Kibbeh bil Sanieh: My Last Post for a While

It was a different summer this year. Alternating between weeks full of fun and days drenched in worry and reminiscence. A summer full of transitions and changes. Nine weeks of vacation went by sadly too soon but it has been great to get back into the usual rhythm of my day: waking before the sun, reading, pilates and a quiet breakfast by myself before waking the others and plunging into my busy day. With the kids back in school theoretically I have had more time these past 3 weeks to dedicate to things I have wanted to get back to all summer. But blogging (or blog-following) just can't be one of them at the moment. My heart is not into it. Words represent a struggle for me right now: whether I'm reading a book (fiction) or writing a blog post. All of it may as well be an alien script.

These are busy times for me and I have a lot on my plate: I've got two much-postponed creative projects on the plate, a re-location to plan and execute, refresher-lessons in French and I'm also back in University. Adding three (demanding) kids to that crazy mix makes my days go by dizzyingly fast. After I submitted my Dissertation last year I was on a bit of a roll and really wanted to delve deeper into the subject of my research so I seriously contemplated enrolling in a PhD program . . that desire lasted about 3 months. Many of my friends from Graduate School were going ahead and starting their Doctorates but I felt this was not the right time for me to make that kind of rigorous, long-term Academic commitment. Besides, I would really rather just get back to work instead of being The-Woman-Who-Went-To-University-Forever! So the Certification I'm doing now is hopefully my very last foray into Academics for at least the next couple of years.

The start of a new year is usually symbolic: a time to take stock of what we've come from and where we are going next. While this is not technically the beginning of a new year, the last few weeks of summer have given me time to reflect a lot on all this while I slowly made my way back into my pre-Summer routine. To keep a balance right now, I have to prioritize and so blogging will take a back seat until I can figure it all out.

With that out of the way, I have to tell you that for me the best part of the end of vacation is that Families are back: there is laughter and frolic at the community pool, happy squeals in the playground as friends re-unite after the Summer. Friends returning from their home countries often come bearing gifts. My latest little treasure is a jar of Baharat - the Lebanese 7-spice mix. A unique, freshly-ground blend brought back for me straight from my friend's ancestral village. After being blown away by a Bulgar salad she made one day I had asked her for a recipe. She told me the amazing flavours came from Baharat she had brought back from Lebanon. I felt it tasted a little like Garam Masala but definitely used a different ratio of spices, giving it a different fragrance and edge altogether. When asked to explain which seven spices it contained she said she had no idea what this particular spice mix was made up of exactly: while the base recipe usually contains allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and coriander she guessed that this one contained not only the classic blend but also crushed rose petals and dried ginger. She explained that the blend is generally exclusive to the family or region that it originates from. I confirmed this through an article here. But I wasn't any closer to finding how to recreate the exact blend at home. It tasted so different from the store-bought mix. Luckily, I received it as a gift. What followed, of course, had to be my very first attempt at making Kibbeh. 

Kibbeh is a Middle Eastern dish made up of ground meat, bulgar wheat, onions and Baharat. It is usually shaped like a croquette and is deep fried yielding a crispy outer shell and soft, meaty centre. I took the simpler route and made it in the form of a baked pie known as Kibbeh bil Sanieh. I followed the recipe here and had enough of the 'outer dough' left over that I shaped it into patties which I froze for later use. All I had to do then was shallow-fry them when needed and this makes an easy option for the kid's lunch boxes on days I'm running out of steam. Or inspiration Or both. 

Now off I go on my hiatus. See you soon! 

Baking With Dorie: Tender Shortcakes

These baking challenges and this blog are turning out to be the reason why I have to hit the gym at 5 a.m. daily. Seriously.  

But does the guilt stop me from at least wholly consuming everything I make? Nah. You already knew that, didn't you?

This weeks' recipe was chosen by Susi of Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures & we're joined this week by two new bloggers who have joined our baking group.

I made these short cakes in a hurry this morning & was glad that it wasn't an elaborate dessert that I would have had to labor over.

I've never made shortcakes before, so I was a little perplexed over the dough which looked too crumbly and didn't come together as well as I had expected it to. I didn't want to overwork it, but had no idea if this was even what it was supposed to look like. 

So, I just took the plunge and baked a batch of 4 to begin with. And guess what happened: burnt the bottoms. I had better luck with the second batch which came out looking great and was only slightly scorched on the bottom. 

Now handling these cakes was tough - they were crumbly and using a serrated knife to slice them just didn't work. So I did what Dorie alternatively suggests: pricked with a fork all around and then just lifted the top off with a spatula & layered it back on after spreading the bottom halves with fruit & whipped cream.

For the fruit, I chose to use chopped mangoes with a squirt of lime (as suggested by Dorie on page 425) . Her original recipe asks for berries, but I used mangoes because they are my favorite fruit and it's hard to resist them now, with the beginning of mango season here. 

I also played around with the dough & took up one of Dorie's suggestions of adding powdered as well as candied ginger into the dough. And for me, the blend of flavors from the lime, mango and ginger were a real treat. 

All the shortcakes then  needed, was some simple whipped cream.

Please go over to Susi's blog for the recipe, and the blogroll here to check out the other BWD bakers versions.

Our next recipe, due on June 7, is the Lemon Cup Custard (page 387). If you'd like to join the challenge, please drop  me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. 

Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Lately my kids have complained that I am too grumpy & busy and don't do anything remotely fun with them. 

I don't know about you - but I just can't take it when they pull at my heart-strings like that! The weather has been completely uncooperative lately. It has been either too wet or too warm to do anything outdoors. So I did what I always do: got both the kids in the kitchen, presented them with lumps of cinnamon-roll dough and told them to take a go at it. 

Now there's no way to make a cinnamon roll healthy. I've tried & failed. The best I could do was to try and find a recipe using whole-wheat flour so I could feel all virtuous & dupe myself into believing that I came up with a 'healthy' version of this sinful treat. 

I stumbled across a great blog that had a recipe for Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Rolls. It was just what I wanted, except I tweaked the frosting a little bit because I just could not resist. Can you blame me? These are Cinnamon Rolls we are talking about: what's the point of being cautious or counting carbs and calories when you've gone as far enough as making them?

This recipe makes many, many cinnamon rolls. I didn't count but I can safely say I made at least 3-dozen and had to send 3/4th of those to my husbands workplace the next day because there was no way I was going to let them sit around and be tempted to scarf down a few every couple of hours.

Because they were that good. 

For the purpose of taking these photos, I thickened the frosting a little by adding more confectioners sugar but, otherwise, I made it thinner and when I drizzled it over the warm rolls it melted into them and made the rolls gooey and sticky & deliciously soft (but not pretty!). 

Here's the recipe: 

Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

adapted from Heavenly Homemakers

For the rolls:

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons yeast

2 teaspoons honey

2.5 cups milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup honey

4 teaspoons fleur de sel

8 cups whole wheat flour

For the filling:

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup granulated white sugar +1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon

For the frosting: 

approx. 3-4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

1/8 tsp salt

To make the dough:

Mix 1 cup warm water and 2tbsp yeast & 2 tsp honey in a large bowl. Stir and let sit for 5 mins. 

Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan and add the 1/2 cup of honey, fleur de seul and 2.5 cups of milk. Bring to about 120F and then remove from heat and pour over the yeast mixture and stir. 

Stir in the flour, 2 cups at a time. Turn everything out on a floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes. I divided the dough in two & let the kids punch the heck out of their respective balls of dough before covering them and leaving them to rise for 1.5 hours. 

After 1.5 hours, take 1 ball of dough and roll it out into a rectangle on a floured surface. I got a pretty large rectangle and I may have also rolled it out very thin. 

Use a pastry brush to spread half of the melted butter all over the rectangle. My 2 yr old used her pudgy hands to do this & my son sprinkled on  half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture. It was great fun & I only wish I could have taken photos - dark, dungeon kitchen or not. 

Roll up the rectangle - I read somewhere once that the thinner you roll out the dough and the tighter you roll it, the more swirls you get - and so you get  lots more of the cinnamon filling - which is what we were trying to get. Once it is rolled up, pinch sides and cut into 1/2" thick slices. 

Place all the rolls in a lightly greased 9 x 13" pan. Cover with clingfilm and allow to rise for about 1/2 hour while you repeat the process with the remaining dough. 

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

Let the rolls cool for 5 mins while you beat together the ingredients for the frosting & then drizzle the frosting all over the warm rolls.

I am also submitting this post to Yeastspotting, a weekly bread showcase at  the Wildyeast blog.
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Cioccolata Calda - Italian Hot Chocolate

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

they don't have time to make it. 

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils 

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, 

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

doesn't come out of carpets. 

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up...

Real Mothers sometimes ask, 'Why me?'

And get their answer with a little

Voice that says, 'Because I love you best...'

Happy Mothers Day! 

Moms, treat yourself to some decadent Italian Hot Chocolate today - you deserve it. 

I made this today as requested by my son: 

Italian Hot Chocolate or Cioccolata Calda 

From the recipe at Bell'alimento

100g good quality chocolate with 70% cocoa or higher, roughly chopped

1.5 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat till bubbles form on the sides. Add in the sugar at this point and stir until dissolved.

In a small cup, mix the cornstarch with a few tablespoons of the warm milk and return the mixture to the saucepan, stirring for 2-3 minutes till the milk thickens a little. 

Turn heat to low & add in the chopped chocolate. Stir, remove from heat and continue to stir until the chocolate is dissolved. 

Pour into cups and consume immediately. 

Drinks are on me: Mock Champagne

Fancy a drink? Need something summery to remind of you the warmer days up ahead?

Something bubbly? With a hint of apples, lemon and mint?  

Here you go: 

Mock Champagne


Juice from 5-6 lemons
6-8 tbsp sugar
2 Granny Smith Apples
2 liters unsweetened apple juice, chilled
1 liter sparkling water, chilled
handful of mint leaves, chopped


Stir the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.


Cut the apples into small chunks. 

Mix the juice, sparkling water and lemon syrup together in a large pitcher. Add the chopped apples and mint leaves. Serve. 

Dark Chocolate Dipped Apples (Magazine Mondays #1)

This is a really good twist on your regular candy apple. 

I made these for my kids several weeks ago, right before we moved. And since it was meant to be a submission for 'Magazine Mondays', I needed to locate the Heart Healthy magazine I got the inspiration for these apples from in the first place.  

No such luck. I packed the magazine away or threw it out? some time before we moved and, as of yet, I've been unable to find it. I finally located the recipe online on the Heart Healthy Living website.



I didn't add the nuts or cranberries because I didn't have any almonds and these were meant for the kids so I was pretty sure they would not at all like the addition of cranberries. I was glad I stuck to plain chocolate because the kids loved these apples and I can see many, many chocolate-and-chopped-almond-covered Gala apples in their future (and mine). 

The original recipe can be found here. 

If you want to go with plain chocolate: 

Wash and dry the apples and insert a wooden Popsicle stick into each after removing the stem. 

Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler. Dip the bottom of the apples in the chocolate, set on wax paper to cool for at least 20 mins in the refrigerator. 

Meanwhile, melt white chocolate in a small pan. Place in a small zipper bag (corner snipped off). Hold the apple upside down with the stick, drizzle  white chocolate over the dark chocolate. Place back on wax paper and let cool in the refrigerator for half an hour, or until the white chocolate sets.

Baking With Dorie: Gingered Carrot Cookies

My love for ginger is second only to my love for garlic. 

Which is why I picked Gingered Carrot Cookies for this weeks Baking With Dorie (BWD) Challenge. Dorie describes these cookies as "a delicious case of trying to make one thing and ending up with another." And that is exactly what they are: more cake-like than cookies; with a wonderfully chewy and soft texture. 

The recipe is really easy to put together. Susi warned me that unless I own a KitchenAid, my arm would get a real work out mixing the very thick dough this recipe yields, but I had no trouble at all: I used my hand mixer to blend the butter, sugars and egg with the dry ingredients and mixed in everything else with a spatula. The dough really is very thick, but was very soft and not at all dry which I had expected it to be.

My only complaint is: I was disappointed that the flavor of ground ginger didn't come through much stronger. After I tasted the first batch I had baked, I wanted to go back and add chopped candied ginger to the dough, but was actually too tired to do so. I made the cookie dough late last night & had already pre-scooped tablespoonfuls (dropped on a parchment-lined tray and then covered) for hassle-free baking early in the morning. It just seemed like too much work to go back and experiment with or 'correct' the dough. So I let it go this once but intend to try it with the candied ginger next time.

How I digress! On to the recipe: 

Gingered Carrot Cookies

From Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (Page 162)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1.5 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 coarsely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes, then add the eggg and beat for another minute. 

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla. Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches. Beat only till they disappear into the mix. Don't overbeat to incorporate flour - you will end up with a very thick dough. Mix in the carrots, coconut, raisins and pecans.


Spoon the dough onto baking sheets in heaped tablespoonfuls, leaving an inch of space between them. 


Bake 16-18 minutes. The cookies will be light brown and just firm on top. Cool on wire rack. 


Makes approx. 30 (I got 40 because I didn't make very heaped tablespoonfuls).

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[The next BWD challenge is Lots-of-ways-Banana-Cake, Page 204 & 205. If anyone is interested in joining us for the next challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com]

Monkey Cupcakes

These were requested by my son today. 

He would never actually eat them, but thinks they're cute enough to take along to a friends' place. I've made these a couple of times before; for parties at his school and a bake sale. Kids always find these super moist cupcakes irresistible. 

Me? I love the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. It's completely delicious.

I got both the recipe and the idea for decorating these cupcakes out of the 'Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor' book. This book has so many ideas for cupcakes but I've only managed to try very few. All of that will change, of course, and I might stop browsing through the book and actually try out more fantastic ideas at some point this year. 

Ok, back to the recipe.

Nutella + Fudge Brownie Ice cream

 

I can't seem to leave ice cream alone. 

But this ice cream is the best thing to have ever come out of my kitchen. I kid you not - it is no less than amazing. And I've made it many times over and devoured it all by myself. All credit for this supremely delicious invention goes to Clotilde of Chocolate & Zucchini. 

Do yourself a favor and make this today. 

It's full of Nutella. You know you can't fight it. So don't.

David Lebovitz's Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Summer is almost around the corner.

And that should be excuse enough to start making ice cream. 

The one thing I don't own is an ice cream maker (not for long) even though I am quite a bit of a kitchen appliance/gadget junkie.

I compulsively and impulsively buy things for my kitchen the way other people buy clothes or shoes.

I'm hopeless, really. 

The lack of an appliance doesn't stop me from making ice cream. Sure: making it without one is more labor intensive and a serious time commitment but worth each minute of effort & all the hours spent whisking, freezing, whisking, freezing and waiting . . 

I have several pounds of strawberries to get through and have been on the lookout for simple strawberry recipes that involve ingredients I already have on hand so that there is no mad rush to the grocery store. 

Today is a lazy day, so anything I made today couldn't possibly require me to do anything but spend most of my time with the hubby & kids all morning.

I finally found just what I was looking for.

Brownie Love

I know I said just earlier today that I don't do the valentine thing. 

And I don't. 

I guess I've been bitten by the bug. Or maybe I simply needed an excuse to whip up some fudgy, chocolate  goodness. 

Either way, it's all good. 

Like my 5 yr old said this morning, "I know why you're always making stuff Mama - because it makes your hands happy". He's right. It makes my hands happy.
  

Making Marshmallow Fondant

I took a few basic Wilton cake decorating classes last year and in one of our classes we had to learn how to drape our cakes with fondant and make fondant bows etc. 

"Fondant" is such an intimidating word. I used to think one would have to be an expert confectioner or baker to be able to make it. I hadn't the foggiest idea how to make it in the first place and so, like all the other women in my class, I bought a bag of fondant from our instructor (it's not available anywhere else locally where I live). 


It was one of the most vile things I have ever tasted. I couldn't imagine having to bite through it to get to the rest of my cake. Yuck. 


One of the women and I got talking about marshmallow fondant - she had read about it some place and soon we were looking up recipes online and making trial versions.