Maple Syrup Walnut Cake

Hello lovelies,

I think it's been a long time since my last cake post, but seriously since my sugar free challenge I don't eat cake that much, I baked 2 cake so far one was the pistachio cake and this week was a maple syrup cake and both are still in my fridge. so please someone eat them for me, I can't do it alone and I just can't stop baking.

Maple syrup is a big part of any Canadian but I have to say I have it once in a while with my breakfast pancakes and that's all. they come in a huge variety from very cheap ones that taste like sugar and water mix to a very fabulous ones which tastes like heaven :)

So if you want to have a good tasting cake ( not something that hurts your throat) search for a rather medium to high quality syrups. oh and something else, I modified the original recipe for 2 main reasons: first, the cake is too dry so I added 1/4 cup milk to it, I highly recommend doing that since it does not hurt the texture of the cake and  slightly increase its moisture.  second was I used much less sugar for the glaze which was still plenty of sweetness so I encourage you to do the same ;)

Now enough of me rambling and let's get down to baking, shall we:

Ingredients for the cake:

1 cup of pure maple syrup

1 cup of sour cream

60 gr unsalted butter melted

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 large egg

1/4 cup milk

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt 

First thing first heat the oven to 350 F. then mix the butter, maple syrup and sour cream in a bowl, till they combine. 

Add the egg and milk, and mix them till they become thick and creamy. 

Add the rest of ingredients and mix them well together with a spatula. pour the batter into a square pan.

 And bake for about 35-40 minutes or till the stick comes out clean. now take it out of the oven and let it cool down. 

Now the cake is ready, time to make the glaze.

Ingredients for maple glaze:

3/4 cup icing sugar

3 tablespoon pure maple syrup

6 tablespoon milk

Mix everything together and when the cake is still warm, using the wood stick or fork pock some holes in it so the glaze absorbs into the cake. after having enough holes, pour the glaze over the cake and let it cool down. 

As I said this cake has different kinda sweetness to it because it is mostly form maple, highly recommended for maple lovers or people with sweet tooth :)

Hope you try and enjoy it as well,
Have a great Wednesday everyone :)

Mania

Kabab Koobide

Hello lovelies,

Hope you all having a great day, today's post is kakab koobide recipe which is a Persian dish and my absolute favorite kinda kabab. 

To be honest here, for me it took a while to figure out how to get it right and if you try it you'll see what I mean. so don't worry if you tried and was not satisfied for your first time don't give up,you'll improve it next time. there are 2 main points to keep in mind:
1st: using the right proportion of meat (with the right level of fat) and onions and make them mix all well together so kabab does not fall from the metal skewer on the BBQ. 

2nd: to have a right level of cooking, and avoid getting it too dry.

So now enough with the intro and let's get to the recipe:

Ingredients (makes 4 skewers):

500 gr of ground beef ( I get medium lean, lower level of fat than medium results in dry kabab)

2 medium sized onions grated ( after grating, it is important to separate the water from onions if they become too watery)

1 teaspoon of turmeric 

Salt and pepper

Tomatoes ( as many as you want, I usually consider 1 tomatoes for each person)

Mix everything well together for about 5-8 minutes. so the mixture gets slightly sticky. if you can't mix with your hand just take the half of the mixture and put it in the food processor and just use the pulse bottom 2 times ( that's it you don't need that much). then take it out from there, return it to the bowl and mix with the rest. cover the bowl and pop it into the fridge for at least 2 hours. I usually make it ahead and keep it refrigerated overnight.

Then when the time comes take it out of the fridge, take your wide steel skewers. take a handful of the meat and press it to the skewer uniformly. if the meat does not stay on the skewer now then you will have problem on the BBQ for sure. 

A trick that you could use here ( to make sure they won't fall on the BBQ): use a thin string and wrap the meat with it loosely ( the turns should not be very close together) and when it is cooked separate the strings from the meat by just unrolling it. 

I always manage the length of the kabab by the BBQ length, so keep that in mind. when all the meat is done, you could pop the skewers into the fridge again and hit up your BBQ.don't forget to divide your tomatoes in half then put the them also on skewers as well. 

I prefer charcoal ones but gas-BBQ also will do. the BBQ job is out of my territory, that's my guy's responsibility. but he told me that BBQ should be very hot and even in temperature. when you transfer the skewers ( meat and tomatoes) to the BBQ, start turning them frequently and cook each side for about 5-7 minutes. when it is done take a thin bread ( like pita bread) put it on the plate and leave the kakab between the bread; this helps them to stay warm and juicy.

when all is done, serve them hot with rice and saffron combo or bread. 

A quick note on how to make saffron: add about 1/2 teaspoon saffron to a cup ( in powder, I buy them in strings, in original form, then powder them myself),add small amount of boiling water and mix it well,so the water becomes a very intense orange color. to get even more intense, you could put the small cup inside your rice pan while you cooking your rice and steam it. then you can mix it with your rice.

Final comments: 

If you don't have the proper skewers, you could shape your meat into long, thin proportions and grill them at high temperatures in the oven.the oven should be preheated and the kabab should be placed as high as possible to the top source heat.   

Hope you try this and enjoy as well. 

Have a great Wednesday everyone,

Mania 

Tortilla de Patatas

Hello lovelies,
I just want to say 2 things at the beginning: 1st special HELLO to new subscribers, welcome and thanks for reading my blog, hope you enjoy reading  as much as I enjoy writing them. 2nd thank you to all of YOU who read and take time to write a comment or just say hi. reading them makes me smile all the time, so again thank you :) 

Hope you all having a great week so far, mine is so so. kinda feeling sad for no reason at all and it bothers me a lot, because I am not usually like that. I don't know... 

Ok enough about me now and let's talk about Tortilla de Patatas. this is a Spanish dish and basically it is an omelette with potatoes. I added some eggplants to the original recipe. you could add any other kind of vegetables you are in the mood for. now let's get to the recipe, shall we:

Ingredients:

6 gold potatoes

2 medium size Red onions

5-6 eggs

1 small eggplant diced 

3/4 cup olive oil 

First peel and slice the potatoes into thin rounds, do the same for onions. wash them in cold water and pat dry them.

In a frying pan add the olive oil, let it heat on medium for about a minute. then add the potatoes and onions. stir very gently for about 3 minutes. add the diced eggplants and cook them all for about 5 minutes. they should not get brown, just soften. 

Drain the mixture in a large bowl and keep the oil aside.

In another bowl mix the eggs with salt and pepper. then pour the eggs over the potatoes mixture. they should be covered well, if not add one more beaten egg.

From the olive oil that you kept, take 1 tablespoon and add it to a frying pan over medium heat, add the potatoes-egg mixture.

When the eggs are set, turn the omelet over, add a bit more oil so both sides get golden.

when both sides are done, slide to a plate or slice them and serve them warm.

This is such an easy and yummy meal, we have something similar to that in Persian dishes and is called potato cake (کوکو سیب زمینی‌). hope you try and enjoy it as well :)

Have a great Thursday everyone,

Mania

Bass with mushrooms

This is delicious meal that I cooked few weeks ago, it is with bass but you could use any other type of fish. the key part is the sauce, it is so creamy and tastes really good. also this amount is good for 4 serving.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon of unsalted butter
4 shallots, thinly sliced
2 sprigs thyme ( I did not had fresh so i used dry)
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cup of white mushroom, sliced
4 bass fillets
2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh parsley or chives for topping
take a large skillet and heat up the butter on medium heat. add the shallots and thyme and cook for about 6 minutes ( till the shallots are soft). season with salt and pepper.

add the mushrooms and cook for about 5-7 minutes (till they get slightly brown)

 take another skillet and heat the oil over medium heat. season your bass fillets with salt and pepper and add it to the oil, cook for 3-4 minutes till they become crispy, then transfer it to the plate.

Now add the wine to the same skillet you used for fish, cook on high heat for 3-4 minutes. then add the cream and simmer to thicken slightly for 3-4 minutes.

pour the cream sauce over the mushrooms in the skillet

then add the fish. let it cook for 5-7 minutes. then add the parsley. hope you try and enjoy this one.

Have a great day everyone :)
Mania

Tres Leches Cake

I baked this cake long long time ago and I posted it once but for some reason blogger ate it, I did not know it was that good. anyhow I contacted them several times, mainly to ask "where is my post" where they did not answer any of them. so I kinda did hunt Google for a a few weeks and saw a lot of people had the same problem as me and they did not know to just wait for them to fix the problem or they should just redo the post. now it's been over 2 months and I think if they wanted to fix it, it should 've been done by now. so on side note I really dislike (close to hate )blogger and the way they handled their shut down situation. 

I think I baked it at Cinco de Mayo weekend. it is a Spanish cake that I had once baked by one of my friends (she is originally from Venezuela ) and it was SO good. it is not like any ordinary cake, so moist and due to its ingredients it has a very special taste. If you never had these, you need to try; believe me it is worth it :)
I will now stop rambling and start the recipe. it has 2 steps one is the cake preparation and while the cake is baking or cooling you have time to make the topping.
Ingredients for the cake :

1 cup sugar
5 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


First heat the oven at 350 F and grease your pan,best would be a rectangular one ( like 13x9 inch)  

Then in a large bowl, mix egg yolks with  sugar  and mix till they become a light yellow color ( for about 5 minutes), very gently add the milk, vanilla, flour and baking powder. mix them well at low speed or with a spatula, then set aside. 

In another clean bowl, beat the egg whites till they form peaks.make sure to use clean mixing handles.  

Gently add the egg yolk mixture to the egg whits and mix slowly with a spatula. then pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean from the center. take it out from the oven and let it cool down on a rack. 

Ingredients for the topping:

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup  whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoons dark Cuban rum ( you could skip this one though)

1/2 cup of whipped cream + 2 tablespoon of fine sugar  ( already mixed and thick)

In a large bowl, mix the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream, vanilla extract, and rum, whisking until well blended. the result is a liquid cream, it is not dense. 

Once the cake is completely cooled, poke the cake thoroughly (every 1cm) with a toothpick, just be careful not to tear the cake. this whole is for the topping to absorbs to the cake. put  the cake  a baking sheet to prevent the syrup all over the place. very slowly pour the syrup over the top of the cake, and let it absorbs then pour again to prevent the overflow. then use the tick version of whipped cream and spread it all over the surface. 

Cover it and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours before you serve.

As I told you this no ordinary cake,I am sure you won't be disappointed. I already made plans to bake this after my sugar free challenge is over.

Enjoy!
Mania

Simple cardamon biscuit

Hi lovelies , Hope you all had a great week so far. I baked a new biscuit past weekend which was absolutely delicious. the special ingredient in there is cardamon spice which smells really really good, but it has strong smell so be careful about that. In Persian it's called ( شیرینی‌ سپهسالار) but I have no idea what to name it here, so I call it "simple cardamon biscuit". now let's get to the recipe :

Ingredients :

3/4 cup butter at room temperature
3 cup of flour
2 eggs
1 1/8 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup yogurt 

1/8 cup warm milk ( not hot )
1 teaspoon of yeast
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of cardamon powder


First mix the milk, yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a cup and let the yeast works its magic for about 10 minutes.

Turn on the oven to 350 F and in bowl mix the butter with powdered sugar till they become soft ( for about 4-5 minutes).
Then add the eggs one by one and mix between each for about 1 minute. add the cardamon, yogurt, baking powder and salt and mix for few minutes to get the all well mixed. add the milk+yeast mix and flour to the rest and mix for few minutes. 
Now the dough is ready, and it's time to put in the oven. take a baking pan and lightly grease it. you could use a spoon and put a spoon of dough on the pan and press it with a back slightly. or you could use those cake icing tubes which I did. just leave enough space between each so they don't stuck to each other.
Cook them for 20-25 min in the oven or till the top gets golden.
It has a soft, fluffy texture with the scent of cardamon that goes perfectly with tea :)

Have a great Thursday everyone,
Mania

Shepherd's pie

Hello lovelies,

on today's post I will write about one of the best meals that I made recently and all I wanted to say was" where have you been all my life?" . it so delicious and easy. 

but before going to the recipe I wanted to tell you something. I did the most idiotic thing few days ago. let me begin the story by this: it was Thursday and again that time of the month for me. I was so sick so I just worked half day and came back home to rest. as I was lying on my bed I thought I kinda pass my time on the internet and took my phone ( now I was lying and holding my phone up in  the air ) and start to play. thing led to another and somehow I decided to go to my Picasa online albums ( don't know why) and saw some old albums that were there ( just for sharing with friends or family) and I thought to myself let's delete those I have them on my computer and I know nobody wants to see them. so I start deleting one by one and by mistake I deleted my blogger's album ( about 500 photos). at first I did not understand what I just did. but after I was finished deleting looked at the remaining albums and then it hit me. then I went to a huge panic and kinda screaming at myself. did a little research and yes I deleted all the photos of my blog and there is nothing I could do about them. they are all gone :( 

I am still mad at myself and all I did in the past few days was going back at my posts one by one and inserting their pictures. an even the saddest part is that some of the old ones, I don't have the pictures anymore.so that's why I did not post anything since Thursday, I was being busy cursing at myself and uploading old photos ;)

So back to the subject of this post, here is the recipe and I highly recommend trying this :) 

Ingredients for the filling:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter  

1 large onion (chopped finely )

2 medium carrots ( peeled and chopped finely) 

2 pounds ground beef  

salt and black pepper  

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour  

1 tablespoon tomato paste  

1/4 cup heavy cream  

1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth ( I did not use this one and it ended up fine, so it's your choice) 

3/4 cup beer (or non-alcoholic beer would also be fine) or dry red wine ( I used wine) 

2 tablespoons soy sauce  

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves ( I did not have fresh so used dry ones) 

1 cup frozen peas (or mixed veggies of your choice)

Ingredients for the topping:

2 1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces 

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

1/3 cup heavy cream   

1 egg, beaten 

2 green onions sliced

First start by making the filling: heat the butter in a large skillet at medium temperature and when it become hot add the onion and carrots, and cook for about 8-10 minutes so they become soft. 

Then add meat, salt and pepper. let them cook and break up the meat with wooden spoon until they get browned about 10 minutes. 

Add the flour and tomato paste and cook for about 1 minute. 

Add cream and cook for about 1 minute. Add broth, beer ( or wine), soy sauce, and thyme and simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is thick but still saucy, for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Remove from heat, stir in peas (or mixed veg), adjust seasonings, and transfer to broiler-safe 2-quart casserole dish.

For the topping: 

Before starting the topping, heat up your oven to 350C . then cook potatoes in a large sauce pan with  1/2 teaspoon salt and enough water to cover them over high heat. when the water starts to boil reduce heat to medium cook them for about 15-20 minutes. Drain potatoes and return them to saucepan, and mash them with butter and cream until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Over the meat put a layer of sliced green onion ( you could skip this step, I added it because I like the taste of mashed potato with green onions). then spread potatoes over the filling, using spatula to smooth top. Brush with egg and bake until filling is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Turn on broiler and cook until top is golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let it cool around 10 minutes. then it is ready to serve.

    

Comment: you could make this ahead, just prepare the meat but stop right before adding the peas. then store it in a airtight container and keep it in fridge for maximum of 2 days. when you want to cook the pie just reheat the filling, add the peas and continue the rest of the steps. 

Hope you try this recipe and enjoy as well.

have a great Sunday everyone

Mania

Orange Almond Cake

Ok, you must figured out by now that I have an obsession with Almond in baking. I just love love love it in all forms like ground almond or paste or essence. it add a special taste so I try almost any recipe that I come across and has some sort of almond in it. this was one of them. this is a gluten-free cake also. I made this to our weekly group meeting and everyone was going crazy over this cake. so it must be pretty good ;)

now let's get to the recipe :

Ingredients :

2 large oranges which have been boiled

6 eggs, lightly beaten

250 gr of ground almonds

250 gr of caster sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

Comment:I boiled the oranges the night before and allowed them to cool overnight before I prepared the cake the next day
Boil the oranges, covered with water in saucepan for 2 hours.

Fist thing first put the oven at 350 F and grease your pan. I used a regular 9 inch round pan.

let the oranges cool ( or do the same as I mentioned in comment up there).once they cooled, cut them and remove any pips and chop into rough pieces, including the rind.

put the orange pieces in a food processor and press its bottom 2-3 times then add the eggs and mix them well together again with food processor. 

Mix the ground almonds, sugar and baking powder in a bowl and add the orange mixture to the bowl and mix all together.Pour the batter in your pan and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour.

Once cooled turn it out on a cake rack and dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Mania

Skillet Lasagna

Last week was a very busy week for me, specially Friday when I didn't sit behind my computer even for a second. so I missed my Friday post but will do it next week. now let's go to the main subject of today:cooking.

I cooked this meal last week and it was really really good. It's some kind of a lasagna without the use of oven and also so easy. these quantities are enough for 4-6 people so you could adjust them as you wish. now let's get down to cooking, shall we.

Ingredients:

1 can of diced tomatoes  

 Water  

1 tablespoon olive oil  

1 medium onion, minced 

 salt pepper  

3 medium cloves garlic , minced  

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes  

1 pound 85% lean ground beef  ( you could adjust the meat depending your taste, I used less)

1 cup of cut vegetables ( I used mushroom, thinly sliced zucchini and red & yellow bell pepper)

 lasagna noodles , broken into 2-inch lengths ( enough to cover the whole surface of your skillet)

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce   

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

 Ground black pepper   

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil   

First pour a can of diced tomatoes with their juices into a measuring cup. Add water until mixture measures 1 cup. pour them into a pan and put it on medium heat. let it cook for about 5 minutes.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat when it gets hot add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for about 5 minutes until onion begins to brown. add garlic, herbs and pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds.

Add ground meat and cook, breaking apart meat, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Add the vegetables and cook for about 1 minutes.  then add half of the diced tomatoes to the skillet and mix them with the rest. let them cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Then remove the skillet from heat and mix half of the mozzarella cheese with it and mix. 

Then cover the meat with pasta but do not stir. 

Pour diced tomatoes with juices and tomato sauce over pasta and season with pepper.  Cover and put the skillet on medium heat and bring to bubbling simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it cook until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

The final step is to sprinkle the rest of mozzarella cheese on the top and cook for 5 minutes or till the cheese starts to melt.  sprinkle with basil and serve.

As I told you this was really delicious and I am sure if you try it you will not get disappointed. now I am off  to gym for some Sunday morning workout and hope you all have ( or had ) a great Sunday.

Till next time :)

Mania