Sunday, July 12, 2015

Egyptian Puff Pastry Pudding ( Um Ali ) . أم علي



Um Ali (or Om Ali ) is a typical authentic Egyptian delicious dessert that kids & adults love !It's made of thin Pastry chips (made of Puff Pastry or Filo ) blended with cream & Milk & Nuts , I'm sure now that you can imagine how it amazingly  tastes ! 

Name Story : 

It literally means " Ali's Mother " ( Ali is an Egyptian Boys' name & Um means Mother ) ! There's a story behind the name (somehow bloody! ) that goes back Hundreds of years into Egyptian History (year 1250 ) during the Era of Ezz Eldin Aybak ,the first of Mamluk Sultans of Egypt. He had two Wives , the first is "Um Ali" & the second was " Shagaret Aldorr" . Shagaret eldorr was roled Egypt for nearly 80 days after her first Husband's ( Elsaleh Negm Eldin Ayoub ) death, as she was a very powerful Woman  . Aybak married her latter , and she forbade him from seeing his first Wife Um Ali and his Son Ali ! Aybak , by time, became more powerful & more aggressive towards his Wife "Shagaret aldorr" ,who prepared to kill him latter & she succeeded . His first Wife "Um Ali" wanted to revenge for her Husband ,so she planned to kill "Shagaret aldorr" by paying for the Palace Guards to kill her by beating her with Wooden Clogs till death ! 
To celebrate her death "Um Ali" ordered to make a dessert & to distribute among all Egyptians & This dessert was "Um Ali" !!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Spaghetti with Mussels & Shrimps . المكرونة الاسباجتي ببلح البحر والجمبري


After a whole year of shooting this recipe , At last had some time to write it :)
Actually now we are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan & I do search for very easy & fast recipes to do without wasting feel energy in the Kitchen :) Just made this yesterday again & wanted to share this super easy & delicious recipe with you.
One year ago I tried -for the first time- doing Mussles at home & found them too delicous ! I never tried them before because I never knew how to do them & I'm not a sea food fan & lastly , I was afarid that my kids won't really like it !( I used to eat them only in Resturants on the beautiful beach in Egypt )  Surprisingly , they all loved it & since then I do it a lot as a side dish & they sneak into the kitchen to eat it from the pot :) ( I don't say no for that ) . I do it with so many sauces , Tomatoe Sauce, Garlic & Butter Sauce, Lemon Sauce ...etc. & you can also invent your own sauce !
You can eat it as a side dish or eat it with Pasta ! I personally love it both ways ! Their magical smell brings me back years ago when I ate them on our vacations to the beautiful beach of Alexandria ,Egypt , & brings up all the beautiful beach memories to my mind (Childhood memories are pricless! )
Now let's start with the "How to cook Mussles" basics :



HOW TO COOK MUSSELS
 I don't actually name it "cook" ,it's more like "steaming" & they usually take few minutes to open up & compeletely cook !

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Green Beans Stew . الفاصوليا الخضراء المصريه


Today I will share with you one of My mother's favourite Vegetable recipes . It's was a favourite recipe for her because it's so easy , healthy &  we all like it too :) You can do it with meat , Chicken , or if you are a vegetarian you can also do it with vegetable stock. These day there are lots & lots of Fresh green Beans , so I simply buy them , clean them & cut them into one inch sized pieces , boil them in some salted water for a minute or two an freeze them , I like preparing my own vegetables  ,but I also use the forzen ones ! 
This dish is served with Rice ,or you can also eat it with Bread. Hope you like it & try it & give me your feedbacks :)

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Kunafa with Cream . Kadayif mit Creme . الكنافه بالكريمه


Kunafa is an oriental dessert , made of a noodle like pastry long threads , soaked in a Sugar Syrup .
There are many ways to do it , I'm doing my mother's recipe which is the best for me .  I was brought up eating it & enjoying its amazing taste. My Mom always used to do it with nuts , My kids now like it more with cream , so I make it with Cream for them ! But you can fill it with roasted nuts in the middle & follow the same steps & recipe. You can also do it as small rolls , just roll the long threads ,with or without Nuts inside , but in theis case you shouldn't cut the Kunafa threads insto small pieces (as will be mentioned latter in the recipe ) .
Kunafa (as we call in in Egypt & in other Arab countries ) is very popular in the holy fasting month of Ramadan . It (with Basbousa " Semolina Cake " ) is a regular visitor on our Dinner tables , it's delicious, relatively easy , & provides us with the Calories needed during fasting. All kids love helping thier Moms doing it, buy cuting the long threads with thier small hands ,then soaking it with Butter . The smell of Butter & Kunafa takes me years backwards towards my Childhood beautiful memories during making Kunafa with my Brother , someone used to cut Kunafa ,the other , peel Almonds & roast nuts then blend them in the mixer & my Mother beggins us to leave the Kitcen for her to do everything herself  (The exact same thing I do now wit my kids:) )
Now, here is the delicious Recipe , Hope you all try it & give me your feedbacks :)



Ingredients : (For a 24-26 cm Cake round Form )

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Egyptian Semolina Cake. Agyptischer Grieß Kuchen . البسبوسة المصري


This is a very popular and well known Egyptian delicious recipe. It's made of Semolina Flour & soaked with light Sugar Syrup . It's a family favourite specially in the holly month of Ramadan , as it provides us with the Energy needed during fasting :)
I've searched a lot for many recipes & this one is my favourite , it's Sally Foad's recipe ,she's a well known Egyptian Chef . I love this recipe it's really a no fail one !

Ingredients: 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Triple Chocolate Cake . Triple Schokladentorte . تورتة الشكولاتة ذات الثلاث طبقات



This Cake was a very special Cake I made, as I made it for my Husband's Birthday :) He loves Chocolate, so I decided to make something with triple Chocolate  layers !
I used a Cake that I made before & that we all love , then added a layer of Chocolate Ganache, then a layer of chocolate Mousse . It was so chocolaty & so delicious ! For Chocolate lovers, you will all love this Cake for sure !
You Can decorate with Fresh Fruits or Berries or Whipped Cream, just use your own creation for decorating. This Cake also looks really elegant & can be used in family fests or celebrations .

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Basic Chicken Soup . Hühnersuppe das Grundrezept . أساسيات شوربة الفراخ


This is the basic Chicken Soup recipe that I use in all Soup dishes here in my Blog .
I also use the same recipe for Meat Soup. It's always perfect & full of nice flavors .
You can also use the same recipe for Rice or vegetable dishes.

Ingredients:

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Classic Apple Pie . Apfel-Pie . فطيرة التفاح


I love anything with Apples ! This classic Apple Pie is always the perfect dessert for me , I love it warm or cold, with or without Vanilla Sauce !
The recipe is from a book I like a lot called " Das Backbuch"