Sahlab – Salep — Middle Eastern Sweet Beverage

Sahlab, Salep is a type of middle eastern sweet beverage that is served hot. You can top it with cinnamon and serve it. You can also put raisins in it as well and drink and eat the raisins. With the winter upon us and the cold weather has arrived, this is a great thing to drink in a cold winters night. I was introduced to this a few years back going to my Armenian Bible study. We would usually have cookies, and snacks for after bible study sessions, so a few times Sahlab, Salep was made by the women’s guild group of the church and we would enjoy 2nd even 3rd servings of it. They would make so much that everyone got seconds and 3rds. It is so delicious.

The ingredients are Skimmed Milk or Water
Salep Flour
Sugar
Rose Water
Cinnamon
Coconut

In Specialty Grocery stores and middle eastern stores, they sell the ready mixed ingredient packages, you just add the milk or water to it and it becomes Sahleb, Salep, however you want to call it. Many countries and regions have different names for it which have different spellings and pronunciations. Sometimes all you need is a warm beverage to satisfy your sweet tooth and just enough for cold days. Who says you cannot have it in the spring and summer also. Its a good thing to have all year round. It is yummy, delicious and you will keep wanting more of it.

Enjoy and bon apetit!

Talin’s — Favourite Sweet Tahini Bread Swirls

Many Years ago, I was at my Armenian Community Center and there was a Bazaar like a flea market type of event, and a couple of days before I went and assisted the Armenian Women’s Guild Group to make Sweet Tahini Bread Swirls to sell, So I learned how to make it from the Armenian Ladies and perfected it. So, I decided to write down the recipe to make it at home. I was so glad I did. It is incredibly tasty, and I enjoy making this. Although I have not made it in over a year, but I was thinking about it today, so I want to make it again this week, and Sweet Tahini Swirls are good anytime, any day. You can serve this with Coffee, Tea, Armenian Coffee, or at anytime. You can have it for Breakfast, or for a snack, whenever your heart desires. Well, Here is the recipe for this delicious dessert.

This is counted as 4 Bread Swirls of 16 Cm’s, but you can play around with the amounts according to how many you are making.

CREDITS: http://www.blago.net/baking/bread/lebanese-sweet-tahini-swirls/

Made some modifications, but full credit goes to the site above

Dough:

• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 120 ml lukewarm water
• 200 gr all purpose flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Filling:

• 4 small tbsp tahini
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 4x tsp olive oil
• 4x tsp cinnamon

Use Flour on countertop or big cutting board to work with the dough and filling.

Make the dough

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water, and add the sugar and oil. Add the flour, a handful at a time. Quickly knead into a floppy, flexible dough that does not stick to the hands anymore. Leave covered in a bowl for about 2 or 3 hours, to rise. As all the air will be rolled out of it later, the stretchiness of the dough is more important than the amount of air in it.

Follow the Following Steps.

When the dough has had some time to rise, divide it into four balls. Roll out one ball at a time, into a rough rectangle of “pizza thickness” – about 2 or 3 mm (1). Scatter the teaspoon of olive oil over it. I combined the tahin with the sugar, added a teaspoon of finely ground lemon rind (packet) to that, and scattered the somewhat dryer tahin mixture, like crumbs, over the dough surface (2). Dust the tahin-sugar layer with cinnamon. Gently press it flat with the back of a spoon. You’re now ready to roll.

Pre-heat the oven to 190° C. If you use a baking stone, put it in the middle rack.

Dust the worktop with a bit of castor sugar and flour to help with the rolling. Cut squares of baking parchment of about 17 x 17 cm. Roll up the dough rectangle, starting at the longest edge. Roll and pull and gently twist a bit, and the resulting sausage will be much longer, about 40 to 50 cm (4). Taking one end as the center, now turn the sausage in on itself, forming a rolled bun (5). Gently press it flat with your hand, then transfer onto a piece of parchment, and use the rolling pin again to gently roll the bun into a 15cm wide flat circle, about a cm in thickness (6). Prepare as much swirls as your oven can hold in one go, leave the rest covered up.

Using a pizza peel or an extra-wide spatula to support the flat tahini swirls sitting on their separate parchment, quickly transfer them into the oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or till parts of the surface have turned a deep golden brown. Get them out and leave them to cool and get nice and crispy on a wire rack.

Have some apple tea to go with that. Their taste is not overly sweet; and I love the combination of crunchiness with that slightly caramelized sesame filling. Roll over Swedish cinnamon buns, these tahini swirls are awesome!

CREDITS: http://www.blago.net/baking/bread/lebanese-sweet-tahini-swirls/

Talin’s Delicious Salad Dressing – Say Goodbye to Creamy!

Hello everyone,

I have started to eat really healthy for the past month and I am experimenting a lot in the kitchen about alternative and healthy ways to eat your food. Now some salads even though they are loaded with Veggies, can sometimes have many calories because of the dressing you put onto your salad. It plays a big part in promoting healthy eating. So, I came up with my very own dressing which is loaded with flavour, No calories and it kicks your salad up a few notches. Not just a notch. Just like Chef Emiral Lagasse would say.  Now it depends on how much Salad you are making, so eyeball how much of the ingredients below as to the quantity. Like say you have more than 5 people to feed or as desired or as you go, but here are my measurements.

Now without further due, here is my flavorful dressing.

Ingredients you will need to mix in separate bowl before adding to your garden salad:

Dry Ingredients:

1 tsp — Ground sumach Sumac (like a purplish/reddish powder)

1 tsp — of Salt

1 tsp — Black Pepper or Cracked Black Pepper.

1 tbsp — Ground Dried Mint

1 tsp — Ground and Chopped Parsley Flakes (You can find it in your spice aisle at the grocery store)

Pinch — of Cinnamon with the tip of your fingers.  Not too much!

half tsp — of Ground Ginger

Liquid Ingredients:

2 — Fresh Lemons — Make sure the skin is bright yellow as we will use some to zest about 1 tbsp worth of zest, maybe just a bit more than cut it in half and squeeze both Lemons well. Make sure you roll it a few times on your counter or cutting board to activate the juices inside and it will be easier to squeeze out with your Lemon squeeze.

3 tbsp — Olive Oil

3 tbsp — of Pure White Vinegar

1 Lime — Squeezed both sides and cut in half — Follow the same concept as Lemon but without Zesting it.

—– **NOTE** You can play around with the quantity and depending how small or big your salad is, make it according to the number amount of servings.

To Prepare:

Mix all the Liquid ingredients first, then as you go, add each dry ingredient separately into the mix and keep mixing it with your tbsp and then let your salad dressing sit for about 10 to 15 minutes until the dry ingredients have settled with Liquid ingredients because you want to let them incorporate with each other. Do not add it into the salad until after you let it sit. meanwhile you wait for the dressing to settle, set the table, do the dishes you took out to make your lunch or dinner so less washing of dishes later and you can get things done quicker after, then by the time you do all that, it will settle in, then you mix it well into the salad, and there you have it. Talin’s Salad Dressing. .

 

Bon apetit!

Talin’s Cinnamon Banana French Toast With Real Cherries on The Sides

Hello everyone, Here is a breakfast recipe that is fast and easy to make …..

Here is how to make Cinnamon Banana French Toast With Real Cherries on the sides.

You will need:

1-2 banana’s mashed up,

3 to 4 large Eggs

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon or as much as desired

10-12 cherries or as much as desired.

3-4 Whole Wheat Toast Bread.

—————–

Preparations:

First you crack the eggs into a large bowl, then incorporate the banana’s, then you add in the cinnamon and beat very well, then take a large pan heat up to high and put some olive oil and dunk the toast bread into the batter and then put it on  medium high so you won’t burn the french toast, and cook on each side for 5-7 minutes on both sides or until golden brown and then pit the cherries and wash them thoroughly and then decorate on the sides.

—–

you can make your own fruit syrup with strawberries and blueberries mixed together. it will be a great add on and no use of those sugary syrups.

 

Bon apetit!

Talin’s Specialty Cinnamon Cake

One of my favourite things is to bake and to cook. I LOVE Making cakes. I am here to tell you about a basic cake you can make and its so simple. It takes less than 15 minutes to prepare everything. Here it is. for something so simple, easy and fast.

Ingredients

2 Table spoons of Cinnamon

1 table spoon of vanilla extract

1 to 2 table spoon of baking powder

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

half cup of canola oil

1 cup of Milk….

6 Eggs.

How to prepare:

First you beat the eggs in the stand mixer, then you put in all the liquid ingredients, and beat them very well, then put in the dry ingredients. beat them very well together…

then you grease the pan with the cooking spray and then preheat the oven to bake mode to 350 c, then you put the cake batter into the pan, then you put it into the oven once its preheated.

Baking time takes about an hour to an hour and 10-15 minutes…

 

 

Talin’s Specialty Home Made Chili — With Baked Beans

Hello,

I have not written a recipe in a while, so I decided to write one today. Here is how to make my famous home made chili. It is very simple to make.

What you will need:

Lean Ground Beef, 1 teaspoon of Salt, half teaspoon of Pepper, 1 teaspoon of All Spice, half teaspoon of Cinnamon,  a pinch or two of Chili Flakes, 1 teaspoon of Ground Powdered Chili,  4 tablespoons of Tomato Paste, Baked Beans with tomato sauce(3 cans), 2 Red Onions, 1 Red Pepper Washed and Chopped into bite sized pieces, 1 Can of Red Kidney Beans with the fluid drained and washed, then strained..

How To Prepare:

In 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil on Medium Heat, Cook the ground beef and part the beef as much as possible until they get into bits, but not too too much. want to have some Chunky little Ground beef, after that is well done and cooked, add in the 2 red onions chopped. then add about 1/3 of water so that it will steam together and cook. Then add the Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon, All Spice, Chili Flakes, Powdered Chili, let that all cook with the ground beef and onions, then after you put in the 1 red pepper, then you add the Tomato Paste. After all that is cooked, put in the red kidney beans and baked beans together. Now then put half a cup of water so that it becomes a bit more liquidy. Then make sure that the chili is very hot. Put the temperature in between High and Medium toward the middle and then voila! This serves to about 4-5 people.

Depending on the mildness to the hotness of the chili, it all depends on a persons preference how much hot spices like the powdered chili and chili flakes to put in.

BON APETIT!

 

Banana, Cinnamon, Walnut Sandwich on a Thin Pita Bread

Lately I have been incorporating more fruits in my diet and finding ways to get more nutrients in my body as its very important for longevity and health.

For years My mother and I have had this delicious sandwich of Banana, Cinnamon and Walnuts in an Arabic Pita Bread and I just lovvvve it! Here is what you do.

You take a whole banana, you tear apart the Arabic Pita Bread, and you put in the Banana, then you add Walnuts, after you add the Cinnamon on top.

It is so healthy and Cinnamon is a great defense for so many things and you get your daily potassium and protein from the Walnuts….

 

You can also add into the sandwich some real pure honey. It tastes incredible.

 

The Big Apple — Colborne, Ontario — My Thoughts and My Rating on it.

3, 519,760  apple pies sold. By, Talin Orfali

In past experiences I have stopped at the Big Apple in Colborne, Ontario on my way back and forth from Montreal to Toronto, Toronto to Montreal and I think its a nice landmark in Ontario. It can be seen from Highway 401 at exit 497. Percy St. Big Apple Dr in Cramahe Township. There is a giant red apple, that cannot be missed. It has been in existence since I was little.

I must say certain pies are great especially the Caramel Apple Crumble, but I have tried the Apple cookies and I didn’t find them to be quite appealing. It was overbaked and I really did not enjoy it. It was not what I had expected. The gift shop is quite enormous and there is an array of merchandise, groceries, snacks, souvenirs and apple products for baking and consuming. I had bought a lanyard, t-shirt and a couple of things from the gift shop. I think some of the prices are reasonable, but some are ridiculously expensive. I really do not see the logic of things being expensive in stores. They will be kept there for years if they do not make the prices reasonable for the customers.

There is a golf course, There is a pole with a sign on it stating how far cities are in the world. It is pretty neat. There are animals, and a lookout point in the giant red apple, that overlooks the Highway 401. You can see transport trucks and vehicles driving by so quickly and the nature of trees around is absolutely spectacular.

The cleanliness of the restroom’s are excellent and maintained. If you ever go to a bakery, restaurant or place where food is being served, the restrooms must be clean. The restrooms are an important factor to how food is handled and overall health of a restaurant and how things are made.

My overall rating out of 10 for The Big Apple is an 8. They can improve on some things as stated as above.