Home Made Pita Chips

 

I love pita chips, but what so annoying is, every time I buy pita chips from store, the chips is never in a good shape no more .. always crumble and smashed looking chips. And the other hand, a bag of pita chips is more pricey than regular chips.  Well, I'm not try to act cheap, but when the stuff is so pricey, I want the perfect products too - don't you think ?

Enough buying pita chips from store. Just heading to Asian store - especially there is so many Indian Grocery Store near by our area, just grab some of fresh pita bread and make your own pita chips .. easy peasy.

You can enjoy eating the chips with any kind of dipping sauce you like, such a hummus or mango peach salsa I serve here.

Home Made Pita Chips

Ingredients
1 package pita bread
Olive Oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parsley flake

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut each pita bread in quarters and each quarter in half to make 8 triangles. Place them in a single layer on a sheet pan and sprinkle lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add parsley flake if you like too.
Bake for about 10 minutes, until crisp, turning once.

 

 

Mango Peach Salsa

Ingredients :
2 peaches, peeled and medium diced
1 mango, peeled and medium diced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions :

Toss all the peaches, mango, onions, jalapeno, lime juice, oil and cilantro together in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Note : If the fruit is under-ripe, toss with some lime juice and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside to macerate for 15 minutes before adding the other ingredients and refrigerating.

Summer Quilt Blanket

 

It took a long weeks, to finished this blanket .. I didn't feel to do anything for several weeks, just being lazy :(  In fact, this is a first time I did a hand stitching for top quilt.. Did you notice the leaf petal on the plain block ?  I like the result.  I think I will make another one , but I promise this time I will do it fast, before the plant season is coming, I will be busy working out door rather than sit and sewing.. well, we will see.

 

I don't bother to measure the finish size of quilt, it's quite big, thou. Perfect for summer picnic blanket. In fact the quilt is already on the hand of  a lovely nice lady :D - She was so happy with the quilt .

 

 

 

And for the weekend, I made 2 scrappy bucket for me and my daughter too, it was fun to grab of left over fabrics and create something cute like this. The big version is for me, I put a lot of stuff in there, and the small version is for my daughter, she loved carry here and there... She put her daily journal and crayons , she love to write everything she see while she sit in the car :D

If you like to make your own, please check the tutorial from my beloved talented Chase HERE (click)

 

 

 

Happy Spring - Nowruz - Persian New Year

 

Today is officially First Day of Spring ! But the weather just horrible , still cold, breezy, even we still expect to get more snow during this week ... eeeewww... last weekend was the second weekend without sunshine at all .

First Day of Spring mean is Nowruz, Persian New Year ! - The festival of Nowruz is celebrated by many groups of people in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, but particularly by Persians or various Iranian Peoples. It's the time to make new beginnings, realize dreams and reach new goals.

And this year,it's a first time for me to really try prepared several stuff to accommodate New Year celebrations like plant the wheat sprout representing rebirth .  I preparing to serve a good meal for dinner tonight too ; which is must to cook : Baqala polow (dill rice with fava beans) and smoked fish.

To honor my husband culture, today I bake Nan-e berenji (cardamom rice cookies) ; I never bake this cookies before, but after read the recipe, though is pretty easy to bake and since cardamom is become familiar spice to use at my household, I know I will like this type of cookies. Oh yeaah, I was right - this is a type of cookies that you wont to stop to eat, melt on your mouth and before you know you will keep hold the cookie jar for yourself  , don't ask me how my little one loves this cookies. She is doesn't mind with the aroma of rose water at all.  She loves the cookies as I do :)

Try to prepare some ingredients day a head, and keep in your mind that this cookies is so soft and easy to crumble so be careful when you transfer the cookies from tray to the jar.
 

Cardamom Rice Cookies - Nan-e Berenji
Recipe : Najmieh K.Batmanglij (A Taste of Persia)

For Syrup :
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 tbsp. rose water (easy to find at Mid-East Store)

For Batter :
3 eggs yolks
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup clarified butter or Ghee *see note*
1/2 cup corn oil
1 1/2 tsp cardamom
3 cups rice flour
2 tbsp. poppy seed or fine grind pistachio nuts

 

Directions :
1.Combine the sugar and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture boil over. Remove from the heat, add the rose water, and set aside to cool. This syrup should be room temperature and not too thick. Set aside I cup and bottle the remainder for future use.

2.In a warm mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks with 1 tablespoon sugar and beat well, until creamy.

3.In another mixing bowl, combine the clarified butter, oil, cardamom, and rice flour. Mix well for a few minutes then add the egg yolk mixture and mix a few seconds. Add the I cup syrup from Step 1 and knead well for a few seconds, or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. This will create a snow-white dough. Allow the dough to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature.

4.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

5.Take a spoonful of dough, roll it into a ball the size of a hazelnut, flatten it slightly, and place it on the cookie sheet. Repeat, leaving 2 1/2 inches between each ball. With a fork or the edge of a cookie cutter, draw geometric patterns on the cookies and sprinkle them with poppy seeds. You may also use a cookie press (readily available in most cookware stores) to stamp a design in the dough.

6.Place the cookie sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake the cookies 10 to 15 minutes. Keep in mind that the cookies should be white when they are done.

7.Remove the cookies from the oven and cool. Lift the cookies off the baking paper carefully: They crumble very easily.

8.Arrange the cookies in a pyramid on a footed cake dish.

 

Make about 36medium cookies

 

Make your own Clarified Butter (Ghee)

Even so easy to find ghee at store, but why not make your own .. very simple and yet safe more money.

 

Melt 1 lbs of unsalted butter in sauce pan ; when it bubbles, cover and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minute, until most of the froth subsides.  Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes

Then strain the liquid through one layer of muslin or three layer of cheese-cloth to separate the clear butter fat from the milk solids. Discard the solid and store the ghee in a tightly closed jar in your refrigerator.