Sunday 4 August 2013

Potato Omelet.


By Za



Alright!! Potatoesssss!!! 
Guys this is one of my favourite dishes!! it's delish and super easy to make!! but YUMMY!! 

Many people think Algerian eat Couscous like Middle Japanese eat rice! Well, small correction.. That is not the case. We don't eat Couscous everyday or every other day.. not even 3 times a week. The dish that Algerians might eat 3 times a week or wouldn't mind eating everyday (which is not the case, but let's say very often) is Chips Omelet 



Yes, I couldn't emphasize on it enough! Most Algerians wouldn't dare say no to this simple yet delicious dish. 

I don't own a good gas cooker. I've got two electric hot plates, that are far from being cutting edge. 
So, frying food isn't the best option one would pick with what I have... but I am Algerian.. how can I possibly live without Chips Omelet!

Well, if its not fried, its boiled. 


So get: 


  • 3 medium potatoes or 4
  • 3 or 4 eggs, 
  • a big handful of parsley. 
  • Salt 
  • Oil
  • 1/2 tbsp butter


Preparation: 

Peel and dice your potatoes, then bring to to boil. (don't forget to salt the water) 

Once boiled, drain them. 

In a big pan, put a table spoon of oil and 1/2 tbsp of butter. 

One heated, put your boiled potato dice in the pan. 

Break (or beat if you want) the eggs and add them to the potatoes. 

PS: DO NOT STIR . Just give the pan a little shake so the the eggs spread evenly. 

add the chopped parsley. 

salt a little and cover. 

When the eggs harden a bit, only then, can you stir, well not literally stir, with a flat plastic or wooden spatula bring the mixture slowly upide down. it's better than way so that your potatoes dont get mushy and all broken. 


Serve with Mortadella, or black olives, spring rolls too go nicely with it. 


Bsahetkom - Bon appetit- Enjoy 
 :) 





A regular Spaghetti Bolognese





By Za


Hello there! 

Do you feel like speghetti? with something like, no white cream or mixed sauce? 
Okay, let's go for bolognere. Got your tomatoes and minced meat? let's go 


So, we'll need:


  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 + 1/2 tomato. 
  • Minced meat of your choice (beef, lamb, mutton..etc) 
  • 1 onions 
  • 4 Garlic cloves. 
  • Origano (optional,) 
  • Cloves (optional)
  • 1 bay leaf (optional) 
  • 1/2 tsp sugar. 
  • Salt 
  • water 
  • Spaghetti. 


  • No black/white papper for me, but you can hadd it if you want to. 



Let's go, 

In a cooking pot, heat the oil then add the grated onions and garlic. Let them soften up a bit. 

Put the minced meat and stir (+salt) until cooked. 

Grate your tomatoes (or blend them) and add them in the pot, then stir everything. let it cook for 3 minutes or so, then add water depending on your pot's size (try to fill up half of your pot) 

Add your 1/2 tea spoon of sugar to kill the acidity of tomatoes. 
Add a bay leaf. 
let cook. 

Boil your spaghetti, then drain it.

When the sauce is ready, add your spaghetti to it and let it get homogeneous with the sauce for roughly 5minutes (on low fire) 


Remove you bay leaf. 

Serve in one plate and share it. 


Bsahetkom, Bon appetit, Enjoy 
:) 






riZAtto - a Risotto a la Za-



By Za

Good morning everyone! 

Today I bring you a pretty much DYI-ed recipe. I was was mentioning to one of my Italian friends that needed some ideas for dinner (Iftar) and the conversation led to the recipe of the Italian Risotto. To tell the truth, I've onlu tried it once! I liked it but it was a bit too salty and heavy for me, could be the restaurant. I wasn't in Italy, the chef wasn't Italian, so I couldn't complain haha. 

So after I had taken the recipe from her, I hit the kitchen only to find out that I don't have some of the ingredients.. least of all Parmesan cheese! that thing never entered my house lol. 

So, I just thought of using whatever, well not literally, what I used was: 

  • Spinach (a big bowl) - I buy them frozen. 
  • 2 tbsp oil 
  • 1 tomato 
  • 4 Garlic cloves 
  • 1/2 onion 
  • Cumin and paprika (just the tip of the knife) 
  • Rice 
  • white cream 
  • Kurkuma (tip of a knife) 
  • salt
  • Bacon (beef or Turkey) 
  • 2 medium potatoes (optional) but they really add a nicer taste. 
  • NO CHEESE 


So, use 2 cooking pots to start with, 
one to boil the rice, and the other to prepare your spinach mixture. 


The spinach mix: 
In a cooking pot, pour some oil and add your grated onion and garlic. stir them to soften for a bit. 
Add spinach and let it cook for while (7 minutes or so) 
Add the grated tomato on to and stir. let it cook + salt. 
Add a tiny bit of cumin and paprika, when the mixture is cooked, remove it off the stove and put it aside. 


Rice, 
Once the rice is boiled, sieve it and put it back in a cooking pot, add your white cream (if it's thick you can dilute it a bit with water) I did add a bit of water because the rice absorbs it quickly, so I add about 2 cm of a normal glass. 

Once the rice and cream become homogeneous, add your spinach mixture and stir, (if the whole mixture is thick, you can add either a bit of milk or water until you can the consistence you prefer) 

Now, add a little bit o Kurkurma, it smells nice, it gives it a flavour similar to curry, and everything turns yellow!! 

Bacon: 
on a frying pan, put 1 tbsp of oil and 1/2 tbsp of butter, and put your bacon to cook. 
keep it soft and flexible, once cooked, take it out and cover it with something because if it cools down it becomes chewy and hard. 

Potatoes
 boil your potatoes and add them to the riZAtto haha. 


Bsahetkom - Bon appetit - Enjoy 
:) 

Saturday 3 August 2013

Sweet cabbage sheets, lasagna style



By Karima.


Feeling like something similar to Lasagna, lighter and healthier? 
Get your Cabbage, black olives, a portion of rice and minced meat and follow the steps: 



boil your sweet cabbage leaves for 10 mintues. 


Meanwhile, prepare your stuffing: 

In a pot grate and soften an onion in a bit of oil. add the minced meat or chicken pieces. Once cooked add chopped black olives and boiled white rice. and mix well. 




Grease an oven dish and spread the sweet cabbage sheet gently to form a sort of carpet for the stuffing. Then add some of the stuffing on it. spread it evenly before you add another layer of the sweet cabbage sheets. 









Get some Bechamelle sauce and spread it nicely and gently on top of the last layer of cabbage


Wet your wooden spoon with water so that sauce doesn't stick to it
*
*
*
Voila !! 
Then chuck in the oven, and watch till all is cooked and smells wonderfully. 


ENJOY
*






Easy PEAS-y Jwaz (stew)



By Za 

I got this recipe from my auntie Sliyou, God's peace and blessings be on her. 
Hasn't been a while? 

well well, Ramadan table brings us back together! I hope everyone is well!

This Ramadan my table consisted on one main dish, juice and some sweets. That's all :)

So, I thought of sharing with you a dish that took me literally 20 minutes to prepare. 


Do yo have peas? frozen? it's ok, let's get started 

So we'll need 


  • Medium diced hicken breast or meatballs 
  • half an onion
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves. 
  • 2 table spoons of oil (of your choice) 
  • 1/2 table spoon of paprika 
  • salt, 
  • Peas (about 500g) or less if you like. 
  • water


In a pot (if you have a pressure cooker, it would be much better), put oil and grated 1/2 onion and garlic and let them soften up a little before you add you chicken cube (if you're adding meatball, don't add them yet)
PS: Careful with the garlic - it burns quickly, you may want to add a spoo of water to help it get soft without burning. 

Stir the chicken with soft onions and garlic until the chicken grilled a little and gives a nice flavour, (if things get dry add a tiny bit of water) 

Add paprika and stir more. 

Add your peas (if they are frozen, it's ok don't wait for them to defrost, just chuck them in the pot)

Then, add water just enough to cover the peas and chicken. ( now you can add you meatballs if you don't want chicken) 


Salt 

Let cook.
If you're using a pressure pot, let it cook for 10 munites. If it's a regular pot, you may want to let them cook longer, and watch and feel the peas until they are soft as you like them. :)
you'll notice the sauce is reduced and thicked a little. 


PS: For the meatballs. once everything is cooked, I usually take them out and put them in a pan with a little oil and butter and let them brown and grill, to give a better taste (cover the pan) 

Place in a dish and decorate with chopped parsley and lemon slices (some people love to squeeze some lemon juice on the Jwas while eating) 



Bsahetkom - Bon appetit  Enjoy.