Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi

Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى   Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi   

It has been a while since I put up a video so that seemed like the best thing to do now.  I realise I put up the recipe for Basbousa way back in June but I now I have the video to go with it.  And just in case you don't feel like hunting for the Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى   Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi  Blog from June here is the recipe I put up back then.

 2 cups semolina, (1 cup coarse and 1 cup fine semolina if you can get it)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup plain yoghurt

125g unsalted butter, melted

Syrup :

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

juice of half a lemon

a few drops of vanilla essence.

To make syrup:  Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes until syrup thickens.  Add vanilla and leave to cool.

For the Basbousa, combine semolina, sugar, baking powder, and yoghurt in a large bowl.

Add melted butter and mix. Transfer mixture into a greased tray, 30cm x 25cm, and press firmly.  Cut into squares. 

Bake at 180°C (350°F/Gas mark 4) for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove Basbousa from oven and pour cooled syrup over hot Basbousa.

As for the video, I thought I had the kitchen to myself but I do get an impromptu visitor, which was nice but as they say the show must go on. 

The video is on YouTube but as usual just click on the link below to view how to make Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى   Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi. 

Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى   Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi   

 

Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى   Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi   

Basbousa with Yoghurt بسبوسة بالزبادى   Basbousa bil Laban Zabadi   

Ammonia bisuits بسكويت نشادر Biscot na- shader

After dropping my eldest at Kinder this morning I thought what better time to make a batch of biscuits than when I only had one extra pair of hands in the kitchen to contend with.  I got started right away and had great help from my youngest, a mere 1 year old, who helped carry random things from the fridge to the bench as that is what I must have appeared to be doing in his eyes.  

I gathered the ingredients and while pulling out the mixing machine I find him watching me with his fingers already in his ears – clearly he knows this thing makes noise.

I was attempting to make Ammonia bisuits بسكويت نشادر Biscot na- shader which is a light crunchy biscuit made light by ammonia - and not the household cleaning kind!

Baker's ammonia = ammonium carbonate = bicarbonate of ammonia = This is an ancestor of modern baking powder.  If you can’t locate Bakers ammonia then substitute (for 1 teaspoon of baker’s ammonia) 1 teaspoon baking powder plus 1 teaspoon baking soda.  

I didn’t have bakers ammonia and decided to go ahead and use the substitute.  Also, I used 7 x 50g eggs and while I should have known better I substitute some cotton seed oil (which I happen to have in the cupboard since it was given to me as a gift) for the vegetable oil which I didn’t have quite enough of to make 1 cup.  I must have used about 50 ml so not a great deal but in hind sight should have gone without.

I followed the recipe given to me by my step mother and was careful to measure accurately.  All was going well until I needed to shape the biscuits.  A quick phone call to confirm details and I go ahead shaping my first batch of Ammonia bisuits بسكويت نشادر Biscot na- shader.  

Hmmmm….Not really what I expected.  They were thick and had an uncanny resemblance to those tiny dinner rolls you can buy from the supermarket.  Take 2.  I make another batch for the oven remembering that my step mother warned me not to roll them too thick.  

They still don’t look right and they didn’t taste right either.  Not to be disheartened I moved forward making several more trays full of biscuits of varying shapes and sizes.  I also took some of the dough and mixed through some finely grated orange rind to see if that helped with the flavour.

No, that didn’t help.  The flavour was strange to me and I put that down to the cotton seed oil (even though there was such a small amount in there for the amount of dough).  I go back and read the label on the bottle.  Yep, that’s where the answer lies!  Cotton seed oil – INFUSED WITH GARLIC AND GUMLEAF (Gumleaf which comes from the Australian native tree which provides food for Koalas only and no other animal – except for perhaps people who infuse oils with them) !!!

Well, no coming back from that. No masking THAT flavour and since the biscuits I made bear no resemblance to the Ammonia bisuits بسكويت نشادر Biscot na- shader I decide to call it quits.  

The boys didn’t mind the taste (after all aren’t all biscuits delicious) but I threw them out anyway.

I think secretly that spoiling that batch was a good thing.  The alternative was that they would be absolutely delicious and then I would have a battle on my hands for self-control when it came to eating them.  All’s well that ends well. 

Wax and Waxing

Wax and Waxing, how hard can it be?

I thought I would give a totally different ‘recipe’ today…

I made wax recently, for the first time in… well too many years to think about.  Maybe a decade?  I used to have to wax at home as a teen as shaving was out of the question.  Being Egyptian means that waxing has been part of tradition for women for centuries and gets passed down from mother to daughter.  My mum would make the wax, showing me and explaining along the way, and then wax me. I found that my father and brother would magically have outdoor tasks to attend to as it initially took some getting used to - and by that I mean the ripping hundreds of hairs out of my legs at time.   After several years of apprenticeship I was allowed to head to the bathroom on my own and spend over an hour trying to wax myself.  As I got older and more experienced I began to wax my sister at times too.

While that all might make waxing sound easy, even simple things can go terribly wrong at times!  The first time I tried to make wax by myself was after school one day and my mother was still at work.  I figured I had a good 3 hours to play with which would be plenty of time. 

I used the same pot my mother used, the same measuring cup and the same amount of sugar, water and lemon that she would use.  I was so careful.  Standing over the stove watching the sugar melt and slowly start to boil it all looked good. Then the phone rang.  It was a friend of mine so I moved away from the stove and sat on the couch chatting.  I got up a few times and checked the wax then sat back down. 

I was engrossed in the conversation I was having until I saw thick smoke creeping slowly across the ceiling – along with a very strong smell of burnt sugar!  I rushed into the kitchen to find that the wax had formed a kind of very light honeycomb – as solid as a rock and black as coal!  I FREAKED out.  The smoke alarm was yelling at me and I felt the adrenalin rush that comes with horrendous fear and panic.

Forget the waxing, forget the phonecall.  I had to get everything back into order before mum came home or there would be trouble.  I used a fork, then several knives to break down the solid mess in the pot.  It must have taken me a good hour to get most of it out, and then another one just trying to get the charring out of the pot.

I did manage to get the pot clean, dried and put away, the stove clean, the sink clean (there were flecks of carbon everywhere).  The house had been airing and thankfully my mum walked in none-the-wiser. 

Really though, there were so many ways I could have better spent that three hours and I certainly  gave up the idea of making wax  by myself for a really long time after that!

All that aside, making wax is pretty easy.  It is learning how to work with molten sugar that is the difficult part and it really does take practice.  I would have taken a video of it but thought I would try it first to see if I still had the touch.  So the video will have to wait until another time.

In the meantime here is the recipe I use –

1 Turkish coffee cup/espresso cup sugar

1 Turkish coffee cup/espresso cup water

juice of half a lemon

Combine and stir to dissolve the sugar then simmer gently without stirring until the syrup reduces and turns a golden colour.

Remove from heat and pour onto cold, wet metal – I pour it onto the metal of the sink – remembering that it is very hot at this stage!

Because it cools from the edge inward you must then scrape around the edges and bring the cooled wax to the centre until it is cold enough to handle.

Scrape off with a spoon and handle with your fingertips until it has cooled enough to use. You need to keep stretching it and working it until it changes colour to a pale gold. 

To wax you need to place the wax on the skin from the bottom and work upwards, pressing and pulling it until the wax is a thin layer. Starting at the bottom again pull the wax off away in the opposite direction to how it was put on.

The hairs and old skin cells will become one with the wax and leave your skin wonderfully smooth and clean.  

After finishing waxing then jump straight into the shower and wash.  The wax will dissolve and is completely environmentally friendly and biodegradable.

Remember after you are clean to go back to the kitchen and clean the pot and sink – very easy to do if you left everything soaking in water beforehand.

Good luck!

How to peel a Pomegranate, رمان, Romàn

How to peel a Pomegranate رمان Romàn !

 Pomegranate, رمان, Romàn  

I love pomegranates.  The fruit varies in size but can get as big as a grapefruit.  We used to have a pomegranate tree in the backyard when I was growing up and often the pomegranates would split open when they were ready for picking.  Our tree (looked more like a shrub than a tree) was quite prolific too , maybe producing up to 50 pomegranates a year, each with hundreds of seeds (or arils) .  In fact it produced so much fruit that my mum got sick of them and in the end had it cut down!  

We never used the fruit in cooking it was just eaten as a fruit just like eating berries, and I loved them so it became my job to sit and peel them and I found it rather relaxing sitting quietly and carefully removing the lovely red seeds .  After getting a bowlful I would wash them and start enjoying the fruits of my labour - literally!  I have since used pomegranates in salads as it looks great to have the bright red seeds through a green salad.  I have also used it to garnish Khoshaf خشاف which is a fruit salad made from dried fruits.  

 Pomegranate, رمان, Romàn  

I think that I will have a go at making Pomegranate juice when they are next in season and cheap.  In that case I won’t be so careful removing the seeds.  Just cut them in half over a bowl of water and scoop them out with a spoon.  The white membrane that separates the compartments of the fruit is light and floats on water so it is easier to remove.  I think that the juice would need to be put through a fine strainer to remove the hard centre of the seeds (normally edible when eating whole).  If you have juiced pomegranates before or if you get a chance to try it before me  send me an email and let me know how it goes.  I would love to hear about your experience.

I looked up Pomegranates on 'Google' the source of all knowledge (I am kidding) and it says the following : 

Ancient Egyptians regarded the pomegranate as a symbol of prosperity and ambition. According to the Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest medical writings from around 1500 BC.

I assume this is true since it is on Google after all, but even if it isn't is sounds like good traits to assign a pomegranate.  

Dried fruit saladخشاف   Khoshaf

Anyway, back to that tree.  I miss that tree at home.  Now I have to buy pomegranates and they have cost me up to $3 each!  My eldest son was introduced to them from an early age and I remember it was his favourite fruit at 18 months old.  I would take a little container of the seeds with me and it kept him cont ent for ages.

Now that he is a little older he has a keen sense of detection for the fruit in the supermarket or grocer.  He often insists we get one and has thrown tantrums if he can’t have one - on more than one occasion.

We now sit and peel pomegranates together and I must say I enjoy it although more and more I get less and less of the pomegranate to peel.  I dare say that next season I wont be allowed to peel them at all, leaving him with the task if he has his way.  Not a bad outcome really, except that I enjoy doing it myself.  I should mention that the juice can stain so I would wear only the clothes that don’t matter too much and avoid peeling pomegranates over a table with a lovely white tablecloth.  We find pomegranate seeds flying off in all directions and inevitably there are enough that land on the floor for a hunting game.

I mentioned my sons love for pomegranates to a friend of mine who said she had never tried one before but had seen them in the supermarket.  I suggested she try it and then she said she wouldn’t know how to peel it.  I described how I peeled them and got the seeds out but when we caught up next she had brought a pomegranate with her and asked me to show her how to peel it.  I'd say she thought that the fruit was nothing to rave about but that at least now her kids could try it too.  It was her idea to make a video of how to peel a pomegranate since she thought there would be many other people who wouldnt know too.

So, we did.  Here is a video of one of the many times my son and I sat down and peeled a pomegranate and for anyone interested I hope it is helpful.

 How to peel a Pomegranate, رمان, Romàn  

Egyptian Shortbread كحك Kahk

Egyptian Shortbread كحك Kahk

Egyptian Shortbread كحك Kahk

Kahk represents a time of celebration.  These biscuits are made at Christmas and Easter time and Eid el-fitr which is the feast after Ramadan (when Muslims fast from Sunrise to Sunset for a month). 

I thought that since the blog has reached over 1000 page views it was time to post another delicious entry - something sweet, and something buttery.  The answer…Kahk!

I never made Kahk at home and truth be told, I don’t remember helping mum make it either but we had it every year, always at Christmas and Easter and then for any special occasions outside of that.  Certain visits from particular family friends would see mum making Kahk too – how else to tell someone they are special than through food!

I feel a little guilty when I think about all the times my mother was baking these precious biscuits and I was not interested in learning how to make them until it was too late to learn from her.  I didn’t forget the lesson though and I made sure to join my step mother on her biscuit production day before last Christmas and it was a valuable lesson in the art of biscuit making.  She shared her recipe for making Kahk with me and as I stood with her in the kitchen my mother had stood in, I asked her about how she began making Kahk and if she would teach her daughters to make it.

My step mother is a wonderful lady and I appreciated the time she spent showing me the ropes (so to speak).  She began making Kahk as a child with her mother and then as a teen she took to making it every year by herself.  She told me that Kahk is thought to bring good to the family both where it is made and where it is given and so she would make it to make sure that blessings never passed by their house.  Perhaps this is why at Christmas time there is so much Kahk being made and shared throughout Egypt and in Egyptian families worldwide.

I plan on starting the tradition in my home too.  I am sure that the boys will love it and hopefully so will our guests and visitors.

Egyptian Shortbread كحك Kahk
and various other pettifore

I know that there are a variety of Kahk fillings which include nuts such as pistachios, walnuts and almonds or Turkish delight (malban).  Kahk with pitted puréed dates (or ‘agwa’) is more common in the Arab Gulf and is known as Ma’amoul.  My mum made different ones but I can’t remember what they were anymore.  I think if you have a particular liking for something give it a try as a stuffing but a stuffing is not necessary and I rather like a plain Kahk.

Makes: 20

250g unsalted butter, bring to room temperature 

¼ cup icing sugar

1 egg yolk

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup self-raising flour

1 cup plain flour, plus extra

½ cup crushed walnuts or almonds

 Extra icing sugar to coat

Preheat oven to moderate 180°C (350°F/Gas mark 4). Grease oven trays and cover with baking paper.  Beat butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat well to combine.  Sift baking powder and flours together. Gradually add to butter along with the nuts and combine.  The mixture is ready when it comes together as a ball of dough.  Remove from mixer and place on floured board, roll adding flour until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.

Form dough into little balls about the size of walnuts and flatten slightly with a fork or  alternatively mould into thin sausages about 10 cm long and 1cm wide, bringing the ends together to form a horseshoe shape .  Place on trays allowing room for spreading, and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the biscuits are slightly browned on the base.

Remove the Kahk from the oven and leave for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.  While still hot, sift a little icing sugar over the top.  Sift extra icing sugar when cool so that they are well coated.

Note: Kahk stores well in an airtight container out of the fridge, if there is any left!

Egyptian Shortbread كحك Kahk

Slow cooked beef in home made yoghurt

Slow cooked beef in home made yoghurt :

I remember I said I would post more on the yoghurt I made. So if you missed it refer to the previous post on how to make home made yoghurt اللبن الرائب Laban Zabadi.

My youngest son had some of the plain home made yoghurt I made and loved it - which made me feel pretty happy.  Nothing like the approval of a 1 year old!  I couldn't wait to try something new with the yoghurt and I was really drawn to cooking trying it in a main dish. So even though this is not a traditional Egyptian dish I thought I would still let you know how it went.

I had some cubed beef which I thawed out and decide to slow cook with the yoghurt.  My plan was to put it together in the morning so it was ready by dinner time…too easy.

Here is the recipe I followed:

Heat a little oil in a pot and fry off a chopped onion.   Add 500g cubed meat then brown it for 10 minutes.  I add 1 ½ tomatoes diced (left half a tomato for the kids' lunch since there were only 2 left in the fridge) along with 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (Vegeta), ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Give it a stir and leave it a few minutes then add 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried thyme) and cover it with 2 cups / 500 ml of the yoghurt into which I added 1 tablespoon of plain flour to use as a thickening agent.  Place the lid on top and leave it for 7 hours.   Voilà !! I served this over rice.

Wow, so tasty and the meat was very tender.  I liked it and decided this was a success and the boys ate it without complaint too.  What I wasn’t expecting was all the compliments from hubby.  :)

Slow cooked beef in home made yoghurt

Slow cooked beef in home made yoghurt

Slow cooked beef in home made yoghurt

Yoghurt made with love - Yoghurt اللبن الرائب Laban Zabadi

How to make yoghurt اللبن الرائب Laban Zabadi

We usually have yoghurt in the fridge like we have milk, butter and cheese.  It is great as morning tea for the kids or more often served with fruit for dessert - especially in summer - because I love fresh berries, ALL berries and mangoes and passionfruit or pawpaw.  So many options really.

I have always bought yoghurt اللبن الرائب Laban Zabadi since moving out of home and as I walk through the dairy isle I find myself reminiscing about my mum making a huge batch of yoghurt and thinking I should really start making it myself.  So, inspired by my mother in law who bought me a yoghurt maker for my birthday last year I undertook to learn how to make Yoghurt - Laban Zabadi at home.  Initially I used the yoghurt maker following the manufacturer’s instructions and using packets of powder.  But the temptation to go without a packet made me look into things further.  I followed my dad’s instructions (since mum is no longer around to ask) and made a very runny, kind of slimy yoghurt which I wasn’t even game enough to taste.  As with most “recipes” from mum or dad I end up needing to refine the instructions.  I am, or rather was, a Scientist and like having a formula because getting consistent results was so important in my previous work life.

Other than the slimy white goo, I made another batch that turned out …well…I don’t know really.  I took a photo but didn’t try this one either.  As you can see it is about half yoghurt and half whey.  The yoghurt looks lumpy and I think this was due to the milk not being fresh enough.  I can’t get milk straight from a cow (but will try and get some next time I go down to Gippsland and visit some in-laws – I am sure milk that fresh would make an absolutely delectable yoghurt!).  

This is not what I would call a good result.  The yoghurt has split, now back to square one.

Anyway, back to the pasteurised, homogenised milk I get from a supermarket.  I have bought some whole (full fat) milk with the longest expiry date I can find.  I am hoping this does the trick.

I was determined to find a formula.  First step…a shopping expedition.  I packed the kids up after Samuel’s morning nap and head off.  We made it home again with the prize, a thermometer, and after lunch and naps I started heating the milk - I was so excited!!

This is the approach I took:

Heat 1 Litre of milk and bring it to 100 ⁰C.  Leave it to cool to 45 ⁰C (very easy with a thermometer and mainly guess work or expertise otherwise).  Remove the skin off the milk surface and add a few spoonful’s of milk to ¼ cup of natural yoghurt.  (I know it seems weird to have to have yoghurt to start but that is why it is called the ‘starter’.  You need a starter to make more then you can keep some of the yoghurt you make as the starter for the next batch.)  Add the yoghurt to the milk and stir it in then pour the milk into a yoghurt maker jar.  Cover with a lid and fill the yoghurt maker with water at 45 ⁰C (instead of boiling water like when you make it with the yoghurt powder as a starter) leave it at room temperature for between 10 and 24 hours and then store it in the fridge.

Just as the kids were heading to bed I remembered the yoghurt and couldn’t wait to have a look at it.  OMG, it worked!  A wonderfully set yoghurt just as I like it and oh the taste, mildly sweet and warm.  I was jumping up and down with excitement, seriously on a high!

The way yoghurt should be!

Yoghurt اللبن الرائب Laban Zabadi

I hope your yoghurt turns out just as nice – let me know in the comments below!