Salmon fish & Spinach Pie

I made a pie today- i used
salamon fish, spinach, onion, potatoes thinly sliced
Spices, salt, white pepper, mixed herbs
Roux sauce
short crust pastry

I made the pastry by rubbing butterinto the flour until it resembled fine bread crumbs , with cold water i formed a dough. I set this aside ina ball shape in a plastic bag in the fridge while i made the filling. i put a little cooking oil in a pan and sweat the onions. Add the herbs and spices , i added the thinkly sliced potatoes , and salmon pieces, covered the pan and let this cook a little and when the fish was nearly done i added the shreaded spinach. Once the filing is cooked , make a white roux sauce, this i made with butter , flour and milk.
Now roll out the pastry to fit the dish and fill, with salmon filling and roux sauce. now roll out another piece of pastry for the cover , you can decorate it with some pastry leafs, brush with egg yellow, sadly i didn't have any so mine is cooked without.

Appricot&Chocolate Ring

You will need
Ingredients
1/3 cup of butter (4oz)
4 cups self raising flour
4 tablespoons of sugar
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup (1/4 pint) of milk
Filling & Decoration

2tbsp melted butter
51/2 oz of ready to eat apricots dried and chopped
31/2 oz chocolate chips
1-2 tbsp of milk to glaze 1oz of dark or milk chocolate melted
rub in method
METHOD

1.Grease your 25cm/10inch round cake tin (pan).
2.rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in sugar, eggs and milk to for a soft dough.



3.Roll out the dough on a floured surface to form a 35cm/14 inch square. Mine was a bit wonky so dont worry if you dont get an exact square
4.Brush melted butter over the surface of the dough. Mix it together the chopped apricots and chocolate chips . spread them over the dough to within 2.5 cm/1inch of the top and bottom.
5.Roll it up tightly like a swiss roll and cut it into slices of 1inch. Layer the rings in a slight tilt in the pan to form a ring shape. Brush it with milk and bake for 30mins on gas mark 4 or 180oC/350oF until golden brown. Leave it to cool in the tin for about 15mins then transfer to a wire rack to further cool.
6. Drizzle the ring with the melted chocloate and it should look something like this if not better

Lunch with a friend

I went to see my yemeni friend who was born and raised in Kenya, i know here from when i lived in london for about 6yrs or so but masha Allah a very dear friend , she made me Kenyan Buriani
it was lovely masha Allah a different taste to Desi buriani and method. I made here a cake ''choco & Apricot ring''

Stuffed Bread Rolls

these lovely stuffed bread roll are something i found on Jamila's blog first but can't stop making them since , so here are mine
1/2 bag plain flour
1-2 cups wholemeal flour
1 leveled tbsp of yeast
salt to taste
1 cup of milk

Make into dough and leave to rise, knock back and kneed before rolling out

Filling
spinach
boneless chicken
salt,pepper, garm masla, tumeric, cayene pepper, tumeric
chesse
Garlic
little flour to thicken


rolling

brush with egg yellow and sprinkle with seseme seeds and bake for around 20mins

outing with the kids

I am trying to relax and de-stress and enjoy my time in the UK with the family inshaAllah, I decided to take the kids to The Childhood Museum in London. So this is how our day unfolded its was bitterly cold to start with but i braved it and went as time is short subhan Allah.

A sweet house

a chocolate house

Moscow
I really like the museum and it was a blast into my childhood and i was suprised , we all enjoyed it and i was able to reminiss and thell the kids about my past and some things they related to as i had spoke about certian toys before and i couldn't belive it when i saw them on display subhanAllah. just wondering if any of you ladies can relate to these old toys?
care bears
the sotty show
wozzel gumage and aunt sally
Jemmima
The Old Lady Who lived In A Shoe
Remember Golly?
The Mupet Show din't see miss piggy though!
papa smurf

Transformers old style
star wars
Paddington Bear
Dr. Who
This ones for Kate!!!!
Wonder Woman
Anti Racism badges, did you own one Kate???
Asian (Desi) Ken and Barbie

A Taste Of Desi Home

do you like indian sweets? burfi's, ladoos, gulab jumans, chum chum and besan? I like a bite sometimes thats if i cant get to it before the kids do, green buri is very popular in my home. a nice cup of desi chai and a bit of besan.

Reflection Time While I Watch The Rain

what is it about being in the UK and rain subhanAllah, its expected , i am not complaing hence my latest poll, i must mention masha Allah i am glad all who voted never voted a dislike to the rain. As where would we be without it subhanAllah. rain is such a blessing from Allah , it nourishes the earth , gives us drinking water but its not only us humans that benefit from it its the animals and earth too subhan Allah. now me and rain go way bad and i adore the rain , i love the look of it , the feel, the taste even, i like the way everything looks after it has rained, i like the grey sky and cosy atmosphere it creates indoors. its in the rain i often reflect and deep think, the rain is like a therapy for me , its soothes my thoughts and inspires me. Its on rainy days i sat by the window gazing out and making dua to ''God'' to guide me to the meaning of life and show me my purpose , subhan allah tabarak Allah this was when i was 13yrs old and a non muslimah , i would never have imagned at that time He was listening to me and later to answer that very dua as i converted to Islam at 19, so that was 6 yrs later and it shows Alah does answer the duas of non belivers Subhan Allah.

A Taste Of Desi Home

chicken curry and home made chappati , natural yougart and pickled onions desi style

I made this today and ate it already mashaAllah , its been a long time , a real taste of home.

craft's with the kids

i went to visit a friend today , i spent sme time with the kids her kids and mine and we made book marks , i really enjoyed this basic but creative activity, here are some i made.

Okra & Baby Lamb

You will need
baby lamb

okra
onion
Garlic, ginger, chilli to taste
salt, cummin, paprika, garm masla, tumeric, whole cumin
tomatoes pureed and skined
fresh corriander
lemon

slice the onion and sweat in a little oil, add minced garlic, ginger and chilli to taste, cook until slightly browning, add baby lamb piece, seal the meat add spices, allow it to seal well. Add tomatoes ( i used 2) allow to simmer for a few moments, add a little water cover and cook when the meat is half way cooked through add the okra, squeze the juice of 1/2 lemon. once cooked sprinkle with fresh corriander and enjoy.

Norwegian Apple Cake

2 large eggs
9oz sugar
4oz butter
1/4 creamy milk
6 1/2 oz plain flour
3 tea spoons baking powder
3-4 apples

cooking time 20-25mins
oven 200oC , 400F and gas mark 6

Grease and flour a 20X30cm roasting tin, whisk the eggs and 8oz of the sugar until its thick and creamy, put the buter into a pan with milk and bring to a boil , while still boiling pour into egg and sugar mixture. Sieve in the flour and baking powder, fold carfully into thebatter making sure there are no lumps. Pour the mixture into the prepared roasting tin. Peel , core and slice apples, arrange them over batter, sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake until well risen and golden brown. cool in tin and cut into slices , serve with fresh cream.

Tagine Zitoone

I made this dish in a hurry as we had some last minute guest so when in a rush i opt for Algerian cusine very quick and easy cooking.
you will need
Galic to taste
cooking oil
Fresh thyme or dried , salt , white pepper
chicken
Green pitted olives
Carrots sliced
fresh pasley
Flour to thiken sauce
Fresh lemmons

Put oil and crushed garlic in pan on low heat , add chicken , allow to seal for a while add spices and herbs. allow to seal flavours into chicken add carrots , water for sauce , simmer on medium heat , when almost done add olives. When cooked serve sprinkled with fresh parsly and lemmons.

Mothers Love

I was invited to my mothers for dinner, myself and my older sister. They made a chicken dish and made the effort to make two pots of the same dish , one halal and one non halal masha Allah this act really warmed my heart and stomach lol. It was a pleasent day and the conversation varied from pologamy to dicline in societies morals. I made my mom a cake even though she is diabetic , i knew she would still apprechite it, my kids took her some flowers. The cakeis a basic sponge , filled with cream and strawberry jam.
I just wanted to share that a mothers love is such an important feeling and blessing.

stitching

I want to take up some creative hobbies so i invested in some begginers packs of cross stitch to give me a taste , thing is i still need someone to show me how , i tryed to do on by following the instructions but it just does not look right.
They are little projects and i thought they would be easy to follow but i am lost :(

Khubz ad Dar

I made some Algerian bread , my version of this very famous khubz eaten throughout Algeria./ /here it is uncooked rising in the tray and here we are finished and ready to consume

ok so the recipe is

half bag of plain white flour
1 cup of fine semolina
1 egg
2 table spoons of sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
Warm water to form dough
yeast

mix above well to form dough, leave to rise, oil a tray knock back dough and kneed till elasticy, shape into tray by flatting it with your hand. Score the top in a dimond shape with a knife , brush egg yellow on it , sprinkle with seseme seeeds,ansied seeds and black seeds. Bake on gas mark 5 for 20mins. Remove from tray and leave to cool before cutting.

Mine is a sweet bread as we have it for tea time so i add sugar but i also add grated lemmon rind and more semolina, so it dominates the bread so half a bag of semolina and 1 cup of flour. You can shape it round , i sometimes do 4 small round loaves ,one each for each member of the family, but remember to make it flat, as it rises well and if to high wont cook well inside. Can be kept in air tight container for upto 2-3 days just reaheat it in the oven or micro wave. Enjoy sisters i am glad tyou like it!!

Semolina lemon syrup cake

I did some baking today ,made a cake that turned out rather yummy, the cake tin was too big as in wide so the cake emerged a lot flatter than expected

On the London Buses

I went on a 45mins bus ride yesterday and i sat on the top deck !!! good olde London BusesI wanted to go by bus as i missed to see London and all its glory although it didn't look like glory when i lived here,ever wondered why you apprichate things better when you are away from them ? it was a number 58 i really enjoyed that ride and then a walk through an East London market i saw a lovely pair of shoes well two.
I didn't buy but now wish i had :( warrant another trip?