Lubia Polow

Let me make confess here : I do love lubia polow but I don’t like to cook it . It’s always become disaster dish to me. I always ignore my husband request, especially after he mention about how cooking rice is become a lovely chores for Iranian – jezz, I never tough how hard to cook rice before, well, to make it simple I always put rice into the rice cooker, easy.. and no complain

Anyway, short story, I met my in-law a couple years ago. With help from my husband to translate their conversation finally I got the secret of cooking this lovely rice – don’t worry I share with you. The critical point of cooking Persian rice is when you add the rice into the boiling water, and when you must to take the rice from the heat. It's all about the time, guys..

Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it.

Lubia Polow (Rice with Green Beans)
(inspired by my sisters-in-law, farah and zohreh)

Ingredients :
2 cups of white basmati rice
1 large onion, chopped fine
2-3 cups of fresh green beans , cut into 1-inch pieces
3 big tomatoes, chopped or just using 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp of turmeric
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of advieh (persian rice spice mix)* easy to find at mid-eastern grocery store or make your own, see the note
2 1/2 tsp of salt
3 tsp of olive oil
1 lb of beef meat or lamb, cut into small dices *we like using lamb meat, more faster to cook and taste much better than beef meat. or using chicken meat, it work well too.
1 tbs of garlic powder
pinch of ground pepper
To my taste, I add 1 tsp of paprika powder

Note, :
* Advieh : mix very well 2 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp cumin, 2 tbsp cardamom,store in an air-tight container for next use

1. Rinse your basmati rice. until the water in the bowl is rather clear. And add 2 cups of cold water, set aside for about 30 minutes-1 hours.

2. Place the 2 cups of rice and about 4 cups of water in a saucepan. Add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of olive oil Bring to a boil and then let it boil for about 6-8 minutes more. To know when the rice should be removed from the heat and drained, taste a few grains. They should be soft but still have a bit of toughness in the center of the grain. Once you drain the rice in a strainer or colander, Strain and rinse with cool water. Set aside.

3. Saute the onions with 1 TBSP of oil on medium heat until they begin to brown. Add the meat until browned,add the tomatoes, turmeric, cinnamon, advieh, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes.

meanwhile, in a small wok saute the green beans with a small amount of oil, its about 5minute, set aside

4. Once the meat mix is cooked, add green beans,set aside. Add 2 tablespoons of canola oil, 2 tablespoons of water, and 1 tablespoon of saffron water to the bottom of a clean non-stick pot. Add a layer of rice. Cover with a layer of the green beans and tomato mixtures. Sprinkle some advieh on top. Repeat layering until both rice and green beans and meat mixture are gone always ending with a layer of white rice. Be sure to add advieh as you go.

5. Cover rice and cook on high for 10 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons of saffron water with 2 tablespoons of canola oil and pour over rice. 

6. Cook for about 10 more minutes on medium-high heat. Then cover the pot with 2 paper towels and place a tight-fitting lid on top. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 35-40 more minutes. (The paper towels help keep in the steam). Don’t overcook ,you don’t want the rice to become too mushy.

7. When you are ready to serve, a very common presentation method is to invert the rice on a plate so that you can present the tahdiq (the highly coveted crust of rice that forms at the bottom of the pot). Yummy ...

Have a nice weekend, everyone

Banana Chocolate Chiffon Cake

 

Can't tell you more, but this is a second time in a week I bake this cake, I got from my buddy blogger, Rima (A lovely Malaysian lady, who can bake any kind of cake that you can ever imagine, she is .. I'm not kidding)

First time I bake, it just need a half hour to finished half of pan of cake. My cookie monster(s) at home love it .. eergh, I'm talking about hubby and kid. Maybe because the cake is so moist, and light .

Today, my daughter is sick, she get throat-ache and I decide not to send her to school - but she said, in the afternoon she will be fine and will bake a banana chiffon cake!! oh, jezz .. never heard any other kids say that. But she is, it's funny her body temperature turn normal in the afternoon and right the way want to bake . Ok, mommy let her to do that ..

Here is the recipe - Thank you Rima :)

 

Banana Chocolate Chiffon Cake
Ingredients :
20gr cocoa powder
60ml hot water
100gr banana – mashed
35gr cooking oil
½ tbsp chocolate paste
85gr cake flour
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
75 gr caster sugar (I’m sweet tooth, mine is 100gr sugar)
5 yolks eggs
5 white eggs
½ tsp salt
75 gr caster sugar (for white egg mixture)

Method :
Dissolve cocoa powder in hot water. Add smashed banana, cooking oil, chocolate paste, stir well, set aside.
Sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder.
Whisk sugar and yolks with stand mixer until pale. Add in cocoa mixture. Continue to whisk at low speed. Add batter into sifted dry ingredients
Beat white eggs and salt until half inflate, add sugar a little at time and continue to whisk till stiff peak.
Add egg white , fold in gently and lightly. Pour into ungreased chiffon pan
Bake in preheated oven of 350 F about 50 minutes (usually this chiffon bake till 60-70minute, but mine just 50 minutes and this keep my chiffon so moist)

what a beautiful name

 

Hi there : how are you ? Hope you enjoy your fall season, or may be in other side of world are enjoying Spring season.

Our flowers and tree leaves are not change colors yet, may be in 2 3 weeks the colors change to become more peak than today. Well, I'm not really enjoy the weather change - in mid east sometime the weather is too nasty. Is just beginning of Fall and we already turn on the heater.. ooh, hope not always like this other wise we will have a bad winter *cross finger, never happen*

Anyway, I had a chance to go to William Sonoma Store near by, and voila.. not to think twice I grab the baking pan, and here it goes.. Madeleines Cookies.. what a beautiful name, for the beautiful shape of cookies too.

The recipe is easy peasy .. every body can try and if you don't have a madeleines pan , don't worry just using your regular cookie pan it will work too.. *eem, a little bit cheating I mean - at least you still can try the taste of cookies ..don't you think ?

Here is the recipe , I got from William Sonoma website too.

Madeleines Cookies
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
and cooled
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
 

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Using a pastry brush, heavily brush softened butter over each of the 12 molds in a madeleine pan, carefully buttering every ridge. Dust the molds with flour, tilting the pan to coat the surfaces evenly. Turn the pan upside down and tap it gently to dislodge the excess flour.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, granulated sugar and salt. Using a wire whisk or a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat vigorously until pale, thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Sprinkle the sifted flour over the egg mixture and stir or beat on low speed to incorporate.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the lemon zest and half of the melted butter just until blended. Fold in the remaining melted butter.

Divide the batter among the prepared molds, using a heaping tablespoon of batter for each mold. Bake the madeleines until the tops spring back when lightly touched, 8 to 12 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and invert it over a wire rack, then rap it on the rack to release the madeleines. If any should stick, use your fingers to loosen the edges, being careful not to touch the hot pan, and invert and rap again.

Let the madeleines cool on the rack for 10 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the tops with confectioners sugar and serve. Makes 12.

Sneaky mommy .. Hidden Veggie Dish

 

Ok, here it goes. When I grew up , it was so rare to see broccoli or cauliflower on our dinning table. Well, my mom used to cooked a lot of different kind of veggetables, which is so easy to find in the market such a waterspinach (kangkung) , bean sprout (toge), Chinese mustard green (sawi) etc. And since I moved to different county those vegetables that I used to eat become a luxury veggie for me,  – if I want to get those I need to drive long way to Asian Store near by my house about 12miles.

Back to broccoli and cauliflower story, I’m not ‘crazy’ about eating those 2 green veggies – booo !! Anyway, I try my best to give , to introduce any kind of vegetable to my daughter. So far, she is doing good : her favorites are spinach, carrot and beansprout. But with broccoli or cauliflower, I need to use my trick. “Hidden Veggie Dish”. so far its work well.

Like this recipe, she has no idea I put veggies that she refuse to eat into the dish. *grin*

Cauliflower Soup:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ribs celery, chopped to yield 3/4 cup
1 large or 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 head cauliflower (1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
Hand full of broccoli

Garnish : croutons and turkey bacon *we didn’t eat bacon, so we used turkey but you guys can substitute with bacon too.

 

Directions
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the celery, shallots, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken broth, thyme, cauliflower, broccoli. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

In batches, puree the soup in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the croutons and turkey bacon