food and beverage

Until leaving my job at the University I've always considered myself too busy to play around with cooking and if asked I would say that I "couldn't cook properly" whatever that means.

I guess I've had a difficult relationship with food so far. As a child I was the awkward one who wouldn't eat anything. As an adult that changed a little, but I think it's only in the last three or four years that I've realised that I'm not awkward - I just don't really like eating and hate preparing meat. If meat couldn't be bought in non-animal shapes in tins or cardboard boxes in the freezer section of the supermarket I would have turned vegetarian years ago.

As it is I'm not currently vegetarian, but I eat meat probably at most once every couple of weeks. I don't know if I will become fully vegetarian and if I do what time scale that will be on - we will just have to wait and see. I'm creating this blog as a journey on the way to being healthier and more inventive with food, and in addition to posting recipes will be writing my thoughts on food in general, particularly 'new foods' that I've only just tried or starting cooking.

Tasty and easy Arabian gulf main dish - Quails with Spicy Red Sauce and Cumin Rice.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 quails, washed and cut into halves lengthwise

2 tablespoons ghee
2 medium onions or 250 g, sliced
1 medium carrot or 150 g, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
3 cubes MAGGI® Chicken Bouillon
4½ cups water or 1125 ml
2½ cups basmati rice or 500 g

For the spicy red sauce:
2 medium tomatoes or 300 g, peeled and pureed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cube MAGGI® Chicken Bouillon
¼ teaspoon chili powder

Preparation

Heat oil in a large pan and fry quail pieces from both sides until they are golden brown in color from outside and cooked from inside (season quail with salt and black pepper before frying). Remove from oil and set aside.

Heat ghee in a pot and sauté onion slices until they become tender. Add carrot and cumin seeds and stir for seconds.

Add MAGGI® Chicken Bouillon cubes and water. Bring to boil with occasional stirring.

Add the rice and stir occasionally to boil again then cover and let it cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan, stir to boil then simmer over low heat for 3-4 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickens. Add the fried quail to the sauce and simmer for few minutes.

Place rice in a serving plate and the quails with the sauce on top.

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Try an easy recipe to prepare a spicy Saudi Lamb Stew - Gorsan dish.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions or 300 g, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup coriander leaves or 35 g, chopped
750 g lamb, cuts with bones
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 medium tomatoes or 300 g, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups water or 750 ml
2 cubes MAGGI® Mutton Bouillon
1 medium potato or 200 g, cut into large cubes
1 medium carrot or 150 g, cut into thick slices
200 g pumpkin, cut into medium size cubes
2 medium zucchini or 150 g, cut into thick slices
1 green bell pepper or 150 g, cut into thick slices

Preparation

Heat oil in a large pot, add and cook onions over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, coriander, lamb cuts. Season with spices and cook with occasional stirring for 4-5 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, water and MAGGI® Mutton Bouillon . Bring to boil and simmer while covered on low heat for 1 hour or until the meat is almost tender.

Add potato cubes, carrot, pumpkin, zucchini and belle pepper, and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until vegetable are cooked.

Serve with Arabic bread or with cooked rice.

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Try one of the best Saudi main dishes Rice Boukhari with Meat, try this recipe to prepare Rice Boukhari.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ghee
750 g lamb, pieces with bones
3 medium onions or 450 g, chopped
8 cups water or 2 liters
2 cubes MAGGI® Mutton Bouillon
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
3 medium tomatoes or 450 g, pureed
2½ cups rice or 500 g, washed and drained
2 medium carrots or 150 g, cut into thin strips and boiled
1 cup mixed fried nuts or 150 g

Preparation

Heat ghee in a large pot, add and brown the lamb meat pieces until golden brown. Add onions and stir from time to time until the they become golden brown.

Add water, MAGGI® Mutton Bouillon , all the spices and the tomato juice. Cover and cook over low heat for 1½ hours or until meat is cooked.

When the meat is cooked, add the rice to the meat stock, this should be around 4 cups or 1000ml of stock, cover and cook over low heat for 25 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Place the rice on a large serving dish, place the meat pieces over the rice, and add the cooked carrots over the meat and garnish with the fried nuts or with raisins and shredded carrots.

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Enjoy the oriental cuisine and try an easy recipe to make the Coconut Basbousa, wonderful Arabic dessert.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon tahina
½ cup ghee or 100 g, softened
1 tin NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk or 397 g
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups semolina or 320 g
1 cup desiccated coconut or 100 g
1 cup water or 250 ml

For the syrup:
1½ cups sugar or 300 g
1 cup water or 250 ml
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon blossom water

Preparation

Grease a 28x24cm baking tin with the tahina.

Combine ghee, NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk and baking powder and stir well. Add semolina, desiccated coconut and water and stir until well combined.

Pour and level mixture into the prepared baking tin. Bake in a 190°C preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the top becomes golden in color.

Remove from oven and pour all over the cooled syrup. Set aside to cool into a room temperature, cut into diamond shape and serve.

To prepare the syrup: Add sugar and water to a saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer for 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and rosewater.

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Learn how to make best oriental Sambousek filled with fried meat.

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes

Ingredients


For the dough:
3 cups plain flour or 420 g
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup butter or 110 g, softened
¾ cup water or 185 ml

For the stuffing:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions or 250 g, chopped
500 g minced lamb
2 cubes MAGGI® Mutton Bouillon, crumbled
2 tablespoons pine seeds, toasted
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon seven spices
½ teaspoon dried mint
2 cups oil for deep frying

Preparation

Place flour in a deep bowl, add sugar, salt, butter and mix well with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Gradually add little quantities of water and mix thoroughly until a dough forms. Cover with kitchen cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in saucepan and sauté onion for 2 minutes then add the minced lamb and fry for 5 minutes or until brown in color. Add the crumbled MAGGI® Mutton Bouillon cubes, toasted pine seeds, spices and dried mint. Stir for few seconds or until all are well combined then set aside to cool.

Roll the dough into around 3 millimeters thin pastry. Using a medium size cup or dough cutter, cut round pieces of the dough. Place 1 tablespoon of the stuffing in the center of each piece and seal the edges by twisting them or pressing with fork.

Deep-fry the sambousek in 190°C preheated oil for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown in color. Remove from oil and place in kitchen tissues to absorb excess oil then serve.

Cooking tips : Mixing 1 tablespoon of labneh with the stuffing will result in a better taste.

Nutrition Information

Fats : 25.00 g
Protein : 11.00 g
Carbohydrate : 30.00 g
Energy : 394.00 Kcal

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Learn how to make best oriental Baklawa recipe filled with Pistachio.

Ingredients

For the syrup:
2 cups sugar or 400 g
1 cup water or 250 ml
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the baklawa:
15 sheets filo pastry, thawed if frozen
¾ cup butter or 150 g, melted
¼ cup caster sugar or 50 g
1 cup ground almonds or 100 g, mixed with the caster sugar

For the filling:
2½ cups pistachio nuts or 375 g
1 tablespoon blossom water
2 tablespoons rose water
1 tin NESTLÉ® Sweetened Condensed Milk or 397 g
3 slices toast bread, crust removed

Preparation

To prepare the syrup:

In a small pot, dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil then simmer until it becomes a syrup. Stir in lemon juice and set aside to cool.

To prepare the filling:

Combine all ingredients for the filling in a blender; beat until well combined and set aside.

To prepare the baklawa:

Grease a 40cm x 30cm oven tray, place 1 sheet of filo pastry, brush with butter and repeat the same with 5 more sheets.

Carefully spoon the filling all over the pastry.

Place 1 sheet of filo pastry to cover the filling, brush with butter and sprinkle with a little of almond mixture.

Top with another sheet. Sprinkle with little almond mixture and repeat method with the remaining sheets.

Brush the surface with melted butter, then cut parallel lines through pastry and filling to get diamond shaped pieces.

Bake in a 185°C preheated hot oven for 25-30 minutes or until it becomes golden color.

Pour the cool syrup over the baklawa as soon as it comes out of the oven.

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