You know it's so hard negotitating computer time when there are offspring lurking. I could swear they conspire to create diversions to make it easier for each other to whip the laptop away from me when I'm least suspecting it.
Yesterday I just gave up... there's no point fighting a losing battle is there?
We were out for most of the day anyway, and had a lovely time catching up with a special friend. Which of course means I didn't actually do any cooking.
I redeemed myself today.I have no pictures to prove it, which is a shame but I know you trust me, right?
Want a recipe anyway?
This is one of my favourite warm salads. I always have salad on the table. It's an easy and effective way to pad out a meal, is relatively inexpensive (depending of course on what you use!) and of course veggies are full of goodness. Ticks all those groovy boxes kids!
Warm Green Bean Salad
Boil some green beans until just tender. (I used about a quarter of a kilo)
Once they're cooked, finely chop a good handful of fresh parsley, and put it into a frying pan with a couple of generous slugs of good olive oil and saute gently without colouring the parsley.
Add some grated garlic (three for me) to the pan and saute for a further few minutes (without browning the garlic) before adding the beans and a little salt.
The beans will only need about five minutes to warm through and take on the flavours of the garlic and parsley.
Serve dressed with the oil.
The recipe was given to me by my husbands aunty. Green beans are relatively inexpensive most of the time here so it's a good tasty and economical side dish.
We had this tonight with a simple beetroot salad. And some oven roasted chicken with new potatoes.
Meat is still pretty expensive here at the moment, so a good option is chicken. It's still not cheap for the average Algerian pocket, but still alot more affordable than red meat.
I try to be as thrifty with a chicken as I can. We certainly wouldn't use a whole chicken in one sitting.
Today I threw the wings in the freezer, I'll save them up bit by bit till I have enough to make some hot wings.
The offal also went in the freezer. I use it up when I have enough to make a decent sized meal. Usually in a spiced sauce, but sometimes, if I have enough it gets roasted with turmeric, lime and corriander. I know for some, cicken offal might have a bit of yuck factor, but I really reccomend trying it.
The cat got the neck today, and the skin... although chicken necks can also be made into a really tasty dish aswell, so the cat doesn't always get the benefit of my generosity.
I saved most of the breast for tomorrows lunch which left me with the drumsticks, thighs, back and a small bit of breast.
Baked Chicken
Put your cicken, cut into pices into an ovenproof dish along with one lime cut into quarters, a whole head of garlic (split into cloves but not peeled) and sprinkle over, a good heaped teaspoon of cumin, and also turmeric, some salt and freshly chopped corriander. A few good slugs of olive oil are all you need now before mixing everything into the chicken with your hands. I often add potatoes at this stage and roast them along with the chicken in the pan.
It's good to leave it for as long as you can before cooking, but I've also been in a rush and cooked it right away, and it's still delicious.
Cook until the chicken is just cooked through, and the potatoes are tender. You can cover with foil, it'll help create a wonderfully rich gravy.
Serve with a fresh handful of corriander leaves thrown over if you like.
For me the most delicious parts of this dish are the lime, which becomes so lush and soft that you can eat the whole thing, skin and all. And the garlic cloves which wil have burst out of their skins, and which taste so mellow it's imossible to resist them. We fight for the garlic cloves in my house.. and I regularly use two bulbs to account for the theivery that goes on under my nose at the table!
And that's me for the day. I'm tired and have to be up with the larks. The boys have lessons in the masjid at subh, and it takes forever to get a boy out of bed even at a reasonable hour, never mind at 6am!
It's the start of a new school week and we had some lovely brothers come over this evening to fix our dreadful terrace so that it won't leak anymore insha'allah.
After hardship does indeed come ease, May Allah ta'ala bless each one of you who made dua for us. Ameen
xxx
Yesterday I just gave up... there's no point fighting a losing battle is there?
We were out for most of the day anyway, and had a lovely time catching up with a special friend. Which of course means I didn't actually do any cooking.
I redeemed myself today.I have no pictures to prove it, which is a shame but I know you trust me, right?
Want a recipe anyway?
This is one of my favourite warm salads. I always have salad on the table. It's an easy and effective way to pad out a meal, is relatively inexpensive (depending of course on what you use!) and of course veggies are full of goodness. Ticks all those groovy boxes kids!
Warm Green Bean Salad
Boil some green beans until just tender. (I used about a quarter of a kilo)
Once they're cooked, finely chop a good handful of fresh parsley, and put it into a frying pan with a couple of generous slugs of good olive oil and saute gently without colouring the parsley.
Add some grated garlic (three for me) to the pan and saute for a further few minutes (without browning the garlic) before adding the beans and a little salt.
The beans will only need about five minutes to warm through and take on the flavours of the garlic and parsley.
Serve dressed with the oil.
The recipe was given to me by my husbands aunty. Green beans are relatively inexpensive most of the time here so it's a good tasty and economical side dish.
We had this tonight with a simple beetroot salad. And some oven roasted chicken with new potatoes.
Meat is still pretty expensive here at the moment, so a good option is chicken. It's still not cheap for the average Algerian pocket, but still alot more affordable than red meat.
I try to be as thrifty with a chicken as I can. We certainly wouldn't use a whole chicken in one sitting.
Today I threw the wings in the freezer, I'll save them up bit by bit till I have enough to make some hot wings.
The offal also went in the freezer. I use it up when I have enough to make a decent sized meal. Usually in a spiced sauce, but sometimes, if I have enough it gets roasted with turmeric, lime and corriander. I know for some, cicken offal might have a bit of yuck factor, but I really reccomend trying it.
The cat got the neck today, and the skin... although chicken necks can also be made into a really tasty dish aswell, so the cat doesn't always get the benefit of my generosity.
I saved most of the breast for tomorrows lunch which left me with the drumsticks, thighs, back and a small bit of breast.
Baked Chicken
Put your cicken, cut into pices into an ovenproof dish along with one lime cut into quarters, a whole head of garlic (split into cloves but not peeled) and sprinkle over, a good heaped teaspoon of cumin, and also turmeric, some salt and freshly chopped corriander. A few good slugs of olive oil are all you need now before mixing everything into the chicken with your hands. I often add potatoes at this stage and roast them along with the chicken in the pan.
It's good to leave it for as long as you can before cooking, but I've also been in a rush and cooked it right away, and it's still delicious.
Cook until the chicken is just cooked through, and the potatoes are tender. You can cover with foil, it'll help create a wonderfully rich gravy.
Serve with a fresh handful of corriander leaves thrown over if you like.
For me the most delicious parts of this dish are the lime, which becomes so lush and soft that you can eat the whole thing, skin and all. And the garlic cloves which wil have burst out of their skins, and which taste so mellow it's imossible to resist them. We fight for the garlic cloves in my house.. and I regularly use two bulbs to account for the theivery that goes on under my nose at the table!
And that's me for the day. I'm tired and have to be up with the larks. The boys have lessons in the masjid at subh, and it takes forever to get a boy out of bed even at a reasonable hour, never mind at 6am!
It's the start of a new school week and we had some lovely brothers come over this evening to fix our dreadful terrace so that it won't leak anymore insha'allah.
After hardship does indeed come ease, May Allah ta'ala bless each one of you who made dua for us. Ameen
xxx
as salaamu `alaykum...
ReplyDeleteWe are trying very very hard to simplify so this was a lovely post for me :) The chicken and warm salad recipe sound delish. What I found most useful was the bit about 'stretching' the meats and not eating a whole chicken in one go - more healthful and more heedful!
So glad you got the terrace fixed. Alhamdulillah indeed for little joys and blessings.
Yes, despite the fact that dh is a butcher I still stretch my meat as far as I possibl can.
ReplyDeleteInsha'allah I'll be able to upload some pics next time
xxx