Cocoa Brownies

I finally had a day for ME, a day when the time to bake aligns with the desire to bake and not the need to bake. Last week, I had a day off. I woke up late, had my coffee in the sun, watching the blue bright sky and contemplating the sea.

I haven't told you yet, but we moved back to Lebanon a couple of months ago. I didn't have the time nor the chance to tell you about this change in my life, and every time I wanted to write a post about our move, words wont come out easily and I just shut down the computer.

It was a hard decision to take, I know, I have lived in France for the last 5 years, and I was discovering the city with all its beauty... but when my husband came home that night telling me that we're moving back to our homeland, Lebanon, I was overwhelmed. You know, the idea of returning back home was tatooed in my brain... His announcement brought tears to my eyes, I hugged him and thanked him.... as if i was waiting for this years ago.

And here we are, back in our lovely country, sharing our happiness with the people we love. I can't tell you how it feels to be back home, how secure you are when you're surrounded by your family and friends.

I used to be a beautiful city… Some people say I’m still as beautiful as I was before... 

Every day I stand there, waving to all these people, mostly young, leaving on these big things so called airplanes… Jealousy kills me, knowing that they will go and enjoy grocery shopping in a street I’ve never heard of, smiling to a stranger who doesn’t even know where their country is… Working hard and becoming successful… I wish they could be here with me, becoming successful with me… I feel helpless without them, thousands and thousands leave, few come back while I sit waiting and waiting and waiting…

“I miss you Beirut
I miss your weather
Miss your sea breeze
Miss staring at you at night from my bedroom balcony… when the world is sleeping and there is only you and I
Miss feeling loved
Miss belonging to you
Miss feeling the security…

I order you to come back… Yes I can’t promise you security but I promise you that you and me can make it together, come back and bring all those people who once left… because I miss them, miss their faces and their laughs… Come back and fight for me, clean my body from rotten creatures, change the world for me, help me stand… I can’t do it alone.

I’m your city
I’m your mother
I’m your child
I’m Beirut

This is what brought me home, because I love my country and I am proud to be Lebanese.
I know I was away from my blog for a while, it was not easy settling down, and having a full time job again... that was pretty hard for me; but I'm happy...



Ingredients: Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies

10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (280 grams) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (80 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (160ºC). Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. (Deb suggests putting the cooled pan in the fridge or freezer for a while, which helps if you want clean lines when cutting the brownies.)

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Brownies au cacao

80 g de cacao en poudre non sucré type Van Houten
140 g de beurre mou
2 gros oeufs
280 g de sucre
1 cuillère à café d'extrait de vanille liquide
70 g de farine

Préchauffez votre four à 160°C.

Dans un bol supportant la chaleur, versez votre beurre, sucre et cacao. Mettez ce bol au dessus d'une casserole d'eau bouillante sans que le bol ne touche l'eau!

Bien mélanger le tout jusqu'à ce que le mélange soit assez chaud pour que dès que vous plongez votre doigt, vous ayez envie de le retirer immédiatement...

Retirer le bol de la casserole et laissez ce mélange tiédir. Une fois tiède ajoutez un oeuf, bien mélanger. Quand la pâte est lisse, ajoutez le deuxième. Bien mélanger à nouveau. Puis ajoutez l'extrait de vanille. Enfin ajoutez la farine. Mélanger vigoureusement.

Versez votre préparation dans un plat carré de 21 cm sur 21 cm. Enfournez environ 20 minutes. Surveillez la cuisson (et ce surtout si vous utilisez un moule plus grand). Plantez un couteau, il doit ressortir légèrement humide.

Une fois le plat sorti du four, attendre 10 minutes et découpez en carrés!


Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet

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Novica Review

We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow.


At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe.

We want you to know about who you’re buying from. We want you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it.


In the spirit of the Internet, let us bring you together.


NOVICA. The World is Your Market.

Novica gave me the greatest opportunity to discover the quality of their products. Not only was my order packaged beautifully, it came with an artisan story card so that I could truly understand who made my item and where it came from.  You should visit their website and check their beautiful collection.

Novica sells wonderful items that would make great gifts. They have great fair trade Unique Corporate Gifts. The stationary and jewelry would make great gifts too for family and co-workers.

Novica has introduced a new idea for selling their worldwide artistic products. They have created Novica Live.

Novica Live is an at home party program that can help individuals be able to make some good money and support artisans worldwide. Like many at home party programs you purchase a starter kit to have products and business materials to host a party in your home.

I invite you to check the website.

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Spaghetti with kafta meatballs

Kafta meatballs are one of my favorite meatballs, I love the addition of parsley and onions, and I love to grill then and serve them plain with hummus, labneh, or eggplant dips. They're light, juicy and full of flavors. Last week, I wanted to cook something and I realized that I hadn’t posted a spaghetti and meatballs recipe.
Browning the meatballs in the pan, then adding them to the sauce incorporates the flavorful brown juices that develop in the pan. Simmering them with ripened tomatoes and onions adds a juicy tender flavor too.



for meatballs
1 medium onion, grated
2 medium cloves of garlic, crushed
1 lb (500 g) ground beef
1 egg
3 tbsps chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

for sauce
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 large onion minced
4 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (about 6 large tomatoes)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
parsley, minced for garnish

In a large bowl, add the beef, egg, parsley, onion, salt and pepper. Put some gloves on and use your hands to knead the mixture together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. 
Use your hands to roll the meat into 1 1/2″ balls. Put in the fridge for about half an hour.


Heat a frying pan up over medium high heat, then add 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry the meatballs in batches, gently rolling them around to maintain their shape until browned on all sides.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil then sauté the garlic and onions until translucent. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and salt then bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the meatballs into the tomato sauce along with any collected juices. Turn the heat down to low and gently simmer for about half an hour.

Boil some spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, then toss the pasta together with the sauce. Plate the spaghetti, then top each serving with meatballs and minced parsley.

Spaghetti avec des boulettes de kafta

pour les boulettes
1 oignon, graté

2 gousses d'ail, écrasées

500 g de viande hachée
1 œuf
3 càs de persil haché

1/2 càc de sel
1/4 càc de poivre

pour la sauce
3 gousses d'ail émincées

1 oignon émincé
4 tasses de tomates pelées, épépinées et concassées 

1 feuille de laurier
1 càc de sel

persil, pour la garniture

Dans un grand saladier, mélangez le bœuf, l'œuf, le pesil, le sel et le poivre. Mixez avec vos mains et former des boulettes. Placez-les dans le frigo environ une demie heure maximum.

Faites chauffer  2 càs d'huile dans une grande poêle puis faites revenir les boulettes de tous les côtés jusqu'à complète cuisson. Réservez les boulettes de côté.

Dans la même poête, faites revenir l'ail et l'oignon. Ajoutez les tomates, la feuille de laurier, le sel et laissez bouillir. Baissez le feu et laissez mijoter environ 10 mn.

Ajoutez les boulettes avec leur sauce dans la poêle. Baissez le feu et laissez mijoter une demie heure.

Faites cuire des spaghetti. Égouttez-les et ajoutez les a la sauce. Servez les spaghettis avec les boulettes et parsemez de persil haché.

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Labneh balls

Labneh is simply a yogurt that has been strained in a cloth. It's popular in the Levant and the arabian peninsula and its very common for breakfast, dinner and sandwiches. Labneh is used as a spread on pita bread. Olive oil, vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber mint and olives are usually added to the sandwich.

Besides being used fresh, labneh is also dried then formed into balls, sometimes covered with herbs or spices and stored in olive oil glass jars. The cheese can then be kept for over a year.

We simply roll the dried labneh into balls then place them in a jar and fill the jar with enough olive oil to cover. We can find ready made labneh balls, sold in supermarket in big glass jars, but it's always better to go homemade. You can choose to make them plain, this time, i wanted to roll my labneh balls with crushed dried mint, (you can roll them in oregano, thyme or zaatar). I placed them on a bed of chopped tomatoes and served them with arabic bread.

Ingredients:
500 g labneh
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
2 tbsp crushed dried mint or oregano, thyme or zaatar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
crushed walnuts

In a medium bowl combine yogurt and salt. (The salt helps draw out the whey).

Line a colander with a double layer of cheese cloth. Place colander inside a large bowl to collect whey. (or you can also line a sieve with coffee filters). Tip the yogurt and salt mixture into the lined colander. Tie the corners to make a pouch. Cover colander/bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Allow yogurt to drain in the refrigerator 24 hours. They are ready when the cloth is no longer wet. Change the cloth and use another one then refrigerate another 8 hours, until the humidity is gone.

Combine the tomatoes, onions and olive oil. Then place in a dish.

Form labneh balls, then roll them in some olive oil, then in dried mint (or oregano, thyme or zaatar...) and place them on top of the tomatoes. Serve with pita bread, baguette or crackers.

You can place the labneh balls in a jar filled with olive oil. It can be kept over a year.

Boules de labneh

Ingrédients:
500 g de yaourt nature
1 càc de sel 

1 oignon, finement émincé

1 tomate finement émincée

2 càs de menthe séchée, d'origan, de thym ou de zaatar

une poignée de noix écrasées

Dans un bol moyen, mélanger le yaourt et le sel.

Tapisser une passoire avec un torchon propre. Verser le yaourt dans le torchon. Refermer les bords du torchon pour former un pochon, nouer et placer la passoire dans un grand saladier.  

Laisser égoutter dans le frigo 24 heures. Changer le torchon et réfrigérer 8 h ou jusqu'à ce que le torchon ait absorbé l'humidité du fromage. Le labneh ne doit pas être humide pour former des boules.

Former des boules, et les faire tremper avec un peu d'huile d'olive, puis les enrouler de menthe séchée. d'origan ou de zaatar.

Déposer les boules sur les tomates, et servir avec du pain libanais, de la baguette, ou de crackers.
 
On peut conserver les boules de labneh dans un bocal rempli d'huile d'olive, à température ambiante, pendant plus qu'un an.

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Salmon burger with dill yogurt sauce

I have a thing for burgers. My choice usually goes for a ground beef patty, grilled to medium, and topped with an array of garnishes that can sometimes defy explanation. Sometimes, I feel like going in another direction and make my burger with seafood or just veggies.

One of my favorite burgers is the salmon burger. Often made from off cuts of fresh salmon fillets and mixed with a little lemon and fresh herbs, then served simply with a green leaf salad and a simple yogurt dressing.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 buns split and toasted
1 pound skinless salmon fillet, finely diced (use a sharp knife so you don’t crush the pieces)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
4 buns, split and toasted
Lettuce

Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. In a medium bowl, combine salmon, lemon juice, salt and pepper; mix gently.

Form salmon mixture into 4, 3 1/2-by-1 inch patties; place on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil, without turning, until browned on top and opaque throughout, 6-7 minutes. Meanwhile, combine yogurt and dill in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Serve burgers on buns with yogurt-dill sauce and lettuce.



Hamburger au saumon

4 pains à hamburger
500 g de filet de saumon frais (sans la peau)

1 càs de jus de citron

sel et poivre
200 g de fromage blanc

1 càs d'aneth frais ciselé
quelques feuilles de salade mélangée: frisée, roquette...

Couper en tartare très fine la chair de saumon. Assaisonner avec du sel, du poivre et de jus de ci. Diviser par 4 et former des burgers. Chauffer une poêle anti-adhérente ou en inox en huilant légèrement et faire cuire les burgers.

Pendant ce temps préparer la sauce. Mélanger le fromage blanc avec l'aneth. Saler, poivrer.  

Composer le sandwich avec: la moitié du pain, un peu de salade, l'hamburger 3 cs de sauce au fromage blanc et salade. Refermer avec l'autre moitié du pain et servir de suite, encore chaud.

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Banana cake with peanut butter chips

Combining bananas and peanut butter chips in a cake is a bit gluttonous.

I did it anyway! I love banana cakes, and peanut butter too! There's no reason why I should suffer by leaving any of them out.

The cake is tender, moist, and full of flavor. Each bite is bursting with peanut butter banana goodness.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup (190 g) all purpose flour
2/3 cup (135 g) sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 small/medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 large egg
1/2 cup (110 g) unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter chips, as well as more for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your cake pan.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, mix the mashed bananas, egg, butter, vanilla extract and milk. Stir the banana mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined (do not overmix). Stir in peanut butter chips.

Pour the mixture in the pan. Sprinkle extra peanut butter chips on top, if desired.
Bake for about 32 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center is free of crumbs. Cool on a wire rack.

Cake aux bananes et aux pépites de beurre de cacahuètes

Ingrédients

190 g de farine

135 g de sucre

1 1/2 càc de levure chimique

1/4 càc de sel

3 bananes, écrasées

1 œuf

110 g de beurre, fondu

1 càc d'extrait de vanille

1/4 verre de lait

1 verre de pépites de beurre de cacahuètes + une poignée pour la décoration

Préchauffez le four à 180ºC. Beurrez votre moule.

Mélangez la farine, le sucre, la levure et le sel dans un grand bol. Dans un autre bol, mélangez les bananes écrasées, l'œuf, le beurre fondu, l'extrait de vanille et le lait. Ajoutez cette préparation à celle de la farine. Ajoutez les pépites.

Versez la préparation dans le moule. Saupoudrez de pépites. Enfournez 32 mn ou jusqu'à ce qu'un cure-dent inséré en ressorte propre. Laissez refroidir.

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Apple flognarde

Apple flognarde is nothing more than a clafoutis. In some regions in France, the traditional french dessert – clafoutis is referred to as flognarde. The flognarde is usually made with apples or pears.

This dessert is so simple - just a sweet batter poured over a layer of apple chunks and baked in the oven. You can eat this dish as a hot pudding, or a cold dessert. 

Ingredients (serves 6):
3 apples (Reine de Reinette)
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups (350 ml) milk
½ cup (90 g) sugar
½ cup + 1 tbsp (70 g) flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)

Preheat the oven at 400ºF (200ºC).

Peel and core the apples then cut into chunks.

Grease the tart tins with butter and sprinkle some flour. Place them on a baking sheet. Divide the apple chunks evenly between the tartlet tins.

Gently heat the milk until warm. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended and foamy. Add the sugar, flour, oil and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk in the warm milk.

Using a ladle, carefully pour the liquid batter over the apple chunks in the tins, filling up to the rim.

Bake for 30 – 45 minutes until the flognarde is puffed and golden.

Flognarde aux pommes

Ingrédients (6 personnes):

3 pommes (Reine de Reinette)

3 œufs

350 ml de lait

90 g de sucre

70 g de farine

2 càs d'huile neutre

Faites préchauffer le four à 200ºC.

Pelez et coupez les pommes en morceaux. Beurrez et farinez les moules et déposez les pommes.

Faites chauffer le lait. Dans un saladier, cassez les oeufs. Battez-les au fouet. Ajoutez le sucre, la farine, l’huile, puis le lait qu’on a légèrement tiédi.

À l'aide d'une louche, versez la préparation dans les tartelettes à hauteur.

Faites cuire de 30 à 45 min, afin que la flognarde gonfle et dore.

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