Tag Archives: recipe

Makhlouta (mix grains soup)

Posted on February 11, 2016 | 3 comments

Mixed is the literal translation for the word “makhlouta”. This traditional Lebanese soup consists of a medley of chickpeas, pinto beans (or any bean of your choice), lentils and bulgur. A great source of proteins and iron to serve well for people abstaining from eating meat during the lent period.

If you are vegetarian and this is your first introduction to makhlouta, trust me it will be on your to do list from now on. The ingredients look simple but the outcome is deep in flavor.

You will need:

1 cup chickpeas
1 cup beans (of your choice but usually it’s pinto beans)
1 cup lentils
1/2 cup bulgur
2 big onions finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
cumin powder for seasoning (optional)

Soak chickpeas and beans for overnight or at least 12 hours to double in size.

In a deep pot fry the onions in olive oil until tender and fragrant. When they start turning into golden brown color, drain out chickpeas and beans from water and add them to the onion then the lentils and bulgur. Pour 2 liters of water and cook on medium heat. When it starts boiling, reduce to low heat, cover the pot and let it simmer for an hour. If the water reduces feel free to add some more. The level of water should be always 2-3cm above the grains.

Serve hot with a sprinkle of cumin, it gives a nice deep flavor and helps with the digestion of the grains later. Some people like to add lemon juice for this purpose.

This delicious soup serves 4-6 plates. It’s not an entree like other soups, lebanese people serve it as a main dish as it is so filling! It’s a hearty soup served in old days during winter to supply with the energy needed.

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.

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Posted in main dish

Tagged bulgur, chickpeas, cumin, hearty soup, jaymmy, lebanese traditional food, lentils, makhlouta, marmite et ponpon, mix grains, pinto beans, recipe, soup, vegetarian

Moghrabyeh (semolina dough grains)

Posted on January 19, 2016 | Leave a comment

Lebanese cuisine gained its reputation for the mezzeh, tabbouleh and raw meat…. But if you are fan of hard core Lebanese food, Moghrabyeh should be one of your favorites.

Moghrabyeh, are grains (shaped like small balls) made of semolina, available as dry or frozen. This dish is deep in flavor due to caraway and cumin seasoning. You can prepare it with chicken (thighs or breast) or beef shank (aka mawzet) or even both. My recipe calls for chicken, the most common one.

For those who thinks it’s hard to prepare this dish, follow me step by step you will change your mind.

Step1: cooking the chicken

Ingredients:

1 1/2 kg chicken (10 pieces approximately), thighs or breast
1tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground caraway
1 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Season the chicken pieces with salt, caraway and cumin. Fry in butter and oil until golden brown (about 5 minutes each side). The reason to mix butter with oil beside the lovely taste, the oil helps the butter not to get burnt quickly.

Step2: cooking chick peas and onions

Ingredients:

10 small onions
2 cups chick peas canned
1 tbsp butter

Fry onions with butter until tender and fragrant, then add the chick peas and fold together for about 2 minutes.

Step 3: making the broth

Add the onions and chick peas to the chicken. Pour 6 cups of water. Put a small cinnamon stick and simmer for 30 minutes to get a chicken broth.

Step4: Preparing the moghrabyeh grain and the sauce

Ingredients:

1kg of dry moghrabyeh
1 tbsp butter
3 cups of the chicken broth
5 cups of hot water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground caraway
1/2 tsp cumin powder

Remove the chicken from the broth. In a deep pot put the moghrabyeh grains and cover with 3 cups of the chicken broth already prepared and 5 cups of hot water. Put the butter, salt, caraway and cumin. Cover the pot and put it aside until the moghrabyeh gets tender in texture like pasta.

With the remaining broth, add one tbsp flour and 1/2 tsp of cumin powder, cook on medium low heat to thicken. Keep in it the chick peas and onions.

Serve the moghrabyeh grains with the chicken and sauce.

Astuces:

Put the sauce on individual portions as the moghrabyeh absorb the sauce if it stays long time in it.
If you are cooking frozen moghrabyeh, it’s the same method but requires half of the quantity of broth/water
If you are not willing to use canned chick peas, soak the dry chick peas in water a day before until it doubles in size.

Enjoy this full flavor dish, it’s one of the dishes you can’t enjoy cooked light, make it as it should be done without counting calories. Anyways it’s not an everyday dish.

Recipe courtesy of my mum.

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.

Crème caramel

Posted on January 18, 2016 | 1 comment

creme caramel

Crème caramel or Crème renversée or even flan custard, they are different names for this succulent dessert. I always thought it’s very difficult and tricky to make it until today, i promise you it’s so easy and prepared in less than 20 minutes.

The secret of success of this caramel dessert is in using bio eggs and both milk and cream to get this very smooth and silky texture.

creme caramel

It consists of two parts of preparation. First the caramel and then the creme.

Heat 1 1/2 cup of sugar on a medium heat and in a non stick pan until the sugar gets brown and gradually melt to turn into golden caramel. it will take about 5-7 minutes.

creme caramel

Pour the caramel into a baking dish and distribute it evenly in the dish until it covers all the parts by tilting it in circular moves. Put aside to prepare the creme.

4 tbsp sugar
6 large eggs bio
dash of salt
zest of half lemon (3/4 tsp almost)
1 1/2 tbsp cognac or whiskey of a good quality
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream

Whisk sugar and eggs, gently so you don’t get bubbles, then add salt, zest and cognac (or whiskey) and mix them until combined. Finally add milk and cream and mix well again gently to avoid bubbles which won’t give the smooth texture later when baking.

If you get bubbles you can get rid of them by sieving the mixture before pouring it in the prepared baking dish. Cover it with aluminum foil and make small holes in it. Bake it bain marie style on 200°C for almost an hour or 70 minutes. Start checking on it after 50 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer, it should comes out clean.

creme caramel

For those who doesn’t know bain marie technique (water bath or double boiler), it consists of bathing your baking dish in another wider dish containing boiling water. The water covers the outside of your baking dish to half. This technique is meant to evenly cook something, gently and gradually.

Let the crème caramel cool down, then turn it upside down on a plate, not too shallow because you will have caramel liquid coming out.

creme caramel

Better served after chilled in the fridge for at least 5 hours!

If you wish to serve it as individual portions you can pour the creme evenly in small ramekins.

Recipe courtesy of my mum, i am so lucky she is still here!

creme caramel

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Posted in dessert

Tagged caramel, cream, creme caramel, creme renversee, eggs bio, flan custard, golden, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, milk, recipe, sugar

Apple carrot cake

Posted on January 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

Sometimes all you need is a simple and easy cake recipe for everyday. Breakfast or dessert, this is the wholesome cake to adapt. It has fruits (apple and carrots), nuts (walnut), eggs and milk.

It’s a complete meal or snack, made it healthier by replacing the butter with vegetable oil and using low fat milk.

So much flavors in a simple cake to enjoy and indulge.

You will need: (9″ baking dish)

5 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of one lemon (approx 1 tbsp)
zest of one orange (approx 1 1/2 tbsp)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 large carrot grated
1 medium apple grated
1/2 cup milk (low fat)
1 cup dark chocolate chip
a handful walnut

Preheat oven on 180°C. Butter a 9″ dish and dust with flour then put it aside.

Start by mixing eggs, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until light in color and fluffy. Mix in the lemon and orange zest and the oil and keep mixing for another 5 minutes on low speed.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, grated carrot, grated apple and milk. Mix gently until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Pour in the baking dish and bake for an hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

If you wish to wrap the cake with chocolate, sprinkle 1 cup dark chocolate chip on top when the cake is done and still hot then garnish with a handful walnut. If you don’t want to add chocolate, chop the walnuts and add them to the batter before baking.

It’s so fluffy and rich, beware that one piece could drag another. In other words it’s addictive.

This cake is so versatile, you can add cinnamon if you’re fond of, and if you wish to enjoy a deep flavor, you can add a pinch of nutmeg and clove.

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.

Epiphany traditional sweets – Zlebyeh

Posted on January 5, 2016 | 1 comment

Epiphany (غطاس) is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of Jesus, the son of God: In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates the visit of the Magi, the three kings Gaspard, Balthazar and Melchior who came to pay their tribute to the world famous baby born Jesus. La galette des rois , is a typical french tradition celebrated on this day.

Moreover, the feast in Eastern Christianity commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river. Zlebyeh(زلابية) or fried dough is one of the Lebanese traditional sweets prepared that day.

The story says; on the epiphany day, Jesus met a poor woman, she was frying a dough to feed her children, so he multiplied and increased her dough. We fry zlebyeh to remember this act of kindness, asking God to increase our blessings.

Another tradition for that night, requires to prepare a small dough with coins inside and we hang it on the tree waiting for Jesus دايم دايم to pass by midnight and bless it. This way our food and money are blessed for the whole year. I love these traditions, they are so beautiful and it’s nice to practice them and pass them on to our children.

You need:

1 cup flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast to be dissolved in 1/4 cup of warm water and a dash of sugar
1/2 cup of water

Mix flour, oil and sugar. Give the yeast 10 minutes to dissolve in the warm water with a dash of sugar, after that add it to the flour mix with another 1/2 cup of water. Knead well and let it rest (covered at room temperature) for at least 2-3 hours to double in size.

Divide into 10 strips (10-12 cm each). You can keep them as is like fingers or twist each two together like i did. Fry them until golden brown. Usually they are served with sugar, but some people like them with honey too.

This is my first post to this year, happy reading and happy Epiphany.

دايم دايم بالخير

دايم دايم بالصحة

دايم دايم بالمحبة

دايم دايم بالفرح

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.