

sprinkle of salt

Place one Oreo in each cupcake form on a cupcake batter. (pic above.) Add milk to soften the cookies.

Create the dough separately. Add the ingredients here - except the Oreos. Mix with a food mixer till you get the texture above.

Break some Oreos and add them to the dough. Mix well and fill the cupcake forms.

Leave the cupcakes in the oven for 20-25 min. Remember to preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F.

Let the cupcakes cool off and decorate as you like.

Ramadan Kareem

Kitchen Carmen

Ramadan Day One - Kebab, Fatoosh & Lentil Soup

2014-06-30T03:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a Ramadan project - hoping to post ideas every day (Inshallah,) as it would be great for those who end up having absolutely no idea on what to cook.

For the first day I like to start out simple, therefore I decided to serve kebab, fatoosh and lentil soup for my family. Lentil soup is something that I serve almost every day, since it's really good to break the long fast with a soup.

Starting out with the lentil soup. (It's the easiest to make!)

You'll need:

1 cup red lentils

2 tsp dried onions

Noodles

Start by picking out the amount of lentils you need. Make sure to wash them to get rid of any dirt that may be there. Place the lentils in a pot and add enough water to cover the lentils.

After the lentils have been boiling for a while you can add noodles if you'd like, it's completely optional. The same as the dried onions underneath. Make sure to add salt/black pepper, lemon juice and cumin (cumin is optional as well.)

As for the fatoosh you'll need the following ingredients:

4 scallions

1 tomato

½ lettuce

2 tsp sumac

2 tbsp dried mint

1 lemon

4 radishes

Handful parsley

3 pieces of garlic

Arabic bread

Salt and olive oil

Cut the Arabic bread into smaller pieces and fry them. The bread gives the salad a great crunchy taste. The bread should be added to the salad just before serving, so the bread stays crunchy.

Mix the ingredients together and you get some delicious fatoosh.

To make the kebabs you need:

1/4 kg minced beef

3 onions

1 potato

Handful parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp black pepper

½ tsp "7 spices"

2-3 tsp turmeric (it gives the meat a yellow-ish color.)

I usually start by mixing the veggies in a food mixer and add the meat afterwards to make sure that they are cut down. As the meat is mixed for a bit it may turn sort of liquidy, therefore it's important to add some flour until it becomes a dough. Cover the meat and leave it in the fridge for about 30 minutes before frying the kebabs.

Create any shape you like and fry the meat on a pan.

Ramadan Kareem

Kitchen Carmen

Baklava

2014-05-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

Baklava is a must in many Middle Eastern families and it sure is delicious. Usually it is bought from the bakery, but it tastes even better homemade! This time, I cheated a little bit and bought the puff pastry pre-made.

To make the baklava you'll need:

Puff pastry
1 egg
Whipped cream
Pistachio
Arabic syrup or concentrated milk

Start by leaving the frozen puff pastry out for a 10-20 minutes to make the plates soft. The pastries have to be cut into halves, so they'll look like thin rectangles.

Wrap the puff pastry around two spoons like above (you can also use metal cones.) This trick will make sure that the pastries can be filled with whipped cream. Crack an egg and brush the pastries before leaving them in the oven for 15-20 minutes - make sure they look like the ones above.

Decorate with whatever topping you like and you're ready to serve. I'm using the Arabic syrup topped with more pistachio (yum!)

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Mama's Special Marble Cake

2013-09-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've been making this cake for almost 20 years and I like to say that it's my specialty. I learned this recipe from my mother - and it is marvelous.

It's really easy once you're used to the recipe, but here's a list of what you need:

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ tsp cardamom
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
3-4 tbsp Nesquik cocoa powder

Start off by mixing the eggs, sugar and cardamom together with a food mixer til it becomes creamy. Then add the oil, milk and vanilla and continue mixing for about 2-3 minutes.

Next sift the flour and baking powder into one bowl and add it to the mix.

To get the two tones, move less than half of the mix into another bowl and add the cocoa powder. Mix again.

I usually use this baking form when I make the marble cake, but it's entirely up to you what you'd like to use.

To make it extra tasty you can add walnuts, but make sure to place them in the middle, just before we add the chocolate mix.

Fill in the remaining and use a toothpick to make patterns through the cake to create the marble look. Leave the cake in the oven for about 45 minutes with the heat on 180 degrees Celsius or 356 degrees Fahrenheit. (Don't forget to preheat the oven!)

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Festive Sponge Cake

2013-06-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

I usually like to invite my girlfriends over for a nice brunch. When it comes to my brunches, I like to make the dessert a little extra special. This dessert looks really fancy, and can be used for any special event.

Make sure to mix the above ingredients in one bowl

This is a Middle Eastern kind of syrup. It requires the followings ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

A tiny bit of saffron, to give it the yellow color (optional)

Boil it in casserole and add 1 tsp lemon juice. Leave it for approximately 15 minutes on the heat, when it's done just let it cool off.

Even up the dough on two equivalent baking pans. These two are about 20x24 cm. Put them in a preheated oven of 180 C for 15-20 minutes.

Here you need to add a tsp or two of the syrup and then spread it out.

Then comes the whipped cream.

After adding the whipped cream on the first layer it's time for the second layer. Just repeat previous steps

Cut off the edges of the cake to give it a nicer look.

Cut the cake in half.

And another half.

And now the halves into halves, well it depends on how big your cake is, here I could get three pieces from the 1/4.

Decoration time! Since this cake is simple and elegant, I decided to just give it some simple touches.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Chocolate Dipped Dates

2012-10-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been too occupied with my private life that I haven't been able to be as much active on the blog as wanted. I'm back, and I've got a new recipe for you!

First you need:

½ kg dates

1 pk tea biscuits

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

4 tbsp sesame

3 tbsp butter (pre-melted)

Peeled almonds (Not salty!)

Two dark chocolate bars

Step 1:

Remove the seeds from the dates.

Next you have to boil the dates on a stove with the butter, do add the cinnamon and cardamom together with it. Caution: You have to keep stirring till it becomes soft.

(If it's tough to stir through, you may add a tiny bit of water)

Add sesame and let it cool afterwards.

Step 2:

Break the biscuits till they look like crumbs.

Then add the crumbs to the date dough we've created and start mixing them together like a regular pizza dough.

Step 3:

Put the almonds in a bowl of hot water for half an hour and peel them.

Next you need the almonds in one plate and some raps oil in another. The oil is just a wingman to avoid sticky hands.

Make small balls out of the dough and make a hole with your finger where you place an almond, close it afterwards.

Step 4:

Melt the chocolate, and start dipping the date balls into the chocolate, you can add topping if you like, (pistachio, coconuts, vermicelli etc.) or you can just leave them naked.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Carmen

Chocolate Cupcakes

2012-01-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

For this weekend I decided to make a very tasty and delicious cupcake.

For these cupcakes you need:

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 3/4 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cardamom

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cup milk

½ cup oil

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the chocolate topping you need:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before beginning anything, heat up the oven to 180 degrees.

Step 1

You just simply add all the ingredients by the order of above and you should get something like this.

Step 2

What I like to do, when filling in the cupcake tins is to first put some cupcake paper.

And then fill a jug with the chocolate mix.

Step 3

Can you guess what we're going to do now?

You should only fill up till the edges of the holes.

- Put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes, make sure to check with a toothpick.

Step 4

Yummy, I know!

So now it's time for the topping.

But do remember that the cupcakes MUST be cold before you can add the topping! It's a good idea to make the topping just after they're cold.

Remove the paper and then begin the process of topping the top of the cupcakes with the chocolate.

You can decorate if you like, I for example used grated white chocolate.

There are no limits of decorating, the choice is yours. Enjoy.

Lots of Love

Kitchen Carmen

5 Minute Pizza

2012-01-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

So my daughter and I were really hungry and busy the other day, so we wanted to make something really fast. In the end, we came up with this super delicious 5 minute pizza!

For this you need:

------------------------------------------------------------

Toast

Cheese

Oregano

Tomato puree

Tuna (optional)

Olives (optional)

-------------------------------------------------------------

You can basically add anything you want, it's just like a regular pizza.

Step 1

Get the amount of toasts you need and spread the tomato puree on it.

Step 2

Get the tuna, , oregano, olives and finish off with the cheese

Leave it in a heated oven of 200 degrees for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Lots of Love

Kitchen Carmen

Apple Cake

2012-01-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

Apple cake is definitely my favorite cake, and I've been mastering it for a while, so I thought I'd show you guys how I make an apple cake, and since it's Saturday, it's time to think about the sweet tooth!

For the apples:

4 apples

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar

------------------------------

For the cake you need:

4 eggs

1/4 tsp cardamom

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp baking powder

3 cups flour

------------------------------

For the Jam

5-6 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp water

OBS! Before you start anything heat up the oven, it should be 170 degrees.

Step 1

You start by cutting the apples into small pieces, add the amount of sugar and cinnamon and mix them together (with a spoon), leave it for 30 minutes.

While that is getting ready move on to step 2

Step 2

Mix the sugar, eggs and cardamom for 10 minutes, then you add the milk, oil, the vanilla and the baking powder. Mix it for 5 minutes, finish by adding the flour and mix it in for a whole minute.

Fill the mix in a roasting pan as shown above.

Step 3

Now you're going to put the apples on the pan.

Leave it in the oven for 40 minutes, but you should still check it with a toothpick.

Step 4

Meanwhile why not prepare the apricot jam?

This part is very simple, you basically just add one tbsp of water to the jam, just to make it a slightly bit thinner. The jam is going to be used to paint the cake.

Step 5

You MUST paint the cake as soon as you remove it from the oven!

Enjoy!

Lots of love

Kitchen Carmen

Dough Mix

2012-01-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

I always love to make something with dough, whether it includes pizza, sausages, you name it! This time I'm more than happy to show you how I make the dough - and what I put inside!

Let's start by going through the recipes for the dough:

1 kg flour

1 glass of warm milk

½ glass oil

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp sugar

50 g yeast

2 glasses water

Step 1

Add all the ingredients to one big bowl, in the exact same order as shown above.

Mix all the ingredients together by using two optional tools: the hand or a food mixer.

Leave the dough in a heated room for around 1 hour, please remember to cover the dough up with a kitchen towel.

Step 2

While the dough is getting ready, move on to the stuffing part.

For each one, there's a stuffing, so why not start with the mini pizzas?

MINI PIZZA

1 can (140 g) Tomato puree
Oregano
Cheese (Mozzarella etc.)
Tuna (optional)

You can basically use anything (to a certain extent) you want, just remember that the tomato puree and cheese are very important materials for the pizza.

The size of the pizza of course depends on you.

First fact to be written: the tomato puree needs water to be added. Empty the can into a bowl and add a little bit of water, just to make it a little bit thinner.

OBS: Be careful with the water!

First of all start by spreading the tomato sauce onto the pizza

- and then begin with the other things you want to put on it, such as the cheese.
Grate the cheese with a grater, unless you bought it prepared.

SAUSAGE ROLLS
Sausages
Sesame

1 Egg

The reason there weren't mentioned any amount of the sausages is because it really still is up to you.

The dough is cut into a triangle, just like a pizza, so you basically roll a big piece of dough and cut it, just like the picture below.

I like to cut the sausage to halves after i roll them in dough, so it makes two sausage rolls.

Crack an egg and whip it a little bit, thereby use a kitchen brush and brush the sausage rolls. After that has been done you are free to add some sesame on top of them.

Thyme
Thyme
Olive oil

This one is definitely the easiest one, you just simply put some thyme in a bowl and then add some olive oil to it, mix it til it becomes liquidity.

They have to look like a mini pizza.

That's it, they basically just needs 20 minutes in the oven. You can either make one of them, or just all of them, the choice is yours. Enjoy!

Lots of love

Kitchen Carmen

Samboosa

2011-11-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

Today my dear fellows the famous Arabic Samboosa is on the menu!

You need

500 grams feta cheese

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp dried mint

100 grams chopped parsley

One package (depends on how much you're making) of spring roll pastry

Start off by smashing the cheese, I'm using a fork to cut it to small pieces. It's very easy!

Add all the ingredients one by one, while mixing them.

then the stuffing should look like the picture below

When it somehow looks like this, you can continue to step 2.

Take your spring roll and cut it into one half,

then take one by one, just remember to cover the spring roll package when you take on piece after another, just to make sure the rest don't dry out.

Take one piece of the spring roll and put 1 tbsp of stuffing on one side.

Now I will show you how to roll them like a triangle.

Start by the left side and roll it to the other side, like a zigzag motion, keep repeating till it looks like the pictures below.

Here you are using glue, don't worry it's not real glue, it's just a mix of water and flour.

Stick it to the side and voila! You got yourself one piece of samboosa, just keep repeating till you've reached the amount you need.

You can either freeze them down and fry them later, or you can begin immediately. You just need a frying pan and little bit of oil, fry them till they're crispy, red/brownish, the choice is yours. Good luck!

Lots of love

Kitchen Carmen

Arabic "Kuba"

2011-10-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hi!

So, this time I made Arabic "Kuba", which is referred to meatballs in English AND it's very delicious when you're making soup. It’ll take a little bit time, so you’ll need patience as your partner!

For The Arabic Kuba you need the following:

The ingredients mentioned below depends on the amount you want to make, so you'll need to keep an equal number of cups.

2 cups fine bulgur

2 cups semolina

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

For the meat mix you need:

2 chopped onions

500 grams ground meat

2 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp "7 spices"

Start by putting all the ingredients in a bowl and start mixing them together. Please do add a little bit of water a couple of times during the mix, thereby it'll become sticky and easy to make small balls out of.

How to prepare the meat:

Start cutting the onions into small pieces, and then on a pan with a little bit oil, then you wait till it becomes goldish, thereafter you add the meat with all the spices, mix it for a few seconds and then leave it for about 20-30 minutes, till it's cooked.

When the meat is cooled down, you can move on to the kuba balls.

Start by making a ball (you can of course make them the size you want)

Then you use your finger to make a hole, like shown above.

Keep pressing till it looks like the picture.
Then you fill it with meat and simply close it.

Keep repeating till you've finished all of them, but be careful they are very sticky so you'll need to put them on something, I put them on a bag, as you can see in the first picture, which is very useful. You can put them in the freezer as long as you want, or you can immediately begin with the soup. The choice is yours!

Some suggestions for soups:

Lentil soup

Tomato soup

When making the soup the Kuba/meatballs will need at least 30 minutes.

Lots of Love

Kitchen Carmen

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

2011-10-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

As promised, I made the chocolate biscuit cake.

Yummy! so for this cake you need:

400 grams dark chocolate

½ cup sugar (powder)

½ cup thick cream

2 tbsp melted butter (you can get the butter melted)

1 roll of biscuit (should contain around 30 biscuits)

A big piece of foil. (according to the size)

Estimated time: 3 hours

ATTENTION! the biscuits must not be salty!!!

Step 1:

Start by melting the chocolate.

Melt the chocolate, by filling a pot with hot water and then place a bowl with the chocolate on it, that way you wont risk the chocolate getting burned.

Step 2:

Add the thick cream and mix it.

Step 3:

Add the ½ cup of sugar and mix it.

Step 4:

Add the 2 tablespoons of melted butter and mix it again.

After mixing it for a few seconds, it should look a little bit like this.

Step 5:

Moving on to the biscuits, crush the biscuit and place them in a bowl. The bowl should be able to contain the biscuit and chocolate.

Step 6:

After everything is done, the bowl should be filled with the chocolate.

After the bowl is filled, start to mix everything together.

And it should look like this.

Step 7:

Put the whole chocolate mix on the piece of foil, then start fixing the sides to get a nice shape.

Wrap the whole cake up in the foil.

Now, put it in the freezer for atleast 3 hours.

I mentioned in the first post that after the chocolate biscuit cake, I would do some crafting and Middle Eastern cooking, so make sure you keep following my posts and I will keep making sure, that the cooking and crafting will be awesome.

Welcome!

2011-10-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

As this is the first post, I would like to welcome you warmly and hope that you'll find something useful for your everyday cooking.

In the upcoming blogs, I will mostly show some Middle Eastern recipes/cooking. It will be very detailed, so you’ll get much out of it.

But to begin with, I will show you how to make an easy “Chocolate Biscuit Cake”

Lots of love

Kitchen Carmen