Sahlab (Middle Eastern Milk Pudding)

Sahlab (Middle Eastern Milk Pudding)

Prep. Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Total: 15 Minutes

Our weather is extremely bipolar. The other day I went to class at 12:15 pm. When I went to class, it was 64 degrees. It was sunny. It was beautiful. Again, it was 64 degrees. I left class at 1:45 pm. I walked down the stairs and opened the doors to head out to the train. An immense wind hit me, and if it weren't for the fact that my backpack weighs more than I do, I would have flew. It was cold. My fingers literally were stuck in place and my nose was already numb. I looked at my phone, and it was 13 degrees. Thats right, 13 degrees. I had not even brought a jacket because I had expected it to stay warm all day. By the time I got to the train I was numb. After I got on the train and the heat hit me, and my legs began to sting. It was as if I was defrosting. Oh. My God. So now, I will carry a jacket. Even if it's 80 degrees, because you never know!
On days like this I like to cuddle up on the couch and read a book. I absolutely love reading and I usually have at least 10 books checked out at once. At least it's a good habit, right? You know what's even better than sitting next to the fireplace and reading? Sitting next to the fireplace and reading while you eat Sahlab. I am totally amazing at multitasking. Make this Sahlab, and I am sure that you as well will master the art of multitasking.
This warm pudding is a slightly sweetened and thickened milk. You get a slight flavor from the mastic, and hint of sweetness from the sugar. The cornstarch thickens this pudding just enough. The toppings just put this pudding on a whole new level. The walnut adds a nice little crunch and nuttiness to the richness of this pudding. The coconut balances the richness by adding a slightly fresh and tropical flavor. Then, you have the ground cinnamon. This adds a warmth. It makes this pudding holiday worthy, winter worthy. It adds a slight sharpness to this pudding. When you get a bite of it all you have the perfect combination of textures and flavors. This pudding is truly heaven.

Ingredients:

Sahlab
6 Cups Milk (Whole Milk)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Room Temperature Water
1 Cup Cornstarch
1/4 tsp Ground Mastic (Optional)

Topping
Shredded Coconut
Chopped Walnuts
Ground Cinnamon

Directions:
In a sauce pot, pour the milk and sugar. Heat on medium low, being careful not to scorch the milk. Stir frequently to help the sugar dissolve. In a measuring cup, measure a cup of water. Add the cup of cornstarch and mix well. Have the ground mastic set aside and ready. Also, have 8 cups or bowls, and a ladle ready and set aside. As soon as the milk comes to a slight boil pour in the cornstarch dissolved in water into the milk. Immediately begin stirring and continue to stir for a minute or two or until you pudding thickens and boil. Turn off the heat and add the mastic. Stir it in well and ladle the pudding into the cups or bowls. Top with shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve hot. Enjoy.

Green Bean Casserole . . . NOT French's®

From Scratch Green Bean Casserole

Oven Temperature: 350 Degrees

Prep. Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour

I love the holidays. I don't celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas, but something about the holiday season makes me feel good inside. As you all know, I am muslim, so I celebrate Eid. However, that doesn't stop me from loving all the pretty decorations, the soothing music, and of course the extended mall hours. Oh, and those nifty decorations that sync with the radio! OMG. Anyways, I also love how Pinterest gets overwhelmed with holiday recipes. I love being able to read about people trying to cook a legit thanksgiving dinner, and how it usually ends up coming out of cans or ready made boxes. We used to have a thanksgiving dinner at a used-to-be-family-members every year. Of course, most of it was ready prepared food, but it's the thought that counts, right? Never mind that the canned cranberry sauce looked like jello gone wrong, or the fact that it tasted like fluoride. It was still a dinner, with family, and with lots of dessert. As you know, I love dessert. Enough with me talking about dinner, Let's get to the good stuff.

We have a family friend that invites us over for dinner every once in a while. She makes this amazing green bean casserole, and I can never get enough of it. So, one day I got up the courage and asked for the recipe. She smirked at me and laughed a little. I got curious. Then, she continues to tell me that it's the easiest recipe in the world. That it's on the back of every box of French's onions. What rock have I been living under?! So, one day she comes over with a bag full of groceries. I open the bag and the contents shocked me: 4 cans Green Beans, 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup, and 1 box French's onions. I pulled out my casserole dish and got to work. You throw in the 4 cans of beans with the can of soup and some milk. Top it off with onions, and throw it in the oven. Couldn't be easier. I took it out of the oven, but for some reason I couldn't eat it. You see, I hate canned food. All of a sudden that beautiful casserole went from amazing, to look-a-like hospital food. I was disappointed. Extremely disappointed. So, from that day, my mission was to make it from scratch. From start to end, I would make all of it. And I did. 

This green bean casserole starts with a nice buttery roux. Its got onions. Its got garlic. Its got mushrooms, and its got milk. Then you add some nice green beans. They've been steamed a little, but have a crunch. They're beautifully green, not a musty rusty can green, the true color green. You throw it all in the oven, and then you top it with fresh fried crispy onion strings, and WOW. Oh. My. God. Your life will change forever. That easily amazing concoction you used to make will look like cafeteria food next to this. Never again will you go back. Never again will you share that recipe. And never again will you take that short cut. Because this is the real thing. It's the real taste, the real amazing kind of food you wished you knew about. Make it. You will never regret it. I promise. 

Ingredients:

20 oz. Frozen Green Beans or Fresh

Pot of Boiling Water (For Blanching)

Bowl of Ice Water (To keep the Beans Green)

Mushroom Sauce

8 oz. Mushrooms (Sliced)

1/2  large White Onion (Diced)

2 Garlic Cloves (Minced)

2 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp Flour

1 1/2 Cups Milk

4 oz. Cream Cheese (Cubed)

1 tbsp Fresh Parsley or 1/2 tbsp Dried Parsley

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce or Soy Sauce

Onion Strings

1 1/2 large White Onions

2 cups Buttermilk or 2 cups Milk with 2 tbsp Vinegar or Lemon Juice

2 cups Flour

1 tbsp Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Oil (For Frying)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 pan or 2-quart casserole dish. Start my blanching your green beans. Boil some water and drop the beans in there. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, until they are cooked but still have a nice crunch. Take them out of the hot water and immediately put them in the ice water. This stops the cooking process and prevents your green beans from turning that gross rusty can brown color. 

Next, take a pan and throw 1 tbsp of the butter in there. Let it melt and then add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook on medium heat until your mushrooms smell great and your onions are a nice light golden brown. Now, add the rest of the butter and allow it to melt. Throw in the flour and stir your mixture constantly for 2 minutes. This is preparing the roux. It's whats gonna keep your sauce nice and thick.

Now, slowly add in the milk while you are still stirring. Keep stirring and cooking until you sauce is thick and bubbly and amazing. Add in the cream cheese and stir that fat in until it marries with everything else. Add in the parsley, pepper, salt, and sauce. Bring to a nice soft boil and turn off the heat. Now, take the green beans out of the water and dump them into this nice creamy sauce. You can cut the green beans in half if they are too long. Mix them in well and dump all this into your buttered dish. Put it in the oven and set a timer for 25 minutes.

While it's cooking, slice your onions thinly, and soak them in your buttermilk for 10 minutes. Mix the flour with the salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. While the oil is heating, strain the onions and throw them into the flour. Coat them all nicely and when the oil is nice and hot, fry them until they are a golden brown. Check on the casserole. You want it to be hot and bubbly. When it is, take it out of the oven and top it with the onions. Feel free to mix some in there, and then top it off with the rest. Serve while it's hot. Recall your last bite of canned casserole, because it will stay your last. Never again will you go back. Enjoy! I sure did!

Icebox Lazy Cake

Lazy Cake, REALLY Lazy Cake 

Prep. Time: 5 Minutes
Freezing Time: 4-6 Hours

There are these cookies that my mom buys, ones called Maria cookies, and OH MY GOD are they good. They taste good dipped in tea. They taste good with coffee. They are mouthwateringly amazing sandwiching a s'more, so imagine how good they are broken up and smothered in creamy chocolate. Add a stick of butter to that, and you have got the perfect marriage I tell you! That is exactly what lazy cake is. As a kid, I went to private school, and they had fundraisers every other day. Of course, they got a lot of money, but did we ever get the grass playground we were promised? Absolutely not. We do have ugly knee scars, stitched heads, but till now no grass, and even more stupid fundraisers filled with fake tears of joy from the so called "supervisors" of the school. But, then again, there are the good memories. One of those memories is when they had an after school cooking club. Mothers would volunteer to make easy recipes with about 20 younger girls. We had no oven, only a microwave, so it all had to be quick and simple. The day my mom volunteered we made this lazy cake. And man is it lazy. I had a moment similar to that of the cream puffs moment. That moment was filled with desperate need to make this cake and devour it endlessly. Maybe it shouldn't even be called a cake. Technically it is a roll, but then again when it's sliced it resembles cake slices. Frozen, AMAZING cake slices. Of course, when I had an immensely needy chocolate craving the other day, I got up and made this lazy cake. It did have to freeze for a few hours, but until it did, I made do with licking the bowl next to a cup of black coffee. Boy, was it worth it!

Take a bite. You will get crunchy bits of cookies. They are gonna be swimming in a pool of frozen swirled creamy chocolate. It is rich enough to satisfy the chocolate craving, but not too rich where you can't eat more. The fattiness of the butter adds an amazing contrast to the cold frozen feel of the actual cake. The cookies are bland enough to compliment the sweet chocolate. The chocolate mixed with the creamy milk makes it ever so smooth and adds the perfect amount of depth to the light cookies. All together, it is the perfect bite. As perfect as it can possibly get.

Ingredients:

7 tbsp Butter (Melted)
1 14 oz. Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
1 tbsp Corn Starch (Optional)
2 Packets Le Petit Beurre or similar cookies (200 g. each)

Directions:
Break the cookies into quarters and set aside in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the butter, condensed milk, cocoa, and corn starch. Now, pour the mixture on the cookies and coat all the cookies evenly. Form two logs onto separate pieces of wax paper or greased foil.  Wrap well and freeze for 4-6 hours. Slice and enjoy!

Smooth, Rich, Creamy Fettuccini

Smooth and Creamy Fettuccine 

Prep. Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Total Time: 30 Minutes

I love all kinds of pasta. I could probably eat pasta everyday and not get bored. Maybe it's because you can put anything in pasta, or should I say pasta into anything. But, it could also be because I am a fan of starchy food. Pasta just hits the spot. It will satisfy almost any craving. Its creamy, whether it's hot or cold. You can make it spicy or not so spicy (Go SPICY). You can put it in salad. You can put it in sauce. Pasta is like an empty canvas. You can add all the color and texture you want to it and it's a great backbone to hold anything up. 

Enough with my ravings for now. Now comes the important part. The recipe. This is a classic fettuccine. It's creamy, it's rich, it's cheesy. It is everything great put together. Not to mention, it's so filling that a box will literally feed like 200 people. Ya, it's that heavy. So, if you don't want the calories, do not continue reading this post. I'm warning you. The cheese melts in the best way. The parmesan gives the pasta a little sharpness. The cream cheese makes it rich. The heavy cream makes it creamy, and the butter, well, the butter just makes it more fattening. And I believe that anything that is really bad for you  and your closet probably tastes darn good. So, make this. I'm not suggesting. I'm telling you. If you don't you will wake up at night dreaming of it. It's THAT GOOD. Enough said. 

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter

4 oz Cream Cheese

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 lb. Fettuccine Noodles

Directions:

Boil the water for the pasta according to the package directions. As the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the cream cheese and heat through for a few minutes. The pasta should be ready by now. Drain the pasta and coat in a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Now, set aside.

Add the heavy cream, garlic powder, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the pan as well. Have the cheese ready at hand. Whisk the ingredients well and on medium heat allow the mixture to come close to a boil. When it does, lower the heat to Medium-Low and whisk continuously till the mixture boils and thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Now, turn off the heat and add the cheese. Mix well allowing the cheese to melt to the heat of the sauce. Pour over the prepared noodles and mix well. Garnish with some basil and serve immediately. YUM!

Yogurt Pasta

Middle Eastern Yogurt Pasta

Prep. Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total: 30 minutes

This is a recipe that means a lot to me. When I was younger, I used to go spend the night at my grandmothers house. I always looked forward to her making this pasta for me the next day. I LOVED it. She showed me how to make it many times, but I never seemed to get it right. When I asked her for her secret she told me she made it for someone she loved. I now understand that. When I make it for myself it just isn't that big of a deal, but when my siblings ask for it, it tastes totally different! So yes, this recipe is close to my heart, and it is definitely my kind of comfort food. At 20, I still enjoy going to my grandmothers, because I still look forward to the wonderful aroma as she cooks this dish for me. So THANK YOU Tata. Thanks for showing me the true secret to cooking with love!
This pasta is a great go-to meal and is really easy to prepare. Since I am Middle Eastern, I always have plain yogurt and Labne on hand. The plain yogurt you can grab at any grocery store but the Labne is from a middle eastern market. Now, I know it's a hassle to grab things you don't use often, so you can substitute the Labne with Sour Cream. It won't affect the taste of the recipe, and you will still have a quick and tasty lunch or dinner! Another great thing about this pasta is it's usually made without protein. Now, if you want to add the protein for a dinner, I have included the traditional meat recipe as well. A little tip I have about this pasta is don't mix the yogurt sauce with the pasta until before you are going to eat it. If you do want to pack it as a lunch for school/work, then I suggest you pack the yogurt sauce separately from the pasta, that way you can heat the pasta and then add the yogurt. If you do heat it with the yogurt sauce, it gets dry and doesn't taste as good! Overall, I hope you enjoy this pasta, because it goes great with almost everything and is ALWAYS a favorite!

Ingredients:

Pasta
1 lb. Elbow Macaroni
1/2 tsp All Spice
1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Sauce
1 lb. Plain Yogurt
1/4 Cup Labne or Sour Cream
1 Clove Garlic (Minced)
1/2  tsp Salt

Meat
1 lb. Ground Beef 80% Lean
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (Diced)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp All Spice
Dash Ground Cinnamon
2 tbsp Pine Nuts

Directions:
Start by boiling the water for the pasta. This way you can finish everything else as it is cooking. Now you can prepare the meat and yogurt sauce. If you do not want protein, then just skip until the next section.
Pour the olive oil in a saucepan and heat through. Add the onions and saute until almost translucent. Add the beef and cook till browned. Add all of the spicing and cover with a lid. Lower the stove to medium and cook covered for about 15 minutes. Add the pine nuts and cook uncovered for about 2 minutes. The meat is ready. Set aside until needed.
The water is probably boiling. Add the pasta and set your timer according to the package. Now start the yogurt sauce. In a Large bowl whisk the yogurt, labne/sour cream, minced garlic, and salt until smooth.
Strain the pasta well, and while it is still in the strainer, add the all spice and ground black pepper. Mix well with a spoon so all the pasta is evenly coated. Add the pasta to the yogurt sauce and mix till all the pasta is coated with the yogurt sauce. It smells terrific and makes the most beautiful sound as it is being coated. Sprinkle all the ground beef mixture onto the pasta and ENJOY!