Tag Archives: how to do

batata soufflé

Posted on September 9, 2014 | 4 comments

Batata soufflé is the lebanese variation of the french dish “hachis parmentier” and the british dish “shepherd pie”.

Batata soufflé is a meat pie with mashed potato crust. It’s done like a sandwich; the ground beef and pine nuts are pressed between two layers of mashed potatoes.

For 10×10″ baking dish you will need: (yields 4-6 portions)

Mashed potatoes:

1kg potato
1 cup milk
1 tbsp butter
salt to taste
bread crumbs

Meat stuffing:

400g ground beef
2 medium onions diced finely
80g pine seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil, add the onion and fry until tender and fragrant.

Add the ground beef and cook until brown then toss in the pine seeds, salt and pepper and keep cooking until well done. Turn off the heat and keep it aside to prepare the mashed potatoes.

Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of salted boiling water until tender. Drain well. Return to the pan with the butter. Use a potato masher or fork to mash until smooth. Add milk and stir until combined. Taste and season with salt.

Divide the mashed potatoes in half. In the baking dish, make the first layer of potato with one part. Spread evenly the ground beef over it and top it with another layer of the remaining mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle bread crumbs, enough to cover it with a thin layer, and bake it until top is golden brown (180°C) about 15 minutes.

Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving, the cutting will be easier. It’s one of the classic lebanese dishes and one of my favorite. I like to eat it with a side salad of lettuce and moutarde a l’ancienne. This how mum used to serve it when we were kids.

4 Comments

Posted in main dish

Tagged batata, batata bil sanyeh, batata souffle, blog, cooking, ground beef, hachis parmentier, how to do, jaymmy, kibbet batata, marmite et ponpon, pine nuts, potato, recipe, shepherd pie

ginger scented rice pilaf with whole roast fish

Posted on September 5, 2014 | 5 comments

A small introduction for wonderers…

Pilaf is the way of cooking the rice. Also known as pilav or palaw in which rice is cooked in seasoned broth. The yellow to brown color is attained by stirring in onion or spices. Depending on the cuisine it might have also meat, chicken, fish, vegetables or dried fruits.

Initially i was making a whole roast fish but didn’t want to present it solo. I thought of roast potatoes and vegetables then i said why not rice?!

To not go classic, i thought of rice pilaf with a twist! Ginger and cilantro, two of my favorite deep flavors that blends together perfectly. The outcome was heavenly tasty.

Ginger scented rice pilaf:

1 1/4 cup rice
1/2 cup carrots diced finely
1/2 cup onion diced finely
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cube vegetable bouillon (almost 5g)/ broth
2 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp fresh cilantro (coriander) chopped

Heat olive oil in sauce pan. Add ginger, onion, carrots and stir until fragrant for 3-4 minutes.

Add rice, bouillon and water and bring to boil. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, cover the pan with a towel and let it sit for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Toss in the cilantro and taste to check if you need to add salt (optional) and serve immediately.

The house was full of aroma! Couldn’t wait until the fish was completely roast to start eating. If you are not fan of fish i am sure this rice will pair nicely with chicken, beef or prawns. I can even eat it alone!

To roast the fish there are many ways. My favorite is “en papillote”, the same principle as wrapping in foil with enough liquid to create steam, but using greaseproof paper to create individual portions when you are baking medium or small size fish.

I put chopped cilantro, lemon slices, lemon juice, salt, pepper (quantity as per your taste) and drizzled some garlic olive oil before wrapping the fish. Baked in the oven (for 240°C) for 20 minutes.

Fish is easily overcooked therefore care must be taken when using the oven. When roasting a whole fish always ensure the skin is on.

Enjoy!

5 Comments

Posted in main dish

Tagged baked fish, blog, carrots, coriander, ginger, ginger rice, how to do, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, recipe, rice pilaf, roast fish

Customize your plates with baked sharpie – DIY

Posted on September 4, 2014 | 7 comments

Baked sharpie are permanent! yes they are. I couldn’t believe it until i tried myself.

Write with a sharpie (permanent marker) on a plate that’s oven safe, bake for 30 mns (180°C) and that’s it! Your design is permanent and safe!

This is how my plates looked before going in the oven.

In the design stage and before baking, if you made a mistake while writing or you wish to clean off sharpie, just use rubbing alcohol and it’s gone!

After 30 mns baking, I turned off the oven and kept them to cool. Then I washed them to use. The writing didn’t go off and this is how it looked! Beautiful result.

Being crazy about personalized items, now i found the way to do it, expect me writing and drawing on all my dinner ware and creating gifts for family and friends with this fun new technique.

So simple and affordable. Design a unique mug for your husband, or plates for your children… Let this DIY be a token of affection to your loved ones.

Love my plates! expect to see them more often in the pictures!

7 Comments

Posted in DIY

Tagged baked, blog, customized, dinner ware, DIY, how to do, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, personalized, sharpie

chocolate whiskey cake with caramel whiskey sauce

Posted on August 28, 2014 | 2 comments

Today it’s our 3rd wedding anniversary and it coincides with the post number 100 for marmite et ponpon.

Booze cake sounds a brilliant idea! Of course not any booze but Antoun’s favorite: Whiskey! And to jazz it up i decided to coat it with caramel whiskey sauce! A real pleasure to the palate!

You might be wondering what’s this drawing underneath! Well Nady must add his touch as well. I used one of his big drawing as a runner on the table. I found it a bright idea to let him participate in our surprise to papa.

To do this irresistible cake you will need:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup whiskey of good quality

Preheat oven to 180°C. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Whisk on medium speed until the ingredients are well incorporated then add the water and booze.

Pour in greased and floured pan (12 cups) and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a wood pick comes out clean.

Let it rest before removing from pan. Meantine you can prepare the caramel sauce.

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp whiskey

Place sugar on medium heat. Pour water and bring to boil. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes until all sugar crystals are dissolved. Remove cover and continue to boil until sugar becomes golden brown.

remove from heat and stir in the butter and cream and return to low heat, whisking until all smooth. Remove from heat and let it cool for couple of minutes before adding the whiskey. bring it to room temperature and allow it to thicken a bit yet still pourable.

Now it’s ready to pour over the cake!

The smell of chocolate, caramel and whiskey tickles your senses. Three magical constituents, make you feel love from the first sight! A perfect cake to celebrate 3 years of love. Not just only love or we will be too perfect to believe!

My lovely antoun, you were more than a husband; you were a friend, colleague, father and most of all a great support in all ups and downs of the life. May our marriage last long and our love flourishes to be a good example to our Nady. Happy 3rd anniversary!

2 Comments

Posted in dessert, special occasions

Tagged blog, cake, caramel, chocolate, delicious, how to do, irresistible, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, recipe, succulent, whsikey

Banana loaf or love?

Posted on August 26, 2014 | Leave a comment

Bananas get over ripe so quickly in hot weather. Every now and then a bunch of bananas leaning toward a shade of black, I know it’s time for a banana bread.

After trying so many recipes, adding nuts, spices, chocolate chips or even cream cheese frosting, still this simple classic recipe is my favorite one, making me wish my bananas get over ripe with no regrets.

The more ripe the bananas are, the more precious. Dark bananas are black gold! They give you this deep intense caramel flavor especially with the brown sugar. So to do this we need:

4 slightly over ripe bananas
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven (180°C). In a mixing bowl combine mashed bananas ( simply with a fork when really ripe), oil, egg, vanilla and mix.

Then add sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix all to finally toss in the flour and combine.

Pour the batter in a greased and floured baking pan (10″) and bake for 45- 50 minutes. Start checking from minute 40 until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Allow to cool before removing from pan!