Kreatopita – Meat Pie (Gullash Bil-Lahma Mafruma)

Kreatopita – Meat Pie (Gullash Bil-Lahma Mafruma)

Kreatopita is a meat pie that can be eaten as a main course with a salad or as a snack. It tastes great when it’s cold and is perfect to take with you at work or at a picnic.

To make the homemade butter phyllo which is similar to puff pastry, see instructions here but if you want to make something with less fuss you may use ready made puff pastry as well.

1 box Phyllo with butter

Ingredients:

½ kilo ground beef
2 medium size leeks chopped in slices (optional)
3 spring onions
½ bunch of dill finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup graviera cheese (I always use mozzarella)


Directions

Prepare the phyllo as per instructions.

Wash leeks and cut them into 1 cm slices and boil them until tender, then strain them.

In a skillet heat the olive oil and sauté the onions, add leeks and then add the ground meat and sauté. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Add the dill and let it cool down.

Roll out the bigger phyllo and place in an oiled 28 cm baking tin. Add the meat mixture and sprinkle with the graviera cheese. Put the second phyllo on top. Take both phyllos which join them by pressing and giving them a nice shape. Score with a sharp knife (superficially) in 8 pieces and brush with olive oil.

Preheat oven at 180ο C and bake for about one hour until a golden colour is achieved.
Warning this recipe is not mine. I just saved them for my future needs when the time is needed by my family :)
For more recipes , click the link below :
http://kopiaste.org/2007/11/meat-pie-kreatopita/

Oven Chicken with Potatoes

I was lazy that day and I made this recipe altogether and place it in the oven .I used 1 whole chicken cut into 4 , that's 2 chest and 2 legs with potatoes and carrots .

Number of serving : 4 persons

• Preparation time : 10 minutes
• Cook time : 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (cut into 4)
2 big potatoes
2 big carrots
2 Tbsp Olive Oil/ butter
1 Big Onion
1 Tbsp dried Oregano
1 liter Tomato Juice
3-4 Bay leaves
salt and black pepper to taste

Wash the chicken good, cut into 4 pieces . Then in a baking pan , add altogether the chicken with the rest of the ingredients . Cook in the oven for at least 1 hour or until the chicken is cook and the tomato juice is almost absorbed. Serve with Rice and green salad.

Egyptian Rice with Tomatoes

In Egypt there are more variations on rice cooking . We usually cook this rice if Tilapia fish is the viand for the day :) , supported with the presence of green salads .  Here , I am sharing with you how we do the simple steps .

Ingredients:

4 cups of rice
3 tbsp butter or 1/4 cup oil
3 tomatoes (blended )
salt to taste
4 cups  water for the tomatoes

Method:

Wash the rice, drained and set aside.Prepare your blended tomatoes by pulsing them in a food processor for 3-4 times with water. Then strain and keep the juice aside and discard the sediments. In a medium pot,  pour the oil then fry 2-3  scoops of the rice. When it turned reddish brown, add all the other rice , salt and tomato juice . Bring to boil then simmer for 20 minutes or until you find the rice is cook already.

Sfiha Arabian Meat Filled Pastry

Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit these links :  
For pic source: http://boisefoodieguild.blogspot.com/2010/08/sfiha-arabian-meat-filled-pastry.html
For recipe source: http://www.rockinrs.com/Living%20Cookbook/SfihaArabianMeatFilledPastry.htm

Sfiha Arabian Meat Filled Pastry

These open-faced Arab meat pies, a kind of small pizza, also called laḥm bi’l-'ajīn, are made with Arabic-styled dough. The filling is made with spiced lamb or beef, onions, spices, and tomatoes, and basic thing is tahina paste. The name "ṣfīḥa" comes from the root word meaning "to flatten".

Ingredients - Dough

6 c All-Purpose Flour
2 c Yogurt, plain and unsweetened
1 c Olive Oil
1 t Sea Salt
1½ t Active Dry Yeast
2 t Honey, use a light, floral honey. Tupelo is good.
½ c Water (105°F)
1 t Baking Powder

Ingredients - Filling

1 lbs Ground Beef or Ground Lamb
2 med Onions, chopped
3 med Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/3 c Tahini paste
2 t Lemon juice, fresh squeezed
2 T Pomegranate paste or Molasses
3-4 T Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
1 T Sfeeha spices

Ingredients - Sfeeha Spices

1 t Allspice, ground
¼ t Nutmeg, fresh grated
¼ t Cloves, ground
½ t Cinnamon
½ t Black Pepper freshly ground
¼ t Cardamom

Procedure - Sheefa Spices

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients. To keep, place in an airtight container.

Procedure - Dough

Add the honey and dissolve to the water. Add yeast and let bloom, if necessary. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add olive oil and mix. Add yogurt and yeast. Add enough warm water to make a ball that holds together. Knead vigorously for 10 minutes. Rub 1 T Olive Oil in the bowl and roll the dough ball in it to cover the dough. Cover and leave in a warm place for 1 – 1½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Procedure - Filling

Pre-heat the oven to 475°F. The dough should be ready to use.
Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, heat the oil, add the onion, stir for a few minutes, and then add the meat and stir well. Add salt and the spices and continue cooking until the onions are translucent and meat liquids dry.

Remove from heat, add tomatoes and mix. Add tahina, lemon juice, pomegranate paste, and salt to season. Taste and see if you need to add any more salt or lemon juice. Cut dough in to walnut-size ball. Arrange on oiled baking tray. Press them flat and leave a 1 inch space between one another cause the pastry will become bigger while baking.

Put 1 tablespoon meat filling over each round dough piece. Press down with spoon while spreading to assure meat sticks to the dough. Bake in preheated oven, on high temperature, 475 ºF (260C). Most important here to bake the pastries on top third level rack, not the middle one. Needs like 10-15 minutes maximum, or till the bottom of the pastry becomes light golden.

Serve warm with yogurt or green salad.

Tips

Fried pine nuts can be added to the meat filling if you wish. give a great crunch.

Pistachio Baklawa

  Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html


Ingredients

For the syrup:
2 cups sugar or 400 g
1 cup water or 250 ml
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the baklawa:
15 sheets filo pastry, thawed if frozen
¾ cup butter or 150 g, melted
¼ cup caster sugar or 50 g
1 cup ground almonds or 100 g, mixed with the caster sugar

For the filling:
2½ cups pistachio nuts or 375 g
1 tablespoon blossom water
2 tablespoons rose water
1 tin NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk or 397 g
3 slices toast bread, crust removed

Preparation

To prepare the syrup:

In a small pot, dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil then simmer until it becomes a syrup. Stir in lemon juice and set aside to cool.

To prepare the filling:

Combine all ingredients for the filling in a blender; beat until well combined and set aside.

To prepare the baklawa:

Grease a 40cm x 30cm oven tray, place 1 sheet of filo pastry, brush with butter and repeat the same with 5 more sheets.

Carefully spoon the filling all over the pastry.

Place 1 sheet of filo pastry to cover the filling, brush with butter and sprinkle with a little of almond mixture.

Top with another sheet. Sprinkle with little almond mixture and repeat method with the remaining sheets.

Brush the surface with melted butter, then cut parallel lines through pastry and filling to get diamond shaped pieces.

Bake in a 185°C preheated hot oven for 25-30 minutes or until it becomes golden color.

Pour the cool syrup over the baklawa as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Baklava with honey syrup recipe

Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html


Ingredients (serves 8)

3/4 cup sesame seeds
4 cups (400g) walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup ground cinnamon
8 sheets filo pastry
100g butter, melted

Honey syrup
1 small lemon
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick
6 whole cloves

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a shallow baking tray.

2. Place sesame seeds in a small, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook, shaking pan gently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden and toasted. Transfer to a bowl. Add walnuts and cinnamon. Mix well.

3. Brush 1 pastry sheet with butter. Fold in half crossways to form a rectangle.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup walnut mixture evenly over pastry. Starting from one long end, roll up into a log. Brush with butter. Place on baking tray. Repeat with remaining pastry, butter and walnut mixture. Bake baklava for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on baking tray.

5. Make honey syrup: Peel 1 large strip rind from lemon. Remove the pith. Juice half the lemon. Place lemon rind, lemon juice, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick, cloves and 2 cups water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 10 minutes or until honey syrup thickens slightly.
6. Pour hot honey syrup over cold baklava. Stand for 30 minutes or until baklava has absorbed syrup. Cut each baklava diagonally into 3 pieces. Serve.

Kunafa Bil-Jibn Recipe

  Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html


Preparation time : 4 hours
Cooking time : 35 minutes

Ingredients

1½ kg akawi cheese, cut into thin slices
1½ cups plain flour or 210 g
1½ cups fine semolina or 240 g
1 cup ghee or 210 g, softened
1 tin NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk or 397 g
1 tablespoon blossom water
3 cups sugar syrup

Preparation

Soak cheese in room temperature water for 4 hours to remove the salt (change water every 1 hour). Drain and wrap the cheese in kitchen towel for 1hour to absorb any remaining water.

In a bowl, mix plain flour, fine semolina and ghee (reserve 2 tablespoons of ghee) then add NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk and blossom water.

Pour this dough in an oven tray until it is 4 cm thick and put in a 150°C preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the dough is dry (stir the dough with a spoon every 5-6 minutes to be crumble).

Remove the dough from the oven and set aside to cool to a room temperature.

Blend the dough in a blender until its smooth then sift using a rough sieve.

Grease with the remaining ghee a 30cm round oven non-stick shallow tray. Sprinkle the mixture over and press well to flatten evenly all over the tray. Bake in a 200°C preheated oven (downside heat) for 12-15 minutes with turning the tray from time to time to all sides until all sides become golden brown in color. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile place the cheese in a bowl over boiling water until cheese is melted (discard any extra water as it appears using kitchen tissues paper).

Pour the melted cheese to flatten evenly all over the cooked kunafa dough.

Keep it to rest for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the kunafa using a knife before turning it over into a suitable dish.

Pour 1 cup syrup over the kunafa. Slice and serve it hot with the remaining sugar syrup aside.

Serving tips : Garnish with pistachio and serve with kunafa kaak.

Basbousa with Pistachio Recipe

Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html

Preparation time :     10 minutes
Cooking time :     35 minutes

Serves: 10 persons

Ingredients

1 cup butter or 200 g, melted
1 tin NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk or 397 g
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups semolina or 320 g
1½ cups pistachio nuts or 210 g, finely chopped

For the syrup:
2 cups sugar or 400 g
1½ cups water or 375 ml
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon rose water

Preparation

In a bowl, combine butter, NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk and baking powder and stir well. Add semolina and mix until well-combined.

Sprinkle chopped pistachio evenly in a 28cm x 24cm baking tin. Pour semolina mixture over the pistachio and level it.

Bake in a 190°C preheated oven for 35 minutes or until top is golden.

Remove from oven and pour cooled syrup on top. Place in fridge to completely cool then cut into diamond shapes and serve.

To prepare the syrup:

Place sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to boil and simmer for 6-8 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and rosewater.

Cooking tips : To peel the pistachio, bring water to boil in a saucepan, add the pistachio and boil for only 10 seconds. Drain and then rub the pistachio in a kitchen cloth to remove the skin.

Maamoul - Maamoul Recipes

 

Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html

 

 

Ingredients

1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup warm milk
½ teaspoon rose water
2 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sesame
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ kg Turkish delight (lokum, malban)
Powdered sugar

Method

- shake ghee, milk and rose water until well combined.
- Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl, add sesame and salt.
- Add flour mixture to ghee mixture, knead until smooth.
- Preheat oven to (180 – 350) degrees.
- Form dough into walnut sized balls
- Shape Turkish delight into tiny balls.
- Make a hole in the center of the dough using your finger.
- Place the Turkish delight balls in the center of each ball.
- Seal the dough up over it and press edges together.
- Flatten each ball a little and make a design using a fork or (monkash) or a cookie mold.
- Place cookies at least 1 inch apart onto cookie sheets.
- Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Dust with confectioners (powder) sugar.
Serves: 12
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup semolina flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
2 sticks butter at room temperature
1 tsp orange blossom water

Filling:
1 cup ground walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp orange blossom water

8 medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp orange blossom water

vegetable oil
powdered sugar

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine flour, semolina and baking powder, mix well.  Next, add butter, milk and orange blossom water to dry ingredients and combine until dough is formed.

In a food processor, blend walnuts until fine and crumbly, pour walnuts into bowl and add sugar, cinnamon and orange blossom water.  Next, put the dates into the food processor and blend until it is formed into a fine ball, remove and add orange blossom water, set aside.

To form maamoul cookies, roll dough into balls, smaller than golf balls, poke an indent into the ball and place some of the filling inside, close the opening until all of the filling is concealed.  Next, wipe down the maamoul mold with some vegetable oil so that dough does not stick, press ball into the maamoul mold and then tap our the cookie by hitting the mold on the side.  Place the cookies on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until bottom of the cookie is light brown.  Remove cookies and let cool completely, dust cookies completely with powdered sugar and store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

Kahk with Dates Recipe

  Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html




Ingredients:

• 2 cups samn balady
• 1 cup milk
• 4 1/2 cups flour, all purpose
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon instant yeas
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tea spoon ground ginger
• sesame seeds

Preparation:

1. Heat the samn balady (Gee) until almost boiling.
2. Add the baking powder and the spices to the flour.
3. Carefully add the flour to the hot samn balady (Gee) and stir with a wooden spoon.
4. Keep stirring and stirring and stirring.
5. When the mixture cools down a little, but is still warm, (ie you can knead it with your hands without causing permanent damage), add the instant yeast to the milk with a teaspoon of sugar, then stir gently into the dough.
6. Knead it for a short while, cover and let it rest. (Officially you should shape the kahk now and let it rest later).
7. After an hour or so you can start shaping the dough with your hands into little balls and then flatten them.
8. You can add nuts, agwa (date spread), or other filling when you are making it into balls.
9. Put them in a cookie tray and let them rest for a little.
10. Then put them in a preheated oven (345 F), and watch them. Usually 15 minutes is enough.
11. Take them out, wait until they cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar just before eating.

Pistachio Maamoul Recipe

Muslims observe fasting every Ramadhan which coincides with non-specific month for English calendar. These cookies or desserts are commonly seen in arab tables. Warning  this recipe is not mine. I just save them for my future coming ramadhania recipes :) For people who are interested, pliz visit this link :  
http://foodstuffsrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/ramadan-desserts.html
Ingredients

• For the dough:
• 9 cups semolina or 1500 g
• 1½ cups butter or 300 g, melted
• 1½ cups ghee or 300 g, melted
• 1 cup caster sugar or 200 g
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground mahlab
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• ¾ cup rose water or 190 ml
• ¼ cup blossom water or 60 ml

For the filling:

• 3½ cups pistachio nuts or 500 g
• 1 tablespoon blossom water
• 2 tablespoons rose water
• 1 tin NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk or 397 g
• ½ cup caster sugar or 100 g

Preparation

• In a bowl, combine semolina, butter, ghee, sugar, nutmeg, mahlab, and yeast. Mix the ingredients well then cover and set aside for at least 4 hours.
• Pin an electric mixer, blend the pistachio until they are completely crushed. Remove and place in a bowl.
• Mix blossom water, rose water and NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk until all ingredients are well combined. Cover and place in fridge for 1 hour.
• Add rose water and blossom water to the dried mixture, knead by hands until the dough starts to hold together or forms a paste. If necessary, add a small amount of rose water.
• Remove a small piece of dough and flatten it with your hands and place a teaspoonful of the filling. Close carefully to form a ball.
• Press the stuffed dough into a wooden maamoul mold to form a pattern on the upper side of the dough.
• Tap out onto an cookie sheet that is not greased and bake in a 185c for 15-20 minutes or until lightly colored but not browned

Lentil and bulgur köfte / Meriçmek ve bulgur köftesi (Turkish Dish)

Yummy! a turkish dish which I save it for myself for my future dish for the coming Ramadhan. This was reblogged from this Link :
http://surfingtheworldcuisine.blogspot.com/2010/03/lentil-and-bulgur-kofte-mericmek-ve.html

What we need:

1 glass of red lentils
1 glass of fine bulgur wheat
5-6 spring onions
1 medium onions
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of spicy red pepper paste ( optional)
2 lemons
Lettuce
A bunch of parsley
Mint
Black pepper
Salt
Olive oil
3-4 glasses of water

What we have to do:

1. Boil the red lentils with 3 or 4 glasses of water until they get very soft.
2. Add a glass of bulgur to the lentil mixture. Remove from the heat. Mix it and let it cool down until you can hold it in your hands. Taste it and if the bulgur inside the mixture is not soft enough, add half or a glass of hot water to soak it up.
3. Chop the onions, spring onions finely and put them into lentil and bulgur mix, add tomato and pepper paste, mix it well.
4. Add some salt, black pepper, chopped parsley and mint. Then add lemon juice and some olive oil ( about 2-3 tbsp). It should not be too dry or too wet.
5. Make some balls or köfte with it and put them over little lettuce on a plate.
7. Cool it down for an hour or so before you eat it! Enjoy!!!

A kind of pea and potato samosas

I always love this Sambosa. I find it different from my own style so I decided to rebolg this from a respected Blogger. Pliz click her Link if You want to find for more yummy dishes :) http://surfingtheworldcuisine.blogspot.com/2010/10/kind-of-pea-and-potato-samosas.html

What we need:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
60g chopped onion
1 tsp finely chopped or grated ginger
60g frozen peas
1tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp red chilli pepper powder
1/2 -¾ tsp garam masala
salt
about 100ml water
600gr boiled and crushed potatoes
4 tbsp chopper coriander or parsley
phylo dough
butter to brush the dough
2 tbsp sesame seeds ( optional, you can also use poppy seeds)

What we have to do:
1. To make the filling, preheat some oil in a pan and when it's hot, add your mustard seeds for 10 seconds, then add ginger and onion. Let them fry for about 1 minute.
2. Now add the peas into a pan together with the spices and a good splash of water. Cook until peas are soft.
3. Add your crushed potatoes, stir it well and finally add your parsley or coriander. Stir and let it cool until you make your samosas.
4. To make samosas, brush your phylo dough with melted butter, cut it into stripes and add a teaspoon of filling on each stripe and fold it several times to shape triangles. All the corners should be closed.
5. Preheat the oven 180C and then brush samosas with butter again and sprinkle with some sesame seeds if you like. Let it bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm! Enjoy!

Orange Juice

Drink Plenty of Orange Juice

Orange juice is rich in vitamin C, essential for the manufacture of collagen, which helps to keep the skin smooth and youthful. Other foods rich in vitamin C include guava, kiwi fruit and red peppers. . They help in restoring collagen in our body which is responsible for skin firming and preventing early aging of skin. So, daily serving of citrus fruits helps our body fight aging.