Desserts!

Well one thing I enjoyed during Ramadan were the amount of yummy desserts they had. One of my favorites is Katayef. One thing me and habibi did while fasting was making this dessert, it was quite a little disconcerting because we were hungry and thirsty and we were making this heavenly dessert I swear I was tempted to just eat it and break the fasting!

So the Katayef is like little pancakes I do not know how to make it but I do know how to do the rest of the stuff which of course am going to walk you thru it. First of all here is a picture of what the Katayef is, you can eat it like that but to be honest is not that good.

The little pancake as I call it is sticky in the edges and the more sticky it is the better, it means is fresh. You can fill these with raisins, coconut, peanuts, prunes, dates and any other thing you can think of. We made a special  blend with shredded coconut, peanuts, prunes and raisings. (picture below) My mother in law made some Saudi Katayef and basically she cooked some dates with butter and cinnamon and then filled the Katayef with it. It was super delicious but a little bit heavy, dates are quit heavy for me. 

After you fill them you stick the edges together making little "empanadas" be careful not to fill them too much because they will break. It will look like this. 

After that you will fry them in very hot oil until golden brown. 

After that you immediately  pour some glaze which is made of 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water to that you squeeze 2 lemons (small ones) and for a yummier taste add cinnamon. Is important that you put them in the glaze after taking them out of the oil. Do not put them in paper to get the excess oil out they will get soggy and the important thing about eating katayef is that they are crunchy. 

Here is the final product! Very yummy and crunchy on the outside and so sweet on the inside this little things will make you addicted!! It sure make me crazy to eat them! So if you are in Egypt during Ramadan go ask in any bakery for Katayef and go home and make them they are the best!

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Food! Part VII

I talk about this before my favorite dish my mother in law makes macaroona with bechamel sauce and is really creamy and tasty well I owe you a picture of it and here it is!!

Here it is without cutting into it looks so yummy!! and well here is the inside :) 

Well I want to talk you about Halawa this is a famous spread here and they use it a lot. Is made of sesame seeds and honey. Needless to say is very very sweet and the texture is a little rough. Often is eaten with bread just like peanut butter for Americans, Egyptians love Halawa.  Here is the recipe for those of you who want to make it and have a taste for it. 

Ingredients:

1- Roasted Sesame 1/2 kilograms

2- Sea Salt 3/4 teaspoon

3- Honey (Molasses) 1/2 kilograms

4- Flavor as wanted

Method:

1- Mix sesame seeds and the salt crystals and grind them repeatedly (up to 3 times)

2- Add the honey or molasses and the flavor to the ground mixture and paste using a spatula

3- Pour into a container dish and put in the rfregirator

4- Flavoring can be made using Cardamon, Anise, Cocoa powder, Carob powder...etc.

You can add unsalted peeled nuts, whipped egg white, few drops of liquid Vanilla... elaborate.The color will range from beige to dark yellow according to the ingredients used. You can adjust the quantities to suit the type of raw materials you are using.

Halawa comprises the benefits of essential fatty acids and vitamin E in Sesame and the health benefits of honey. It can be eaten as snacks, added after gritted to the top of Ice cream, cut into cubes and immersed in Cocoa, or used by so many ways as a sweet healthy food.

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Food in Alexandria!

I apologize for not writing sooner its been crazy this past weeks, I started my new job which to be honest is pretty cool and got sick and now my habibi is sick too. Today is a holiday here in Egypt Sinai Liberation day and I decided to write a few post for you guys.

On my last post I talk about my day trip to Alexandria which was hilarious and I so want to go there again, and now am going to tell you what I eat in Alex. My habibi took me to this great restaurant called La Casetta, this place is really beautiful very rustic and cozy. The service is excellent and the prices are very decent too. We sat at one of the windows overlooking the sea and wow it was very romantic. 

To be honest we were so hungry we drove all the way from Cairo to Alex and didn't eat anything because we wanted to eat pizza. Yes, he drove me all the way to Alex for Pizza my habibi is the best! and he is mine yeay! Ok moving on we do have pizza in Cairo but to be honest this was some damn good pizza and the view and the feel of Alexandria made it all worth while. 

La Casetta is an Italian restaurant and it has all types of pasta and of course pizza. I ordered some good yummy cheese and tomato pizza that was to die for! It was so cheesy and tasty and just to good wow am craving one right now. We also eat some toasty garlic bread that was delicious. One pretty cool thing about this restaurant they have this buttons on the wall so you can call the waiter. 

It's way cool I wanted to push the button since I knew what it was because they come pretty fast and me being a curious being and kind of a kid at heart... I couldn't help myself so thank you to the staff for putting up with me the impossible customer aka me. Am joking my habibi pretty much just let me hit the button to get the check. 

I only took pictures of the pizza before attacking it with a vengeance :) I was hungry LOL and I tried to take a picture of the restaurant but to be honest I was so full I couldn't think straight. Here is a picture of the pizza. 

After this wonderful delicious pizza we took a walk on the Pharos Scenic Path and I do not now how we ate some ice cream! It was so delicious and made with natural ingredients. I do not know the name because to be honest I was so out of it.

The hubby had orange ice cream and it had pieces of orange in it, it was so refreshing and creamy just so good I recommend it 100%. 

Thank you for reading me and following me!! If you read me every now and then I encourage you to follow me that way you get updates when I post something new. 

Food!! Part VI

Coming back to the food series on my blog today I try something new and of course your the first guys I am going to tell. This food was not one of my favorites to be honest but it doesn't mean is bad. My pharaoh loves this one actually if I think about it he loves Koshari and I don't  like it LOL sooo we have different tastes. 

So the mahshi wara enab yes this is the name of it  is basically the leaves of the grapes and you wash them and fill them with rice and then roll them and voila! ready to eat. The texture is really soft you don't feel like your eating leaves at all and of course the rice comes out really tasty and it gets all the flavor from the leave. 

If you like to eat rice and love eating new things you will definitely love this. I am kind of hard to please when it comes to food and am not saying is bad but is not something I will kill to try again you know what I mean. They refer to this as oriental food so if you are interested try oriental restaurants in Cairo you cannot find it everywhere but am sure most of you will enjoy it. 

Anyways here is a picture of the food. This was made by my mother in law and of course I had to take a picture for you. 

Thank you for reading and following me!! 

Food! Part V

Yesterday was a wonderful day and I have to share with you the great new tasty experience I had. My cute pharaoh took me to eat waffles! and well to be honest they were one of the best I ever tried.

The place is call ChocoMix and is located in Heliopolis, we were in City Stars Mall and its just about a 5 minute drive to this place. It's a little place but is so good. I am a super fan of Nutella so is my other half and well he ordered some Nutella waffles! YUMMY!! It was so good. The waffle was so fluffy and mine was a bit crunchy on the sides just as I like it! and well they were filled with Nutella the guy who made them was not shy at all he just smothered them so much that well it kinda of mmm got on my shirt! LOL

So as always I took a picture of this very yummy and fluffy treat for you guys. Hope you enjoy and please don't be jealous ;).

I am excited to say that while at the mall I discovered that Cold Stone is coming to Egypt!! OMG! I was so excited! The bummer is that is going to be a little far from home but hey at least there is going to be one :) so another good thing for Cairo. 

Until next post everybody. Thank you for reading me and following me. 

Food!!! Part IV

Happy Thursday everyone! Today am going to talk about what Egyptians love to eat and the pictures are directly from a great cook, my mother in law! I hope you enjoy it and to be honest some of these dishes you may find in restaurants but is way better to have it in an Egyptian home.

First off is the Egyptian version of lasagna. Instead of using pasta they use a special bread to make the layers. Is still yummy but with not that much cheese. Usually when I make lasagna I use like four different types of cheese the least. So when you try these is very packed of flavor and a little spicy but soft not crunchy. Here is a picture of it. 

Egyptian Kofta is very very delicious meat. You have some ground beef, onions, bread, and some peppers and  voila! You have a very tasty meat filled with peppers and is very very yummy I love it. Here is a picture for it. You can eat this out too, I was told but this one is straight from my in laws house. 

Last but not least my favorite dish ever and I have to sincerely apologize for not having a picture. I must confess that when this is at the table my ability to wait a minute to take a picture goes out the window. My mother in law made this for me the second day I was here and well let's say every time she does it I just go crazy! and well me and my habibi love this dish we usually fight for the crispy pasta at the bottom of the pan :) Ok so what am talking about is creamy Macarona. This dish is very famous here, it consist of penne pasta, bechamel sauce, chicken and cheese. Boy this recipe is so yummy and soooo creamy you won't stop eating I promised you this is amazing. 

I still have to get my hands on the recipe I believe my mother in law is avoiding me because she just loves to make it for us and she is always ecstatic when we go there. Anyways I will find a way to make this I have to! I need to impress my family when I go to visit and I definitely have to make this. 

Thank you for reading me and following me until next post! 

Food!! Part III

I feel like I haven't wrote here forever and is only been two days, anyways am back am having a little trouble with my computer charger. Continuing my food series I want to talk to you about a few yummy things.

Bread in Egypt is delicious! They don't have a special name for it is just the bread they use here to eat and is what we know back home as flat bread. Similar to Pita bread in the shape but totally different in is flavor. Is fluffy and is perfect when you eat it after is done. You can find bread everywhere in Egypt, I think they even sell it on the street. Here is a picture of it. If you buy a lot I recommend you put it on the freezer next day you just heat it up and it tastes delicious.

Egyptians love Feta Cheese they usually eat the bread with feta cheese. They also combined the cheese with different types of spices. My habibi bought a mixture of feta cheese with peppers and herbs and it tastes just too good. I called it Mexican cheese :) so if you can get your hands on it be my guest. Here is a picture.

Last but not least on my post today are dates cookies. They are really an acquire taste not many people will like them but dates is a very original fruit that grows in the middle east with that they make a paste which they use on this cookie. The cookie is a crunchy one and very soft at the same time. Here is a picture. 

Thank you for reading me and following me!! Until next post!