Spinach and Cheese Ziva

This is a cheesy creamy buttery fillo roll - easy to make and very   Ingredients:
 1 1/2 bags of fresh spinach or 1 1/2 box frozen
 200gr feta cheese
 1 cup of mozzarella
 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
 1 egg for filling
1 egg for brushing on top
salt
 3-5 crushed cloves of garlic
 Phyllo dough
 butter
 pepper

 Cook the fresh spinach in a little olive oil and cover until steamed and wilted. Remove from heat and strain. If using frozen spinach - cook it over low heat for about 5-10 minutes then remove and strain. Let cool and put in bowl with all remaining ingredients EXCEPT THE BUTTER. Take the thawed phyllo and remove one sheet - brush with coat of butter and take another sheet place on top and brush again with butter and take another sheet (3 total for each roll) and brush with butter. Take some of the filling and fill rolling in the sides of the phyllo to hold the filling in. roll up and place in greased baking dish. Repeat until you fill the pirex or baking dish you are using. Brush with egg and bake for 1 hr 350 degrees.

Mafroum - fried stuffed veggies in a spicy tomato sauce

Mafroum is a sephardic dish that originated in Tunisia, it is comforting and filling and goes great with couscous. It is traditionally made with potatoes but I did a combination of potatoes, eggplant, zucchini and a few onions. You can use whatever vegetables you like.

Patties:
1-2 pound ground beef
2 eggs
1 bundle of parsley chopped
Large onion, peeled chopped
salt and pepper
Oil for frying
Matzo meal or breadcrumbs or panko

Coating the patties:
Flour
4 eggs (at least)
1 small tomato paste
Salt and pepper

the rest:
5-6 potatoes
1 large eggplant
1 onion
a few zucchinis

Sauce:
can of tomato paste
celery
salt pepper
oil (from fry pan)
jalapeño

Wash and dry the veggies and the slice them into a V...you can slice about 3 cm thick then slice them in down the middle leaving the end attached to form little pockets.

Mix everything under the meat ingredients together and stuff into the vegetables as in the picture above, coat them with flour then dip in the egg tomato paste mixture and fry until golden.

In a large pot make the sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together and let boil. Once that is ready, put the fried vegetables in the pot or in a baking dish with the sauce (covered) and place in the oven for about an hour on 350. Uncover it for the last 20 minutes so it can get golden and then garnish with celery leaves or parsley.

Stuffed Peppers

My friend Shirly came over the other day and made me these amazingly delicious and simple stuffed peppers. It is a simple and hearty meal that takes minutes to make.

What you'll need:

You can use any vegetable you want but I love the red peppers, I also added a couple yellow zucchinis I had in the fridge...

8-10 peppers (top sliced off and cleaned inside)
about 1 1/2 cups of rice
1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
salt
pepper
chicken powder
1 can of tomato paste
some boiling water
parsley for garnish

Clean out the peppers and arrange them in a pot like in the picture. In a separate bowl, mix the rice with the meat and season with salt, pepper and chicken powder (about 1 tbsp). Fill each pepper about 3/4 of the way full and then poke your finger in each one to get all the filling down and leave some room for the rice to expand. In a separate bowl, add about 3/4 of a small can of tomato paste, about 2 cups of boiling water and season.
Pour a few spoons of the mixture into each pepper and the rest slowly around the peppers into the pot. Place in med-high heat and bring to a boil for about 30 minutes. Then put it the oven at 350 degrees for an additional 30 minutes or until golden and broiled. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

Tuna Tartare and Avocado

Last week I went over to my mom's house and my brother had just whipped up this amazing little appetizer. It was freakin' delicious!

Spicy mayo:
· Mayo
· Siracha
· Sugar
· Ponzu
· Rice vinegar
· Sesame oil

Tuna:
· Soy sauce
· Rice wine vinegar
· Lemon juice
· Wasabi paste
· Grated ginger
· Chives or scallions
· Sesame seeds
· Shallots, diced
· Cucumber, diced
· Serrano pepper, diced

Mix everything all ingredients for the mayo together and all the ingredients for the tuna together, you can serve them in separate serving bowls or you can make a stack like above. To do so just take a plastic cup, cut out the bottom and and use it as a mold for the stack, stuff in the avocado, put some cucumber and then the tuna. Garnish with chives, black sesame seeds, and toasted pita chips.

Jute Plant Soup (Molokhia)

 This soup is made of Jute plant leaves and has tons of health and anti-aging benefits. It's an Egyptian soup and was a staple in Cleopatra's diet. I love greens and I love soup so I knew I had to try this! After reading about 20 recipes I came up with this somewhat simplified version using frozen jute plant and it was delicious! I used both chicken and meat since I couldn't decide, but if you prefer one over the other thats fine too... For a vegetarian version, just use veggie broth and potatoes instead of the meat.

1-2 packs of frozen jute plant 
1 lb of chicken ( I used the legs)
1 lb of beef (cubes or for stew or any other meat you like)
1 tbsp cumin
8 cups of chicken or beef broth (I made my own with the chicken and meat or you can use vegetable broth)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp chicken powder or one cube
1 cup of chopped cilantro
1 cup of chopped parsley
salt and pepper


Heat a little olive oil in a large pot, add the meat and chicken and let it brown a little. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Let it cook on medium for about 1 hr or until meat is tender, if you don't use meat the cooking time will be less (around 30 minutes for chicken). Next add the jute plant and let the melt in (add more water or broth if the soup is too thick), then add everything else and cook on medium for an additional 40 minutes.
Garnish with herbs and olive oil and serve.

Wings!

This recipe is super fast and the wings are NOT fried! 

20 wings

For marinade:

1/4 cup hot sauce

3 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp karo syrup or honey

For sauce:

1/4 cup hot sauce

1/4 cup of sriracha

juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp white distilled vinegar

3 cloves crushed garlic

a splash of soy sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and coat the wings with it. Place the wings on a nonstick baking sheet and broil on high for about 15-20 minutes on each side.  Meanwhile mix all the other ingredients for the sauce. Once the wings are well done enough for you (I like mine extra crispy) take them out and put them in a bowl. Pour the sauce over them and mix until all wings are coated evenly and enjoy!

Deliciously Decadent Chocolate Tort

I am the worst baker ever, 99 out of every 100 cakes I make go straight to the garbage. Except for this baby...this tort is amazing and you can make it days ahead and just freeze it. 

250 grams butter
250 grams sugar
250 grams melted semi sweet chocolate
7 yolks
7 whites(whipped to form a peak)
3 spoons bread crumbs or flour



1.Before anything whip up the egg whites and leave on the side then if not youll have to clean th emixer in the middle and thats really annoying
2. Beat butter and sugar until light yellow and creamy
3. add yolks 1 at a time with mixer on
4. then add the melted chocolate and continue to mix until blended
5. then add the egg whites...slowly fold all in until smooth
6. split the batter in half refrigerate 1 half and add the bread crumbs to the other half.
7.Then place the half with the breadcrumbs/flour in a greased and floured round baking dish with removable sides and bake for about 30 minutes on 300. ( careful not to over cook)
8. Once its ready, let it cool and then top with the refrigerated half and cover with plastic wrap touching the mousse and place in fridge for a few hrs. ( can put it in the freezer too but will need to thaw it out for and hr before serving)

Roasted Veggie Dip

I love this dip/sauce/spread! It goes with just about anything and you can make it as spicy or mild as you want.

4-6 whole tomatoes

2 jalapeños

1 large onion quartered

2 tbsp smoked Tabasco

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp honey

3 garlic cloves

olive oil

juice of 1/2 lime

salt

Place the whole tomatoes,  jalapeños, and onion on a baking tray and broil on high for about 20 minutes or until blackened, flip over and broil and additional 10 minutes or so. remove from tray and place in food processor with all the other ingredients and pulse until it's pureed. If its too thick add a little more olive oil and lemon juice. Taste for salt since the tomatoes and honey are sweet.