Malfouf (Cabbage Rolls)

Assaalaamu alaikum,

This is an Arabic dish which has many names from different regions in the Arabian peninsula, Lebanon and Turkey. Preparation wise, it’s almost the same as Dolma or Wara Ainab or Rolled Grape Leaves recipe.

 

Ingredients:

RICE STUFFING:
2 cups medium grain rice, rinsed and drained
1 Lb coarse ground beef or lamb
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter ghee (optional)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp white pepper
2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry crushed mint

CABBAGE:
1 or 2 large heads of cabbage (totaling about 6 Lbs)
¾ cup fresh lemon juice
6 cloves garlic, halved
Hot water
1 Lb lamb chops
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

Directions:

 

• In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together all the ingredients for the rice stuffing. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until needed
• To prepare the cabbage leaves, place to entire head of cabbage in the microwave for about 1 minute, until area around the heart is soft and leaves peel of with ease. This step may need to repeated as layers of cabbage leaves are removed
• Once leaves are removed, blanch in boiling water (about 15 seconds) then drain.
• Using a sharp paring knife, remove the large middles rib from each leaf.
• Take about a Tbsp of rice stuffing and place in diagonally at the tip of leaf (away from the rib). Bring in the sides of the leaf to cover the rice then using your ring fingers to hold down the cabbage leaf tightly roll all the way to the end. If the middle rib is too thick, shave it off using a paring knife and continue to roll. Set aside in a large glass platter or baking dish
• Repeat until either all the cabbage or all the rice stuffing is used up.
• Place the lamb chops in the bottom of a large tock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Begin layering the rolled cabbage leaves on top of the lamb chops, dropping garlic in between. Repeat until all the cabbage rolls are tightly layered, and all the garlic has been used
• Crumble the chicken bouillon cube on top. Pour in hot water to just cover all the cabbage leaves. Add the lemon juice and swirl the pot to release any air bubbles.
• Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat to med-low and simmer for approximately one hour, until rice is completely cooked

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Stir Fried Noodles with Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

Any desired noodle 1/2 kg

Chicken breast 1/2 kg (boiled half cooked and stripped)

1 chicken broth cube

2 tbsp Olive Oil or any kind of oil or butter

Minced onions

4 cloves of cruhsed garlic

Oyster Sauce or Soy Sauce

1 pack of mixed vegetables (cabbage, carrots, green and red bell pepper or any vegetable you wanna put in)

PREPARATION:

* Pre-heat pan/wok and add the oil

* Saute garlic and onions

* Put in the chicken and mix while simmering for 2 mins.

* Put in the vegetables

* Add the Oyster sauce and chicken broth

* Let it simmer for 5 mins and cover pan.

* Add the noodles and continously mix them with the vegetables and chicken.

* Serve on plate with lemon on the side.

 

Cinnamon Buns

Assalaamu alaikum,

I learned this from a sister who posted it on a forum. I added crushed nuts and thought of adding raisins but I didn’t have some available.

 

For the dough you’ll need:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 little package active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp. finely grated orange zest
• 1 1/4 teaspoon. salt
• 4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Method:1. 

Make the dough. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine warm water, yeast and 1 tsp. sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Here’s what the yeast should look like after several minutes:

 

 

Add milk, butter, remaining sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Mix on low speed until blended. Switch to a dough hook and then, again on low speed, slowly incorporate the remaining 1 cup of flour. Increase speed to medium, kneading dough until smooth and slightly sticky (adding a little more flour if too wet), 3 to 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, buttered bowl. Turn dough over in bowl to coat with the butter from the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour (or 2 hours if not in an entirely warm place). After the dough has risen, punch down. Turn out onto a lightly floured cutting board and let sit 20 minutes.

2. Make the filling. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter; keep separate.

3. Roll dough out into a 12″ x 18″ rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Starting with the long side, roll dough into a cylinder. Place seam side down on a flat surface and cut crosswise into 15 slices.

5. Place dough slices, flat side down, dont croud them so they dont touch one another (they will rise and stick to one another). Cover with plastic wrap, leaving room for the buns to rise, and refrigerate overnight.

6. Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while the oven pre-heats. Preheat oven to 180°. Bake buns until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven and immediately. Let them cool slightly and serve warm.

http://www.aussiemuslims.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23795

10 Minute Recipe: Spicy Potato with Hungarian Zing

Assalaamu alaikum,

Got this recipe from “Quickfire” a 10-minute cooking show on QTV. The chef called it “Spicy Bacon Potatoes with Hungarian Zing” but since there ain’t no Halal Bacons available, I just crossed it out. As for the hungarian sausage, I wasn’t sure also if they were Halal so I just replaced it with spicy Fish “Longganisa” (Sausage). You may use any type of Sausage really.

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

5 Large potatoes (boiled – half cooked)

2 tbsp melted butter

Sausages (cut into small bits diagonally)

1 tsp sugar

Parmesan cheese

Parsley

Salt n Pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

* Pre-heat pan for 1min.

* Pour the melted butter and leave for 1 min.

* Put in the sausages then the sugar and follow the potatoes and let it caramelize for about 4mins.

* Salt n pepper to taste.

* Transfer them on a plate and garnish with parsley and grated parmesan cheese.

 

Four Cheese Pasta

Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullaah,

Dinner earlier. Also got this lovely recipe from Kris Aquino.

 

 WHAT YOU NEED:

1 pack All purpose cream

Spaghetti pasta good for 4 servings

(4 types of cheeses) best combi would be:

Asiago, Gorgonzola, Greyre and Parmesan

2 white onions cut in half

fresh thyme and parsley

salt n pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

* Pour in the cream and let it simmer for 1 min.

* Put the onions and let it simmer again for 2 mins and take the onions out.

* Put in the 4 cheeses.

* add a lil thyme and parsley

*salt n pepper to taste

* Pour the sauce into the bowl of spaghetti and mix.

French Onion Soup

Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullaah,

Alhamdulillaah I fasted today for the 15th of the month sunnah fast and I wanted a nice soup for my breakfast to go with croutons.

I saw this recipe from actress Kris Aquino.  She was making this for Sam Milby and Anne Curtis who loves it so much. I thought to give it a try. Alhamdulillaah it turned out well.

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 medium sized white onions (thinly sliced)

2 medium sized native onions (thinly sliced)

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1 liter beef broth

salt n pepper to taste

HOW TO PREPARE:

* Melt the butter and put the onions in and saute until transparent.

* Add garlic and let it simmer for 1 min.

* Add the flour and mix.

* Pour in the broth and let it simmer for 3mins.

* Salt n pepper to taste.

Pinipig Polvoron (powdered sweet with rice crispies)

Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullaah,

Here’s another easy to make Filipino sweet I made tonight. Allegedly, invented at the time of American occupation in the Philippines to make use of the abundant powdered milk brought in by the Americans.

You may experiment with different flavours. Instead of rice crispies you may put crushed cookies to have the cookies and cream flavour , try crushed cashew nuts or just regular peanuts, chocolates etc..

This is perfect for dessert and kids would love it! Inshaa’Allaah you’ll like it.

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup semi crushed rice crispies

1 cup melted butter

Moulder

Japanese paper or any candy wrapper

HOW TO PREPARE:

* Toast (not sure of the term) the all purpose flour in a pan and continue mixing it with a wooden spoon or spatula until brown

* In a bowl, mix the sugar, the powdered milk, the rice crispies and the melted butter then follow the toasted flour.

* Mix them altogether.

* Mould it.

* Wrap it.

Buko Salad with jelly(Coconut Meat Salad)

Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullaah,

Dad left me with heaps of jelly sachets before they left for Zamboanga City. So I thought of making this for tonight’s dessert.

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 Fresh ripe coconuts (grate the meat with spoon and keep the juice)

1 Large condensed milk

1 liter pack of Pandan flavoured Jelly – if N/A any flavor will do

Fruit Cocktail (Optional)

HOW YOU DO IT:

* Prepare the Jelly and let it cool.

* In a large container, put in the grated coconut meat then pour in the coconut juice.

* Mix in the condensed milk.

* Put in the fruit cocktail (optional)

* After cooling, cut the jelly in cubes and add it into the mixture.

* Serve it cold.

 

 

 

Sushi Rolls (Maki Zushi)

Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullaah,

My lunch earlier.

I know, I know..I could use some practice in rolling em! Needa buy that bamboo mat next time and umm stickier rice.

There are many combinations of fillings you can choose from. With this one, I put baked fish, egg and ripe mango.

INGREDIENTS:

Short grain rice (boiled)

Sushi Vinegar

Nori sheets

Choice of fillings

Bamboo mat for rolling (if not available you may use aluminum foil or just simply roll it as it is)

DIRECTIONS:

*Place nori sheet in a flat surface/pan

*Spread the rice

*Drizzle vinegar on top of rice

*Spread the fillings on top

*Roll and cut into small rolls horizontally with a super sharp knife.

 

 

 

Oatmeal Cookies

Assalaamu alaikum warahmatullaah,

Mum and dad brought home heaps of rolled Australian oats and we’re tired of ‘em eating as porridge or soup. Luckily, my younger sister in UAE gave me this idea to make it and my elder sis got the recipe and so yeah I gave it a shot.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup shortening

2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup sour milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla and sour milk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats, and your choice of additions. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.