ELBA .. Kuwaiti flan or custard pudding

      Elba  is a traditional dessert from Kuwait .. they used to make  with Colostrums  (also known as first milk ) of cows or goats  because of  its benefits and the amount of protein it has ( poor baby ) but nowadays we’re using regular milk to make it , I prefer the dried kind  and it should be full fat milk otherwise  creme fresh or thick cream ” gaimer ” should be added to the recipe

This is my mom recipe and it so easy ,so affordable and so tasty

    ” some recipe called for caramelized sugar in the bottom of  the pot  ” as Crème caramel ” other called for nigella seed or ” ḥabbat al-barakah”

You can substitute the condensed milk with the same amount of sugar or  stevia

All you need:

6 large eggs

1 cup condensed milk

2 cups of powdered ( dried ) milk

5 cups of water

Ground cardamom & saffron to taste

How to make it

So easy .. preheat the oven to 200-210 c

mix all ingredient

Pour it in ramekin or pyrex or any container  with a lid   then place it in water  bath  ” bain marie” in the oven for hour and half

Let it cool completely in the fridge before serving ( preferably overnight)   :)

the not ( barefoot) contessa fish pasta

I love fish , I love pasta but never cooks them together… I did serve them side by side but never cooked them together until i make this recipe and O’boy what have I missed all these years

I found this recipe in one of my favorite cooking sites in the web " food52" .. love their recipes and their photos

which something i should learn since my 6 years nephew knows how to take a decent picture more than i do

back to the recipe

i used Hamour filet which is similar to cod-fish but any firm white fish will do .. i add one small chopped onion ,chili flakes ,fresh thyme and can of chopped tomatoes

here’s the recipe

http://food52.com/recipes/264-the-not-barefoot-contessa-s-fish-pasta

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 small onion , chopped

6-10 oil cured olives, chopped

1 pound white fish,cubed

2 teaspoon salted capers

1 can diced tomato Italian style

2 big and fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 packet linguine or spaghetti , fresh

1/2 cup of pasta water

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped roughly

salt and pepper to taste

chili flakes up to taste

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme

instruction:

heat the oil and saute the garlic and chili flakes .. sprinkle salt and pepper to the fishes

add the fish and stir until golden then add the onion and keep stirring carefully until softened and try not to break it up

add both kinds of tomato and cook it until softened( about 10 min)

in the meantime boil and drained the pasta ( keep 1/2  cup of pasta water )

add parsley , thyme , olives , capers , pasta water to tomato sauce , reduce the heat and let it thickened

add the pasta to the sauce and stir carefully then serve

enjoy

Emirati machboos ” rice and chicken pilaf”

Our recipe for today is one of group "Arabic Flavour" hosts from U.A.E Chicken Machboos, meaning “mixed”, because all the ingredients are mixed together. I really hope you will like this easy, quick and delicious recipe

‪#‎ChickenMachboos‬ ‪#‎Arabic_Flavour‬ #مجبوس_الدجاج_الاماراتي #نكهة_عربية

Ingredients:

– 1 kilogram whole chicken cut according to preference
– 1 1/2 cups of basmati rice washed and soaked in water for 10 minutes then strained
– 2 chopped tomatoes
– 1 large onion, julienned
– 1 tablespoon tomato paste
– 2-3 Cups water
– 1 Cup chopped coriander
– 4 dried limes (black lime). use lemon juice if not avaliable
–  Spices: 3 cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, 4 cardamoms pods and 5 bay leaves
– 1 small teaspoon turmeric powder
– Salt (according to preference)
– Whole black pepper (according to preference)
– 1 tablespoon Arabic spices powder: (1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground red pepper, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon cardamom pods, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds powder, 1 teaspoon cloves powder ,1 small spoon ginger powder).
– 1 small spoon ginger paste
– 1 small spoon garlic paste
– Green chili pepper (optional)

Preparation:

– Heat oil in a cooking pot. Add the onions and stir until the color tends to light brown.
– Add the whole spices (cinnamon، cloves, cardamom and bay leaves).

– Add the ground spices then the chicken pieces and stir lightly for ten minutes till browned.

– Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, coriander, garlic, ginger and dried lime, then stir until the tomatoes become soft. Add the green pepper (optional).

– Add  chicken and let it sit for 5-10 min

-Add coriander and water until chicken cooked through.

– Remove the chicken and place it in the oven under the grill to give it a lovely brown color.

– Cook the rice by adding the right amount of chicken broth to cook it (each cup of Basmati rice will take 1 ¼ – 1 ½ cup of broth).

– When the rice water evaporates, we return the chicken on top of the rice and close the lid for another 25 – 30 minutes on very low heat till it's completely cooked.

Nigella Lawson cookies

I'm sold for any cookies recipes that require cold eggs and melted butter :). .  i made these yesterday and if you like cake-y cookies you'll love these

I've get approximately 2 dozen cookies .

ingredient :  (  recipe http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-chip-cookies )

• 150 g unsalted butter
• ⅔ cup soft light brown sugar
• ½ cup superfine sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs fridge-cold
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 326 grams packet milk chocolate morsels or chips

direction :

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.
3. Beat in the vanilla, the cold eggs until your mixture is light and creamy.
4. Slowly mix in the flour and bicarb until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Scoop the cookie dough into  ice cream scoop and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, plopping the cookies down about 8cm/3 inches apart. You will need to make these in batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge between batches.
6. Bake in the oven until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.

pistachio biscuits

Eid sweet is a must ..enjoyed the whole 3 days festival  between ma'moul , qouriaba , dates rings , baklava ..etcthis recipe makes small green cardamom infused cookies that served in Eid and any day actually

ingredient : ( for 45 small biscuits / cookies)

1/2 cup castor sugar (or confectionery sugar )

3/4 cup butter 

1 1/2 all purpose flour ,sifted ( you can use brown flour)

1/2 cup pistachio powder/ flour

1 teaspoon Vanilla liquid

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

2 drop of green food color  (unnecessary)

Pinch of salt

Pinch baking  powder

Pistachio slices for garnish

Directions:

• whisk butter with sugar approximately 7-10 minutes until the mixture get creamy
• add the vanilla and food color, pistachios, cardamom, salt and flour then fold everything together and do not over mix
• let the dough rest a bit in the refrigerator
• heat oven to 160C. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment
• shape the biscuits / cookies into small balls 
•  press the pistachio slice into the biscuit ball a little to take the circular shape
• bake for 8-10 until the edge get golden " it will be soft " , let it cool before eating

bon appetit