Best Of MCW 1101-1200

The intermittent compilation of culinary wonders you may have missed and definitely want to try is back. This is part 12, covering the best of posts 1101 to 1200, made over and over, time and time again. 

Undoubtedly, Iraq holds a firm and unwavering seat as it does in each compilation. Other than that, I once had a comment that the sheer variety and the spontaneity of the recipes on MCW are a delight in itself, so I am embracing this fully. We start of this post in the same manner that many Iraqi newly weds start their marriage: with a breakfast of geemer.

See also part 1 and part 2, part 3 , part 4 , part 5 , part 6 , part 7 , part 8 , part 9 , part 10, and part 11 of previous Best Of series

There are quite a few kid-friendly recipes here, and this fruit pizza is enjoyed by the adults as much as the kids.

If you haven't tried chocolate cornflakes clusters, you're missing out. Top famous chocolatiers sell them behind shiny glass vitrines for easily 90 euros per kilo. Which frankly, is rather unnecessary, as you can see, even a toddler can make them.

Snacking has developed into a multi billion dollar industry, and we all know what that means. It means that the competition of tasty, addictive, and cheap options is on. This in turn makes us opt of a packet of once-you-pop-you-can't-stop chips over some homemade dip and crackers.

This salad skyrocketed to the top of our favorite salads list from the first bite. I have been having a kale moment for a while now, and while I do enjoy it cooked in stews, I also thoroughly enjoy it raw and finely shredded in a salad. 

Yet another chickpea salad is not what most people seek out, but you'll have to try this one to decide for yourself if this is the best chickpea salad ever. There is a combination of elements that make this salad outstanding, and totally worth the effort, as this makes a giant batch which you will be very happy to have leftovers with.

"It smells like Mc Donald's, and that's a good thing." That was the first thing I was told as I was making these fritters. I think it may be the seared cheese seeping from the chicken patties into the hot pan and grilling up its magic. I had to try this recipe to believe how tender and juicy the chicken breast turns out in the cooked fritter.

I cannot give justice to this tray bake on how much I loved it. I loved it so much that I hated having to share it. A dish chock-full of vegetables, roasted alongside medallions of spicy sujuk sausage, to a golden perfection, and has minimal hands-on? Count me in.

Discovered through an impromptu conversation about food, someone told be about the Russian potato dish that is basically a comfort food closely associated with many if not all homes of the region who are blessed with mini woods and forests. They would go every fall mushroom picking, and besides pickling their natural harvest (mushrooms just pop up, they are not planted), they would make this saute.

While a whole stuffed and roasted lamb on a bed of jeweled rice is quite the feast, a whole roast turkey is also festive and perfect of an intimate gathering between family over Eid, or graduation, or engagement parties. You can of course serve this turkey with some mashed or roasted potato, but I went all-out and served it on a bed of minced meat rice dressed with copious amounts of fried nuts and whole fried chestnuts. 

A well-rounded, healthy, and satisfying meal is a bare 30 minutes away from your reality. Grilled chicken breast is far from my favorite, usually being stringy, dry, and tough, but this defies all past experiences in its tang, tenderness, and taste. The quinoa, although a purportedly ancient South American grain, is basking in popularity lately, and for good reason, as it has a very high protein factor and doesn't weigh you down like rice would.

This is not a traditional paella, but a much simpler replica to make life that much quicker. I used a bag of frozen seafood cocktail fish, from shrimp to octopus to calamari.

Baked as a sheet cake, dressing it up with chocolate glaze, whipped cream, and raspberries was something completely superfluous. Dressed up, it sits gorgeously on the table waiting to be devoured by guests. Dressed down, ie, plain, it makes for the perfect cake for breakfast.

I by no means take lightly the claim that this is the best chocolate loaf cake. This coming from a year heavy in chocolate cakes (Kinder Chocolate Loaf Cake, Cocoa Bundt Cake, Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake, Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake, Courgette Chocolate Cake), I would urge you too to take this claim seriously.

Isfahan is the dessert combination of rose, raspberry and litchi, resulting in an amazingly fragrant and sophisticated dish coveted by master patissieres around the globe. This here is an almond pound cake flavored with these aforementioned ingredients and glazed in a rose-white chocolate concoction perfect for any ladies' gathering.

This white chocolate raspberry tart was made three times in two weeks; its that good and easy. It presents beautifully, too. It is a no-bake sort of tart that barely needs assembly and a refrigeration stint.

This is a recipe that truly qualifies as a genius recipe. Not only is it genius, but delicious too. Not only is is delicious, but it is super easy to make. A winner all around.

Setting up a sundae bar for dessert is a very fun and easy way to end a meal, requires no cooking, and is interactive where everyone builds their own sundae. All you need is a good tub of ice cream and arrange all the various fixings and toppings.

I'm not entirely sure of the real Chinese connection to this cookie, or indeed date fruit, but every search of Chinese Chews yields a similar recipe. Regardless of nomenclature or ancestry, this cookie redefines the concept of a chewy cookie.

Bran muffins are one of my favorite excuses of felling better about having cake for breakfast. I make a large batch, freeze them in a bag, and take one out every night for breakfast on the following day.

This dish is the essence of Ramadan in the form of dessert. It is no secret how much we love rice puddings in the Arabian Gulf, which is admittedly a strange thing to say since nary a culture doesn't.

For such a simple dessert, the result was fantastic both in presentation and flavor. I would almost consider it a cheat's fustuqia, because compared to my (also amazing) pistachio mafrooka of  five years ago (!), the pistachio crust consists of three ingredients versus the classic eight. The "secret ingredient"? Powdered tea biscuits.

صحة و عافية