Shrimp Or Clam Salad
This is a great salad to take to a potluck / covered dish lunch. It can be made with either clams of shrimp, and can be made more or less spicy by the addition of Tabasco sauce.
Shrimp / Clam Salad
3 cups freshly cooked hot rice
3 -4 Tablespoons Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise
2 Tbls cocktail sauce (or ketchup + horseradish)
2 -3 chopped green onions
i stalk chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped sweet pickle
12 – 16 oz cooked frozen shrimp
or
2 cans whole clams, drained (use the clam liquid as part of the water for cooking the rice)
Cook rice, add solid ingredients (no need to thaw shrimp if rice is hot). Add sauces and very little pepper to the rice. Stir, cover and refirgerate until cold. Serve on lettuce leaves, if serving individually.
Hummos Wa Burghul
Do you see that black stone dish on the table, the one that has a dish in it called Hummos wa Burghul (Chickpeas and Cracked Wheat?)
I am trying to find a recipe to make it. Please, if you are Syrian or Jordanian, and you know how to make this, or maybe you have a mom or an aunt who knows how to make this, would you please share your recipe with me?
I found one recipe, for a Burghul Pilaf, from a 1959 Lebanese cookbook. It calls for 1 1/4 lbs of butter. (!!! AACK !!!) I remember it really did taste buttery, it was really yummy, but that sure seems like a lot of butter!
It was delicious. I’d really like to try to make it, if someone out there can help me out.
Baked Apples – So Simple, So Good!
Cold weather is the perfect time for baked apples. Apples are good for you, cinnamon is good for you, the smell as they are cooking is divine, and the heat from the oven is welcome in these cold winter evenings. 🙂
I slice a little bit off the bottom for the apples, so they will sit flat in the dish – not too much, just a little:
Use a knife to take out a cone from the core, then use a melon-ball maker to scoop the seeds out of the center of the apple. Don’t go through the bottom if you can help it. If you do, it’s not a big deal, but try not to.
Mix up about a cup of brown sugar with about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and some small pieces of real butter – you can use a fork to break the butter up and mix it into the sugar. It doesn’t have to be well mixed, some lumps are OK, you just want small pieces of butter.
Stuff apples with cinnamon butter, pack firmly into each apple cavity, and top with a small pat of butter:
Bake at 180 degrees C. or 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes.
This is how they look coming out of the oven:
Put each apple into a bowl, spoon sauce over apple, then top with a big dab of whipped cream:
This whipped cream is whipped with confectioner’s (powdered) sugar and a drop of vanilla flavoring. YummmmmY!
Jambalaya
We had friends in for dinner last night, and it was perfect Jambalaya weather. Nights are cold, and you want something that will warm you up and “stick to your ribs.”
“What is this?” my Kuwaiti friend asked, and I told him it was machboos if it were made in New Orleans, which made him laugh.
Like machboos, the recipe is infinitely variable. A lot of times, you put in what you have. Here is what I used, and it was delicious!
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green (or red) sweet pepper
Sautee together in olive oil and a little butter for richness.
Sautee 2.5 cups of rice in more olive oil and butter with 1 Tablespoon Tony Cochere’s Cajun Seasoning (available at the Sultan Center)
Add five cups liquid, made up of 3 packets of tomato paste (like the small cans we use in the US) plus chicken broth plus any liquid from the shrimp), bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer for 40 minutes or until rice has absorbed most of the liquid)
Add:
1 or 2 chopped tomatoes, for texture and color
1 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1 cup chopped chicken
1 smoked beef sausage (in the US this might be pork) chopped into pieces, or you could use a packet of the “Little Smokies” you can find at Sultan Center), pre-cooked
1 lb (500 grams) great big Kuwaiti shrimp
Stir in and let sit five minutes to heat all ingredients and so flavors blend.
Serve! This feeds six people generously, and up to twelve if other dishes are also served – salads, vegetables, etc.
Swedish Pot Roast
You don’t think of fine cooking when you think of Sweden, and yet this pot roast is one of my family’s all time favorites. It has a unique flavor, sweet and rich, and you need a pressure cooker to fix this. It is old fashioned, but the taste is amazing. It’s a great January kind of meal, served with potatoes and maybe some Rot Kohl / Red Cabbage.
3 lb. beef pot roast (7 bone preferred) or chuck or brisket
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
2 T. cooking oil
1 cup water
2 onions, sliced
4 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine or vinegar
Combine nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, pepper; rub into meat.
In pressure cooker, brown meat on both sides.
Add onion, garlic, brown sugar and water, wine and bay leaves. Close cover of pressure cooker, place regulator on vent pipe and cook 35 minutes with regulator rocking slowly. Let pressure drop.
4 – 6 servings over egg noodles, or cooked potatoes.
Christmas Punch Update
AdventureMan awoke this morning with a cough and some sniffles. We are both awake early these days, which I love because I get to step out on my balcony while it is still dark and no one can see me, and watch the shoowi (old fashioned Gulf fishing boats) lights bobbing a couple hundred yards off the coast, sip my coffee, and shiver a little for a change, and then we get to watch the sun rise.
While I was on the balcony, the microwave was warming up a cup of Christmas Punch for AdventureMan. When he gets a tickle in his throat, there is nothing that makes him feel healthier than a cup of this punch to start the day.
The Christmas / Eid season is upon us! Make it for your friends, serve it hot – and then save the leftovers to be warmed up later. With the cranberry juice and the pineapple juice – it’s even good for you. 🙂
Christmas Rum Punch – and Rumless
2 32 oz. jars Cranberry Juice
1 32 oz. can Pineapple Juice (or 2 (1) litre containers of Fresh Pineapple juice from the Co-op or Sultan Center)
1 cup brown sugar (I often use a half cup)
12 inches cinnamon stick
3 Tablespoons whole cloves
1 orange peel
Original recipe: In 30 cup coffeemaker, put cranberry and pineapple juice in bottom, and place coffee basket with brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel in top. Perk juices through basket. When ready light comes on, add 1 quart Meyer’s Dark Rum.
In Kuwait – don’t add the rum!
When you don’t have a 30 cup coffee pot – Put juices into large kettle, add cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peel, sugar and bring to simmer. When hot, use strainer to fish out cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange peel – Do this sooner, rather than later, or the juice will get too spicy.
Add 1 quart of rum – or not! This is perfect for these chilly winter days, it’s good for you, and it gives your house a wonderful smell.
This is what it looks like if you use a pot, before you scoop out the spices and orange peel:
After scooping, you can transfer punch to a beautiful pitcher for pouring, or to a hot-drink container, or you can serve it using a ladle, straight out of the pot. To your good health and happy holidays! *raises a glass*
Christmas Party Cheese Crisps
Cheese Crisps are SO easy, and so good.
Beat together until mixture just holds together:
3/4 cup butter
1 1/ 4 cups flour
Add and mix in with spoon:
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Stir into above:
1 1/4 cups oven toasted rice krispies cereal
Shape into 3/4 inch balls, place on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 400 degrees, about 12 minutes.
Store airtight, in single layer, if they last long enough to store! When people smell these cooking, they come running. You might want to double the recipe!
Christmas Parties: Make Your Own Boursin
You can do it! You will be astonished at how easy it is, especially if you have a food processor. This is SO good, and also very fattening. You can make it ahead of time, and it will last quite a while – weeks – in the refrigerator.
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temp
16 ounces cream cheese, room temp
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon oregano
1/3 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
Mix together until all is well blended. Serve in ramekin or form into a ball.
May be rolled in (choose one):
coarsely ground pepper
chopped walnuts
chopped almonds
chopped olives
as a variation. Serve with crackers.
Grandma’s Ginger Cookies (for 3baid)
This is a very soft dough. It is easier to work with if you chill it before rolling, but even then the rolling pin and rolling board should be well floured, and you need to work fast, before the dough gets too soft again.
Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C
1 cup molasses (Brer Rabbit Green Label)
1 cup sugar
1 cup hot water
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour
Add hot water to molasses, sugar and shortening. When well mixed, and cool, stir in sifted dry ingredients.
Roll out to 3/8″ thick, sprinkle with sugar and cut with cookie cutters. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
If you are making gingerbread boys and girls, use raisins or small hard decorations for eyes and buttons, and a small slice of candied cherry for the mouth.
(Grandma said use Brer Rabbit Green Lable Molasses, but here in Kuwait, use whatever molasses you can find! I have seen some honey-molasses that looks like it would make a good gingerbread cookie.
Pop in the oven, bake for 10 minutes – maybe a little longer if your cookies are thick. They should be soft and chewy, but cooked through.
Old Fashioned Gingerbread
Sure, you can buy a packaged mix, and your gingerbread is just OK and has all those processed ingredients and preservatives. Or, you can make it yourself – it is easy, a lot of fun, and the results are SO much better than packaged. Gingerbread is especially good with French vanilla ice cream on top, or Creme Chantilly. Original gingerbread recipe came from Africa!
Old Fashioned Gingerbread
This is fun to make with children, because of the chemical reaction when you add the molasses, water and soda. It also tastes delicious!
3 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed in tight
1 cup blackstrap molasses
1 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 pan.
Sift together flour, cinnamon and cloves, add ginger and mix all together.
Cream butter and brown sugar in a separate bowl.
Stir molasses and boiling water in a large bowl, add in baking soda (this is the fun part, and the mixture gets all fizzy!)
Add flour and molasses mixture to butter mixture, mixing until all is smooth, then add eggs, and continue beating.
Pour batter into pan and cook 55 – 65 minutes – the smell will drive you crazy, it smells so good when it starts cooking.
Cool on a rack 10 minutes, then cut gingerbread while still soft.
Serve with whipped cream and a glass of milk. Yummmm.
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