Sultan's Kitchen

[MrsAmera 41]

Moroccan Cookies - I really really want to learn how to make Moroccan cookies, not just the gazelle horns and feqqas but ALL the kinds of little cookies. Does anyone have any resources online where I can find how to make these??

[RAKASA 0]

Moroccan Cookies - I really really want to learn how to make Moroccan cookies, not just the gazelle horns and feqqas but ALL the kinds of little cookies. Does anyone have any resources online where I can find how to make these??

try here:

http://moroccanfood.about.com/

[MrsAmera 41]

Tried that site Noura and those were all the ones that I already have . I really want to know how to make the different kinds you find in a patisserie or market stall. We usually bring back kilos of cookies from Morocco to freeze for the year but I'm fairly certain I can make some of them at least!! If I could just figure out the name of each cookie!

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Not moroccan, but tasty things I made this weekend (pictures from the websites, not mine. Mine didn't turn out so pretty, but was very very tasty:

Lively up Yourself Lentil Soup - I didn't have saffron, so I used curry powder both in the soup and in the yogurt. I used red swiss chard and spinach. Very very tasty. From now on, I'm going to try to do better about making a giant vegetarian dish each weekend, and serve that as the first course for dinner each night. We've been doing good about reducing our meat consumption, and I'd like to take it down a bit more. We used to eat 1.5 lbs of ground beef, 1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, .75 lb of liver (ok, that's the husband, not me, bleck) and 1lb of another kind of meat (chicken, fish or lamb) per week. I'd like to cut that in half at least.

With a bowl of this, I didn't feel like eating anything else last night, alhamdulilah.

Lemon Cornmeal cake with crushed blueberry sauce - I don't like blueberries, so I made a simple sauce out of strawberries and sugar for the top. It ended up tasting like an interesting varation on strawberry shortcake, if you made shortcake with cornflour and lemon. Very very tasty

[MrsAmera 41]

These are the little cookes, but do each of them have their own name? I must know how to make them!

[Meriem_DZ 37]

Moroccan Cookies - I really really want to learn how to make Moroccan cookies, not just the gazelle horns and feqqas but ALL the kinds of little cookies. Does anyone have any resources online where I can find how to make these??

I made these Moroccan Snowball cookies the other day, and they were really good. Here is a youtube video on how to make them.

Here are some more recipe videos, but I have not tried these.

Moroccan Chocolate Cookies

Moroccan vanilla cookies

Cookies with Cherries

Meriem

[Meriem_DZ 37]

I tried a new recipe tonight and Hachemi and I really liked it.

Bon Appetit!

GREEK GYRO MEAT

1 lb. ground lamb (or use 1/2 ground lamb and 1/2 ground beef)

1/2 c. very finely chopped (or shredded) onion

2 tsp. fresh minced garlic

3/4 tsp. salt (preferably sea salt)

1/2 tsp. dried ground marjoram

1/2 tsp. dried ground rosemary

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Pita bread

Mix everything together and let sit in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. (Go ahead and make the Gyro cucumber sauce recipe below). After 1-2 hours take the meat out and blend it in a food processor for 1-2 minutes. (When cooked, this will help give it a more traditional gyro feel on your palate. Otherwise, it just takes like cooked minced meat.)

Form into a meatloaf shape and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, at 325ºF. It should be a bit dry.

Slice gyro meat thinly and place on (or in) pita bread, Garnish with the cucumber sauce. I also put some chopped tomatoes and a little lettuce and folded the ends of the pita over the top of the meat.

While meat is in the refrigerator make Gyro cucumber sauce.

GYRO CUCUMBER SAUCE

The secret to make thick gyro sauce.

When it comes to making thicker cucumber

sauce... moisture (water) will make the sauce

run thin.

Ingredients

8 oz. plain yogurt (not low-fat) water drained off

1 medium cucumber (with skin, pulp and seeds removed)

1/8 teaspoon white pepper or 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white sugar

2 tablespoon dill

2 peeled garlic cloves, finely minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Method

Place 1 medium cut up cucumber in a chopper (peel skin, remove pulp and seeds as they are very bitter,) chop until finely chopped or (can be grated) Spoon out on paper towels to soak up as much moisture as possible, place the chopped cucumber in a small bowl then stir in 2 finely minced garlic cloves, juice of ½ lemon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 2 tablespoon dill. Pour off any water from the yogurt and blend in 8 oz, regular yogurt (not low fat) do not over-mix. Cover bowl and immediately place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Meriem_setif

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the website 101cookbooks.com? I made adzuki butternut squash soup this weekend and it is delicioussss. I used the rapunzel saltless boullion cubes, which are a new kitchen essential in my house. I usually cook with halal magi chicken cubes, but I'm trying to cut down on salt, and if we eat soup every day, magi cubes are not the way to go. I made lively up yourself lentil soup a few weeks go and that was a big hit too.

I can't decide which soup to make next from their site:

Miso Soup

Baby Lima Bean with Chipotle broth

vegetarian tortilla soup

thai spiced pumpkin soup

[Leyla 0]

I'm having trouble cooking with variety in my house. I want a pleasant mix of American/Moroccan food but I don't have the money to buy the variety of ingredients I need!

Any suggestions or sample grocery lists? lol

[UmmSqueakster 54]

You can't miss with dried beans and lentils. They're generally cheap and when cooked make a ton of food. I bought about a pound of azuki beans a few weekends ago, cooked half of them and ended up with like 6 cups worth of cooked beans Dried split peas and most beans are about a $1.50 a pound at my local grocery store and that gives you a lot of food. Ditto dried chickpeas. Cooked and canned chickpeas can get expensive, but if you cook them yourself, you get 4 or 5 times the amount for the same price.

Now, cooking dried beans can be time consuming - for many you have to soak them overnight, and then spend an hour or 2 cooking them. I've found that you can do this easily on the weekend and prepare ahead - saturday I'll soak, sunday I'll cook, then I fill freezer bags and freeze the beans flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Then they stack easily, and I can pull them out whenever I need them for a recipe.

I also stalk the weekly specials, plan my meals around them and stock up when there are good deals. When frozen veggies are on sale, I buy a ton of those and fill my freezer. Things like frozen brocoli and cauliflower are often a lot cheaper than the stuff in the produce section. Ditto for okra (of which AbuSqueakster is a huge fan). I'm always looking for canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste to be on sale, and when it is I fill my cupboards. Same for onions. I have large amounts of basic spices (cumin, tumeric, coriander, chili powder can all be purchased in bulk for cheaper at MENA grocery stores), and with onions and tomatos I can make a variety of indian dishes.

I just wish I could stock up on potatoes, but alas, they always seem to sprout before I use a whole 10lb bag

I've found that by treating meat as a side dish rather than the main event, we've greatly cut down on our meat consumption and saved a ton of money. By cooking big pots of soup and large veggie based dishes, we fill up on the cheaper (and healthier) vegetarian dishes and eat a little meat.

For more variety, I love Everyday Food on PBS, and the Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine. You can usually find recipes there that don't require a lot of fancy ingredients. I've also recently started using epicurious. You can input an ingredient you have on hand, and from there, select if you want a beginners recipe, what type of cuisine, what type of meal, the main ingredient, etc etc etc.

[chili74 0]

Meriem Setif-

Thanks for the recipe for the gyro-like sandwich! I am going to try it. Looks beautiful, we also love yogurt/cucumber etc., and all those flavors.

I also love the website 101cookbooks, UmmSqueakster!

[Meriem_DZ 37]

Meriem Setif-

Thanks for the recipe for the gyro-like sandwich! I am going to try it. Looks beautiful, we also love yogurt/cucumber etc., and all those flavors.

I also love the website 101cookbooks, UmmSqueakster!

Your welcome. We really enjoyed the gyro sandwich. I even made the pita bread and it turned out great!

Meriem

[chili74 0]

Made the gyro sandwich last night (not the pita though! Good for you!)

It was very good! I remembered one thing that I might do next time- strain the yogurt through cheesecloth to remove some of the water. And maybe add mint.

We have marjoram growing in the backyard, I wasn't sure where to use it, and when I saw your recipe, I put it in the meat. It brought a very unexpected, exotic flovor.

Happy cooking, everyone!

[chili74 0]

I am also a HUGE fan of lentils. I made a very simple soup for years to take w/me to my office (red lentils cook really quick, need no soaking, just add them and broth after you saute onion, celery etc and some cumin/cinnamon/cayenne or whatever you like. You can add canned or fresh tomatoes/lemon/spinach/herbs. There are no mistakes with this recipe, it is just good. The Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup from 101cookbooks dot com is also very good.)

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I have a new Om Ali recipe that uses refrigerator rolls instead of puff pastries. Puff pastries can get expensive ($4.50 vs. $1.50 for the rolls). This comes with an Abu Squeakster seal of approval, 2

1 can of refrigerator crescent rolls (Pillsbury actually makes a general cooking pastry in the rolls section as well that works)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup raisins - I usually soak these in hot water for a few minutes to plump them up

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup sugar

4 (or 6) cups 2% milk

1. Roll the crescent roll sheet out onto a pan, and cut into a bunch of little squares. You don't need to actually seperate the squares. Bake for ~12 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Varies depending on the roll brand you use.

2. While the rolls are baking, put the milk over a medium-low heat and stir occasionally. When milk gets warm, add sugar and continue to stir

3. When the rolls are done, get 9x13 greased pan, and break the sheet into little pieces across the pan. Add nuts, raisins and coconut. Mix.

4. When milk starts to simmer, remove from heat and pour int 9x13 pan. Mix a bit

5. Bake in 375 degree oven 20-30 minutes.

Now, in egypt om ali tends to have a little soupy sauce. To get this, use the 6 cups of milk. Abu Squeakster likes it at a more bread pudding like consistancy. To get this, use 4 cups of milk.

This is a (relatively) healthier version of what is made in egypt. There, they tend to use heavy cream. Tasty, but this goes quickly, so you don't want to get a whole week's worth of fat in one sitting.