Chicken in Gingery Fruit Sauce

I am so excited to share this new recipe with you.  As usual, I am going to take the easy simple way...for a tangy aromatic dish. But before doing so, you know what you need to do ----> read my welcome note FIRST. 

Tonight's recipe goes nicely with the Bukhari Rice dish in my previous post. But you need not limit yourself to this combination. I will give you other tips at the end of this  recipe.

Tonight's recipe is Chicken in Gingery Fruit Sauce from Morocco.

As a rule of thumb I never share a recipe unless I try it out myself...and if am not pleased with the results, I don't share. And today I was more than pleased with the result. It is an exotic dish with a slight fruity tinge to it.

So let's start. And please follow my instructions carefully. I am presenting this  recipe in stages to simplify it for you.

For 2 persons you will need the following :

Stage 1 - boiling the chicken to cut time in half.

- 2 pieces of chicken breasts preferably with skin and bone.
- the following spices :
* 1/2 a cinnamon stick
* 1/2 onion cut in quarters
* 3 bay leaves
* 3 cardamom grains
* 4 cloves
* a pinch of caraway seeds (optional)

- Wash the chicken and put in saucepan
- cover well with boiling water and add the spices above
- leave it to cook on medium heat until cooked.
- make sure to add enough water because we will need the broth later on.
- once cooked remove the chicken and drain the broth from spices. Keep Chicken and broth separately.

Stage 2 - preparing the chicken 

-  3 spring onions OR one medium size onion minced
-  1 tbs of finely grated ginger
-  2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1 tbs of cooking oil
- salt and pepper
- a deep frying pan

- Heat oil, and add your onions, ginger and garlic, salt and pepper on a medium heat until the mix is tender. ADD a little chicken broth every time you see the mixture drying out. You don't want it to burn but to become tender. So do not fear adding a LITTLE broth to wet the mix whenever needed.

Once mix is tender, put your chicken breasts and fry them with the ginger/garlic/onion until the chicken breasts are  brownish. Again add a LITTLE broth if you see it drying out. It needs to remain moist but NOT liquid.

Stage 3 - Preparing the Ginger Fruity Sauce

- 1/2 tbs of olive oil
- 1 spring onion finely minced
- 1 Flat Tbs of finely grated ginger
- 1 full TBS of either Cherry Jam or Blackberry Jam. I used Cherry.
- Small non stick frying pan

Mix the olive oil, onion and ginger, cook gently on a medium to low heat, until the onions are translucent, add the Cherry Jam stirring it in by adding some of the chicken broth...until it becomes a thickish sauce. Do not turn it into a soup. Taste, if you feel it needs more jam add more jam but 1 TBS is enough for the tangy taste. Leave it to cook for a couple of minutes, adding broth if necessary so as not to dry.

Once your sauce is right, pour it on top of the chicken preparation, mix well and heat the whole thing, again if you feel it drying out, wet it with a little of the chicken broth.

Serve hot and generously decorate with fresh coriander/ cilantro leaves - about 5 cilantro branches.

To be served with either the Bukhari rice - previous post or with white rice (check blog for cooking rice)

If serving with Bukhari rice - Skip raisins and onion in rice recipe.
If serving with White rice - follow instructions on how to cook Basmati rice in previous posts.
Tip 1 : in both cases, instead of using water, use the remaining chicken broth to cook rice
Tip 2: if cooking white rice, add a pinch of Turmeric and a pinch of ground Cardamom

Finish off with chilled Melon and Green Tea with Fresh mint.


Bon appétit !

Bukhari Rice

Hi again, am back in my active cooking mode and am about to share a new recipe with you. Bukhari rice is a Saudi Arabian speciality but also cooked in the UAE, and Pakistan. But before I do so, you know what to do ---> read my welcome note.

There are several versions to the Bukhari rice, and as usual am going to give you the simpler one. But the spices are a must, because this is what makes Bukhari rice. The Bukhari spice mix can be found in any Middle Eastern or Indian shop, otherwise you will have to make your own and you shall not regret it. It keeps for 2 years in a tight jar.

Bukhari mix spices basically consists of the following : Fennel, cloves, cardamon, Anise, Cinnamon all grounded. If you are going to prepare your own, use equal parts of each spice and grind until powder like. Or you can buy the ground spices individually and mix them into equal parts (which is easier)


Ingredients for  Bukhari Rice.

for 2 persons you will need

- 1 and half standard cup of BASMATI rice (para boiled is FORBIDDEN)
- 1 full tbs of tomato paste
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- about 2 flat tbs of sultanas (dried raisins) optional but necessary if you are to serve the rice with something spicy
- 1 and half cup of boiling water
- 1 tbs of vegetable oil
- 1 and half FLAT tsp of bukhari spice mix
- 1/2 cube of chicken stock if you are serving with chicken or beef stock if serving with meat or vegetable stock if you are a vegetarian but the cube stock does give it extra flavor.
- salt to taste ( I don't use salt as the chicken stock is quite salty as is)
- extra option --- some people add some cooked about 2 tbs (tinned, washed and drained) chickpeas, I don't. but you can if you want to.

Preparation 

- wash thoroughly the rice and let is soak for about 10 mn in cold water.
- in a  medium saucepan (rice needs to breathe) (preferably non stick), heat oil
- add chopped onions and stir fry them until tender and light brown
- add the Bukhari mix, the tomato paste, the sultanas and mix well, on a medium fire for a 2 minutes
- drain your rice and add to the paste mixing it well
- now pour the boiling water on top, give it one last mix, let it boil once and then leave it to simmer on a very low heat until all liquid is fully absorbed.

Serve with meat or chicken. Stay tuned as my next recipe will go perfectly well with the Bukhari Rice.

Enjoy !

Pickles in a hot Sandwich

Been so lazy with cooking lately, but that did not stop me from eating. I believe you can still manage a tasty meal without too much elaborate cooking during lazy times. But, but, but, before I give you today's real simple recipes (plural because am giving 2), you are to read my Welcome Note, for those of you who are new to my blog and for those who are cheating on the blog's condition.

Recipe Number 1.

Am not so sure you can call that a recipe because it's a sandwich. It is in fact an Iraqi type of sandwich that we call "abiad wi bedh". The sandwich basically consists of :

- Iraqi samoon - the closet equivalent  to Samoon is Italian Ciabatta bread. If you can't find Ciabatta use French baguette
- hard boiled eggs
- boiled potatoes
- watercress or chopped fresh parsley (if you can't find watercress)
and...
- the special extra which is ESSENTIAL - Spicy or mild mango pickles which we call in Iraq "Amba". Can be found in any Indian or large surface supermarket.

Preparation :

Slice boiled eggs, potatoes add the watercress and the mango pickles (I like the spicy type) place in a HOT Ciabatta or Baguette and eat...it's delicious and filling.

Recipe no.2

This one is slightly more elaborate, but still qualifies as a lazy recipe.

For 2 persons you will need :

- 4 to 5 eggs
- 1 spring onion finely chopped
- 1 red pepper bell cut in small pieces
- a large handful of chopped fresh parsley - if you are too lazy to chop parsley use dried mixed herbs, but fresh parsley is much nicer.
- salt
- pepper
- a good pinch of sweet paprika
- 1/2 small tsp of ground cumin
- 1/2 small tsp of turmeric.
- 1tbs of vegetable oil.
- Arabic/ Lebanese bread or pitta - must be HOT

Heat oil in a large frying pan, add the chopped spring onion, pepper bell, parsley, plus spices and salt, stir fry for 3 minutes on medium fire.

Add your eggs and scramble them until cooked.

Slice the arabic/pitta bread down the middle (the bread should be hot), place your scrambled egg mix inside the bread to which you will add your mango pickles.

Bon appétit

Chana Dhal or Yellow Split Peas

Please read welcome note first over there, on your right hand side ----->

As you may have noticed, as of late I've been sharing with you some vegetarian recipes. It is Lent and it is also good to come off meat every once in a while.

Tonight's recipe is from India and it is Dhal. Dhal basically means lentils. But tonight it's Chana Dhal which is yellow split peas .

I read over 20 recipes for Chana Dhal and each one gives you a different version. Some are soupy like, some are porridge like, some had certain spices, the others did not...it was a bit of a headache, I must admit.

And since I had bought that bag of split peas a few months ago, I decided I was going to use them and do it my way.

Now online recipes have a tendency to lie a little in particular when it comes to cooking time. Some recipes said 30mn, others said 10mn...all Bullshit. If you are going to use Yellow Split Peas - Chana, you will need at least 1h.30 cooking time.

Wait, wait, you say over one hour?! Yes, a minimum of 1h30mn cooking time not preparation time. Preparation time is 10mn.

So on a Sunday, while you're sitting behind your computer, and you fancy something fragrant, tasty and spicy, indulge in Chana Dhal.

I followed the family tradition when it comes to grains. I soaked them overnight and it still took 1.h30mn and a bit. Maybe it was the kind of split peas I got and since I don't know what kind you have, let's play it safe. SOAK THEM in generous amount of water OVERNIGHT.

Let's get going shall we ?

For 2 you will need

- 200grams of Yellow Split peas or one cup of rinsed and soaked overnight in cold water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 medium size onion finely chopped
- 2 cm of FRESH ginger
- 3 cloves of Garlic
- 1/2 green small chili pepper (if you don't like it too hot, use a quarter)
- 2 tsp of Turmeric
- 1 tsp of Cumin SEEDS
- 1/2 tsp of Garam Marsala
- 1/2 tsp of red chili flakes (optional)
- 1/2 to 1 tsp of salt
- 5 branches of FRESH coriander /cilantro, leaves only.
- 1 Tbs of cooking oil (I use sunflower)
- 1 Flat Tbs of butter  (the traditional recipe uses Ghee which I hate)

*** If you don't want to use butter, use 2 Tbs of cooking oil. But Butter does give it a special flavor. And if you're not anti Butter in cooking, then discard cooking oil and use 2 TBS of Butter (which is too rancid for me) So I opted for the mix of cooking oil and butter.


Preparation 

- drain your soaked peas, rinse them again, place them in saucepan and add ONE liter of cold water
- bring to boil on high heat, while it is boiling, remove the white froth (important)
- then add the cinnamon stick (do not break it, you will find out why later), plus bay leaves plus GRATED ginger.
- let it boil for a couple of minutes, turn down heat to medium, partially cover, and leave it to cook until real tender. Patience because this is the time consuming bit. You can always add a little more water if you feel it's drying out, hence importance of keeping it on medium to low fire.
-  keep an eye and stir occasionally

Once your peas are cooked or about to be totally cooked start your Tarka. Tarka is basically the spice mix, we call it in Arabic Tatbileh, in India it's called Tarka.

- In a non stick frying pan, heat the cooking oil plus butter (or whatever option you settled for ***) and fry your chopped onions until soft and slightly golden, keep heat medium
- add your crushed garlic, chopped green chili and fry for one more minute
- add your turmeric, cumin seeds, red chili flakes, garam marsala  and salt and stir until you smell the fragrance of the spices. It will look like a thick paste
- remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves from peas.
- add your Tarka paste to the peas (you can always add a little more water if necessary)
- stir well and leave it to cook for a few minutes so the peas can absorb all the flavor.
- Serve hot and top with chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve with Naan, Chapatis or Rice.

Since I had no Naan or Chapatis I used Arabic bread and gave it a Naan Twist.

Brush Arabic bread with a mix of olive oil and black cumin seeds and heat in oven. If you have some of the olive oil/black seeds mix left, add it to a cucumber yogurt salad - it goes well with the Dhal and is delicious.
Cucumber yogurt salad is basically small diced cucumber in yogurt.

Et voilà .

Enjoy !

Carrot & Ginger Soup.

Please read my welcome note first, if you are new to this blog.

If you're into different, you will love this very tasty and easy  to make soup. If you're not into Carrots or Ginger, then obviously this is not for you.

So let's get started.

For two you will need

- 4 medium size carrots, peeled, washed, and cut into small pieces
- 1 medium size potato, peeled, washed and cut into small pieces
- 1 small onion, chopped
- FRESH ginger half size of your thumb., peeled and grated.
- 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
-  the Juice of two medium size oranges. It must be FRESH orange juice
-  about 2 cups of water
- 1 cube of vegetable stock
- fresh cream ( I use half  fat) if you are a die-hard vegetarian use Soy cream
- 4 branches of cilantro, leaves only washed and chopped
- salt and pepper to taste.

- In a large saucepan, mix carrots, potato, onion, ginger and cover with water in which you would have diluted your vegetable cube.
- Add HALF of the orange juice and the cinnamon . Stir well.
- Let it boil a few minutes and then let it simmer on a medium heat, covered until all the vegetables are tender. You can add a little water so it does not dry out.
- once vegetables are cooked, put the whole thing in a blender ( I don't have a blender so I use an electrical hand blender)
- once everything is well blended put again on LOW heat, to keep it hot -  adding the rest of the orange juice, and stir well.
-add pepper and salt to your liking.

Serve it hot, by topping it with some fresh cream and minced cilantro leaves

Enjoy !

Tofu & Lentils with Curry & Coconut sauce

Hi there, been quite some time since I updated this blog. If you're new, please read my welcome note first, which basically says- every time you try out one of my recipes you are to feed one (or more) hungry person. I leave it to you how you wish to do that, either cook for them, buy them food or give them money for a meal.

Today's recipe is a vegetarian one which I prepared for dinner. As it was simmering, I was perusing some  articles and by "coincidence", I stumbled upon  a new medical study that has just been published linking the regular consumption of red meat to cancer and heart disease. So all the more reason to go at least partially vegetarian.

Now I know some of you would love to ban Tofu, in particular men. They hate Tofu. But Tofu does not need to be like rubber, you can prepare it in such a way that it could taste as good as meat.

For those who are absolutely anti-Tofu, you can skip the Tofu part and stick to the lentils.

So let's get started. Preparation time is 15mn - cooking time is about 50mn or so.

For 2 you will need :

- 100 grams of Green Lentils (rinse and soak them in cold water for at least 15mn, they will cook faster)
- 1 medium size onion
- 1 large carrot
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 tsp of ground cumin
- 1 tsp of curry (I use hot Madras, you can go for mild if you can't take spicy)
- 1 tsp of Sambal Oelek (Thai pimento sauce found in any Asian shop. Otherwise use Harissa, which is North African pimento sauce. Short of that use Red Tabasco, but it's not as nice and short of that just use ground red Chili)
- 1/2 tsp of Turmeric
- 1 tsp of fresh grated ginger (otherwise use powder)
- 1 cube of vegetable stock
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 5 branches of cilantro leaves chopped
- 3 cups of water
- 1 tbs of cooking oil.
- 2 cups of coconut milk

For the Tofu if you do decide to eat Tofu. You will need :

- 200 grams of Tofu cut like pieces of mini steaks and fairly thick. (so not in chunks)
- 1 tbs of cooking oil
- 1 tsp of mixed dried herbs like Herbes de Provence.

Preparation.

- peel, wash carrot and dice it (the smaller the quicker it cooks)
- wash celery and cut in small pieces
- finely chop onion
- crush garlic and mince cilantro leaves.
- grate ginger

- In a non stick saucepan, heat oil, then stir fry the onions, garlic, cilantro and ginger for 1 minute
- Add drained lentils and stir for about 2 mn
- Now add your spices i.e cumin, sambal oelek, curry, turmeric and stir for another 1mn
- Add your water in which you have diluted the vegetable cube. Mix well
- Let it boil a few minutes, cover, lower heat and leave it to cook well for about 40 mn. Stirring it occasionally and make sure it does not dry out completely, hence necessity of lowering heat.

Meanwhile

- marinate pieces of Tofu in oil and mixed herbs and leave on side.

After 40mn your lentils and vegetables should be cooked by then. Add your coconut milk and some salt to taste , stir it and leave it to cook for another 10 mn uncovered until liquid is absorbed - keep it on medium to low heat.

While the lentils in coconut milk are simmering -  in a non stick frying pan, fry your marinated Tofu, until golden. Tofu cooks very quickly.

Serve lentils hot and put the Tofu on top, decorate with some Cilantro or Parsley and a squeeze of FRESH Lemon Juice.

Bon appétit.

Freeket Djaj

Hello, long time I haven't been here.  I tell you something ; am on twitter, and I threw a question haphazardly - asking what should I write  about --  poetry or a recipe...

The overwhelming majority opted for a recipe

So recipe it is, am a democrat by the way, just in case you haven't noticed...but I still have that dictatorial streak in me...I will request you to read my introductory welcome...and if you're too lazy let me sum it up for you --- for any recipe you try out, you are to feed one (or more hungry person). That is the main reason why I started this blog...so you can feed others, but also because I love cooking and would love  to share my recipes with you.

I like things simple and easy..I don't like complications in love and in cooking...somehow they seem to be related. Anyways let's stick to cooking for now.

Freekeh : what does it mean ?  It's the Arabic word for coarse roasted (smoked) green wheat.

Djaj  : means chicken.

So far so good.

A little history about Freekeh. You can actually google it, it's wheat that was first used in 13 century Baghdad, and basically consists of GREEN wheat that is roasted. It has a smokey taste to it.  Freekeh is the Middle Eastern equivalent of Quinoa. It is rich in fibers and very nutritious. It looks like  cracked coarse wheat - known as Bulgur. But it is not Bulgur...it's green wheat that's roasted and gives a distinctive smokey taste.

You can find Freeqeh in almost all Middle Easter grocery shops.  There are two kinds - grounded for soup and coarse. You need coarse for this recipe.

As for the Djaj - here again I like it simple and easy. I usually go for boneless, skinless, chicken breasts...but you can opt for a full chicken instead.

Preparation 

for two people you will need :

- 1 cup to 1.1/2 cup of Freekeh 

- 2 large chicken breasts (skinless boneless in my case - but you can opt for whole chicken)

- 3 cardamom grains

- 1/2 cinnamon stick

- 2 bay leaves

- 1 onion cut in quarters

- 4-5 grains of cloves

-  2 cloves of garlic minced

-  1 cube of chicken stock if you use chicken filet (disregard if you are using chicken with skin and bones)

-  spices (all the secret is in the spices by the way ) following is approx because I don't use measurements but work with flair /taste.

 *1 small tsp of ground ground caraway 

* 1small  tsp  of ground cinnamon 

* 1small tsp of ground cumin

* 1 tsp of Kabsah Spices  (ready made in any middle eastern grocery shop or in equal parts a mix of black pepper , ground fennel, turmeric/curcuma, all spices, cardamon, ground coriander)
--- don't kill the smoky taste of the freekeh with spices --enough to enhance it but not obliterate it.

* 1tbs full of skinless almonds

* 1 tbs full of pine nuts

* 1 tbs of cooking oil

Make it simple and easy...

Preparation :

- Wash thoroughly your Freekeh and soak in cold water for about an 30 mn to 1 hour

- remember for EVERY CUP of FREEKEH you will need 2 CUPS of CHICKEN STOCK

- in a large saucepan, place your washed chicken with onion quarters, cloves, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamon grains, cover with generous amount of boiling water, you will be using that stock for the freekeh and  leave to cook until tender and well done. If you are using boneless skinless chicken add a cube of chicken stock for extra flavor.

If you are using a whole or half a chicken, cut it in quarters and  make sure to remove the "grey froth" when boiling. Don't keep it as it gives a rancid taste to food.

in the meantime 

- drain your soaked  Freekeh and use one tablespoon of cooking oil, fry your wheat in it, keep stirring it on a medium fire...

- add your chicken stock, for every cup of Freekeh, you add 2 cups of the chicken stock 

- mix well, add your Kabsah spices, caraway, cinnamon, cumin and keep on a low fire until all liquid is absorbed. about 30-35mn.

- right before it dries up, drain your boiled chicken from the remaining stock (if any left) and put it on top of your cooking Freekeh so it can absorb all the spicy flavors

meanwhile

in a small frying pan ...with a little cooking oil

- fry the almonds until NEARLY golden brown

- add your pine nuts (pine nuts cook much faster than almonds)

- make sure both almonds and pine nuts are golden

serve your Freekeh and chicken and decorate with pine and almonds...you can accompany this with a bowl of yogurt mixed with fresh/dried mint.

 Bon appétit or Sahtein in Arabic and don't forget those who have nothing.

Engage Your Senses - Chicken Curry in Coconut Sauce

This is one of my absolute favorites. Before I give you this very simple recipe, if you're familiar with this blog, you know what my only condition is - if you're a new reader - all I ask of you is to feed one hungry person (or more), every time you try out one of my recipes.

As some of you may know by now, I like it simple, quick and easy...I love cooking but I don't like spending much time in the kitchen. So the following recipe is guaranteed to give you flavor, tastiness, aroma, exoticism, and you can really impress your guests, in less than 30mn.

For 2 you will need the following ingredients :

- 2 pieces of boneless, skinless, chicken filet cut in small chunks. (boneless/skinless means less cooking time and less fat)

- 1 to 2 Celery sticks chopped in smallish pieces

- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut in small pieces (not tiny just small)

- 1/2 cup of frozen peas

- 2 small potatoes peeled and cut in smallish chunks

- 3 cloves of garlic - crushed

- 10 branches of fresh cilantro/coriander - mince the leaves

- 1 tablespoon of cooking oil

- 1 cube of chicken stock

- about 3 to 4 (flat/small)teaspoons of medium/hot curry (you can always opt for mild curry if you're not into spicy)

- 1 teaspoon of turmeric/curcuma

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

- 2 to 3 tbs of yogurt

- salt

- garlic powder (optional)

- coconut milk or grated dried coconut (you can find both ready made)

- 1/2 tsp of grated fresh ginger /otherwise use powder ginger


Preparation :

- cut the chicken filet (you can also use turkey) in small chunks and marinate them in the yogurt + 1 tsp of curry + 1 tsp of turmeric + 1 tsp of garlic powder and some salt - best overnight in the fridge or at least for a couple of hours.

- steam all the above vegetables (peas, carrot, potatoes, celery) until half cooked. If you don't have a steamer, just boil them until half cooked (it's quicker if you do so, since you're using chicken filet and chicken filet cooks real fast unlike raw vegetables - you don't want the chicken to cook before the vegetables - logic!)

- meanwhile : in 1 tbs of cooking oil, fry the minced garlic and the fresh coriander for about 2 mn, add your marinated chicken, stir it in and let it cook until a little golden on medium fire

- add your steamed/half boiled vegetables, and cook for another 2 mn.

- add enough coconut milk to cover your stew in which you will dissolve 1 cube of chicken stock for extra flavor + add a little water so it does not become too thick.

- add the remaining 2 tsp of curry, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of fresh ginger. Mix well and let it simmer for another 7 to 10 mn on medium fire. If sauce gets too thick, add some water. (you will know when it's cooked - when the vegetables are)

- if you opt for dried coconut instead of coconut milk- use about 3 Tablespoons and add more water, as dried coconut makes the sauce thicker -

- extra tip : if you are using coconut milk add one flat Tbs of dried coconut for extra flavor.

- Decorate with a few cilantro leaves and serve with saffron rice.

As a rule of thumb : Always check for taste, texture and aroma - you don't want it too liquid nor too thick - nor do you want to suffocate it with spices or coconut. I taste often while cooking because the measurements are not always exact - not even in applied Sciences!

Saffron rice :

For two

- 1 large cup of Basmati rice, well washed and drained
- 1 to 1 1/2 cup of BOILING water
- 1/2 tsp of saffron powder or a large pinch of saffron threads
- 1 flat tbs of cooking oil
- 2 tbs of sultanas (dried raisins)
- 3 tbs of shredded skinless (unsalted) almonds (you can also use whole skinless almonds)
- salt to taste

Preparation

- heat the oil, add the washed drained rice, salt, sultanas and mix well
- add the saffron powder diluted in boiling water, mix again and lower heat to minimum until all liquid is absorbed.
- in a separate small non stick frying pan, put a little oil, and fry your almonds till golden
- decorate the rice with almonds and serve with the chicken.

NB : If you can't find Saffron, just proceed as above without it. So it will be white rice with sultanas and almonds.

Enjoy !

Linguine with Pears & Sage

If you're new to my blog, this is my only condition - of course I have no way of checking - but if you do try out one of my recipes, you are to feed one (or more) hungry person. Let it circulate.

Tonight's recipe was suggested by a friend. Actually she suggested Raviolis with pears, which I had never tried before. So that got me curious, and I searched around and came up with my own version. I say my own version because I have no time to make raviolis, so I settled for linguine instead. Linguine is spaghetti like but flat. If you don't have linguine use Tagliatelle.

You might say - what ? pasta with pears ? don't judge before you try it out. It is one of the most succulent combinations I have had in my life. Besides it's the pears season, so why not get a little imaginative ?! And it is so EASY to prepare.

For two you will need :

- 250 grams of linguine pasta

- 2 preferably hard pears

- about 4 branches of FRESH Sage. leaves only.

- half a cup of fresh cream (I use half cream because otherwise it would get a little too heavy with all the cheese)

- a tablespoon of olive oil (the traditional recipe suggests butter -again that would make it way too heavy and you don't want clogged arteries)

- about half a cup of Gorgonzola cheese ( I found a ready mix of Gorgonzola and Mascarpone which was delicious - so if you can find that mix opt for that one otherwise stick with Gorgonzola alone)

- about half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

- a small handful of Walnuts

- pepper and salt to taste (remember the cheese is already salty so you may want to take it easy with the salt)

Preparation:

- peel pears and cut them in vertical slices, and then again in two - like small thick sticks. (this is not a lesson in geometry so don't fret OK ?)

- in a large deep non stick pan, put the olive oil and the slices of pears, until the pears are GOLDEN.

- once done, remove pears and keep aside

- in that same pan, add sage leaves (if they are large - cut in two) and cook them for one minute.

- add cream, pieces of Gorgonzola plus Parmesan cheese and let it cook/simmer for another 5 to 7 mn or so, on a gentle fire, you don't want that to boil. Keep stirring gently until the cheese melts into the cream.

- now put your pears with its juice (if any) into that lovely creamy sauce and let it cook for one more minute.

TIP: Check amount of sauce, you can always add more cream and cheese if you feel it will not be enough to cover your whole pasta

Meanwhile - Pasta preparation.

- place linguine in boiling water with salt and a drop of olive oil, until cooked.
- drain them
- add them to your sage and pear sauce
- throw in your hand crushed walnuts
- mix well so that all the pasta is covered with the sauce. Covered in sauce NOT drowning in sauce
- leave to simmer for a couple of minutes.

Serve hot and decorate with a sage leaf and a couple of walnuts - and pray for me because you will LOVE it!

And here's a little Italian music to accompany you.

White Beans Stew with Vermicelli Rice.

As usual, you need the conditions here - if you try one of my recipes, you are to feed one (or more) hungry persons. Let the Goodness circulate !

Tonight's recipe is very easy to prepare. White Beans Stew or "Fasulia Bayda bil lahmeh" in Arabic - roughly the equivalent of a chili con carne or your regular baked beans except it has meat and does not have this sweet tinge to it. Some people use pieces of lamb or beef when preparing the bean stew, I use neither. I opt for lean minced beef as it is much faster to cook and I find it tastier.

Traditionally one uses dried white beans as opposed to canned. If you do opt for that, you need to soak them overnight and boil them till tender. I chose canned - again because it's faster.

So for two people you will need the following :

- 250 grms of lean minced beef (you can always buy your regular mince but I like lean)
- about 500 grms = 2 medium tins of canned white beans (NOT in any sauce)
- 6/7 stalks of fresh coriander/cilantro or parsley - minced
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced.
- 1 large ripe tomato cut in small pieces
- 1 tbs of cooking oil
- 1 beef stock cube
- 2 flat tbs of tomato paste (see below for color check)
- about 1 to 1 1/2 standard cup (not mug) of boiled water
- and the following spices for the Keema i.e for the minced meat preparation:
* 1/4 tsp mixed spices (allspice)
* 1/4 tsp of ground cumin
* 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
* a dash of sweet paprika
* a dash of Curcuma/ Turmeric
* pepper and salt (if you're using beef cube stock it's probably salty already)

the secret of this bean stew is in the Keema - ie the minced meat mix.

- heat the oil and fry your garlic and onion until tender brown
- add your minced meat (I wash mine and leave it to drain)
- add all the spices above
- leave to cook well until the meat is brownish. This is important otherwise minced meat tastes like gum and is chewy. You need to cook it well first before adding the rest.
- once the meat is cooked, add the pieces of fresh tomato + cilantro or parsley
- leave it to simmer for a about 5 mn on a medium heat
- rinse your canned beans in cold water, drain well and add to the keema mix it and leave for a few more minutes
- finally dilute tomato paste and beef stock in boiling water, pour over the beans and meat, mix well and let it boil once, covered and let it cook gently over a low fire until all the flavors are absorbed. Should not take more than 7 to 10 mn.
- make sure the stew is not too liquid nor too thick. And its color should be a healthy red, not burgundy (too much tomato paste) and not orange (too little tomato paste)

If you're a vegetarian - skip the meat part, add the beans then the spices and substitute beef stock with vegetable stock

This cooks fairly fast so you need to have your vermicelli rice "riz bil sha'riya" ready.

Vermicelli rice preparation :

- 1 1/2 cup of Basmati rice, thoroughly washed in cold water
- one big handful of vermicelli pasta
- approx one tbs of cooking oil
- salt to taste
- 1 1/2 cup of boiling water.

Heat the oil well and put the vermicelli until they are golden brown. Be careful because vermicellis burn quickly.
add your drained rice and salt
mix well
add the boiling water.

Let it boil once only and leave to simmer covered on a VERY LOW fire until all liquid is absorbed.

Serve with the hot beans stew.

Bon appétit or Sahtein in Arabic.