At Margareth's Feb 9th 2012

Pumpkin Soup

600g butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeded

1 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 thinly sliced onion

10 g minced fresh ginger

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 cinnamon sticks

salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg

500ml vegetable broth

a dash of lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Place squash, cut side down, on baking sheet. Bake until squash is very soft, about 30 minutes. Remove peel from squash. Cut squash into 2-inch-pieces. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Mix in onion, ginger, garlic and cinnamon. Cover pot and cook until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Add squash and salt, pepper and nutmeg and the vegetable broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard cinnamon. 

Purée soup in blender. Give a dash of lemon juice into the soup.

 Happy holidays!

Gabriele (Germany)

Date Cake

The cake was made using the delicious dates of Oman.

Ingredients

For the cake

225g dates, pitted

175g all-purpose flour

1tsp. baking powder

1tsp baking soda

150g soft brown sugar

2 medium size eggs

85g butter

Pinch of salt,

1/4tsp cinnamon powder

250 ml water

Pre heat oven at 180 (350)

1.  Sift the flour together with the baking powder and baking soda.

2.  Take the skin and pit the dates. Put in a saucepan with the water and heat until dates become mushy and soft. Allow to cool.

3.  In a large bowl whisk the sugar and butter 3-4 minutes until creamy.

4.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well between each egg.

5.  Alternate flour and date mixture into the sugar mix on a low setting.

6.  Line an 8inch cake tin and pour the batter mix.

Cook on180 (350) for 40 to 45 mins or until cooked.

Allow to cool before taking out of tin.

Can freeze cake. Take out of freezer allow to defrost and re heat in oven for 8 -10 mins.

Optional

Coffee sauce to pour over the cake.

1tsp butter

3-4 Tbs. heavy whipping cream

5-6 soft toffees

¼ tsp. instant coffee.

Put all the ingredients in a pan over low heat until toffee melts. Stir well, allow to cool and than pour over the cake (or slices of cakes.)

Enjoy.

Fakhriya (Oman)

November 11^th. 2011

Eggplant yogurt Fatta

Ingredients

1KG eggplants

1 tin chickpeas (14oz)
3 medium tomatoes grated
2 Tbs chopped coriander
1 full tsp tomato paste
1 Maggie vegetable cube
2 Pitta bread (Arabic bread)
4 Teacups yogurt
2 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Large clove garlic crushed
2 full Tbs roasted pine nuts
1 Tbs white vinegar
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp olive oil
3 Tbs oil for frying tomatoes

Method

1. Wash the eggplants, cut into cubes, (do not remove skin) Pat dry.

    Deep fry until golden brown drain and keep aside.
2.  Fry tomatoes in a deep wide pan over medium heat for 10 mins. Add tomato paste, vegetable cube, vinegar, chickpeas, coriander and the fried eggplants. Mix and cook over low heat for 2 mins. Keep aside.
3.  Slice the Arabic bread and bake in a moderate oven until golden brown, when done break into pieces.  Keep aside.
4. In a bowl, mix the yogurt, mayonnise and garlic.
5. Place the eggplant mixture in a shallow. Assemble just before serving to the bread does not go soggy.

To assemble:-
Sprinkle the pieces of bread on eggplant mix, a tsp of pine nuts. Pour yogurt mixture over eggplan and garnish with the remaining pine nuts and some corrinader leaves. Drizzile with the olive oil.

You could prepare the night before and  assemble on the day!

Enjoy

Fakhriya

Black Bean Salad

1 – 15 oz. can black beans, drained, rinsed
2-15 oz. cans whole kernel corn, drained
8 green onions, chopped
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, diced
1 – 4 oz. jar pimentos
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, diced (I didn’t peel nor seeded mine)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime juice
½ to 1 cup Italian style salad dressing
½ tsp. garlic salt
Fresh pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients, toss and refrigerate until chilled.  Serve with “Scoop” tortillas.
It will keep for many days in a sealed container in the fridge.
Bon appétit!

Louise (Canada)

Japanese New Year

We Japanese prepare "osechi" boxed food and "mochi" rice cake for the first several days in the new year so we don't have to work hard in the kitchen.
There is an idea that the first day of the year  represents the year, so if you work hard on the new year's day, you might have to work hard through the year.
We also eat "mochi" in soup, which is called "zouni" or "ozouni". You can tell where people are from in Japan by their zouni soup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osechi


photo from wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozouni

photo from Japanese cooking site "ouchi-de-gohan"
http://www.e-furikake.com/

November 22 at Karin's