284. Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies (Alfajore)

Seeing how dulce de leche is of Latino origins, it's only natural that these alfajor gems of cookies stem from the same place.
Fun fact of the day? These typical Latino cookies are of Arab origin; that's right: Arab  :)
The proof is in the name: alfajor comes from (الفاخر) which literally translates to "the luxurious one."
It's not far-fetched at all, the Muslims conquered modern day Spain and settled there for quite a bit, so it's only natural that we have created our own mark in its culture.

283. Dulce de Leche

Dulce de leche translates literally from Spanish to "candy of milk."
There is a difference between caramel and dulce de leche, in that a traditional caramel is strictly burnt sugar (maybe with some water), whereas dulce de leche is, well, candied milk.
I briefly outlined the making of dulce de leche way back in my Banoffee recipe, but seeing how diverse its uses are, I decided to post a how-to specially dedicated to it.

282. Smoked Salmon & Spinach Quiche

It's about time for another quiche recipe.
This quiche is a vamped-up version of the humble spinach quiche: it has slices of the cured salmon I've made earlier.
The original recipe, from Bernard, uses smoked salmon, so by all means use that if you don't have home-made cured salmon on hand.
The quiche is meant to be a deep one, and the recipe outlined below is sufficient for a 20cm (8 inch) round tin.

281. Gravlax: Beetroot Cured Salmon

Gravlax (aka gravad laks) is a Swedish (or generally Scandinavian) way to cure salmon.
If you like smoked salmon, then you will love the cured version.
The salmon fillet is somewhat "cooked" while buried in a flavored mixture of salt and sugar for 72 hours (3 days).

280. Russian Blini

Blini are a Russian form of pancake, often used as a base for caviar and smoked salmon canapé.
They are of various sizes, and are sturdy and usually round.
It is very common to find them in most supermarkets at the end of year for the holidays.

279. Roasted Rosemary Chestnuts

We can't let December pass without hearty roasted chestnuts can we?!
Without roasted chestnuts, it would be like winter never came.
My favorite method included a single ingredient: chestnuts. I would score them with an X, and dry-fry them covered in a pot over the stove.

278. Zarshk Barberry Pilaf

Zarsk pilaf, of barberry rice, is seriously good, accompanied by some form of meat, or even by itself with some salad.
This barberry rice is the equivalent of perfume for your taste buds.
It is so simple yet the result is fantastical.
I have eaten this in a restaurant, so this is my adaptation of what I tasted: basically rice, zarshk, and rosewater.

277. Gingerbread Cookies

The spice flavor in these cookies is so cosy and warm, and accompanied with a tall glass of milk it will make the tummy sing with happiness!
I thought they originated from Medieval Europe, but it turns out it was Armenian monks that brought it there.
The spices, oh the spices! It's like delicious medicine! It tastes and feels so right and wholesome for the body.

276. Mushroom Grilled Cheese Sandwich

There is this Arab food channel I like to watch from time to time.
My favorite part is when they have these mini-recipe advertising a certain food product, and suggestions of how to cook using them.
The whole recipe-advert lasts maybe 60 seconds or less, but I really like them.
Life is in the details, so I've heard.

275. Mixed Pickles

What do you do when you have an abundance of vegetable crop?
Thank God for your blessings.
And then? Make pickles of course!
This is a pickle recipe (طرشي مشكل) I picked up from my dear brother-in-law, who is a fantastic cook.
You can really use anything you happened to have an had: the recipe is very forgiving.

274. Iraqi Turnip Beetroot Pickles

Despite the popularity of cucumber pickles in both Iraq and the Arab world in general, this vivid colored turnip-beetroot pickle is a firm staple and favorite in any Iraqi household.
Using pure, wholesome ingredients, without the adulteration of processed additives is the essence of Iraqi cooking.

273. Moules Frites: Mussels and Fries

Moules frites is a classic French bistro dish that we really do not appreciate enough.
I think we scare ourselves off from trying new foods.
The hardest part about making mussels is cleaning them.
Cooking is actually the easy part. Really easy.
Good news? You can buy them already cleaned, so that's the hard part over with!
The ingredients are so few, because the mussels themselves are quite flavorsome.

272. Beetroot Kubba

Legend has it that Halab, the Syrian city most notorious for its kubba, has a thousand variations of kubba in its repertoire.
One thousand.
And I believe it, too.
I am not striving to cover each of these thousand kubba, but since I do harbor a particular soft spot for anything kubba, I cannot pass the opportunity of learning a new recipe.

271. Broccoli Stir-Fry

This broccoli sauté is Chinese-inspired, and is almost as simple as it gets.
The garlic and the soy sauce are the major flavorings, and the broccoli and the soy bean sprouts are the star.
You can easily change around the vegetables, substituting cauliflower, or snow peas, or adding silver beet...
The recipe is really versatile so have no fear in experimenting.

270. Indian Mava Cake

What is mava, you might ask.
A very good question, especially that the word never caught my attention until about ten days ago.
In the words of tartelette, mava is a reduction of milk and/or cream that gives a thick spread complementing the butter and other ingredients in the cakes.
If you are lucky enough to easily buy ready-made mava, by all means do so instead of making your own.
How did it come to my attention, you might also ask.

269. Baby Pumpkin with Mushroom Rice Stuffing

This is a hearty vegetarian meal, very filling and satisfying.
The original recipe from Everyday Food uses acorn squash, but in my opinion you can really just use any small vegetable from the pumpkin family, be it acorn squash, butternut squash, or baby pumpkin (as I did).
I also increased the mushroom ratio, because really after they are cooked they whither to almost nothing.
Plus, we like mushroom :)

268. Zaatar Pinwheel Bites

The zaatar fest continues!
After Zaatar Manaeesh, Zaatar Swirl Buns, and Zaatar Toasties, I found Zaatar Pinwheel Bites!
These nuggets of zaatar are a creation of Taste of Beirut, who enjoys them for breakfast and at all hours of the day. Highly recommended to follow suite ;)
This zaatar recipe, although very similar in concept to the other zaatar rec

267. Spicy-Sweet Glazed Shrimps

These spicy-sweet glazed shrimps were a delight to make as well as to eat!
They seriously defied my expectations and the flavor was, in a word, amazing.
I used a cast iron grill pan that was placed over the stove burner, which is absolutely perfect for indoor grilling, regardless of the season.
The glaze is composed of only two ingredients: chili paste and honey. These are not to be underestimated: they pack a huge punch of flavor.

266. Spanish Omelette Tortilla

Tortilla de patatas is a Spanish tapas recipe thats that is almost as famous as the Spanish paella.
This version is the classic at its absolute simple best: eggs, onion, and poato.
There are, however, countless variations which are only limited by the imagination.

265. Zait wa Zaatar: Zaatar Toasties

Zeit wa zaatar (زيت و زعتر) is a tale as old as time. It literally translates to oil and zaatar. I always use olive oil, but you can use what you want.
It really is too simple, but merits a mention nevertheless.
My mother (الله يرحمها) used to feed it to us as children, always saying how it sharpens the mind and memory.
I didn't mind zaatar as a child. Now as an adult, I actually crave it.

264. DIY Zaatar Spice Mix

You can easily obtain a ready-mixed bag of zaatar, but it's always handy to know how to do things on your own.  I assume that if you can lay your hands on a bag or sumac, lurking not far away is a bag of zaatar spice mix. But still ;)

263. Ginger-Scented Panettone



Panettone is somewhere in the middle of being a bread and a cake.

It is an Italian loaf commonly made and enjoyed around the time of New Year.
The original panettone recipe takes days of proofing and has a sourdough base sponge.

262. Baked Rouget Fish Fillets with Broccoli

This is a fifteen minute meal if I ever saw one.
I used rouget fish, filleted and pin-boned, but really you may apply the recipe to almost all fish fillets.
An express "marination" is whipped up in which the fillets are flipped in and immediately baked at the top shelf a very hot oven for literally minutes.
During the baking, the broccoli is steamed and the sauce made.
Fifteen minutes is all it takes to make a healthy and delicious meal.

261. Cucumber Dill Pickles

Pickles have a special place in the hierarchy of Arab food. They are merely accessories to the food, but it's more complicated than that. We really take pride in our pickles, compare recipes and techniques, make gatherings to pickle together, and share the finished result with friends and family.
So, needless to say, there are several types of pickles, and more than one way to make one type.

260. Pistachio Tuiles

Tuiles are a French cookie, distinguished by their thin and crisp texture, and slightly concave appearance.
A tuile is French literally translates to "tile", and truly when stacked with a little over-lap, they most certainly do resemble roof tiles.

259. Pistachio Biscotti

Biscotti are a twice-baked Italian cookie, invented hundreds of years ago, and are perfect to take on long journeys because they are dried, have a long life, and are nutritious.
Typical ingredients in a biscotti are: flour, eggs, sugar, and some form of nuts.
The biscotti are first baked as a loaf, cooled, then sliced and baked again to completely de-hydrate and crisp them up.

258. Opéra Patisserie

The other day I passed by Opéra Patisserie to pick up some dessert.
The fact that there were no customers made me have the courage to get snap-happy.
The pictures are from my mobile phone, so the quality isn't excellent.
None the less, I liked the outcome and wanted to share the beautiful pictures.

257. Pumpkin Cheesecake

I finally took the dive to use pumpkin in a dessert.
I chose pumpkin cheesecake, using home-made pumpkin puree, and topped it with home-made salted caramel sauce.
It was quite the show stopper.

256. Pumpkin Puree

I have mentioned before that utilizing pumpkin in desserts is a strange and foreign concept for me.
But quite often I come across a can of pumpkin puree in the supermarket which reminds me that it is quite common to do so.

255. Caramel Sauce

Caramel sauce is fantastic.
Salted caramel anything is even better.
There are innumerable uses for caramel sauce: as a dip for apples, drizzled over ice cream, over apple tart, over brownies, over cheesecake... really your imagination is the limit.

254. Tray-Baked Salmon with Green Beans

Salmon is such a convenient fish to cook.
Most adults and kids like it, it takes almost no time to cook, and it needs little more than a sprinkle of salt to get it up and going.
This particular recipe I have been making for years, and is a definite family favorite.

253. Mushroom Risotto

Flipping through my (very) old Jamie Oliver The Naked Chef  cookbook, I was inspired to make the mushroom risotto. The wonderful thing about Jamie Oliver's recipes is that he gives you so many options to vary the same recipe.
In this mushroom risotto recipe, you may use any kind of mushroom you come across or have on hand.
But that's not all: you can even use dried mushroom (which you re-hydrate)!
Isn't that wonderful?

252. Pear and Blue Cheese Crostini

I could live on appetizers and side dishes.
And dessert.
Don't you find the best part of a meal are the apps and the sides?
And dessert.
Appetizers can easily contain all the food groups, rendering the main dish moot in my opinion.

251. Vanilla Tea Cake

Unpretentious cakes are cosy, homey, and so welcoming!
This plain vanilla cake is a slightly lesser sister to my cardamom cake and orange cake, but homey none the less. Light, fluffy, mild, and it's basically a hug in a cake.

250. Lablabi: Iraqi Chickpea Soup

Lablabi is a popular Iraqi chickpea broth that is commonly sold even in the streets.
All it is, is boiled re-hydrated chickpeas. Literally.
The consumer then can add flavorings as they like: lemon juice, hot sauce, a good grinding of pepper, or simply consume it as it is.

249. Sea Salt-Crusted Whole Fish

This is a strange but amazingly delicious method to cook a whole fish, and does not taste overly salty at all.
It is very easy to make, and fun and sociable to eat.
The meat just magically separates itself from the bones, and almost presents itself as a fillet because it's so easy to separate.

248. Baked Breaded Mushrooms

Don't all breaded and fried foods taste delicious??
In an attempt to slightly healthify (?) breaded mushrooms, I opted for baking them instead.
So this isn't really a recipe. It's more of a technique which you may apply to alot of different food: mushroom, aubergines, chicken, fish... you name it.

247. Peanut Butter Cornflake Balls

These peanut butter cornflake bites are a must for all peanut butter lovers.
The combinations of texture and taste are incredible.
Chewey, crunchy, a little bit sweet, a little bit salty, and a whole lot of deliciousness!

246. Tabboula

Tabboula (aka tabouleh, tabouli) deserves its very own fan club. It is so popular, so delicious, so unique!
Tabboula is a Levantine Arab salad consisting of bulghul (cracked wheat), tomato, green onion, and parsley. The main ingredient is the parsley.
I have come across some salads labeled tabboula which are almost entirely made of couscous, with just a garnish of parsley.
That's not tabboula, that's a joke. Avoid them. This is the real deal.

245. Pumpkin Soup

Spicy roasted pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds lead to pumpkin soup!
'Tis the season of pumpkin, after all...
This pumpkin soup heralds so many memories for me, and really is timeless.
It is one of the first things I learned to cook, and is still, in my opinion, one of the tastiest.

244. Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The spicy pumpkin roast left me with some beautiful pearly white pumpkin seeds, perfect for roasting and nibbling on for a snack or salty fix.

243. Spicy Pumpkin Roast

Pumpkin has sort of always been foreign to me except in soups.
Roasted in this manner however, is my new favorite way to eat it.
I used mini pumpkins, but this can be adapted using regular pumpkin or even butternut squash.
Although my beautiful sage plant gives me fresh sage leaves all year long, I mostly associate sage with Autumn.

242. Date Molasses and Cardamom Cake

This delicious cake is eggless, and apart from a quarter cup of brown sugar, it completely replaces sugar with date molasses. Date molasses is common in Arab countries, and is the liquid reduction of dates.
I picked this recipe up from the fantastic blog Arabic Bites.

241. Spanish Tomato Bruschetta

Crostini and bruschetta are often used interchangeably. Both consist of toasted bread sliced topped with anything that appeals to the imagination. The main difference between the two is that bruschetta is rubbed with garlic and olive oil before grilling or toasting, whereas crostini forgo the garlic step.

240. Paprika Roasted Baby Chicken Stuffed with Rice

This rice-stuffed roasted baby chicken is hearty, earthy, and highly satisfying.
If you want it to be festive, it can certainly be that too!
There are quite a few spices utilized for the basting and for the rice stuffing, but the star is the paprika.

239. Chickpea Rice Pilaf

I invented this rice pilaf as I was cooking it, adding ingredients which I thought were complimentary to one another as I went along.
I'm fairly certain if I search thoroughly enough I will discover that it is has already been invented before, thereby nullifying my invention... but still.

238. Everyday Tiramisú

Tiramisú is an Italian spoon dessert, consisting of ladyfinger sponge cake biscuits dipped in coffee in between unctuous layers of whipped mascarpone cheese. A wide range of variations have been made of this dessert, using the same layered concept.
There are three major substitutions in this recipe that render it an "everyday" dessert.
Regular cream cheese is used instead of mascarpone.

237. Chicken Tashreeb

Chicken teshreeb (تشريب دجاج) is very similar to habeet, only that it is made with chicken instead of meat and the broth is much lighter.
Like quite a few "traditional" recipes, this is a very simple recipe with major flavor.
It is basically a chicken stew in curried broth.

236. Twix Mix Pudding

I love spoon desserts. And I love an easy home-made dish using staple convenience foods.
So, admittedly this dessert is not made from scratch, with the twix and the creme caramel and all, but that doesn't make it any less delicious.
This twix mix recipe is gifted to me by another of my favorite people, and is very useful to have on hand either for either entertaining guests or family.

235. Sumac Roast Chicken

Roasted chicken can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be.
To speed up cooking and even the cooking process, the chicken is cut into parts before baking.
The flavorings of this chicken is as simple as it is surprising: sumac with a tinge of turmeric.