Muslim inventors & scientists

1001 Inventions Muslim Heritage Exhibition – Science Museum – South Kensington, London

The exhibition is open till the 30th of June 2010!!

Moroccan carrot and orange salad

 

Here we are carrots once again! Sunny, sweet, & color vibrant this salad is a MUST and I highly recommend it not because it’s Moroccan but because it’s REALLY good. It is simple & quick to make. You can serve it as a side dish, a starter or even dessert!! 

Lazy brownies

This might sound really weird to some of you, but there’s nothing I hate more than using a store-bought cake mix. That’s why when I stumbled upon Lynn’s brownie mix I was delighted, because it’s a mix BUT homemade. I like to call them Lazy brownies, because they are for those days when you are lazy & all you have to do is crave some brownies. 5 min away, & VOILA! No mess, no headache. I won’t be lying to you if I said that these brownies made me famous among my circle of friends, and obviously all asked for the recipe.

Moroccan style beans (Loubia)

You’ll need:

1 cup of white beans (Soaked overnight & boiled until tender)

1 onion chopped

1 large tomato peeled and diced

1 cup of water

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1 tsp of fresh ginger

1/4 of tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp of fresh cumin

1 Tbsp of tomato paste

Salt & pepper to taste

1 Tbsp of chopped parsley

1 Tbsp of chopped cilantro

1 Tbsp of olive oil (or any vegetable oil)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, and add the onions. Cook them for 2 to 3 min minutes making sure to stir them. Add the tomatoes to the onions. Then add the spices, tomato paste, garlic, parsley & cilantro. Let it cook for a little bit and then add water to the pan. Add the beans, & mix together. Cover the pan, & let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure not to overcook the beans. Serve it warm withMoroccan flat bread orAmerican cornbread.

Charlie bit me!

Real cute & hilarious little kids!!

Mom’s carrot smoothie

A wonderful flavor that brings up wonderful childhood memories. We used to have this smoothie a lot during those summer days when the sun starts heating up over the heads. I have to admit that one glassful was never enough for me! And surely enough mom knew how to put vitamin A in each one of us. As you see I served this with fruits, and that’s for a reason (In Morocco, we eat fruits for our desserts). So don’t be surprised if this comes in the dessert category 🙂 

Heads UP everyone! It’s a cornbread day

Cornbread on the table? Means a big smile is about to be drawn on my face. The recipe I am about to share is from a Betty Crocker’s cookbook. There are two recipes in the book I have. The first one I tried was the southern, wasn’t successful unfortunately!. Maybe because it called for buttermilk. And since I had none, I just substituted it with milk mixed with vinegar. And that, didn’t work out that well for me. Thankfully, when I shifted to the other recipe..(well, it’s the one you are looking at here). The only thing different from the original recipe, is that this time I used  whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. 

Moroccanly roasted chicken

The chicken is juicy, the skin is crispy, the onions are caramelized, and the flavor is Moroccan. Literally, and in  two words it’s to die for! (This time I have a step by step pictures for you, click read more)

Special strawberries for special occasions

This is not a recipe, it’s just a little technique that makes life little easier, when it comes to decorating strawberries for those special occasions. Obviously, you melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Wash and pat dry the strawberries, (I wanted them to look like strawberries, that’s why I kept the head). Then coat them with chocolate (You can insert a toothpick in the strawberries to make it easier). Set them on foil & refrigerate for about 30min. When ready, melt the white chocolate, & fill a brand new syringe with it. Draw zigzag lines on the strawberries & put them back in the refrigerator. These can be served by themselves or on top of  tartlets.    

 

Yummy cabbage with polish sausage

My husband sent me this recipe lately & I decided I wanted to try it. For him, it’s nothing new since his mom used to make it, when he was young. I am a first timer though. I  really liked its taste and the way it came out, but what I liked the most is the short time in which this can be made & put on the table. Try it & I am sure you’ll enjoy it..

Sauteed green & red pepper salad with a “Wicked” Jamie Oliver twist

Hi people! my salad for today is an easy improvised (makes me feel good) piece of work. I love the colors & the crunch of it. Yeah and not onlyJamie Oliver can come up with new ideas. I can too! By the way, we are BIG fans of this guy & each time he’s on TV..you know it! (We are sticking our eyes to the screen). For me a top chef is someone who cooks homy meals from SCRATCH (because that’s real cooking, and always makes you proud). Someone who doesn’t always need measuring cups, to know how much flour he needs in his bowl. And that’s Jamie Oliver!. It really amazes me, how he would turn any complex meal into anyone-can-cook-it type of meal. And if ever Jamie Oliver is in town, I think I’ll be the first to go to his class or show. Now seriously, the twist I added to my salad was after watching one of his episodes on theFoodnetwork. He first fried the garlic in hot oil to let the garlic release its flavor, then started adding the rest of the ingredients. This is what I did with my salad, and of course it turned out a success! The hubby said it had an asian feel to it. And had I fried the garlic just a little bit more, it would have tasted Chinese. By the way, my boy has a good palate, & if only he puts his food critic capabilities into good use. I think his remarks would help people cook better! 

Yummy Syrian style fool (Fava beans)

 

I first had this at my Syrian neighbor’s. We decided all three of us (The third was my Egyptian neighbor) to have breakfast together, and that each one of us would bring a dish with her. I am a big fan of fool (Fava beans in Arabic), but for breakfast? I was SkEpTiCal..although in Marrakesh sometimes people would eat bissara for there breakfast (Bissara is a bean puree), and that’s because it’s tasty, easy to make, keeps you full, but most importantly because it’s CHEAP. Hmmmm I guess, now I should introduce you to bissara Moroccan style. I wonder why I never thought about it!  Anyways, I loved the beans & for some reason I had a craving for them lately. I got the recipe from my neighbor, made it & now it’s your turn. She told me in Syria this is considered a main dish, but I like to serve it as a side dish or a salad 🙂

Back to business and beet salad with love

Ok guys, I am finally & officially back to business again. And now it’s time to announce the re-opening of my “Do it the Moroccan way” blog.  On this occasion, I want to thank  Moroccoblogs for their post about my blog. My thanks also extend to the unknown reader who told them about it. It made my day, and you all should know that I’m ecstatic to start blogging again. 

Not blogging for a little more than year, didn’t feel right to me. I guess I could have just started a new blog, but I kinda resisted the idea. Simply, because I loved this blog, and wanted to keep it. And for those of you who are wondering, well let me tell you that there was nothing wrong with the blog. The only thing was  that I could not log in. And that’s why many of your comments were not approved, until recently. All it took me, is a trip to Morocco to log in to my blog! (Hey! did I just make it sound like I went all the way to Morocco just to log in to my blog?) Wouldn’t that be interesting?. Well no. Actually we were there for vacation. Although, I think that if I could afford to do so, I would have done it. So now, how about we talk about some food?

I didn’t plan this post, it’s just what I was making & thought to share with you on the blog. For a new post I would have loved to celebrate with brownies or cupcakes, but we can still do that later, right? So today it’s a red day, because of the beets which unfortunately can be somewhat underrated in some cultures. My Syrian neighbor told me that they would use them only to color pickled parsnips. In Morocco, we actually eat them. And if your parents happen to be Moroccan, you better eat your beets. I remember as a kid the only fun thing about eating beets is, that lipstick effect I would get from the pigment in the beet!! And FYI, if you have issues with indigestion, blood pressure, or even halitosis, well there you have it (it’s called beet).

  

Will be back soon

Hello everyone,

I know it’s been a while..& I miss blogging so much. The good news is that

I’ll be back soon & would be sharing more recipes with you. I want to thank

everyone for visiting & leaving comments. It’s always a big pleasure to

interact with foodies &  readers  from around the around.

Lovefrom1stbite

A healthy spinach & strawberry improvised salad

Yesterday, I had no plans as to what to make for our salad. Because we were still feasting on some salmon leftovers (it will be my next post inshallah) that I made the day before, I couldn’t really think of something. So when it was almost time for dinner I opened the fridge & grabbed few ingredients mix them. The result was out of this world. I was telling hubby: “if you don’t like it don’t complain, because I made it up & it’s not a recipe”. He nodded & stuck his fork in the salad. I kept looking to see what was his reaction. Me: “You liked it dear?”. “Yes, it’s good. I liked it”. He said.

In a bowl put spinach leaves, strawberry, brown rice (boiled & drained beforehand), green onion. Now prepare the vinaigrette: cube the fetta cheese, add some olive oil & mix together it will get lumpy but you can fix that later, add apple cider vinegar, garlic salt, & black pepper to taste. Add the vinaigrette to the salad. Mix & enjoy. (You can garnish with some nuts if you like). Really I loved it, & I felt I could have more of this.

Eat your oranges the Moroccan way!

Luckily the Moroccan oranges are one of the best in the world. They are juicy, and sweet and are widely consumed by Moroccans. They’re grown in the Haouz region in the south.  And as one of the top producers of orange in the world, Morocco exports this sweet watery fruit to Europe as well. Anyway, if you need a vitamin C boost, try the Moroccan salad/dessert, (could be both) there’s no specific time to eat this. It’s yummy & good for you. Peel an orange, slice it up & dust it with cinnamon & enjoy.

Things you can add: (Powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almonds or dates)

Homemade cinnamon pancakes mix

Toady’s breakfast was pancakes. And the recipe I’m sharing is a real time saver, because you can keep it in a jar in your pantry up to 6 month. So whenever you feel like having pancakes for breakfast, you don’t have to make it each time. All you’ll have to do is take 1 + 1/3 of the mix (dry ingredients) & add the wet ingredients to them the minute you want to make the pancakes. Your pancakes will be on the table in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients & directions:

3 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp baking powder

4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Mix these ingredients and store them in a jar. Once you want to make pancakes, take 1 +1/3 cups of the mix and add 2 tbsp of oil, 3/4 cup of milk (You’ll probably need more if you use whole wheat flour), 1 egg. Mix it together until it gets moist. Heat & grease with little bit of butter, a griddle or skillet. Using a ladle pour the batter & flatten it with the bottom of the ladle. Cook it for 3 minutes on one side, then for 1 minute on the other side. Serve them with jam & few strawberries.

Cheese & curry crackers

Today I was in a baking mood, and since I was craving the cheese & curry crackers. I thought I would share this recipe with you. You can make them thinner than the ones I made here.

Ingredients:

2 + 1/2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

1 tsp of salt

2 tsp of curry powder

1 cup (100 g) of softened butter

1 cup (100 g) grated cheese

1/2 cup milk to combine the dough (could be more)

Directions:

Mix the flour, salt, curry powder, and the butter. Then add the cheese, milk bit by bit. Once the dough is combined . Dust a surface with flour to work the dough. Flatten it with a rolling pin & use cookie cutters to form the shapes you like. Grease a cooking sheet & bake it in a medium low temperature for about 20 minutes or until they get golden.

Kabab..The Moroccan way!

The mouth watering smell coming from the grill could be detected even if you’re blocks away. It’s one of those things that makes you want to eat even if you were full. What I like about this though is that it’s so easy to make, yet so tasty..& couples very well with lamb & veal meats. I usually would marinate the meat & freeze it. The marinade soaks in & it’s ready any time. Just grab, thaw, give it to your man to grill it, watch it sizzle & eat it immediately. No measurements for this ( I eyeball it): chopped onion, cumin, salt, paprika, olive oil, coriander & parsley (chopped). Add the meat in & mix. Let it soak in at least 30 minutes, before grilling it.

Enjoy!

Thumbs up to the Moroccan flat bread

Vive le khobz Marocain!

Doesn’t it deserve a cheer? lol

Khobz is the Arabic word for bread. The first two letters “kh” are pronounced the same way the Spanish would pronounce the name: José

Morocco is where people consume lots of bread, bread is always on the table dear friends & readers. I guess because it goes well with tajines, stews, soups, & even with a spoonful of jam & butter. What’s staggering though is that most women (when I say most I mean all women, lol) make their bread at home, sometimes daily! superwomen, huh?. So it comes fresh & tasty. I personally wouldn’t complain. A Moroccan motto that is worth mentioning here is: The best meals are not in restaurants, but are made at home. Anyway, I was thinking of what my next post should be & thought you might enjoy this. Making this bread may sound difficult if you compare it to baking a loaf of bread (because that need a longer period of time to rise). This flat bread doesn’t take as long, don’t worry. You won’t have to engage yourself the whole day to bake it.

Yay! I’ve been featured on the Finest Foodies Friday

OK now I got something to brag about, LOL. Don’t you think?. Well, couple days ago, I saw an incoming link to my blog. So, I clicked on it to check it out, only to find out that my blog was picked this week to be featured along with some other great blogs on the Finest Foodies Friday. Isn’t that cool?. I’m really excited about it & thought I would share the good news with you. Go check it out: here

(Just wondering) Are you going to congratulate me? 😉

America’s favorite: Meatloaf

Look at that!!!! the Moroccan cook made meatloaf (YUM). I just thought it would be nice to tease my sweety’s taste buds with this American specialty. And I was so pleased with all the hmmmmmm sounds I heard after the first few bites were taken. So, I’m certainly going to adopt this recipe!. I know the shape doesn’t look perfect. lol! I don’t know why, but at least you realize that I could never be an engineer. Anyway, I don’t want to sound like I’m exaggerating, but the taste was a hit & I wish there was a way you could have a bite. The credit for this recipe goes to Mark Bittman.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1 kilo (2 pounds) lean ground meat (I used beef)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Salt/ black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven (350 F). Soak the bread crumbs in milk for 5min. Add the rest of the ingredients & shape into a loaf. Bake it for about an hour. The meatloaf should be slightly brown & firm when done.

Morocco’s most famous salad. Too good to be true!

OK I know some of you are going to say: are you kidding me? This looks like salsa to me, besides salads are much advanced these days to just have two veggies in it & still call it salad. Well, I know that but I have to tell you that this is a Moroccan smart salad. First, because it’s wearing the Moroccan flag’s colors; red & green which is very patriotic of this famous salad ;). (Forgiveness is highly expected from you when it comes to one of those silly ramblings of mine.(Blush). Yeah, I was saying it’s a smart salad. First, because it comes in many versions for different seasons: (either fresh & that means raw veggies, roasted veggies or roasted & then cooked) & each one of them is different in flavor even if they almost have the same ingredients. And sorry to tell you that you’re not lucky enough to see all versions today. I made this one a while ago & now it’s ready to show up!. Anyway, what makes it very famous in my Morocco is because it’s easy, cheap, & very yummy. Really sometimes I wonder how you could get something so tasty & refreshing out of such a short list of ingredients! I don’t want to forget to mention that a plus with this one is that even kids can make it!

You’ll need Tomato + green pepper + minced garlic + coriander/parsley ( better chopped) + salt + cumin + olive oil. Mix together & taste. What I do is just mix all & add garlic, cumin or salt if needed or until it tastes perfect! Oh by the way, mom used to add a jalapeño to this sometimes. (I can’t tolerate it)!

Express all-purpose (10min) dough

This dough can be one of your best friends during those (I don’t have time) situations. I tried it over & over to make pizza, mini-pizza, panini bread, finger rolls or mini sandwiches..No need to make something fancy when you could get the same result. Right?

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour (120 grams) + 1 cup & 1/2 flour (190 grams) in a separate container.

1/4 cup vegtable oil (40 ml)

1 tbsp powdered milk

1- 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp instant yeast (in 4 tbsp of lukewarm water)

A dash of salt

1 cup of lukewarm water (160 ml)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, put the ingredients together except the oil & the 1 cup & 1/2 of flour (these would be added later). Whisk the mixture until it’s lump free. Cover & set it aside in a warm place for 10 minutes. Then add the oil & the remaining flour (1 – 1/2 cup). whisk together & knead it well for 5 minutes. & shape it as you like. Bake it in an oven over 300 F until it’s slightly golden. Here I made mini-pizza with tomato sauce, & cheese. hmmmm lovely!

The High-five leftover: Salmon/avocado pasta salad

My man is not really a big fan of fish & since Gordon Ramsay’s salmon recipe found its way to his tummy lately. I had one more chance the following day, to make him eat the leftovers in a way where the salmon won’t be really highlighted ;). That’s when I came up with this salad. I didn’t have something planned really. I just opened the pantry, then the fridge & combined the ingredients together. By the time I was finished, I was quite impressed with what I came up with. LOL I don’t know why but whenever I improvise a recipe or something I feel like I accomplished something or done something unheard of. Ok I know : “How pathetic!”

I just eyeballed the following ingredients & trust me when I tell you my hubby gave me a 5 star for this salad (which I believe always a plus), & now it’s on our favorite food list.

Any type of pasta (Boiled/drained)

Cabbage (shredded)

Tomato (cubes)

Avocado (cubes)

Onion (Green onion preferably)

A hard boiled egg cut into wedges

Cooked salmon preferably since it’s flavorful

Lemon bars

I made these darlings yesterday for some friends coming over & boy were they good?. These lemony bars are sinfully irresistible. I guess I just can’t recommend them enough. Yet, I warn you because they can be really addictive (wink), so if you’re on a diet! Please this is not the type of treat you want ( simply because one square won’t be enough) lol. By the way, I forgot to take pictures when I was making the crust, so all I got are pictures of the process of making the filling.

Ingredients:

To make the crust:

1 stick of butter (113 grams), unsalted (room temperature)

1/4 cup (25 grams) powdered sugar

1 cup (140 grams) all purpose flour

A dash of salt

To make the filling:

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 (80 ml) lemon juice

What’s left of our surviving plants!

Growing up in a house with a garden, surrounded with plants & trees makes it feel like your life is missing something if you don’t have plants in your place. So we decided to buy plants & that was about two months before our annual vacation. Honestly, I just wanted plants in my living room, even if I knew it was going to be a problem if we decided to go on vacation. Of course, I ignored that thought! I was so happy with the way they looked & made sure to ask the man at the store every question in the world about how to take care of them. The last thing I needed is taking them home to watch them die!

Tips, tips, tips..(Avocado)

Oh yes! an avocado is meant to be green, so I assume nobody wants to eat an avocado that is anything but green, right? Last time we had our guacamole, I made sure not to fix it was just about time to serve dinner. What stopped me then, is that I really like my salads to be fresh rather than tired & unappealing. Now I can make it in advance, because what I found out lately is that even if you peel an avocado, it won’t turn brown if you place the pit in the middle of its flesh. And of course I had to try that one. So, yesterday I cut the avocado into wedges, put them in a bowl & placed the pit in the middle of the bowl. The avocado wedges stayed green even after being exposed to air for more than an hour. Isn’t that amazing?. And guess what! only now I remembered that when we were visiting, my mother in law served us the guacamole with the pit in the bowl, & I wondered why she did that. But for some reason, it just didn’t happen to me to ask her why she did that! I guess I was too busy eating my food. LOL

The other tip is for freezing the avocados. So if you buy many avocados that you are not going to consume anytime soon. You’ll have to peel & puree them to prevent the browning. Also make sure to add little bit of lemon juice, before freezing them. I tested these tips myself & the avocados are greener than ever!

Mini button bracelet project

I know I have been really lazy in posting my crafts projects (or at least I think they are). Anyway, the previous post (Crafting up candles) & this one are my latest projects, and I’ll try to post the old projects I have made already. What I do like about these easy to do little projects is that it’s a way to relieve stress, & it makes me feel like I have created something out of nothing. It’s just wonderful when you see the result even if it’s not something really extraordinary, like knitting or crocheting (for me it’s extraordinary because I don’t know how to knit..) . These little projects gives you the chance to be creative little bit, make something with your own hands, & that should always be welcomed. For this project you won’t need much, & the nice thing is that you can use it as a napkin ring or simply a little gift for your daughter,niece…

Gordon Ramsay’s baked salmon with herbs & caramelized lemon

I can’t tell you how happy I feel when I try a recipe for the first time & it turns out perfect. Easy, healthy, full of color, Gordon Ramsay’s baked salmon with herbs & caramelized lemon is the one of those successful fish recipes, you can ever bake. If you like fish you have to try this, the taste is mild & the salmon texture comes out really flaky. So if you want the recipe you can check it here!

Oven baked zucchini & carrot fritters

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini

2 to 3 medium carrots

2 scallions

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

3 eggs

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Salt/ black pepper

Crafting candles up

This is a real easy way to spice up plain candles to give them a lively look. I just glued little embellishments in the form of flowers with matching colors. It’s not a lot of work, but I was happy with the results.

The Moroccan mint tea

At any given time of the day, the Moroccan mint tea gives a promise to lift up a low, stressed spirit. It’s widely consumed in Morocco. It’s also a sign of generosity, a crowd pleaser, brings family & friends together and it would simply make your day much better. I have had different tea types from bags & stuff but my Moroccan tea satisfies me the most. And really sometimes, I feel bad for those who never had the chance to enjoy it. So, here is the step by step illustrations for you guys, if anyone needs to feast on some tea. And what’s better than a cup of tea and cookie?!

Meloui

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (250 g)

2 cups fine semolina (360g)

A dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon yeast

How to make chicken stock

So here we go. I have tried the chicken stock recipe (Method 1) from simply recipes website, & it turned out pretty good. To check the recipe, CLICK HERE. It’s always better homemade of course, first it’s fresh, healthier & of course tastier & saves you money too. What I like about it is that you get to use your whole chicken carcass, so no room for waste.

Mom’s vegetable soup

This is one of my mom’s best veggies soups. Very simple, healthy & irresistibly delicious, I have to admit that it makes my day whenever I make it. I always wonder how you could get something so delicious from very ordinary ingredients..

Ingredients:

2 carrots

Half an onion

1 medium potato

Broccoli (about 200 grams)

2 zucchini

1 liter of chicken stock

1 tsp black paper

Salt to taste

Obama’s victory speech.

Obama’s victory speech. (Chicago, IL)

Ohio goes Obama & celebrates the CHANGE!

One of Obama’s best rallies in Virginia

Under the rain, a very strong speech that, I believe, helped shape the decision of the State of Virginia.