Talin’s Cauliflower Pilaf Rice Medley With Ground Beef

Hello, as you may or may not know, I love the kitchen and cooking and baking and here is the recipe for today.

Talin’s Cauliflower Pilaf Rice Medley With Ground Beef

What you need:

Half a cauliflower — Cauliflower must be washed, then cut up into bite sized pieces.

3 Cups of Parboiled Rice — Washed well of about 3-4 times —

3 tablespoons of Margarine Butter

1 Extra Lean or Lean Ground beef — about 1 cup full or 2 cups full

1 and a half teaspoon of Nutmeg

1 teaspoon of All Spice.

2 teaspoons of salt

A handful or two of each of —- Pine Nuts, Slivered Almonds, Walnuts in pieces. Not too small though, —-

3 Teaspoons of Olive Oil

————-

How to Prepare:

Take a large pot

First you cook the ground beef well done with the Margarine butter, then you add in the Nutmeg, Allspice, Salt after it is cooked thoroughly –

as the meat is cooking in a separate pan with the olive oil, you incorporate the pine nuts, slivered almonds and walnuts and get them to a golden brown. Do not let it burn. take it off the burner… KEEP THIS UNTIL THE END

then you go back to the meat, as you cook that take the washed cauliflower and distribute it evenly and do not mix with the meat….

then you put the washed rice over the cauliflower and spread it evenly — AGAIN DO NOT MIX

then you add the Finishing touch of the pine nuts, slivered almonds and walnuts —- AGAIN DO NOT MIX.

Then you take 6 and a half to 7 cups of water – put into the pot and let it come to a boil,

after it comes to a boil, put the pot cover and leave it slightly open about an inch or half an inch and put the stove onto medium and leave it cooking for about 10-15 minutes. depending how long the water fades. it can be more.

You don’t want the rice to be mushy. just make it al dente…..

BON APETIT!

Armenian Pizza — Laghmajoun – MesaShod – Armenian Style

Hello All, this is my last Delicious week recipe.

 

Armenian Pizza 🙂

 

Enjoy the recipe

 

Printed from THEGUTSYGOURMET.NET

INGREDIENTS: Makes 10-12

 

Dough:**See Note

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

• ½ tsp sugar

• ½ cup lukewarm water

• 3 cups all purpose white flour

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

** NOTE: You can use medium sized fluffy flour tortillas and skip the dough making. Be sure when

you bake the lahmajoon/lahmacun, that you oil the baking sheet when you bake them.

 

Topping:

• olive oil for the brushing the dough before the topping

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 2 cloves crushed garlic

• 1 large onion, grated

• 1 tomato skinned and chopped – put tomato in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water for 2

minutes, remove and peel. Leave seeds and juice with the tomato, do not discard.

• salt to taste

• 1 – 2 teaspoons sugar

• 12-16 oz ground lamb – can use 85% fat ground beef.

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• 1 large lemon, juice of

• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced

• 1 pickled Jalapeno pepper finely chopped

• 1 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 1 cup fresh spearmint, finely chopped

• 1 tsp. cumin

• 1 tsp. paprika

 

MAKING THE DOUGH:

** NOTE: You can use medium sized fluffy flour tortillas and skip the doughmaking. Be sure when you bake the lahmajoon/lahmacun,

that you oil the baking sheet when you bake them.

 

In a small bowl mix yeast and the sugar. Add 1/2 cup of warm water, stir well, cover the bowl. Keep the mixture in a warm place

for about 15 minutes to full activate the yeast.

 

Add the yeast mixture to the remaining flour and water. Knead well until the dough is soft and smooth.

 

Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover and let sit in a warm area of your kitchen for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled

in size.

 

Take the dough out and punch down. Divide the dough into 10-12 balls just slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Roll and set aside

on a floured surface and cover with a damp towel. Set the oven at 450º F.

 

MAKING THE TOPPING:

Add the onion, garlic and butter to a skillet and sautè until translucent. Take off the stove and let cool.

 

Take all your prepared vegetables and place them all in a large bowl. If you have a food processor, this would be the time to

give all the vegetables a few pulses to get them all into a fine spreadable size. DO NOT PROCESS TO AN UNIDENTIFIABLE MUSH!

 

Add pepper flakes, salt, sugar, paprika, cumin and lemon juice into a large bowl with the other ingredients and mix well by hand

until you have well mixed, spreadable topping.

 

Take balls of dough and roll into a round, circle or an oval measuring up to 1/16 to 1/8 inches in thickness. Place on a baking

sheet that has been oiled with olive oil, canola oil or cooking spray. Brush each round with olive oil (Extra Virgin is best). Top

with 2-3 tablespoons of the topping and spread the topping very thinly. Make sure you have an even layer.

 

Each baking sheet will hold two lahmajoon/lahmacun. You should have 3 or 4 baking sheets to keep things moving. Keep your

eye on the sheets in the oven to make sure they bake evenly. You may have to move things around the oven.The oven should

remain at 450°F – not too high and not too low. Since you are going to be constantly opening the oven, the temperature ideally

will stay between 400º F and 350ºF. Cooked Lahmajoon/Lahmacuns are crispy at the edges and pliable in the center. You can

stack your finished lahmajoon/lahmacun topping side to topping side and bottom to bottom. Cover them with a damp towel to

keep them from getting too brittle.

 

You are now ready to fill them with fresh parsley, cucumber slices, sweet onion slices or other fresh veggies and a drizzle of

lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, roll them up and enjoy these Anatolian delights.

Armenian Cheese Boreg

Hi Everyone,Tomorrow will be the last of my Middle Eastern Armenian Recipes week, then I will resume to the regular blogging. Enjoy the last 2 recipes of today and tomorrow.

A phyllo dough turnover filled with cheese and parsley and baked to a golden brown. Similar to the Greek Spanakopita, but a bit more cheesy and lighter in texture. They can be served hot or at room temperature Like many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern recipes, the phyllo dough co-stars with the feta cheese to make this a spectacular snack. The packaged phyllo dough available today makes recipes like this a cinch, compared to the exhausting and time consuming drudgery of rolling out sheets and sheets of tissue paper-thin phyllo dough.

RECIPE PRINTED FROM: THEGUTSYGOURMET.NET©

INGREDIENTS: Makes 2 dozen

●   ½ pound, or more,  butter melted,  or better yet Clarified Butter.

●   Purchase 1 box phyllo dough at your supermarket (Athens or Apollo brands are the best).  You will
     need the whole box.

FILLING: 
●  1½ lbs. Jack cheese,  or ricotta,  or Armenian or Greek (Feta) cheese. Mix or take your choice.  Feta is
    the most authentic.  I like to mix feta and jack cheese ½ and ½.
●  1 cup chopped Armenian or Italian parsley,  Flat leafed.
●  2 eggs [beaten well]
●  ½ teaspoon salt
●  ½ teaspoon white pepper
●  Mix the above ingredients for the filling

DIRECTIONS: 

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F

2. Cut your phyllo dough sheets into 4 inch wide strips and the length of the longest dimension of the
    sheet of phyllo.

3. Brush a strip with butter and place another strip on top of that strip.  Butter that strip and add
    another until you have stacked 4 buttered strips.  

4. Place a tablespoon(s) of filling on the end of the strip and fold over the end into a triangle.  Now as
    you would fold a flag,  fold the filling and strip into a successions of triangular folds until you reach
    the end.  Brush butter on both sides and place on a baking sheet.  Do this until all the phyllo or the
    filling is used up.  Should come out pretty close to even and approximately two dozen triangular
    turn-overs..**SEE COOK'S NOTES**

5. Bake the cheese boreg triangles in a 400°F oven for approximately 20-25 minutes until they are
    golden brown.

6. As soon as they are cool enough to handle,  serve as an appetizer or a side dish

**COOK'S NOTES** 
1.  If you only need a dozen, you can now put a tray full in the freezer and freeze.  When frozen,  you
     can store them in your freezer in plastic zip-lock® bags and bake them,  without thawing,  at a later
     date.

Almond Baklava with Rosé Water

Almond Baklava With Rose Water..

Ingredients.

  • 1 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 8 2×1/2-inch strips orange peel
  • 2 teaspoons rose water*

 

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 cups coarsely chopped almonds
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

 

  • 15 fresh phyllo pastry sheets or frozen, thawed

 

  • Plain yogurt

Stir 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, honey, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel in saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; bring to boil. Remove from heat. Mix in rose water. Chill until cold.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Brush 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with some of melted butter. Mix almonds, ground cinnamon, allspice, and 1/3 cup sugar in medium bowl.

Fold 1 sheet of phyllo in half to form 12×9-inch rectangle. Place folded sheet in prepared pan. Brush with melted butter. Repeat with 4 more folded sheets, brushing top of each folded sheet with butter. Sprinkle half of nut mixture over. Top with 1 folded pastry sheet and brush with butter. Repeat with 4 more folded sheets, brushing top of each with butter. Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over. Repeat with 5 more folded sheets, brushing top of each with butter. Using sharp knife, make 5 diagonal cuts across phyllo, cutting through top layers only and spacing cuts evenly. Repeat in opposite direction to form diamond pattern. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Strain rose syrup. Spoon 1 cup syrup over hot baklava; cover and chill remaining syrup. Recut baklava along lines all the way through layers. Let stand 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Serve baklava with yogurt and remaining syrup.

* Available at Middle Eastern markets and specialty foods stores.

Recipe Credits found from website above.

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

Recipe Credits and Website go to

http://www.dishesfrommykitchen.com/2012/04/armenian-challenge-daring-bakers-april.html

Ingredients For The Armenian Nutmeg Cake:
Milk – 1 cup
Baking soda – 1 tsp
All-purpose – 2 cups
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Brown sugar, firmly packed – 2 cups
Butter – 3/4 cup (preferably unsalted, cubed)
Walnut pieces -1/2 cup you may need a little more
Ground nutmeg – 1 to 1 1/2 tsp (5 to 7 ½ ml) (5 to 8 gm) (try to grate it fresh yourself; the aroma is enchanting)
Egg – 1
 Method:
1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.
2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that’s for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside.
3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. One sift is fine
4. Add the brown sugar. Go ahead and mix the flour and brown sugar together.
5. Toss in the cubed butter.
6. Mash the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can also use your fingers if you want). You’ll want to achieve a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.
7. Take HALF of this resulting crumbly mixture into your spring form (9”/23cm) pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles. It will be easy.
8. Crack an egg into a mixer or bowl.
9. Toss the nutmeg in with the egg.
10. Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you’re doing it manually. Once it’s mixed well and frothy (about 1 minute using a standing mixer, or about 2-3 minutes of vigorous beating with a whisk), pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform.
11. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture. Mix that well, with either a paddle attachment, or a spatula. Or continue to use the whisk; it won’t make much of a difference, since the resulting batter is very liquidy.
12. Pour the batter over the base in the spring form pan.
13. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.
14. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
15. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release. Enjoy!