A few months ago, a beautiful little joy came into my family’s life. Maiyar Al-Zoubi, my husband Ameir’s new baby sister, was born in August.

When Baby Maiyar came home, we had to keep the other girls busy, of course. So Maryam and I helped them paint a big, colorful banner that said: “Marhaba Ahlan wa Sahlan Maiyar! Welcome, We Love you!”

We had a great time with the banner – I really recommend doing this when you need to keep six little hands busy. It kept the girls amused and occupied for hours. It was relaxing for Fatimah, who loves art and helped paint a little bit, too. Maryam and I traced out the letters and divided them up equally between the girls (so that there would be no “She got more than me!” fights.) Each girl got one capital letter and several lowercase ones, and Maryam and I did the rest. It was also a great way to teach the girls about mixing primary colors to get secondary colors.

This soup is named after Maiyar, because I took it to the hospital while Fatimah was in labor. I wanted something nourishing and subtle – nothing too overpoweringly flavorful.

This sunset hued soup is smooth and heartwarming, perfect for cold winter days (which seem to be continuing on FOREVER). It freezes really, really well, so it’s perfect to make in advance. I pack it in two-serving sizes in a ziplock bag and lay flat to freeze.

Ameir also calls this “Taiyyaba’s Butternut Squash Soup That’ll Knock Your Socks Off.” The pictures are from when I made this at Thanksgiving (made ahead, frozen, reheated and kept warm in the slow cooker until dinner) and fancied it up with a drizzle of cream on top. There is actually no cream in this soup, but the texture will make you think it does!

Winter Squash Bisque

1 medium or small butternut squash, diced
3 carrots, diced, or enough to make equal parts butternut squash and carrot
1 onion, diced
1/2 – 1 tsp sugar
1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced or diced
1 can canellini beans, rinsed
1 – 2 cans diced tomatoes
about 1 quart of chicken or vegetable broth or stock
1 tsp cumin
1/2 – 1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and black pepper

Put the diced squash and carrots in a big bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with the spices. I put much less in this soup than I would for a curried vegetable soup. Originally, it was to give Fatimah (and through her, baby Maiyar), something flavorful but not too spicy – but now I realize that it really lets the naturally subtle flavor of the butternut squash come out. I added just enough so I could lightly smell the spices. The cinnamon adds a beautiful semi-sweetness – I really suggest trying it. Cinnamon is used in a lot of Morrocon dishes with red meat (which is often cooked with pumpkin – so this is a very well-tested flavor profile!)

Spread the carrot and squash onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and roast at 450F for about 7-10 minutes, then turn over and roast the other side for the same amount. In about 20 minutes total, depending on how small you’ve cut the vegetables, they should be soft enough to smoothly poke a fork through.

At this point, turn the broiler on and give the vegetables some color. This part is not necessary, but it adds another layer of flavor.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat some olive oil in a pan and add the onions. (Just the onions!). For this soup, I caramelize them. Stir to combine the onions with the oil, then spread in a single layer. Cook over medium-low heat for about 5-10 minutes, then sprinkle with sugar (brown or white) and cook for about 20 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, you can add the garlic too, since we’ll need it for this soup. While we’re caramelizing, might as well get some sweetness into the garlic as well! You’ll see the onions start to get golden brown and very soft. Taste as you go and get them as dark as you want (or have time for – truly caramelized onions can cook for an hour or more. See here and here.)

Once the onions are sweet and caramelized, add the white beans to the pot. Also add the diced tomatoes. If you want the soup more tomato-flavored, use two cans. Let the beans and tomatoes simmer till the beans are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the roasted vegetables back into the pot. At this point, you’ve got a thick stew to eat over couscous, with some grilled steak. Stop here, if you like.

Pour half or more of the vegetables into a blender. Add 1/2 quart of stock and blend until smooth. You can leave it half chunky, or blend it all completely smooth. Add more stock until it is the consistency you like it. I usually end up using the whole quart of stock.

That’s it! Roast veggies, cook onions, cook beans, puree. How easy is that?! I’ve even roasted the veggies the day before and just cooked the rest up the day of serving. If you dice the vegetables beforehand and keep them in the fridge, this soup can be on the table in 30 minutes. Freeze it in ziploc bags for a hot dinner on a cold day. When you reheat, you might need to add more stock, so have a little extra in the fridge (or you could use milk for something creamier).

This was part of another phenomenal “afternoon tea” sessions, which are quickly turning into “try every recipe we can in 5 hours” sessions. (Thanks to Ayesha, Sara, Amy, Maryam, and Samra for a great afternoon!) These chicken meatballs were accompanied by Ayesha’s butternut squash risotto and some homemade marinara sauce.

Baked Chicken Meatballs
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

I’m sure you can read SK’s instructions just as well as I can, so I’ll just tell you what I did differently. We made a double batch, so the measurements described should be halved if you’re only using one pound of chicken.

I used turkey bacon instead of pancetta, but the second time I made it, I did not use it at all. To the meatball mixture, I added 1 tablespoon chipotle and about 1 or 1 and 1/2 tsp each cumin and coriander. I forgot how much exactly, but the extra half tsp. will just add an extra kick if you’re in the mood. The smokiness of these spices is enough to make up for the lack of pancetta/turkey bacon.

I also complied with SK’s “accident” of adding tomato paste to the meat mixture itself. It added an extra punch and smooth texture to the meatballs, and I highly repeating following this mistake!

Notice that, for one batch, SK uses 3 slices of bread soaked in milk. I actually used the same amount for two batches. It was moist enough without having to add another 3 slices of bread. Also, I think I forgot to add the egg, but it still came out perfectly. It is a very forgiving recipe!

These really are delicious and easy meatballs – easy for a weeknight supper or a party. Try them!

I really could not figure out what to call these cute little appetizers, so suggestions are welcome. These are quite easy to whip up for a quick snack or as appetizers for a party.

The concept is simple – cut rounds out of a basic cornmeal dough and bake them into cups, molded over the back of muffin tins. Fill with anything you want! I usually make a black bean filling, but have also filled the cups with guacamole.

Imagine the possibilities with these little critters. Make the cups bigger and assemble a mini salad – shredded lettuce, diced avacado, and grilled shrimp. Sauteed leeks, a slice of steak, and caramelized onions. Add sugar to the dough and fill with caramelized apples. *dreamy sigh*

Alternatively – the cornmeal dough is great as a pizza crust (pre-bake it a little), and the black bean filling makes a phenomenal sauce. Try it!

Recipe after this link –
Read the rest of this entry »

After a long day, I just want to collapse on the couch and eat pizza. After a stressful day, I often want to cook. Something about rhythmic chopping, sauteeing, using my hands to create a beautiful meal relaxes and satisfies me.

These little gems were the perfect remedy for a cold, stressful day. Chopping turnip and carrots into small pieces is an excellently safe way to get some frustration out!

The recipe for these root vegetable dumplings comes from my new favorite food blog, The Kitchn, by Apartment Therapy. It is a very well-described recipe, so I’ll just mention what I did to make it my own.

The vegetables I used were onion, garlic, carrots, celery, cremini mushrooms, and turnips. This is also a great place for parsley stems, because they’ve got the consistency of celery and give a nice bright kick; they’ll cook down into the mix. Once they started getting well browned and a little dry, I added homemade turkey broth instead of water.

This is what resulted.

This stuff is pure gold. Vegetable caviar. I have so many plans for this stuff. Can you imagine this loveliness rolled into cabbage leaves and braised in a tomato sauce, like a carb-free malfouf (arab-style cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and meat)? How about spread over crusty bread with some ricotta to balance the savory? Made a little saucier and poured over polenta or couscous (*oh my god dreamy sigh*) with some cheese on top. oh. em. gee.

ANYWAYS that’s beside the point for now. Carry on with the dumpling process.

Now, instead of using water to simmer these, I again used turkey broth, simmering the dumplings in batches. I served the broth with the final dumplings as a soup. If you do it this way, be careful to taste the broth before serving it. It may have concentrated from the simmering and boiling, so water it down a little if it’s too strong.

And done! Later on, when the broth was finished, I had the leftover dumplings over some sauteed kale, paired with a fried egg. So. much. good.

Sweet, tart dried cranberries. Earthy, bright apricots. Dark, crunchy walnuts. Smooth and creamy white chocolate – what is not to love?

I used Ina Garten’s White Chocolate Bark recipe for these beauties. The fruit-and-nut one, as you can see, is almost the same as hers. The only difference is that I toasted the walnuts before adding them to the chocolate.

That chocolate was good.

The rose-swirled chocolate is absolute joy for the senses. The colors are immediately striking. And the flavors. Oh the flavors. And the textures! The exotic perfume and rich sweetness of rose syrup contrasts absolutely perfectly with the crunchy, salty pistachios and coconut. The creamy white chocolate softly balances it all out.

Rose-swirled white chocolate bark

1/4 cup Rooh Afza syrup, or more to taste
1/4 cup roasted and salted pistachios
1/4 cup Sweetened flaked coconut, toasted till golden brown

Have all your materials next to you so you can work quickly. The chocolate has to be warm and unhardened so that the swirl will work and the nuts will adhere. You’ve got a 60 second window before it starts getting to solid to change.

Melt the white chocolate according to Ina Garten’s recipe and spread it on a large piece of parchment paper.

Drizzle the Rooh Afza over the chocolate. The syrup is very thick, so it helps to pour it out of the big bottle into a smaller vessel for more control while pouring. Also, don’t hold the vessel too close to the chocolate while pouring – raise your hand at least 6 inches above to get a thin stream. Use a skewer or butter knife to swirl the syrup around the white chocolate.

Sprinkle the pistachios and toasted coconut on top and press (very) lightly.

Keep the chocolate in a cool place until it hardens. Crack or cut into large pieces to serve.

I was always destined to be a foodie. My favorite short stories, or favorite parts of longer tales, were always about what food everyone was eating. So naturally, I loved the story of Stone Soup. The story of the old man who started with a rock and some water, and ended up with a mouthwatering stew was entirely enchanting to my child self. I could always taste the savory broth on my tongue and smell the strong aroma by the end of the story.

My mom has instilled in me a desire to never waste food – she’s always repurposing and disguising leftovers into something new and often more delicious. So, I follow my mom’s lead and the moral (or, I should say, the cooking-related moral) of Stone Soup when I make homemade broths. In the same way that the old man made a rich meal from odds and ends that the rich villagers condescended to give him, I make an “Odds and Ends” stock that fills my house with savory fragrance and keeps me well souped and stewed for months.

Every time I make a salad, steam vegetables for dinner, chop an onion for the base of a chili – or at any time use vegetables for any reason, I save the root ends that get lopped off and out of the meal. Instead of throwing them away, I put them into a big ziplock bag and store them in the freezer. In the same way, every time I debone a roasted chicken, or cut the neck out of a bird (who eats that part, really?), I throw the carcass and bones into a separate freezer bag.

Once the vegetable and chicken bags are full, it’s time to make stock!

There are three main benefits I see to this method. First, I never waste the odds and ends of vegetables. Second, the variety of (cleaned) vegetable ends I end up with enriches and adds depth of flavor to the final broth. Third, I rarely have to buy extra vegetables or full chicken parts to make stock. Bones from roasted (or, ohmigosh grilled) chicken make for a deeper broth than raw chicken meat, anyway. Usually, the only “fresh” things I have to add are one onion and one head of garlic.

Odds and Ends Stock

What vegetable scraps end up in my broth? Pretty much anything!
- Tips and bottom ends of carrots, celery, zucchini, turnips.
- Broccoli stalks.
- Mushroom stems (portobella, cremeni, button – whatever).
- The blossom ends of onions, and that first greenish-white layer you take off, but not the peel of the whole onion. The same for shallots.
- The green outer/top parts of scallions and leeks that are too tough or slightly too wilted to cut up and cook, and the sprout/bottoms, too.
- Butternut squash peels and blossom ends.
- The tiny little garlic cloves that you don’t want to try to peel.
- Stems from a bunch of parsley or cilantro.

My rules are relatively simple: I make sure that everything is clean (I do not want dirt in my stock). I don’t add too much of one thing (not 3 whole broccoli stalks, not all onion peels, etc.)

The method is comfortingly easy. A few hours on a weekend afternoon are all you need.

Instructions here: Read the rest of this entry »

For a long time, I was misguided. I have repented my ways and am attempting to make amends.

Yes. I’m talking about radishes.

I really used to dislike them – too crunchy, too accrid on my tongue. To own the truth, I still can’t eat a big chunk of radish, especially if it’s very spicy. But when they’re thinly sliced into a salad like this one, these crispy red and white root vegetables are absolute perfection.

In France, radishes are eaten as an after-school snack, dipped into coarse salt and soft butter. The simple combination of those flavors – radish, butter, salt – inspired this beautifully quick salad. Ameir and I liked this so much that we ate the whole bowl of it, and I went back to the store the next day to buy two more bunches of radish. And yes, we ate all of that, too.

This is a technique more than a recipe. I didn’t make exact measurements, but was just tasting and admiring colors to see how much of an ingredient to add.

The parsley compliments the crunch and pepperiness of the radish. Altogether, the two make a pretty strong flavor profile. Enter bread, butter, and cheese.

The salad is piled on top of buttered and toasted sourdough toasts. I suppose you could make croutons out of them and eat the whole thing from a big bowl. The toasted, buttery bread provides another kind of crunch, but a little warmth and softness to counteract the possible harshness of the radish and parsley.

The cheese is the simplest but most important part, I think. I picked a classic syrian cheese, which has the light flavor of ricotta but the texture of a harder buffalo mozarella. I don’t mix the cheese in, but leave it in big crumbles on the side to pop into your mouth in between bites of salad-atop-bread.

The salad is dressed very simply – olive oil and balsamic. The former provides a fruity sweetness, the latter a sweet-tart tang.

Recipe after the link Read the rest of this entry »

“Abu Hurayrah (radiAllahu anhu) reported that the Messenger of Allah, salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “When someone of you prays, let him not say, ‘O Allah forgive me if that is Your wish.’ But let him be firm in conviction and cherish a great hope. And Allah does not consider anything too great which He is able to grant.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

“Say: Whether you hide what is in your hearts or manifest it, Allah knows it, and He knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and Allah has power over all things.” Surat Aal-Imran, v. 29.

After a long and later explained hiatus, I have returned. There are so many lessons we can learn by studying the etiquette and power of calling upon Allah through duaa’. (But that’s the stuff of a whole ‘nother series of blogs).

For now, let me just say that I am so proud of my husband for the newest iPhone app by Batoul Apps: Supplications!

The Quran and Hadith provide an endless source of Guidance for our daily lives. Unfortunately, most of us have not been able to memorize the duaas that these sources provide. Supplications makes it easy to have these gifts with you all the time, guiding you to special prayers for your benefit and comfort. Supplications lets you supplement your Salah with duaas for your daily routine and significant events in your life.

InshAllah, may all your duaas be answered – and please include in your duaas Batoul Apps and all the people who worked hard to bring this great app to your iPhone! You can download it now from the App store.

I made these “cheese wands” for a Harry Potter party. Super simple.

Thin Cheese Breadsticks

Pizza dough
Herbs and black pepper
Cheese
Olive Oil

Mix the cheese with herbs and black pepper. Roll the dough out thinly – very thinly. Cut it into strips. Brush with olive oil. While the dough is still on the board, spread the cheese-herb mixture on top. Pick up each strip and twist. Put it onto an oiled baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 10 min, more or less. Watch them so they don’t burn. Be warned – if you do not oil the sheet, they will stick.

If you eat these immediately, they’re soft. Later on, they get crispy. Delicious either way as wands or accompanying soup.

I had a cup of buttermilk that resulted from making homemade butter, and my mom brought these beautiful blueberries. Thus, it was time to make Deb’s Buttermilk Cake. The batter was really creamy and smooth, and have cake was really soft and tangy. The only thing I did differently was to put brown sugar on top instead of white sugar. My blueberries sunk to the bottom, but it was still perfect.