Tante Soheir's Baklava Recipe

Tante Soheir's Baklava Recipe

 

Sorry for the inexact measurements-I'm writing this from memory :s

 

First, make the syrup:

Heat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice until it's boiling and thick. Set aside to cool. You will not use all this syrup-you can store the extra and use it when you make katayef or kunafa, etc. Or just scale down the ingredients as needed.

 

Ingredients:

1 pack filo dough

3/4 lb walnuts-crushed in food processor

2 teaspoons vanilla

half a small stick of butter

A couple tablespoons oil

 

Method:

1. Cut the filo dough in half so it can fit the dish you're making it in. Set half of the dough aside

2. Melt the butter and the oil together in a sauce pan.

3. Grease the bottom of the dish with the oil/butter. Place the first sheet on the bottom of the dish and brush on some butter/oil. Place another sheet on top. Repeat until you're done with half of the sheets.

4. Mix the vanilla (I used powder) with the crushed walnuts and scatter it on the filo sheet (marking the mid-point of the baklava)

5. place a sheet on top of the walnuts and spread with butter. Repeat until all the sheets are finished.

6. Cut into squares or diamonds and place in a preheated oven (350 degrees) until it's brownish on top.

7. When the baklava comes out of the oven, pour some syrup on top (make sure the syrup is cool before pouring it on top).

Brazilian Cheese Bread

Note: They're best eaten fresh. Otherwise the texture isn't the same.

Cheese bread/rolls (Pao de Queijo)

500gr of *Sour* Tapioca *starch* (in portuguese we call it "polvilho azedo")

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of oil (sunflower)

150 to 200gr of cheese (cheddar - mature is better)

1 (coffee size) spoon of salt (if the cheese is salty, use just a pinch)

2 eggs


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees(Celsius).


In a little saucepan, combine the oil and milk to boil and bring to boil.

In a bowl, put the flour, greated cheese on top and the salt. Add the
"boiled" milk and oil. Mix with a spoon and when the mixture has cooled a
bit, add the eggs. Mix all together (spoon or you can use your hands if is
not too hot) until you have homogeneous dough.

Leave to rest a little bit (2-5 minutes). Is mix is still too sticky, add a
bit more flour.

Grease your hands with butter, then form the dough into balls. (use a spoon
to get dough from bowl). (or you can also use two spoons instead of making
ball with hands)

Arrange then on a baking tray. Put into the oven and immediately reduce the
temperature to 160 degrees (Celsius).

Leave for 30 minutes and then turn up to 180 degrees for 5 to minutes to
get brownish.

Bom apetite! (Buon appetitte!)


ps.:
1) you can also freeze the bread, make the dough into balls and put in a
plastic container until frozen than can keep in plastic bags to free some
freezer space.

2) 500 grams of flours makes around 25 to 30 little rolls.

Moussaka

A really good moussaka recipe. I use this recipe http://greek.food.com/recipe/kittencals-greek-moussaka-88804 to make the eggplants and this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/moussaka_01004  for the rest of the dish.

The ultimate chocolate cake

Soo chocolatey and pretty easy to make (except the ganache)
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3092/ultimate-chocolate-cake

Ultimate chocolate cake

Ingredients

• 200g good quality dark chocolate, about 60% cocoa solids
• 200g butter
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 85g self-raising flour
• 85g plain flour
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 25g cocoa powder
• 3 medium eggs
• 75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)
• grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

For the ganache

• 200g good quality dark chocolate, as above
• 284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
• 2 tbsp golden caster sugar

Method

1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted – don’t overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.
2. While the chocolate is melting, mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powderin a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a bowl and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk.
3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes – if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don’t worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don’t worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three. Make the ganache: chop 200g good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.

Zucchini Bread

A delicious and moist zucchini bread recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Ingredients 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 1/4 cups white sugar
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups grated zucchini
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Cuminiyya

A recipe I got from my mother-in-law and that I absolutely loved. I will post pics when I make it again and remember to take pics.

Recipe:
1) Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on high heat.
2) Add cubed beef (I used low fat beef and was still delicious and very tender) and mix around until it's dark gold.
3) Add 5 chopped garlics
4) Add enough water to cover the beef, salt and pepper to taste, and two teaspoons of cumin
5) Reduce heat to low until beef is tender.

Serve with rice and fattoush salad.

Vegetarian Dishes

Some vegetarian dishes I made recently:

1) Hummus Fatteh

Pros: Super easy, delicious, and all ingredients were things I usually have lying around
Recipe here

2) Stuffed Zucchini

I had some zucchinis lying around, so tried out THIS RECIPE. Husband loved it. (I used Halloumi cheese instead of Parmesan).

3) Turkish Eggplant Mezze

Here's an Eggpland Recipe I'll definitely make again!! Very easy and was great as a side with fish and rice. Some changes I made to make it a little healthier: (1) roasted the eggplants instead of frying them; (2) Used only fresh tomatoes (4 of them) chopped up; and (3) added some chopped parsley at the end.