Category Archives: appetizers & salads

Best Artichoke Spinach dip

Posted on April 28, 2015 | 3 comments

This best ever homemade artichoke spinach dip. It is a huge hit appetizer, merits a standing ovation from your guests.

It’s a pinnacle appetizer for my husband and I, we order it almost at every diner restaurant until the day i made it home. Since then my husband craves this symphony of well blended flavors.

To make this creamy dip you need:

250g spinach chopped (thawed if frozen)
400g artichoke hearts drained and chopped
250ml heavy cream
100g cream cheese
2 cups Emmental cheese (divided)
1 big onion finely diced
2 garlic cloves minced
salt to taste

In a pot cook the onion and garlic with the spinach for 3-4 minutes. Put the heat off and mix in the artichoke, cream, cream cheese, salt and one cup of the Emmental cheese. You can use mozzarella if you wish a milder taste.

Pour the mix in a baking dish, sprinkle over the remaining cup of cheese and bake on 200°C in the oven for 30 mins or until it’s bubbly and the cheese is golden brown.

Serve it with tortilla chips, toasted bread or crackers and dive right in! I am warning you it’s addictive 🙂

The flavors are outstanding! Try it and give me your opinion.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

3 Comments

Posted in appetizers & salads

Tagged artichoke, artichoke hearts, artichoke spinach dip, blog, cream, cream cheese, dip, Emmental cheese, food blogger, heavy cream, how to do, jaymmy, lebanon, marmite et ponpon, qatra, recipe, spinach, tortillas

Romano and pineapple salad

Posted on February 19, 2015 | 1 comment

I heart salads! It’s my staple option at any time of the day. Salads are so versatile, catering to all tastes and satisfying the cravings.

I believe there is no single ingredient from the food pyramid you can’t stir in. Personally i like adding fruits and nuts.

For this fool proof salad you need (yield 2-3 portions):

mix green leaf (arugula, red oak, green oak and frisé), 200g
handful walnut
shaved aged romano cheese, about 50 g
3-4 slices fresh pineapple

You can use any type of green leaf of your choice. If you’re not fan of the sharp and piquant flavor of aged romano cheese, you can replace it with parmesan and it can still do the balance with the pineapple.

For the dressing you need:

3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp brown sugar

Isn’t so inviting? Indulge in this healthy and succulent dish and do not hesitate to unleash your creativity to come up with your own signature salad.

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Tagged blog, blogger, brown sugar, dressing, green leaf, green leaves, how to do, jaymmy, lemon, marmite et ponpon, mayonnaise, orange, pineapple, recipe, romano cheese, salad, walnut

loubyeh bi zeit – vegan flat green beans

Posted on November 13, 2014 | 7 comments

loubyeh bi zeit (loubyeh = green beans, bi zeit = vegan) is a typical lebanese dish. Presented at room temperature as mezze or warm as a main dish accompanied by lebanese bread. It’s one of the wholesome dishes without the aid of the meat. Beans are a healthy option as they are very low in calories, high in fiber and great antioxidants. Usually this dish is prepared with fresh flat green beans.

This rich and deep flavored dish is done with few ingredients. Beside the green beans the rest is considered from the essentials of the levantine and specifically lebanese cuisine. You need:

1 kg flat green beans, wash and trimmed from both ends and cut in half if they are too long.
400g peeled and diced tomato
3 medium onion diced roughly
5 garlic cloves crushed (plus one whole garlic bulb)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup water
salt to taste

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until tender and fragrant then add the diced tomatoes. If you like the deep taste of tomato you can add one tbsp of tomato paste, it will give the savory flavor.

Cook for only one minute before adding the green beans and water. Do not forget to put the garlic bulb if you are garlic lovers, the cloves will end up tasting as if caramelized. For me loubyeh bi zeit served by my mother and grandmother comes always with this beautiful bulb (sometimes more than one). Actually i don’t know if i really like it but i always eat it without thinking! It’s like a tradition. But I am sure i like how it looks in the plate 🙂

When it starts to boil bring the heat to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 mns. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to medium high. Let the liquid evaporate and then saute the vegetables until the tomatoes form a thick coating around the beans (about 10 minutes).

Serve it at room temperature or warm as you desire. Eat like a lebanese and try it with raw onion and lebanese bread!

7 Comments

Posted in appetizers & salads, main dish

Tagged blog, cooking, flat green beans, green beans, how to do, jaymmy, lebanes bread, lebanese bread, lebanese dish, lebanese food, loubieh, loubieh bi zeit, loubyeh bzeit, main dish, marmite et ponpon, mezze, recipe

Easy peasy nibble – spinach feta in puff pastry dough

Posted on November 10, 2014 | 7 comments

A tasty nibble, so easy to prepare. It’s a quick favorite that takes a lot of compliments whenever we have people over lunch or dinner.

Puff pastry dough is one of the staples kept in my freezer. Whenever i need a last minute savory snack, this ready made dough comes to rescue me. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 4 hours or so and it will be soft enough to use. This rich flaky pastry makes a simple snack into a real treat.

Spinach and feta pair successfully, to prepare this stuffing you need:

400g spinach chopped (you can use it frozen)
150g feta cheese
1 onion diced thinly
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of one lemon
salt to taste.

In a pot, cook the onion with olive oil until tender and fragrant. Add spinach and cook with the onion on a medium to low heat, usually i add 1/4 cup of water, it’s enough with the water that spinach releases.

Cook until done about 15 minutes, turn of the heat then add lemon juice and mix. Cut the feta cheese in cubes, add it to the spinach and mix them together until well incorporated. Eventually the cheese will melt. Feta is a salty cheese you might not need to add salt, it’s a matter of taste.

Bring to room temperature before stuffing the puff pastry. This quantity makes around 20 if you are using the puff pastry dough cut in 10×10 cm sheets. Here is a self explanatory step by step picture.

When you place them in the pan, brush the top with eggs before baking in the oven (180°C) for 15-20 minutes or until the dough is puffed and the top is golden.

Bon appetit!

7 Comments

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Tagged blog, dough, easy, fast, feta, how to do, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, pastry, puff pastry, recipe, spinach

Pretty and practical homemade food ideas for picnic

Posted on November 5, 2014 | 7 comments

It’s now the perfect time for outdoor activities in Doha. Everyone wants to spend as much time as possible and take advantage of the weather especially it won’t be for so long.

I heart picnics! what’s better than throwing a fun picnic with the family and friends, enjoying good homemade food while surrounded by nature. The best thing, we didn’t have to go far to enjoy our picnic, 10 minutes drive and here we are in the beautiful museum park. It was full of people picnicking, but the space was so big that everyone got his private green spot.

I know lot of you find it hard to prepare food for picnic and prefer to buy them ready packed to save the hassle. I will give you great food ideas, so easy and pretty that will make you think twice before having take away.

The aim of this post is not giving detailed recipes but ideas of practical food for picnic and how a small detail makes it look fancy and creative. Yes why not, you can have a casual picnic with beautifully presented food that looks fancy.

1- Grilled Chicken and avocado sandwiches. Very easy to prepare. You can use any type of bread, personally i like beignet bread for its soft texture. Stuff it with the grilled chicken, avocado slices, iceberg lettuce and mayonnaise. You can use any stuffing you like, wrap the sandwich with craft paper and tie it with a twine.

Eh voila the pretty and creative sandwiches yet practical. Now it’s easy to put them in a container or even a zip lock bag.

2- Spinach and Emmental quiche. Any type of flat food prepared in a baking dish and cut in geometric shapes is very easy to be stored, if you don’t like quiche you can have pizza, kibbeh bil sanyeh, tarte….

The best part of lunch is when everyone shares his food. If you are a group of people, no one has too much to prepare, distribute the tasks! This quiche was prepared by my friend Hajar. It was delicious!

3- Pasta, crab and orange salad. Salads are always a hit in picnics. Great as a side or main dish if it has substantial ingredients. Easy to pack in a container and stays fresh up to 4 hours without a fridge.

Salads are colorful and cheerful. Long tubular pasta (casarecce), matching the shape of the crab sticks, orange wedges and corn. Yellow, orange and red go really well with the green backdrop. Serve it with lemon mayo dressing to go with the tangy flavor. There are open ended choices of salads. I am sure everyone has his favorite.

4- Hotdog puff pastry and cheese straws. Very easy and quick especially the puff pastry is ready made. It only takes the time of baking (15 mns almost). You can replace the hotdog with cheese or spinach.

Cutting boards are very practical and beautiful to serve the food. Jamie oliver was a big inspiration in this matter. In previous posts i showed you how to decorate your cutting boards for such presentations.

5- Marbled cake. There should always be at least one dessert to please your sweet tooth especially if you have kids with you. A basic but delicious cake is one option.

It’s so clever to bake them in individual molds for picnic. No need for plates and forks, each can have his part with no mess! One day I will share the detailed recipe (it is Cyril Lignac’s recipe) for this cake because it’s so yummy. Again thank you Hajar for introducing this cake to us.

6- Custard and jello in a jar. This was a fab idea for this type of dessert. You can use any mason jar you have at home, close the lid and here is the most practical dessert ever. It can be any pudding you like.

It was a fun day, we really enjoyed the weather and the green space. It was a great opportunity to play with the kids and unwind after a long busy week.