Monday, November 24, 2014

Orange cream cheesecake bites



Yey for cheesecake!
This is a super easy recipe, enjoy and be sure to comment if you try it.



2 cups of ground cookie crumbs. You can use almost any kind of dry cookies with out creme middles. I have tried vanilla wafers, gram crackers, coconut and lemon cookies. The coconut is awesome.
1/2 stick of meted butter
2 8oz packages of cream cheese. 
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of frozen orange juice concentrate, melted.
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder ( keep it halal)

Pre heat your oven to 325 and set rack to the middle.

Grind up cookies in a food processor until course and poor into a large bowl.
Drizzle in melted butter over cookie crumbs and mix well. If you need to add more butter do so a tsp at a time.
Press the crust mixture into a 6x9 baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, vanilla, orange juice concentrate and eggs, blend on medium-high until smooth.
Pour over your crust and smooth out.

Bake 30-45 min or until the edges puff up and the middle is dry to the touch.

Once it has has cooled, you can spread orange marmalade or orange curd in a thin layer over the top to make it look pretty, or you can just eat it as is.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Halal pot roast and veggies.

I love a good pot roast and now that we have a new Halal butcher in town I can get my meat FRESH!
I've already posted about them but allow me to sing their praise again.
International Grocery & Halal Meat is awesome! Be sure to visit their page, show em' some love and let them know I sent ya!  

Back to post roast. This recipe uses some items you won't find in granny's pot roast. I love using Thai chillies but if you can't find them give jalapenos a try.  I use a lot of turmeric in my cooking, it's a great, natural anti inflammatory and flavor enhancer. If you have never had smoked paprika, we need to talk because you have yet to experience life.
Enjoy the recipe and be sure to tell me what you think of it!

Feeds 4-5      3.5 hrs

1-2lb beef roast 
6-8 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 small yellow onion, cut into chunks
1 can lima beans
1 can green beans
1 large vine ripe tomato
5 cloves of crushed garlic 
4-5 diced green Thai chillies
smoked paprika
yellow turmeric ( powder)
   Season salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325f

in a large baking pan, lay out the roast and season it well with turmeric, paprika and season salt.
surround roast with veggies ( except the tomato), sprinkle with seasons, chillies and garlic.
top with thick slices of tomato, tightly cover pan with foil and bake aprox 3 hrs or until roast is tender and pulls apart with a fork.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Halal in Pensacola, Florida.

We got a Halal meat store!!
If you are Muslim and have ever lived or been in Pensacola, you know how amazing that is!
It's an awesome little store at the corner of Airport & W st. I will link their Facebook page <here>
The store is called "International grocery and Halal meat"
They have a great selection of items,  many Egyptian!
The fresh beef is to die for, tender, flavorful and no more expensive then WinDixie.
The whole chickens are what chicken should be, they aren't pumped full of water and antibiotics, like the meat they are packed with flavor. I roasted one the other day and the broth in the pan was just too good to toss, I saved it for fried rice and OMG! The best rice ever!
Speaking of rice, 10lbs of brown basmati rice for $11!!  You can not find that ANYWHERE in Pensacola for $11.
I have a roast cooking right now and the house is filled with the heavenly scent of fresh, halal beef roasting ( recipe to follow!)
Thank you, International grocery and Halal meat! I'm so glad you have opened and you will have all of my business!
If you are in or near Pensacola, I would definitely recommend giving them a visit.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Baklava ( sweet golash) Ramadan special!

Who isn't in love with honey drenched phillo filled with nuts?
No one I know, luckily.
Every year I make baklava for Ramadan and Eid, It's expected by the 2nd day there be a big plate of it in the kitchen or the kid and husband loose their minds.
As daunting as it may seem, baklava is probably the easiest  sweet we make. You really can't mess it up and it's so easy to add your own spin on it. Try adding chocolate powder, raisins, try different spices or coconut.


Basic Baklava~

1 package #5-#7 Phillo sheets.
1 lb walnuts or nut of choice
1cup packed light brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves ( optional)
melted ghee or butter
pastry brush
Large damp kitchen towel
pizza cutter
Large baking sheet
2 cups honey or 1 cup honey and 1 cup simple syrup.

Preheat oven to 350f

Combine sugar, nuts and spice and blend in a food processor until the mix looks like large grain sand and set it to the side.
Unroll your phillo sheets and cover them with the damp kitchen towel, this is important! The sheets will dry out very fast and then are nearly impossible to use. If the sheets are too large to use on your baking sheet, use the pizza cutter to trim to size, the the cuttings! You can use them to make rolled baklava!( I'll cover that later)
Butter your baking sheet with a LOT of butter.
put down your first sheet of phillo and lightly butter it. You dont need to cover every inch but make you you get at least 65% of it.
from there you layer and butter sheets until you have half the roll laid down. Now you sprinkle your nut and sugar mix over the entire area, make you you get it all.
Follow with layering and buttering the remaining sheets.
Once you finish you use the pizza cutter to carefully cut your unbaked baklava into the shape you want.
.Sometimes the top layer will move around but it's easy to correct.
Bake at 350F for 25-30 min or until golden brown.
Once it's pulled from the over, douse it with honey.

All items can be found at my favorite Pensacola Greek and middle eastern import store Shorline
Support a local business and say no to WallyWorld!
Shoreline not only has the best prices in town but they will also order you almost ANYTHING, They rock.





*** Variation
If you have leftover trimmings~

Using the same nut mix, use a wooden spoon with a round, strait handle, lay the buttered trimming down and fold half way over the spoon handle. sprinkle a little mix at the top and roll the spoon down to cover the mix once it is all the way rolled around the spoon, carefully pull off the spoon, it should scrunch up but not tare.
Line them in a baking pan and bake as normal and drench in honey.
It's cute,different and your friend will bask in your baklava making glory!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Graze Box US review.

My interest was sparked by a Facebook post about the Graze box. I've gotten back on the healthy wagon after starting Crossfit and it's been a bit hard to break my old cravings. Homemade granola, bananas, and blanched almonds are pretty damn mundane, so why not give the Graze Box a shot, eh?.... Why not! So I did and I LOVE it.
So for $6 bucks you get 4 packets of snacks..... Let me reiterate that, SNACKS, not meals so don't sign up expecting your going to have the grocery store delivered to your door for $6.   I have read a few reviews complaining about the size and it really irks my nerves, probably because I am a small business owner myself and I understand a little something called "overhead". If you really break it down, it isn't a bad deal at all and it's something new and interesting every week or two weeks depending on what you choose.
You should check them out by clicking HERE! The first box and the 5th box is free, You can use my invite code MEGANE75P and i get a $1 off my next box ( not the reason I wrote the review either, I honestly did enjoy the product)
Hope you love Grazer as much as i do!

Here is  a photo of my well Grazed, Graze box ( There was no way I could wait for a photo when I got home before i busted it open)

Friday, April 4, 2014

Garlic and lime roasted salmon

Garlic and lime roasted salmon
Oh my, I do love garlic. My gym mates probably don't, but I just can't get enough. 
The other day i picked up a tub of roasted garlic from Joe Patties ( a local seafood gourmet shop) along with some beautiful salmon filets. Originally I was going to use the garlic to spread on a fresh loaf of bread I also got at J.P,'s but on the way home as I debated how I would cook the salmon while catching a wif of that sweet wonderful garlic I knew I just had to combine the two. Normally i blacken my salmon and top it with a sour cream dill sauce, I'm so glad i switched it up!
The garlic melted over the salmon like a crisp, sweet heavenly blanket and the Persian lime slices added the perfect citrus twist. This was as orgasmic as a salmon dinner can get!


What you need-
Salmon filets, what you need for your meal and an extra because you will want left overs, trust me.  
Garlic cloves roasted in olive oil until soft
season salt
crushed red pepper
thin sliced Persian limes ( normal limes work fine but I really like the small Persian's)
Tin foil to wrap them in to keep it from drying out.



lightly season both sides of your salmon with a good season salt.
Smash the roasted garlic into a lumpy paste and smear it all over the top of each filet. You want a good thick layer, as it cooks it will melt over the sides.
lay slices of lime over each filet and sprinkle with crushed red pepper. 
lightly close the filets in foil like a package and bake at 350 for aprox. 20-30 min depending on size until just cooked. You don't want to over cook them, salmon will get dry and salmon jerkey isnt what you want.
I served mine with brown bassmati rice seasoned with lemon pepper, chicken broth and tumric.