Chocolate chip cookie cake

No it's not a giant cookie... it's a cookie in the shape of a cake! It's between a giant chocolate chip cookie and a cake! It has the texture of a cookie and the appearance of a cake.

I had been meaning to make this for some time now, because I knew it would be something I would thoroughly enjoy. Actually, I came across this recipe at Lemonpi a while ago.... and it was a success!

This cookie cake is slightly crisp on the edges, but soft and chewy on the inside, with a rich aroma of brown sugar and smooth semisweet chocolate chips that melt in your mouth.

The beauty in this treat which, I cannot decide whether to categorize as cake or cookie, is the texture. 

I baked mine in a tart pan with a removable base because I don’t have a 10-inch round cake pan. It made it easy to remove the cookie cake when cooled. 

Ingredients:
1 stick (113g) butter
1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (58%-62% cacao)
1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 175ºC.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream the butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 15 seconds. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg. Blend on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and combine on low speed until just a few dry streaks remain. Add the chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds until combined.

Scrape the batter into a greased and lined 10-inch round cake tin. Press the batter into a smooth and even layer in the pan. Bake until lightly golden and puffy around the edges (the center should still feel quite soft), 18 – 22 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then run a paring knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Cool for at least 4 hours before turning the cake out of the pan and onto a large plate.

Cookie géante aux pépites de chocolat

Ingrédients:
113 g de beuure
1 1/4 tasse de pépites de chocolat (58%-62% cacao)
110 g de farine
1 1/2 càc de levure chimique
1/4 càc de sel
200 g de sucre roux
1 càc d'extrait de vanille
1/2 càc d'extrait d'amande
1 œuf

Préchauffez le four à 175ºC.

Mélangez la farine, la levure et le sel dans un saladier. Réservez.

Battez le beurre avec le sucre, l'extrait de vanille et d'amande à vitesse moyenne environ 1 mn.

Battez 15 secondes à haute vitesse. Ajoutez l'œuf et battez à moyenne vitesse pour 30 secondes.

Ajoutez le mélange farine et mixez à vitesse lente. Ajoutez les pépites de chocolat et mélangez à la spatule quelques secondes jusqu'à ce que le mélange soit homogène.

Versez la préparation dans un moule beurré de 25 cm. Bien étalez la préparation en une couche lisse et unifome. Enfournez 18 à 22 mn jusqu'à ce que les bords soient dorés (le centre doit rester assez tendre). 

Laissez refroidir 10 mn puis passez un couteau sur les bords pour le démouler.

Laissez refroidir au moins 4 heures avant de transférer le gâteau dans une assiette.


Adapted from Lemonpi

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Greek baked elephant beans

Gigantes sto fourno as know in Greek, is a comforting dish I spotted on a great blog Kalofagas. I love Greek food and Peter always offers us the true taste of healthy, rich flavored, traditional Greek cuisine.

Gigantes, also known as elephant beans, or giant beans, are a large flat fleshy legume native to Greece.

With respect to ways of cooking recipes for those beans there are many suggestions. In Lebanon we used to serve them as a salad with an olive oil-lemon vinaigrette and eat them with Lebanese bread and onions. The most typical and traditional Greek recipe is baked in the oven with tomato sauce, onion, parsley, spices and aromatic plants. I love comforting food in all it’s many forms, and this is no exception.

Ingredients (serves 4):
450 g (1 lb) dried Gigantes or elephant beans (look for butter beans as well)
1 large carrot, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large stalk of celery, diced
2 large onions, diced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup of olive oil
3 bay leaves
1 cup of fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 cup tomato puree (or 3-4 very ripe tomatoes, passed through a box grater)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp of sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Soak beans overnight in cold water to cover by an inch or more.

Place the beans in a large pot. Add the carrot, celery, bay leaves and garlic and fill the pot with enough water to cover the contents by 1 inch. Bring to a boil (around 15 mn), reduce heat to a simmer and cook for approx. 45 minutes or until the beans are soft (taste one). Take off the heat and reserve (including the liquid).

In a large skillet, add your olive oil and onions and saute them on medium heat for 10-15 minutes to soften. Add the tomato sauce, paprika, salt, pepper, parsley and stir in together. Set aside.

Using a slotted spoon, place your beans, celery, carrot, bay leaves into a large baking casserole. Now add all of the contents of your skillet to the bean mixture in the casserole.

Pour in enough reserved bean liquid to cover everything in the casserole. Mix well and adjust seasoning. Place in a pre-heated 375ºF (190ºC) oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Remove the baking vessel from the oven and add your dill (I add the dill at this stage so it doesn’t darken too much). Stir to mix in well and place back in the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone and the top is nicely browned.

Haricots blancs géants à la grecque

Ingrédients (4 personnes):
450 g d'haricots blancs géants
1 carotte, pelée, coupée en longueur puis en petits dés
1 céleri, émincé
2 oignons, hachés
4 gousses d'ail, écrasées
115 ml d'huile d'olive
3 feuilles de laurier
1 tasse de persil, haché
1/4 tasse de ciboulette, hachée
1/2 tasse de coulis de tomates
1 càc de paprika
1 càc de sel
1/2 càc de poivre

La veille, faites trempez les haricots dans une grande quantité d'eau.
Le lendemain, égouttez les haricots. Placez-les dans une casserole, ajoutez les carottes, le celeri, les feuilles de laurier et l'ail. Couvrez-les avec une grande quantité d'eau. Portez à ébullition (env. 15 mn) puis réduisez le feu et faites cuire à feu doux environ 45 mn, ou jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient tendres (goutez un). Réservez avec le liquide.

Pendant ce temps, préparez la sauce. Emincez les oignons. Faites-les revenir dans une sauteuse avec de l'huile d'olive. Ajoutez le coulis de tomate, paprika, sel, poivre et persil. Mélangez et réservez.

A l'aide d'une écumoire, placez les haricots (avec les carottes, l'ail, le celeri...) dans un plat allant au four. Ajoutez la sauce de tomate.

Versez un peu du liquide des haricots. Mélangez et réctifiez l'assaissonnement. Enfournez à 190ºC pendant 30 à 35 mn.

Sortez le plat du four, ajoutez la ciboulette. Mélangez et remettez au four pour environ 10 à 15 mn ou jusqu'à évaporation du liquide.

Adapted from kalofagas.ca

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Morrocan Kefta Mkaouara (Spicy Egg, Meatball and Tomato Tagine)

A while ago, I spotted this North African dish on a great blog Almost Bourdain. I bookmarked the recipe and added it to my ever growing list of “to- dos”. 

The recipe is from Rick Stein's Mediterranean escapes book. He visited Chefchaouen, a town in northwest Morocco where this flavorful tagine is the local staple. 

Moroccan cuisine is popular for its tagines. There are a lot of recipes for tagines using all kinds of meat, vegetables and copious amounts of spices to kick up the rich stews. I was particularly drawn to this recipe because I love kefta and this puts a different spin on my usual Lebanese kefta dishes. The kefta meatballs are served in a rich flavored tomato sauce, in which eggs are poached in the final few minutes of cooking.
It is a really simple recipe that doesn’t require a tagine to make, as I don’t have one. 

I served this with pitta bread and thought it was fantastic!!

Ingredients (serves 4):
3 tbsp olive oil
4 very fresh medium-size free-range eggs
a small handful fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped, to garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs:
450 g minced beef or lamb
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot paprika

For the sauce:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
900 g ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped or 2 x 400-g cans chopped tomatoes
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
For the meatballs, put the minced beef, parsley, cumin, paprika, 1 tsp salt and some freshly ground black pepper into a bowl and mix together well using your hands. Dampen your hands and from the mixture into about 28 2.5-cm balls.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a shallow tagine or frying pan and brown the meatballs briefly on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate and set to one side.

Add the onion for the sauce to the pan with the remaining tablespoon of oil and cook gently for 10 minutes until very soft and just beginning to brown. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and leave to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until well concentrated in flavour but not too thick. Season well with salt to taste.

Return the meatballs to the sauce and mix together. Transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish if you have prepared the sauce in a frying pan, otherwise leave the mixture in the tagine. Make 4 slight dips in the mixture and break an egg into each one.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the eggs are just set. Scatter with the chopped coriander and serve. 

Kefta mkaouara (Tagine de kefta aux œufs)

Ingrédients (4 personnes):
3 càs d'huil d'olive
4 œufs
une poignée de coriandre, hachée pour la décoration
sel et poivre

Pour les bouletts:
450 g de viande hachée (bœuf ou agneau)
2 càs de persil, haché
1 càc de cumin
1/2 càc de paprika

Pour la sauce:
1 oignon, finement haché
900 g de tomates mûres, pelées, épépinées et coupées en dés ou 2 boites de 400g de tomates concassées
1 càc de cumin
1/2 càc de paprika
1 càc de poivre noir
2 gousses d'ail, écrasées

Préchauffez le four à 200ºC. 
Pour les boulettes de viande, mettez la viande hachée, le persil, le cumin, le paprika, 1 càc de sel et du poivre noir fraîchement moulu dans un bol et bien mélangez avec les mains. Mouillez vos mains et  façonnez environ 28 boulettes de 2,5 cm.

Faites chauffer 2 càs d'huile dans un tajine ou à la poêle et faites dorer les boulettes de viande. Retirez-les et réservez.

Faites revenir l'oignon haché dans la même poêle avec la cuillère à soupe d'huile restante environ 10 mn. Ajoutez le reste des ingrédients de la sauce et laissez mijoter pendant 15-20 minutes jusqu'à ce que la sauce soit bien concentrée mais pas trop épaisse. Assaisonnez avec du sel selon votre goût.

Ajoutez les boulettes de viande à la sauce et mélangez. Transférez dans un plat peu profond allant au four, si vous avez préparé la sauce dans une poêle, sinon laissez le mélange dans le tajine. Faites 4 petits trous et cassez-y un œuf dans chacun d'eux.

Enfournez pendant 15 minutes ou jusqu'à ce que les oeufs soient cuits. Parsemez de coriandre hachée et servez.

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Lentil tabbouleh

Being Lebanese, I have an affinity towards eating grains; rice, beans, chickpeas, and lentils… And I’m crazy about lentils; mjadra (lentil pottage), mdardra (lentil and rice with blackened onions), adas bi hamood (lentil and swiss chard soup), shorbet adad (red lentil soup)…  are my favorite meals, not only because they’re super food with the highest source of protein, but also because they’re so amazingly tasty.

Now, you are all familiar with the tabbouleh, the national dish of Lebanon and the pride of Lebanese cooks, a parsley salad flecked with tomatoes, bulgur, onion and mint. So what about pimping out the original tabbouleh, replacing the bulgur with cooked lentils. I just loved the idea, and let me tell you something, you will find it impossibly hard to stop digging your spoon into this salad once you start. 

Ingredients (serves 4):
1/2 cup lentil
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
4 green onions, chopped
4 tomatoes, finely diced
2 tbsp chopped mint
salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sumac

Cover lentils with water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or till they are soft but not mushy. Drain and set aside to cool.

Transfer lentils to a large bowl, add chopped tomatoes, parsley, mint, onions. Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, cinnamon and sumac. Stir to combine.

 

Tabboulé de lentilles

Ingrédients (4 personnes):
1/2 tasses de lentilles
1 botte de persil plat, finement haché
4 oignons verts, hachés
4 tomates, coupées en dés
2 càs de menthe, hachée
sel et poivre
3 càs d'huile d'olive
jus de 2 citrons
1/2 càc de cannelle
1/2 càc de sumac

Couvrez les lentilles avec de l'eau. Amenez à ébullition, réduisez la chaleur et laissez cuire 20 mn jusqu'à ce que les lentilles soient tendres mais pas écrasées. Egouttez et réservez.

Transférez les lentilles dans un saladier. Ajoutez tomates, persil, menthe, oignons. Assaisonnez de sel, poivre, cannelle, huile d'olive, citron et sumac. Mélangez et servez!

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Mloukhieh - Jew's Mallow

Mloukhieh (or as called in English Jew’s mallow), is an Egyptian national dish which is widely popular in Lebanon and is actually one of my favorite dishes. This leafy green vegetable has a mucilaginous texture, similar to okra, when cooked.

It features in the cuisines of Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Jordan, and Tunisia. Each region has it own version. The basic recipe for Egyptian mloukhieh is to chop the leaves finely and add dry crushed coriander, but it is very important not to allow the mloukhieh to boil as it coagulates and becomes inedible.



Mloukhieh is cooked into a viscous soup, flavored with coriander and garlic, then poured onto rice and decorated with pieces of cooked chicken and with grilled Arabic bread.

Mloukhieh leaves can be found at any Middle Eastern grocer and most likely in frozen form. Although, fresh leaves were used in the following recipe, using frozen is fine as well.



Ingredients: (serves 4)
For the mloukhieh:
1 kg Jew’s Mallow, fresh or frozen, finely chopped. (If using frozen, thaw first)
500 g corriander, finely chopped
4 onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, pounded with a pinch of salt
1 tsp white pepper
salt, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

For the chicken:
500 g skinless chicken breast
2 bay leaves
1 onion, halved
1 liter water
salt and pepper

For the dressing:
1 red onion, finely diced
1 cup apple vinegar

For the rice:
Basmati rice, cooked according to package instructions

Toasted arabic bread

In a deep pot, add the chicken, bay leaves, the halved onion, salt and pepper. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer 40 mn or until cooked.

Meanwhile, prepare the mloukhieh, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pot, add the diced onions, and cook 3 mn. Add the garlic, cook for 1 mn, add the coriander and stir. Strain in the chicken broth. Add the white pepper and salt. Then add the chopped mloukhieh.

Stir, cover and cook 10 mn on medium low. Do not allow to boil.

Cut bread into small squares. Grill them in the oven.
In a small bowl, make the dressing by mixing the onions and vinegar. Set aside.

Cook the rice.

In a serving plate put hot rice, shred the chicken and add them on top of the rice.
Cover with hot Jews mallow stew.
Garnish with bread and onion mixture.

 

Mouloukhieh

Ingrédients: (4 personnes)
Pour la mloukhieh: 
1 kg de mouloukhieh, finement haché (frais ou surgelé; si les feuilles sont surgelées laissez les décongeler)
500 g de coriandre, hachée
4 oignons, finement hachés
8 gousses d'ail, écrasées avec du sel
1 càc de poivre blanc
sel, selon goût
1 càs d'huile d'olive

Pour le poulet:
500 g de poulet
2 feuilles de laurier
1 oignon, coupé en 2
1 litre d'eau
sel et poivre

Pour le dressing:
1 oignon rouge, finement haché
1 verre de vinaigre de cidre

Pour le riz:
Riz Basmati, cuit selon les instructions du paquet.

Pain arabe grillé

Dans une grande marmite, mettez le poulet, les feuilles de laurier, l'oignon coupé en 2, le sel et le poivre. Couvrez avec de l'eau et portez à ébullition. Laissez cuire 40 mn ou jusqu'à ce que le poulet soit cuit.

Pendant ce temps, préparez la mouloukhieh. Faites chauffer 1 càs d'huile d'olive dans une casserole, ajoutez les oignons hachés, faites les revenir 3 mn. Ajoutez l'ail écrasé et laissez revenir 1 mn. Ajoutez la coriandre et mélangez. Filtrez le bouillon dans la casserole. Assaisonnez de sel et de poivre blanc. Puis ajoutez la mouloukhieh hachée.

Mélangez, couvrez et laissez cuire 10 mn sur feu doux. Ne laissez pas bouillir.

Coupez le pain en petits carrés. Faites les griller au four.

Dans un bol, mélangez les onions et le vinaigre. Réservez.

Faites cuire le riz.

Dans un plat de service, mettez le riz chaud, ajoutez le poulet émiétté.

Couvrez avec la mouloukhieh.

Parsemez de pain grillé et du dressing au vinaigre.

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Namoura

Namoura, the famous Lebanese pastry made with semolina, soaked in sugar syrup and decorated with almonds is a traditional sweet treat that everyone enjoys. This delicious dessert is very popular in the Middle East under different names. In Lebanon it is Namoura, in Egypt it goes under Basbousa. It is also popular in the Jewish kitchens under the name of Tishpishti and is generally made during the Passover holidays. Typically found on trays of arabic pastries alongside Baklava, Namoura is a delightful pastry that you'll definitely love!

Ingredients:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup semolina
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup butter melted
1 cup whole milk
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp tahini
blanched almonds for decoration

For the syrup:
2 cups castor sugar
2 cups water
1 tbsp Orange blossom water

Mix together the flour, the semolina, the ground almonds and the baking powder in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, the melted butter and the eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the semolina and mix well.

Grease a 10 in round baking pan with 2 tbsp of tahini and pour the batter in.

Using a knife, score the top of the batter into squares and place a blanched almond in each square.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (180ºC) for 30 to 45 mn or until slightly brown on top.

Meanwhile make the syrup: mix the sugar and water together and bring to a boil in a saucepan, simmer until it forms a sticky syrup. Add the orange blossom water. Let it cool completely.

As soon as the namoura comes out of the oven, pour the cold syrup over. Let it stand until cool then cut the squares.



Nammoura

Ingrédients:
2 œufs légèrement battus
1 verre de farine
1 verre de semoule moyenne
1 verre de poudre d'amande
1 verre de beurre fondu
1 verre de lait entier
2 càs de levure chimique
2 càs de tahini
amandes blanchies pour la décoration

Pour le sirop:
2 verres de sucre
2 verres d'eau
1 càs d'eau de fleurs d'oranger

Mélangez la farine, la semoule, la poudre d'amande et la levure dans un saladier.

Dans un autre saladier, mélangez le lait, le beurre fondu et les œufs.

Réunissez les 2 contenus et mélangez bien.

Graissez un moule rond de 25 cm avec le tahini et versez la préparation.

Avec un couteau, entaillez des carrés et déposez une amande dans chaque carré.

Faites cuire dans un four préchauffé à 180ºC 30 à 45 mn ou jusqu'à ce que le gateau soit légèrement doré.

Pendant ce temps, faites le sirop: Mélangez le sucre et l'eau et portez à ébullition. Ajoutez l'eau de fleurs d'oranger. Stoppez le feu et laissez le sirop refroidir.

Sortez le gateau du four et recouvrez-le de sirop froid. Laissez-le s'imbiber et refroidir en même temps. Coupez-le en carrés.

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Milk cookies - kaak bi haleeb

As you can probably tell by the lack of posts, I've been struggling a bit with finding the time to blog. I miss my blog and my readers, and I'm sorry for leaving you that long!! Between the family and the friends, I'm hardly sleeping... but I feel GREAT and HAPPY.

I'll share with you in this post, some of the pictures I took on a journey we spent in wadi kadisha (kadisha valley). Kadisha is one of the deepest valleys in Lebanon, it's indeed a whole world apart; a deep gorge carved by the Kadisha river whose source is in the kadisha grotto at the foot of the Cedars. 



Wadi kadisha means the "Holy Valley". Filled with caves and rock shelters inhabited from the third millennium B.C. to the Roman period, the valley is scattered with cave chapels, hermitages and monasteries cut from rock. Since the Early Middle Ages generations of monks, hermits, ascetics and anchorites found asylum here.



Ingredients:
1 kg flour
200 g butter, melted
2 cups milk
400 g sugar
1 ½ tsp mastica
2 tsp mahlab
1 tbsp orange blossom water
1 tbsp rosewater
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp yeast
½ tbsp ground nutmeg

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together except the milk.

Gradually add in the milk and knead well until you form a smooth dough. Leave the dough to rest for at least 6 hours in a warm place.

Divide the dough into small balls and then roll each ball into a long thin cylinder and stick the ends together forming ring.

Transfer the dough rings on trays and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20 mins at 350ºF (180ºC).



kaak au lait

Ingrédients:
1 kg farine
200 g beurre, fondu
0.5 litre de lait
400 g de sucre
1 ½ càc mastic
2 càc mahlab
1 càs d'eau de fleurs d'oranger
1 càs d'eau de rose
1 càs de levure chimique
1 càs de levure boulangere
½ càs de noix de muscade

Dans un grand saladier, mélangez tous les ingrédients sauf le lait.

Graduellement, versez le lait et pétrissez pour former une boule homogène. Laissez-la reposer environ 6 heures.

Divisez la pâte en de petites boules, roulez-la en forme d'un cylindre puis soudez la pâte en formant des anneaux.

Transférez les kaaks sur une plaque à patisserie et enfournez-les pendant 20 mn à 180ºC.

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