Sunday 25 October 2015

Paya Curry + Stripy Pumpkins + Cookies with the Kids: 17-23 October 2015.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful





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wow. today has been a super busy day.
after a stormy, wet day yesterday where only citrus drizzle and tea made things better, today has been non-stop.

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first, can we discuss the clock change? they went back an hour last night and I was so grateful for the extra hour's sleep but when I woke up, boy, was I confused. my phone said it was 6:30, I thought it was 8:30 and was only corrected when Google kindly informed me that it was, in fact 7:30. confusion central.
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the rest of today passed by in a whirlwind of children, cousins, aunts, these brownies (hot with vanilla ice cream, omg), more autumn tomatoes, gluten-free pastry, brownie tarts, Egyptian comfort food, mini sandwiches and a tea party with the cousins. oh, and how could we forget, my two young nieces who joined us, schooled us in the proper etiquette of tea time and felt oh-so-grown-up hanging with the big girls.
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the past week has been equally hectic. a huge pot of paya curry was cooking in our kitchen over the weekend, I bought all the pumpkins and cooked a tagine. a sweet start to the week with so many desserts, soup midweek for my cold and finally, a bake session with the girls. I learned that they LOVE jelly and are dab hands at dunking chocolate cookies into sprinkles!
ooh, two final things: one, BuzzFeed featured my seekh kebab recipe in this article. two, the guys over at HMC have been featuring a few of my recipes on their Twitter.
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here's more from my week:


Saturday: a huge pot took over the kitchen today.
it took over the entire cooker - four gas rings to be exact.
inside ...
... boiling away were enough cow's trotters to feed an army. basically cow's feet - paya to any Urdu speakers out there. this curry is a Pakistani delicacy. the trotters are cooked for hours until they release all their flavour into the curry. this one went on to cook early Saturday morning.
I bought all the pumpkins!
how cute?? these are actually to eat but at the moment, they're serving as autumnal house decor.
lunch was this spicy qurbani lamb curry with salad.
and, spicy naan!
a grey afternoon made brighter with candles, fairy lights and ...
... pumpkins!
for dinner, a chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives.
I asked the mother to sprinkle on the fresh coriander nicely. this is her interpretation of nice - just dump it in the middle!
I adapted this recipe. it was very simple to make especially if you marinade the chicken overnight.
Sunday: remember the giant pot?
after having cooked for nearly a day, the curry was ready to eat.
the shorba (sauce) was mopped up with plenty of fresh naan. a real treat for those who enjoy that sort of thing!
later, making a batch of my chocolate fridge cake.
with chocolate, butter and golden syrup.
and, plenty of extra chocolate bars and sweets!
once the chocolate had melted ..
.. it's stirred with crushed biscuits and popped into a tin.
then, the fun began!
seriously you guys, it was quite worrying as to how much I enjoyed this.
in all its glory!
I used Munchies + Kit Kat+ Oreos + Twix + chocolate wafer bars + Skittles.
I popped onto plenty of pink Skittles in honour of our family's newest arrival. 
it turned into quite the sweet Sunday - my Mother put together this giant trifle.
it was so yummy - she layered together sponge fingers + raspberry jelly + pineapple jelly + peach slices + custard + whipped cream + sprinkles.
also, there was cookie dough happening. 
and, the season's first gingerbread.
I used this recipe but baked the batter in these two loaf tins for roughly the same amount of time.
Monday: the morning after - portioning out the leftover paya (trotters) curry. it's strong stuff, people!
the gingerbread had cooled beautifully overnight.
and, I decided to drown it in ...
... a chocolate caramel sauce!
also today, giant cookies were sliced ...
... and so was the biscuit cake.
before being packaged in plenty of pink for our newest addition - not that she could enjoy any. her siblings and cousins ate more than her fair share though.

dinner tonight was so good - juicy chicken kebabs!
with all the trimmings!
 Tuesday: stabbing my squash!
before putting za'atar into everything.
roasted to golden perfection.
before being hacked into.
the same colour as the leaves outside!
melted.
today was soup day!
Insha Allah, I'll be sharing the recipe this week and I'm so excited! I think you'll really enjoy this one.
Wednesday: today was a sick day. have you had a cold yet? it seems to be going around. spicy + salty French toast for breakfast with baked beans!
new candles! first, this gingerbread maple - the most lovely sweet and spicy scent. you can get yours here.
and the second was my favourite. such a nice scent and very floral - this white gardenia. get yours here!

recipe testing today included this chocolate chip brioche French toast. so good! we made ours with this bread and it was epic.
second recipe test and dinner was this chicken veggie spaghetti. comfort in a bowl.
Thursday: baking with the girls again today. see our previous adventures here and the rainbow cupcakes we made here.
today, they wanted to make coloured jellies. so, we got to setting it - we chose lychee, mixed fruit and pineapple and used these halal jellies.
then, we made chocolate cookies!
once the batter was done, it was time to shape.
I figured an ice cream scoop was the best way forward.
once on the tray ..
.. it was time to dip!
we dunked the cookies in rainbow sprinkles and milk chocolate chips before throwing them in the oven to bake.
while the girls got on with the second tray.
before realising that there was an empty chocolate cookie batter bowl that needed cleaning out!
I have no idea where they get it from.
whilst the cookies baked and cooled, the kids got creative.
with scribbles ...
.. snowflakes ...
... and a few paper lanterns.
once the cookies had baked and just about cooled, there was no stopping them!
we enjoyed the cookies with strawberry milkshake!
before realizing that our jellies had set.
no real method here.
the jellies were plopped into a giant bowl and enjoyed!
today was one of those days when one cooked spicy chicken mince mixture made its way onto everything. at lunch, on a baked potato.
all you do is split a baked potato, season, then spoon on cooked chicken mince (the one here is perfect) and grated cheese. melt in the microwave.
for dinner, we toasted up brioche buns under the grill. on went the chicken mixture and cheese - melt again.
ready to eat!
Friday: kitchen scenes from today: chicken being marinaded.
the vegetables are looking distinctly autumnal now.
chicken cooking.
cooked.
sliced.
and, plated.
this meal was so good. cannot wait to share soon!

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this time one year ago:
Sesame Meatballs + Real Chips + Adventures in Honeycomb

lately, on the blog:

Egyptian Grilled Fish + Sweet Spicy Pizza + Chicken Tikka Pizza

Vegetable Pulao
Coconut Macaroons

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Have a lovely last week of October everyone!

Wasalaam!


Spice Enthusiast
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