dilzy's kitchen

August 31, 2016

Chocolate Brownies

Original Recipe is from Nestle it has been modified.

Ingredients

125g butter
1 cup cocoa
4 eggs
2 cups raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¾ cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup choc chips (could be dark/milk/white)

Method

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Line base of a 27cm x 18cm x 3cm tin with baking paper.

Melt butter and stir in cocoa allow to cool slightly. Beat in eggs. Stir in sugar and vanilla.

Sift flour and baking powder together. Add to mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed. Stir through choc chips. Turn mixture into tin.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.

August 29, 2012

I had the pleasure of having Izy cook tonight. The theme was Mexican and mind you he hasn't cooked this recipe before, but can I tell you it was AWESOME! So much better than the ready made stuff you get in packets.

Thanks Bro!

Ingredients

olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely diced
500g beef mince
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chilli powder
black pepper and salt to taste
small handful pickled jalapeno,chopped
1 small hot chilli pepper (fresh)
2 cups soaked and blanched red kidney beans (or beans in a can)
1 beef stock cube
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes

Method

Fry garlic in olive oil for about 1 minute
add onion and cook onion for about 5 minutes. Make sure it goes golden brown, keep stirring whilst cooking
add mince, and stir whilst cooking for about another 5 minutes, or until it changes to a light colour.
add spices
add fresh chilli
add tomato paste and pickled jalapenos
add diced tomatoes and add the beef stock last.
bring to boil and then simmer for 45 minutes
now add the pre soaked and blanched beans (you can use beans in a can)
cook for another 45 minutes.
serve with tortilla bread, sour cream, grated cheese.

March 4, 2012

Yoghurt Soup with Rice (Yayla Corba)

I have yet again revised my Yoghurt Soup recipe. This one is by far the best AND easiest I have made up until now. My previous yoghurt soup recipe contained egg, but this one doesn't include egg nor do I feel it needs it.

It's a Turkish recipe so their measurement for a cup is 200ml not the standard 250ml.

Yoghurt Soup with Rice
from Hunerli Bayanlar

Ingredients

4 cups or about 800 ml Chicken Stock
3 cups or about 600 ml water
1 cup yoghurt (I used 250ml cup)
3 heaped tablespoons Rice (I used medium grain)
1 tablespoon butter
2 heaped tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dried mint
Salt

Sauce for top of Soup: (not essential)

butter
paprika

Method

Put water, chicken broth, salt, and washed and strained rice into a saucepan. Cook on low heat, until rice is tender, and comes to the boil (about 15 minutes)
Put butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat without burning. Add the flour, stirring until golden and turn the stove off.
Take up to 3-4 tablespoons of the rice water and add to the buttered flour, whisk to make a paste like slurry.
Add this slurry/paste mixture back into the saucepan with the rice and whisk quickly to ensure there are no lumps
In a bowl, whisk yogurt, take 3-4 tablespoon of the rice and flour mixture and whisk again. This ensures we increase the temperature of the yoghurt to prevent it from curdling.
Add the yoghurt mixture to the soup and whisk
Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionaly
Add mint, stir once and turn off the heat
Make the sauce for the soup by heating some butter in a separate pan and adding paprika once the butter has melted.
Serve fresh and warm as possible.

February 10, 2012

Green Lentil Bocconcini Salad

This is what you get when you have some leftover bocconcini, boiled green lentils and various other salad ingredients in the fridge. I used tomatoes, mint, green chillies - sweet ones that is. I would have liked to use parsley and green onion (shallots) but didn't have any on hand.

As for the dressing I thought I would try something a little different to my usual lemon, oil and salt dressing . Although that works well too. I used a mustard vinaigrette - 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper and I also added about 1-2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard.

You really can use whatever ingredients you have lying around. Enjoy!

February 4, 2012

To Die for Blueberry Muffins, with Choc Chip Streusel Topping

These muffins are called "To Die for Blueberry Muffins", and you know what? it's really truly the best blueberry muffin recipe that I have come across to date! I think what sets this recipe apart from the others is the wonderful crumbly topping.

I found the recipe off All Recipes, however, as usual I modified the recipe. I did this by adding chocolate chips and reducing the sugar content.

To Die for Blueberry Muffins, with Choc Chip Streusel Topping
adapted from All Recipes,
makes 12 large muffins.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup white sugar (I put less than 3/4 cup, something like 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar (I used brown sugar instead and only put in 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup plain flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup choc chips (a very full 1/2 cup that is) - (half will go in batter and the other half to go into the topping)

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line muffin tray with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar (I used less), salt and baking powder.
Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture.
Fold in blueberries. Fold in half the chocolate chips which would be 1/4 cup worth. The rest of the chocolate chips will go in the topping.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way, I don't want mine to spill over the muffin liner, and there really is only enough batter to make 12 muffins so divide as evenly as possible.
sprinkle with crumb topping mixture or otherwise called streusel
To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup), 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.Mix with fork (I used fingers), and sprinkle over muffins before baking. Note: If you want more crumb topping, then stick to the original measurements. I found when I reduced the
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

January 22, 2012

Quinoa Tabouli Salad with Beans (Fasulyeli Kinoa Kisir)

Let me introduce to you a new favourite grain (technically classified as a Pseudocereal) of mine — Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah). It's a bit like Bulgur (Cracked Wheat) but is loaded with protein, iron, & fibre. It contains other vitamins and minerals like Vitamin E, it's low GI, and gluten free. What else can you ask for?

Cooking Quinoa is easy, you need to rinse it in a sieve and let it soak for minimum 5 minutes — however some sites recommend at least 15 minutes to an hour. Reason for soaking is so it loosens up any traces of saponin (which is usually removed in processing anyway), which can give a bitter taste.

After soaking you need to drain it, add water and simmer. When it comes to what ratio of water to cook it in, again this varies. Some recommend 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. You cook it on a low simmer for about 10-15 minutes. I usually use less liquid, about 1.5 cups water to 1 cup grain.

I had about a cup of quinoa left in the pantry and all the right ingredients to make a tabouli. So I figured I would make quinoa tabouli, I also threw in some beans for some extra goodness.

Again, let me stress that when I cook I don't really measure exact amounts. I toss things in and taste as I go. Here is a rough indication of what went in.

Ingredients

Quinoa, cooked (about 1 cup)
1 tomato, chopped
parsley, chopped
spring onion,chopped
green pepper, chopped (mild or hot)
2-4 tablespoons of tomato paste (I like my tabouli red, use more or less according to your taste)
lemon juice
handful of canned beans (4 bean mix), any beans would work
paprika
black pepper
salt
1-2 tablespoons oil

Method

Mix all ingredients together. Feel free to mix with your hands. Easy!

January 16, 2012

Avocado Salad with Sumac (Sumakli Avokado Salatasi)

We were having our usual salad the other day, when I decided to sprinkle some sumac onto the salad. A little sumac goes a long way — it added a nice tangy zesty flavour to the salad. You can use whatever vegetables you like for your salad.

Ingredients

tomatoes
lettuce
red bell pepper/capsicum
red onions
avocado

Dressing:

Lemon Juice
Oil
Salt
Sumac (I just sprinkled it on my salad, you can always add it to dressing as well)

January 13, 2012

Banana Date Chocolate Chip Streusel Coffee Cake

Firstly, I should apologise for not blogging lately. I have realised it has been one year since my last post!!!

Thanks to some special guests that came to visit from London today, and some very ripe bananas crying out to be eaten in my fruit bowl...the result was this super yummy banana, date, choc chip struesel cake. Oh and of course, what brought it all together was the recipe - I should thank Elizabeth from FreeFoodBoston who originally found and adapted Megan's who found it at Epicurious . I should add, I did deviate from Elizabeth's and Megan's adaptation.

The original recipe uses walnuts in the struesel, however as I did not have any walnuts in my usually well stocked pantry, I did by great chance have some fresh dates in my fridge — Totally lucky! Perhaps one day I'll try the walnut version, but for the time being this cake is a keeper!

I also used less chocolate chips and self-raising flour instead of the whole wheat flour.

However, I should note that this recipe is quite sweet — the natural sweetness of the dates combined with sugar makes it quite rich. If you are wanting to use dates, but don't have such a sweet tooth, I would suggest you reduce the quantity of sugar used to 1/2 cup where it says 2/3 cup.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel
adapted from Elizabeth at FreeFoodBoston
Makes 12 servings

1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips - (I used 1 cup)
2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar (use 1/2 cup if making with dates)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts - (I used about 4 large fresh dates instead)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour - (I used self-raising flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda - (I didn't use this)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar (use 1/2 cup if making with dates)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
3 tablespoons milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Butter and flour 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan.
Stir chocolate chips, 2/3 c. brown sugar, walnuts or dates, and cinnamon in small bowl until well blended; set streusel aside.
Combine flour, baking soda (if using Self Raising flour I guess you can leave this out), baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 2/3 c. brown sugar, room temperature butter, and egg in large bowl until fluffy.
Beat in mashed bananas and milk. Add dry ingredients and blend well.
Spread half of batter (about 2 cups) in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel. Repeat with remaining batter and streusel.
Bake coffee cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool coffee cake in pan on rack.

January 24, 2011

Mushroom Saute (Mantar Sote)

Finally, I have updated the photo for this recipe! Looks much more appetizing. I would eat this as a main, but in our household it ends up becoming a side dish.

Ingredients

400g mushrooms, diced
1/2 red capsicum, diced
2 tomatoes, skinned and grated/crushed
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock (optional) or 1/2 cup water

Method

Wash and dice mushrooms. Set aside
Fry up the onions and garlic in the oil, then add in the capsicums.
Mix in the mushrooms and fry until brown.
Make a well in the centre of the pan, and add in the tomato paste. Once you have mixed the paste through, in goes the crushed tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper
If you have some chicken stock or stock powder on hand you can add it now, otherwise add a little water.
Saute until tender. About 20 mins or so.

December 24, 2010

Guacamole - Avocado Dip (Avokado Sos)

Hmm, so I was updating the photo for this post (today Jan 16, 2011) — when somehow deleted the whole post! You think that I would actually have a back up of my blog entry...well, unfortunately I didn't.

Fortunately, I did remember I found this recipe off the SBS website, so here it is:

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados
½ fresh jalapeno chilli (optional)
2 tsp chopped coriander (I didn't use this)
Spanish onion, chopped
1 tomato, diced
Juice of ½ lime (I think I used lemon)
1 tsp salt

Preparation

Halve the avocados, remove the seed and using a spoon scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add chilli, coriander and a little onion.
Mash together with a fork. Add tomato and lime juice and season with salt. Gently fold through.

Note:

Guacamole should be made just before serving. Returning the seed of the avocado to the mixture will help keep the guacamole green.

Sweet Coconut Pastry Dessert (Hindistan Cevizli Tatli)

Post to follow soon...

December 22, 2010

Choc Chip Blueberry Muffins

My brother absolutely loves blueberry muffins, so I tried this recipe and it turned out MUCH better than the previous blueberry recipe I posted. The difference I think is actually using fresh blueberries and having the choc chips in there also helps.

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour
165g (¾ cup) caster sugar
100g choc bits
2 eggs, lightly beaten
180ml (¾ cup) milk
60ml (½ cup) oil
200g blueberries

Method

Place all ingredients except blueberries in a large bowl and stir for 1 minute.
Add blueberries.
Fill greased muffin tins three-quarters full with mixture, bake at 200°C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or cold.

Source : Australian Women's Weekly/Ninemsn Website.

August 24, 2010

December 27, 2009

Foofer's Delight Pancakes

Photo: courtesy of foofer.

These pancakes have been such a hit at our place recently, especially with the girls. What is even more exciting is having Foofer in the kitchen. He came up with this recipe on his own, he started with a basic pancake recipe and then after a bit of experimenting he fine tuned it. The secret to these pancakes are caster sugar and PURE Canadian Maple Syrup. We normally double the recipe when we make it to feed a family of 4.

Ingredients

1 cup self raising flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons caster sugar
few drops of vanilla essence

To serve:

fruit of your choice (strawberries, bluberries etc)
whipped cream
PURE Canadian Maple Syrup

Method

Pre-heat and lightly grease non stick frypan (we use margarine)
Mix all ingredients in a bowl
Use ladle to pour desired amount of batter into pan and cook until bubbles form on surface of pancake
Turn and cook other side.
Serve using fresh fruit, whipped cream and maple syrup. YUMMO!

September 11, 2009

Potato Salad (Patates Salatasi)

I have been a bit slack with my posts recently, so I apologise. Just been a little busy with Ramadan. I actually had a good run with making lots of food but missed the photo opportunities, so until next time.

I had this picture on hand so I'm posting it, even though it is one of the most simplest recipes.

Ingredients

8-9 Potatoes, boiled and diced
Good bunch of parsley
Onions, shallots (optional)
2-3 lemons, juiced
2 -3 tablespoons oil
salt, pepper

Method

Wash and boil potatoes, do not over cook or your salad will be mashed potato. Peel and dice potatoes. Set aside in a large bowl.
If using onion/shallots, dice and add to potatoes.
Chop Parsley and put this in a small jar as it will become part of the salad dressing. I like to make a separate dressing of oil, lemon juice, seasonings and add the parsley to this mixture and give it a good shake. This way I find the parsley wilts a little and is easier to eat.
Pour the dressing over the potatoes and mix. Yummo.

June 17, 2009

Easy Apple Pie Cake (Elmali Turta)

Found this recipe off the Yemek Gunlugum website and tweaked it a little by adding some walnuts into the cake mixture.

Another great recipe which can be made on short notice, because most of the ingredients would be on hand. The only part where you might need a little patience is layering the apples on top, but it's well worth it.

Ingredients

For the cake:

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
¾ cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanillin powder
Handful of roughly crushed walnuts (optional)

For the topping

2-3 apples, peeled and sliced thinly
icing sugar to decorate

Method

To make the cake, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. (Add the walnuts after all the other ingredients are combined so mixing is easier)
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees and empty the mixture into your greased cake tin.
To layer up the apples, start from the side of your cake tin and work towards the centre. There is a way to ensure they don't sink into the cake mixture, set aside some plain flour in a small bowl, dip the bottom of the apple slice in some plain flour and push the floured side down onto the cake mixture at an angle.
Bake your cake for about 30-35 minutes. May require more or less time according to your oven but I usually let it brown on top and test with a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean your cake is ready.
When your cake has cooled down a little, sprinkle some icing sugar for decoration. If you have left over cake, just warm it up the microwave before serving.

April 29, 2009

Cracked Wheat (Bulgur) Pilaf with Chicken and Chickpea

A variation to the standard Bulgur Pilaf -made with Chicken and Chickpeas gives it more nutrition and chunkiness.

If you are vegetarian just omit the chicken.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
Small piece chicken breast, diced
1/4 red capsicum, diced
3 small tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes, skinned and diced
1 cup bulgur (cracked wheat)
1/2 can chickpeas
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Fry up the onion in the oil, once wilted add in your chicken breast and cook until brown.
Add capsicum and cook while stirring on medium heat.
Next goes in the washed cracked wheat and water. Add in your tomato paste.
Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.
Finally before you take it off the heat add in your canned chickpeas and seasonings and give it a good mix. Let it simmer for a few more minutes until all the water has evapourated.
Close the lid on your pot so the flavours absorb into one another.

March 21, 2009

Cracked Wheat Salad (Tabouli)

Finally I have gotten around to making my signature tabouli...just gotta put up the recipe.. Here is the pic though! I'm not too happy with the picture, but it will have to do for now.

A month or so later......

The base recipe that I am providing is for approximately 4 people. If you want to make more, measure 1/2 cup extra per person and just increase the remainder of the vege ingredients.

Now be warned - I never make tabouli to a specific formula. It always depends on how many people I am making it for and I usually just taste it at the end and add in whatever else I think is needed. The recipe below is a good basis to start with. You may need to adjust it.

Ingredients (4 Person)

2 cups cracked wheat
3-4 Tomatoes, diced
1 Onion, diced
Small bunch Spring onions (if on hand and if you prefer - not essential)
1 bunch parsley
1-2 Chillies, diced
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red pepper powder
2 tablespoons Oil
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups Boiled Water
2 lemons, juiced

Method

1. Add hot water to the cracked wheat and mix, let it stand, cover the top of the bowl so the cracked wheat softens.
2. Chop up all the vege ingredients and add to the mix.
3. Add in seasonings and tomato paste.
4. Wash your hands well and then use them to mix and squish the ingredients together like you are kneading dough. (You can use spoons to mix but this method is better.)
5. Taste test before serving - you may need to add in more lemon juice, oil, salt, more tomatoes or parsley depending on what you think it is missing.
6. Serve with lettuce leaves, Pohca (Cheese pastries)...yummo.

Stuffed Capsicums (Dolma)

Okay I have finally gotten around to putting up the recipe...I had to remake this to jolt my memory!

This can be made without the mince meat.

Ingredients

6 small capsicums
1 cup rice
1 onion, diced
parsley, small bunch
mince meat, 150g cooked
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup water

Method

Making the Filling

1. Cook the onion and the mince together until the mince is brown
2. Add in the washed rice and cook a little
3. Next add in water, you don't want to add too much because you want to keep filling al dente. It will cook again once you stuff the capsicums.
4. Finally as you are about to take it off the heat, add in tomato paste and give it a mix. Add in seasonings.
5. Sprinkle in parsley and mix until it wilts.
6. Stuff into capsicums
7. Line the stuffed capsicums into a pot add some water to cover 1/3 of capsicums and cook until the capsicums are soft - about 40 minutes or so.

January 22, 2009

Chocolate Baby Cupcakes

This is the best chocolate home made cake recipe that I have come across. I absolutely love this recipe because it's so easy and I usually have the ingredients on hand to make it on short notice. The result is a cake that is moist and looks and tastes like those packet betty crocker mixes. You can also use the same recipe to make these cute little cupcakes.

What's even easier is that I use Nutella for my icing/topping. It tastes great and doesn't require any mixing! You could leave the icing out if you prefer and just dust the cakes with a little with icing sugar when serving.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups plain flour (you can use self raising flour, just cut out the bicarb soda)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
125g butter, melted, cooled
1 teaspoon vanillin sugar

Topping

Nutella/Chocalate Ganache or the usual chocolate butter icing.
Sprinkles

Method

Preheat oven and grease muffin tins. I usually use those mini patty cases and just spray some canola oil in them.
Sift flour, bicarb soda and cocoa into a bowl. Add in the sugar and vanillin sugar.
In a seperate bowl or jug, combine the milk/buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and pour in your wet mix.
Use an electric mixer, first beat on low until the mixture is combined. Then increase the speed and beat the mixture until it looks creamy (a bit like mousse).
Pour mixture into cake pan or into muffin tins and bake at 170 degrees for about 35 minutes if your baking a cake and about 15 minutes if your making the mini muffins.
In either case I usually test to see if they are done by interting a knife to see if it comes out clean.
Cool the cakes on a wire rack then ice with your preffered topping.

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August 31, 2016

August 29, 2012

March 4, 2012

February 10, 2012

February 4, 2012

January 22, 2012

January 16, 2012

January 13, 2012

January 24, 2011

December 24, 2010

December 22, 2010

August 24, 2010

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