Ramadan Iftar Meal Plans 2015 (3)

Struggling with ideas on what to cook during Ramadan? This website has recipes for every day of the month which includes starters, mains and deserts.

Here is a sample of what you can look forward to this year.



Beef ministrone, aubergine salad, spinach and rocket lasagne, lamb pastry, maamoul tart, kunafe.

Enjoy!

How to recreate 36 world cuisines with 3 spices

How cool is this?! Add 3 spices to any meal to make it more interesting.

Source

Fatayer, Borek with puff pastry, spinach and feta

Make sure you don't overfill the fatayer, as it won't close/seal

Fold in thirds towards the middle, leaving a tiny hole at the top

Enjoy spinach and feta fatayer fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients:
1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
500 g blanched spinach
250 g feta cheese
1 medium sized onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp. all spice powder
1 tsp. sumac
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Flour

Method :
Heat olive oil in a pan and light fry the onions till tender. Add the spinach, spices, feta cheese, seasoning and mix well.
Roll out the puff pastry into 10 cm rounds (I placed a cup and cut around it) and fill each round with a scooped spoon of the spinach mixture. Bring up three sides of the round to form a pyramid and pinch the edges to seal it.
Place the pies / fatayars on a baking sheet, brush lightly with some olive oil and bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 mins or until pastry is golden brown and cooked through (I flipped mine over halfway so none of the pastry was soggy) at gas mark 5.

Recipe from: http://plaingeets.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/gourmand-geets-spinach-feta-fatayer/

Iftar featuring vegetarian shepherds pie and a recipe for refreshing lemonade

Salam and hello fellow readers,

Yes you read it right! Vegetarian shepherds pie made with quorn mince which we made for iftar last week.

Ezogelin - Turkish lentil soup

Feta and pomegranate salad

Quorn shepherds pie with creamy cheesy mash!

Profiteroles and a jug of homemade lemonade

Lemonade recipe:

Ingredients for syrup-

• 5 lemons

• 1 cup water

• 200-250g sugar

Method - 

• Put ingredients in a pan and boil.

• Leave to cool and place in fridge or freezer (especially good if it's a hot day, as the syrup will be an ice block which will cool the water in the jug)

• Once cool/frozen, place in jug and top up with plain water or sparkling water. You may need to add more lemon/water according to taste.

• Enjoy!

Post a comment if you want the shepherds pie recipe! 

Recipe: Date Paste Crumble (Batheetha)

Ingredients:

1kg flour

3 cups caramel water

1 cup corn oil

1 cup date paste

1 cup sugar 

Preparation:

Heat the corn oil in a cooking pot and add the flour. Sauté the mixture until brown, then add the date paste, caramel water, sugar and mix for about five minutes. 

When properly cooked, remove from heat. Can be served hot or cold. A side addition of chopped fruit or ice cream perks it up nicely.

Recipe by Mike Harrison. Published in Times of Oman's 2011 edition of Art of Cooking - Flavours of Arabia

Source

Ramadan iftar meal plans 2014

As salaamu alaykum,

Last year, I posted meal plans where you could draw inspiration from.

Here is the link to iftar meal plans 2014:
http://www.nestle-family.com/My-Ramadan/english/recipes.aspx



Some of the recipes include pasta with lentils, an orange and chocolate tart and a pomegranate and date drink.

Hope this provides inspiration for some of your meals!

Borek

Here is my recipe for borek stuffed with feta, spinach and potato. Great for iftar with a salad.

Delicious meal idea for ramadan: Spinach and feta borek. Yum!

Ingredients:

Puff pastry or filo pastry

Potato (large)

Feta 1 - 1 and 1/2 block

Cheddar Cheese 100g

Spinach leaves (or if using frozen, saute with onion)

Onion x 1

Chilli flakes x 1/2 tsp

Paprika x 1tsp

Black pepper x 1/4 tsp

Olive oil

Egg x5

Butter

Yogurt

Method:

• Take pastry out of fridge/freezer to thaw

• Chop and boil the potato in salted water.

• Meanwhile, sauté an onion with some olive oil.

• Once boiled, drain and roughly chop into smaller pieces and add the onion, feta, spinach leaves and season with black pepper, paprika and chilli flakes. No need to put salt as the cheese contains salt. Taste to see if it’s okay and then add 4 eggs and combine.

• Make a mixture of egg, yogurt and melted butter to brush between layers if using filo pastry (if you’re using puff pastry you will not need this step)

• Brush a baking tray with butter.

• Add first sheet of filo and brush with yogurt, butter and egg mixture. Repeat until half of the filo sheets have been used up.

• Add the filling and spread.

• Grate some cheddar cheese if you like your borek cheesy (or if you just like cheese).

• Place a sheet of filo on top and brush with yogurt, butter and egg mixture. Repeat until all of the filo sheets have been used up. Add a bit of extra egg/melted butter on top of the last sheet and place in oven until golden brown.

Iftar Meal Plans 2013

Salaam, I hope that Ramadan is going well for you all insha Allah.
Last year I posted a link to ramadan recipes from the Nestle website.
Here is the link: http://www.nestle-family.com/my-ramadan/english/recipes.aspx
Here are just a few of the recipes featured: Red pepper pasta, Potato and Lamb Kibbeh, Light basbousa with almond.

Tagine of Kefta, Tomatoes and Egg

Here is my attempt at a Moroccan tagine dish.

Meatballs
700g lamb mince
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp each ground coriander and paprika
1/2 tspall spice
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
4 eggs
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Sauce
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup hot water
salt and pepper

1) Combine mince, garlic, spices and fresh coriander in a bowl and knead until smooth. season with salt and pepper.
2) Mould around 24-32 walnut sized portions into balls and set aside on a tray.
3) Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry meatballs until golden brown all over (do in 2-3 batches).

Meatballs being browned

Place meatballs in the base of a pan or tagine/casserole pot.
4) Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper.
5) Pour tomato sauce over browned meatballs. Bring to the boil, then simmer on the stove top or bake in an oven heated to 180oc for 20 mins, stirring once to prevent sticking.

Allow meatballs to cook in tomato sauce

6) Break eggs into the sauce and continue cooking for 5-10 mins until eggs are just set. scatter with parsley and serve with bread and salad.

Tagine of Kefta, tomatoes and egg!

Note: If you would like your meal a bit spicy, add chilli flakes, paprika and maybe chilli powder in the meatball mix. You can also add a sprinkle of chilli flakes in the sauce.
Recipe from "Made in Morocco: A journey of exotic tastes and places"

I served with a Turkish salad which I made using 3 tomatoes, 1/4 cucumber deseeded and cut, chopped red onion that had lemon squeezed over it and a bit of sumac sprinkled on top, fresh chopped parsley, olives and pomegranate molasses.

Nan bread and salad

Lahmacun Recipe

Some time ago I mentioned that I will post the recipe for Lahmacun,

Turkish Pizza Dough Ingredients

6 cups of all purpose flour	2 1/2 tbsp of dry yeast
1 cup of warm water	350 ml of warm water
1 tsp sugar	1 tsp salt

 

The Lahmacun Topping Ingredients

500 gr of lamb mince	1 1/2 large tomato, skinned and finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped	1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 1/2 tsp of cumin	1 heaped tbsp of tomato paste
1 heaped tbsp of pepper paste	1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp of Marash pepper (use flaked chilli as an alternative)	2 tbsp of Olive oil
1/6 cup of water

 

Making the Flat Bread Dough

1. In a bowl, mix the yeast, 1 cup of water and sugar and set aside until it froths.
2. Sift the flour in a large mixing bowl, forming a well in the middle.
3. Pour the frothing yeast mixture in the well.
4. Slowly add 350ml warm water to the flour mixture and continue to mix well until you have a soft dough.
5. Knead for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes using a mix master with a bread hook attachment.
6. Leave the dough covered with a tea towel in a warm place to rise and double in size.

Preparing the Turkish Pizza Topping and Dough

1.  Place the topping ingredients in a bowl and with wet hands mix well.
2. Adding a little water at a time, mix the mince until it becomes a wet paste.
3. Place in the fridge until you need it.
4. Once the dough has risen, knead it a few times to remove the gas and air.
5. Divide into 6 equal pieces. 
6. Roll each portion into little balls and place on a lightly floured surface.
7. Cover with a moist towel over the top to stop them from drying out.
8. Take 1 bread roll at a time, and using a rolling pin, roll them out into a flat thin round and stretch with your hands as you go.

Lahmacun Final Steps

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
2. Break up the mince into 6 equal portions and spread it right to the edges of the pizza base.
3. Bake in the oven on a pizza tray or stone for approx 15-20 minutes, until the meat has browned and cooked.
4. Sprinkle with a parsley and tomato salad, squeeze some lemon over them.
5. Enjoy.

Recipe from: http://www.turkishthymecooking.com.au/turkish-recipes/breads/lahmacun.html
 
Or if you don't have the time/are too lazy to be kneading the dough, just use tortilla wraps as a base!

Also, I like to cook the meat a little beforehand so that it's not undercooked.

This is what mine turned out like:

Lahmacun: Delish with parsley and tomato.

Lahmacun: Up close and personal!

Shortbread Recipe

The shortbread was made using the BBC recipe as follows:

Ingredients:
    125g/4oz butter
    55g/2oz caster sugar
    180g/6oz plain flour

Method:
   1)  Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
    2) Beat the butter and the sugar together until smooth.
    3) Stir in the flour to get a smooth paste. Turn on to a work surface and gently roll out until the paste is 1cm/½in thick.
    4) Cut into rounds or fingers and place onto a baking tray. Prick each round with a fork. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
    5)Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.
    6) Dust with icing sugar.

Yummy Shortbread

Spinach & Feta Cannelloni

Filling recipe:
500g frozen spinach
300g feta
1 onion
2 clove garlic
chilli flakes - half a teaspoon or more if desired
paprika - half to 3 quarters of a teaspoon
small pinch of salt and pepper
half teaspoon chili powder
cannelloni tubes - 250g pack (it's easier if you use lasagne sheets, cook them, place filling and wrap around)




Sauce recipe:
Can of tinned plum tomatoes
onion
garlic
spices - whichever you prefer. I used paprika, chilli flakes and a bit of salt
OR, you could pour a tub of dolmio stir in sauce.
1 ball of mozzarella grated over the top

Method:
Cook the onion and garlic, add spices then spinach, put in a bowl and cut up the feta and chuck that in too
Fill the tubes with the filling. I used a plastic syringe from the bakery section of wilkinsons! It does take patience filling each tube which is why I'd recommend using lasagna sheets, just fill and wrap!
Then make the tomato sauce - cook onion, garlic, then add spices and then add the tinned plummed tomatoes until reduced (around 15 mins)

Pour sauce over the top, sprinkle grated mozzarella ontop and place in oven for around 25 mins on a medium setting until cheese has melted. Enjoy :)

Daily Ramadhan Recipes from Nestlé!

Salaams all, inshaAllah ramadhan is going well for you all thus far.

I just stumbled across this Nestlé site (see link below) that has iftar ideas for every day of ramadhan! You get ideas for starters, salads, main course and dessert! Recipes include eggplant moussaka, date cake, chocolate cake, fattoush, tabbouleh, Kuwaiti biryani, meat and vegatable rolls/pastries.
They also have tips and nutritional information on one of the ingredients featured for that day.

Eggplant Lasagna from Nestlé website

Berry Cheesecake (Nestlé)

Watermelon Milshake (Nestlé)

http://www.nestle-family.com/my-ramadan/english/recipes.aspx

Cinnamon Buns!

As-salaamualaikum,
This is a recipe post for lovely sticky cinnamon buns as seen on the Muslim-Wife-Kitchen blog and The Pioneer Woman's webpage.

I have taken step by step pics to show you guys, but the recipe is on the links above.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy, and let me know if you attempt this.

Banoffee Pie

This Banoffee Pie is scrumptious and easy to assemble. The banana with the crunchy biscuit and sweet caramel, plus shavings of dark chocolate make it the perfect treat.

 All you need is:

• 100g butter, melted
• 250g digestive biscuits, crushed
• A tin of caramel
• For the top:
• 4 small bananas
• 300ml carton whipping cream, lightly whipped
• Grated dark chocolate

1) Place biscuits in a bag and bash with a rolling pin (good therapy eh?) (or you could put it in a food processor, but be sure not to let it resemble powder).
2)Add the melted butter and mix.
3) Place into a baking tin and press down with a glass to compact it a little.
4) Pour the caramel.
5) Layer the choppped bananas.
6) Spread the whipped cream (you can fold some chopped bananas in the cream too).
7) Grate dark chocolate on top
8) Enjoy ;)