Its Ramadan time!

[doodlebug 3]

Well, this is the first Ramadan I have experienced, so I didn't have anything to look forward to, really. But, I am enjoying the way the streets in Cairo seem to have calmed down. We sat out on the balcony and watched the evening prayers yesterday, and I enjoyed it. The people were overflowing from the masjid onto the sidewalk. Also, the traffic is non-existent in the evenings, and there are different foods available during this time (especially sweets).

So far, we have tried several new sweets this month; we made ataif, konaafa, and om 3aly - all of them we made here at home. They were delicious. I guess moody was right about desserts and sweets being eaten more during Ramadan.

how do you make that middle one? I"m about to plunge into the monitor to get it!! lol

[deemabrouk 0]

Well, this is the first Ramadan I have experienced, so I didn't have anything to look forward to, really. But, I am enjoying the way the streets in Cairo seem to have calmed down. We sat out on the balcony and watched the evening prayers yesterday, and I enjoyed it. The people were overflowing from the masjid onto the sidewalk. Also, the traffic is non-existent in the evenings, and there are different foods available during this time (especially sweets).

So far, we have tried several new sweets this month; we made ataif, konaafa, and om 3aly - all of them we made here at home. They were delicious. I guess moody was right about desserts and sweets being eaten more during Ramadan.

how do you make that middle one? I"m about to plunge into the monitor to get it!! lol

yeah.. Ditto on that one...

Is it Lebanese style Kanifeh??? with the cheese in the Middle???

[m&n 0]

Those look yummy!!!

Yeah, looks like kunafa with cheese...............mmmmmm...

Well, this is the first Ramadan I have experienced, so I didn't have anything to look forward to, really. But, I am enjoying the way the streets in Cairo seem to have calmed down. We sat out on the balcony and watched the evening prayers yesterday, and I enjoyed it. The people were overflowing from the masjid onto the sidewalk. Also, the traffic is non-existent in the evenings, and there are different foods available during this time (especially sweets).

So far, we have tried several new sweets this month; we made ataif, konaafa, and om 3aly - all of them we made here at home. They were delicious. I guess moody was right about desserts and sweets being eaten more during Ramadan.

how do you make that middle one? I"m about to plunge into the monitor to get it!! lol

yeah.. Ditto on that one...

Is it Lebanese style Kanifeh??? with the cheese in the Middle???

[monnik 0]

Those pictures I downloaded from the net, but the konaafa that we made was with cream, not cheese. You could use either.

Here is one recipe that is similar to what we made:

Konafa is made of a very thin half cooked pastry. The closest in North America would be vermicelli or Angel hair. Konafa can be found in some Middle Eastern groceries.

In Turkey and Greece, the name Kataifi is used for what Egyptian call Konafa, while Katayef is another different Egyptian desert.

Servings 7

Preparation Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1/2 kg konafa.

3 tablespoons cream.

1 cup butter or ghee.

4 tablespoons corn flour.

4 tablespoons sugar.

2 cups milk.

1 1/2 cups sugar syrup.

Vegetable oil.

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Cooking Instructions

In a saucepan mix milk, sugar, vanilla and corn flour.

Heat over medium heat while whisking constantly.

Take off heat and stir in double cream and mix well then set aside.

Cut konfa into short strips. ***I don't like the konafa to be cut into strips, I like it to be long and winding together in the dish - your preference here*****

Put in a bowl and mix very well with melted butter or ghee using your hands.

Brush a baking dish with oil.

Put half quantity of konafa in the bottom and press well to make a firm layer.

Spread cream mix over konafa layer then add the other half of konafa and press on it.

Heat oven and place baking dish until surface becomes golden brown.

Pour cool sugar syrup over konafa right after it comes out of the oven. ***TIP: the syrup must be cooled down and the konafa very hot****

Here are some links to other variations of the Konafa with (1st link) or without cream and with cheese (2nd link):

http://www.zawaj.com/recipes/desserts/konafa.html

http://www.geocities.com/rabiyah_hamnach/info/konafah.html

We also made konaafa and cream in little swirls, and the preparation is the same but the shape is different. The best way for me to describe it is that you wind the konafa around your finger until it makes a whirly-looking shape. Then you line them all up side by side in a baking dish. When you take them out, you spoon the syrup over them and put a dollop of the cream inside each little whirl while they are still hot. It's the same thing as above (with the butter, etc.), only bite-sized. yummmmmmmmmmm

[doodlebug 3]

baklava from Trader Joes is AWESOME!!!!!!