Tuna pastries

I personally love tuna and I can easily cook it in different forms. Even with just taking it out of the can and seasoning it with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Anyways, simple easy bites. Tuna pastries. You can whip them in no time. Delicious the way it is or with a simple dip.

Ingredients:

- 2 cans of tuna in water. (Healthier option)

- 3 table spoons of mayonnaise

- 1 lemon juice

- 1/3 Kraft cheddar cheese shredded

- 1 large carrot shredded

- 1 large spring onion chopped

- salt and pepper

- 1 packet of puff pastry (I used light)

- 1 hot green chili sliced finely (optional) 

Method:

1- I left the pastry dough slices melt into each other and rolled it out on a bed of flour and cut the dough into circles.

2- In another bowl, mix all the ingredients perfectly.

3- Fill your thin circles of pastry with the tuna mixture. Close the circles the way you wish. I did half moons.

4- On a baking tray sprinkle some flour and place your filled with tuna pastry dough.

5- Bake in the oven and let the pastry turn golden brown.

Serve alone or with dipping sauce. 

Dipping sauce:

- A bunch of parsley

- A small piece of ginger

- 1 lemon juice

- Salt and pepper

- 1 teaspoon of pomegranate sauce

- 1/4 cup of olive oil

- mix all together in blender and serve in small bowls

Fish Fillet in lemon cream sauce

Ingredients:

- 2-3 lemons juice

- 1 large onion sliced

- 3-4 cloves of garlic

- 1 1/2 cup cooking cream

- 1 cup of milk

- butter and olive oil

- salt and pepper for seasoning

- coriander chopped finely

Method:

1- in a pan, sprinkle some olive oil and fry the onions until golden brown. 

2- marinade the fish fillets in 1 lemon juice, salt and pepper and chopped garlic.

3- lay the fried onion in a Pyrex.

4- in the same pan used for frying the onion, half cook the fish fillets. Do not add more oil but pour the marinade to the fish on the pan.

5- place the half cooked fish fillets over the onion on the Pyrex.

6- in another deep pan, put two spoons on butter and add the salt. Then add the cream milk and the rest of the lemon juice. If needed season with more salt and pepper. Also, add half of the chopped coriander. Let the mixture heat until it boils and pour to the bed of fish in the Pyrex.

7- cover the Pyrex with aluminum foil and put in the oven for 20 mins. After the 20 mins remove the foil and let the oven on broil for another 10 minutes to give a golden brown glaze look to the fish.

Serve... Best eaten with Egyptian or American rice with lentils. 

Enjoy

Cherries Sauce

We normally end up making berries sauce a reduction of mangoes and so on. But it seems that we forget the delicious taste of cherries. My nice made those lovely cups of cheese cake so I told her, I would help with the toppings. Along with some berries sauce, I made cherries sauce and a reduction of passion fruit. How to make cherries sauce, simply its all one whole step.

Ingredients:
- Halved cherries with the seed out
- Sugar
- Some water

Method:
On a pan, put sugar and the cherries and few table spoons of water or almost 1/4 a cup, let it simmer until the sugar, water and cherries become slightly thick.

Serve on any type of dessert you wish. I would do with some vanilla ice cream. or chocolate mousse.

Kounafa rolls by @shamma_hm

It is a delight we got a contributor from our dear friends here. A very tempting recipe of Kounafa rolls. I must say I will be trying it very soon, just waiting to know that the whole family is gathered around to make it. Thanks @shamma_hm for the recipe 

Ingredients:

For the filling : 

1 almarai cream 

2 cups milk 

2 tablespoons sugar 

1/2 cup corn starch 

Method:

You mix all of the filling ingredients on the stove until it thickens  then you add 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 teaspoons rose water 

Let the mix cool then place a tablespoon of the filling on a strip of konafa that was already brushed with gee then start rolling! 

Place it in preheated oven (180c) until the color changes to gold. As soon as you get them out of the oven pour in some sugar syrup (1 cup water+ 1 cup sugar + squeeze of lemon + rose water ) .  Sprinkle with ground pistachio. 

Rice pudding

Day 2 and the journey keeps going on. Well for today I present to you a delightful dessert that is fulfilling but light and not very sweet. Again it is a family favourite as we have diabetes running int he family, we try to reduce as much sugar as possible or use alternatives. Ok, back to what is important, how do we make a healthy and light in sugar rice pudding.

Ingredients:
- 1 liter of Milk (low fat if you may)
- 1 cup of egyptian rice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used the diet one)
- 2 tbsps rose water
- Zafron
- Chopped almods for garnish (optional)

Method:
1. Wash the rice and let it bath in water over night or for at least couple of hours.
2. When ready to cook the rice, in a deep pan pour the milk and mix the sugar in it until it melts on the oven.
3. Sieve the rice from the water bath and add it to the milk mixture on the oven.
4. Let is cook for around 30-40 mins on low temperature while stirring from time to time.
5. When the rice is cooked, it will absorb the milk mixture and becomes sticky, turn off the oven and add the rose water and zafron.
6. Stir couple of times, and scoop the rice pudding in the serving bowls you wish.
7. (optional) sprinkle some chopped almonds on top of the rice pudding for garnish.
8. Serve..

I personally put them in the fridge to cool down. Sometimes I like having them hot. Depends on how you wish to serve them.

Cream Caramel from scratch

Ramadan Kareem to all of you. May this holy month bear happy moments, peace and comfort. One of the comforts, is definitely iftar and sadaqa to the needy and poor. I have committed myself to upload recipes and I hope they would be of benefit to you and  your loved ones.

I start this Ramadan with something that everybody loves in the family especially my mother. It has become a tradition in our house to bake cream caramel from scratch. We actually buy the packed ones not to eat them but to create other desserts from it. The pictures shall guide you to the simplest recipe to make and present as a light and delightful dessert.

Ingredients:
- Because I'm using home eggs (our own chicken's eggs home produce) they are tiny, so I put 4 to 5 eggs.
- 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 can of water.
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- Zafron
- Around 1/2 cup of sugar

Method:

1. Mix the eggs and the condensed milk and water together thoroughly

2. Add the cardamom and the zafron to the mixture and blend some more

3. On the oven in a pan, add the sugar and let it melt until it becomes golden brown.

 

4. drizzle some melted sugar and spread it on to the baking pan/s of your choice (i did a mistake here I didnt do it fast enough)

5. on top of the caramel, fill the pan the caramel mixture and put them in a bath of another baking pan and into the oven for 30-5mins on temperature 350F (180C)

6. Bake, make sure you check on the cream caramel, if mixture if firm, then its baked well enough. Take them out of the oven let it cool a bit and put it in the fridge until it is time to serve

7. Serve and indulge the goodness

Cream Spinach Quiche

The gooey and yummy stuff always come with cream, yet a healthier option can always contain the greens. This time we are using spinach. Recipe by my sister.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup frozen spinach
• 3 tbs flour
• 3 tbs butter
• 3 cups of milk
• 1 chicken stock cube (maggi/ knorr) I like knorr.
• 1 egg
• black pepper
• chopped onion
• mozzarella cheese
• cumin powder

Pastry ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup really cold butter cubes
• 5 tbs ice cold water

Method: 

(Pastry)

1. Mx the salt and flour together
2. add cubes of butter and mix using a knife (as if chopping the butter in the flour)
3. add the cold water and mix using a ford until the batter is more of a proper dough (you might need more iced water)
4. wrap your dough in cling film and keep it in the fridge until the time of baking to cool off a bit. Take pieces of dough in the cupcake or muffin tray and spread them around using your fingers. (easy much). Poke your dough cups using a knife
5. bake your pastry cups for 10 mins or until they become golden brown

(The Quiche)

• The Cream filling:

1. Use a bechamel recipe and follow the steps, only difference is to add the egg, the chicken stock cube and black pepper.

• The Spinach:
1. Oil in a small deep pan, add the onions and let brown a tiny bit
2. add the spinach to it
3. add the salt, pepper, and cumin and stir
4. keep it on low temperature until the water released from the spinach dries out
5. shred some mozzarella cheese and then add the spinach to the cream mixture along with the spinach mixture. (all together)
6. fill your baked pastry cups with your cream spinach mixture and sprinkle some cheese. Put the tray back in the oven until the cheese melts and becomes lovely brown.

SERVE