Wordless wednesday 90

Foody Fridays: Sort-of-fish-breyani

The other day someone asked me if I liked cooking. My answer was "no I don't like cooking, but I love food so that trumps my dislike of cooking". I also like it when others enjoy my cooking. But as a busy mom of 4, cooking can, at the best of times be a tedious chore. So I break the rules and take shortcuts wherever I can to still make those hearty homecooked meals with as little effort and in as little time as possible. Any mom will tell you that the first hurdle is knowing WHAT to cook. You get bored of making and eating the same food week in and week out, but you still have to consider the likes and dislikes of your family. Anyway, I try to make fish once a week, so Wednesday I was stumped about what to cook and I saw some frozen hake fillets in the freezer. I was not in the mood to make battered fish so I decided to give fish breyani a try. Having never made fish breyani I turned to my trusty recipe books. There was a fish breyani but the method was just so laborious so I skipped pass. Then  there was a tuna breyani recipe which seemed quick, but with not alot of spices because it uses tinned tuna which already has a distinct flavour. So I called up Yaasier's gran because I know she makes mean fish breyani. And then I combined all 3 recipes to make something quick, easy and tasty...my sort-of-fish-breyani.
You wil need:
2 cups rice
5 or 6 medium sized fish fillets (fresh is best but I used frozen and it was still delicious)
3 cardomon
3 stick cinnamon
3 cloves
Salt
Fish masala
Lemon juice
Grated or chopped tomatoe
Oil
Garlic
Chilli powder
Frozen veggies of your choice
Potatoes (optional)
Method:
Parboil your rice for approximately 10 minutes in the microwave. I used basmati rice but fragrant jasmine will also be fine, it will just have different texture. In the water you boil the rice in, add the cardoman, cloves and stick cinnamon. While the rice is in the microwave heat some oil in a heavy-based pot. If you are using frozen fish theres no need to defrost first. Simply dip the fish in warm water before marinading. I read somewhere not to marinade in a metal dish when using lemon juice because it apparently changes the flavour of the lemon juice. I don't know if this is true, but I always use glass just in case. Anyway, you add to your fish some oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic, 2 tsp fish masala, 1/2 - 1 tsp chilli powder (to your taste preference), and grated or chopped tomatoe. I always use the tinned chopped tomatoe so I use about 3 tablespoons full, but if you are using fresh whole tomatoe,1 peeled tomatoe should suffice. Now when I made this I was too lazy to peel potatoes so I just left it out, but if you want potatoes, cut them into quarters and flSh fry them in the oil you were heating up just to give it a light brown then remove. Now you can start layering everything in your pot. Drain your rice but keep the spices that were floating in the water. In your pot add half the parboiled rice and toss lightly in the hot oil. Then add some frozen vegetables. I used frozen peas and frozen corn, but you can use any vegetables you prefer. You can also add as little or as much as you want depending on your preference. Whatever amount you want to use, place only half on this layer. Then place your potatoes ontop (if using)  followed by fish then the other half of your frozen vegetables. Finish off with a layer of the remaining rice. Pour about 1 cup of water in the dish you used to marinade your fish and pour this spiced water over you rice. Now seal your lid onto the pot and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes to get a steam going, then turn the plate down to low heat and forget about it for about 45 mins to an hour. Thats it! Preparation time only 15 minutes! I would have loved to have pictures of the dish, but they ate it all up before I even had a chance to get my camera. Hope you enjoy!

Wordless wednesday 89

Foody Fridays: Banoffi pudding

A few weeks back my neighbour Mary sent me a whole banoffi pudding. You have to understand that caramel is one of my FAVOURITE sweet indulgences. So you can imagine how amazing it was to get a whole pudding just like that for no reason at all. Sumayah,Yusuf and I had some, while Bilaal was a bit sceptical because he's not a fan of bananas. He decided he would have some another time without the bananas. ANOTHER TIME! How long did the kid expect the pudding to last?! The next day when Bilaal came home from school and wanted some it was all gone. Yusuf and sumayah had the last bit...but mom was the true pudding gobbler! I just couldn't help myself, everytime I walked past the fridge and just so happened to have a spoon in my hand...I took a mouthful. Admittedly I also had some for breakfast...and for lunch. Needless to say Bilaal was not impressed with me. So I promised him I would buy ingredients and he could make another one himself given that he is so keen to learn how to cook and bake. So yesterday he and Sumayah made a Banoffi pudding by themselves. Bilaal is still quite awkward with utensils so it took great restraint not to help too much. I tried to give them both free reign to just follow instructions. It wasn't perfect but it tasted good and they enjoyed making it. They were very proud to tell their dad they made dessert all by themselves. If you don't know how to make Banoffi pudding, it's quite simple. All you need is:
1 pkt tennis or digestive biscuits
100g butter
250ml whipping cream
1 tin caramel
1 banana

Method:
Crush the biscuits. If you want it really fine you can use a food processor, but as you can see in the picture I just put it in a packet and got the kids to wack it. I would have used a rolling pin, but I borrowed mine to Mary so we improvised.
Melt the butter and combine it with the crushed biscuits. Press the biscuit mix into a small casserole dish making sure it goes up the sides too. Place in the fridge to chill as this sets the base. If like us you don't have the time or patience to wait for it to set you can just go ahead and pour the filling on.
Lightly whip the caramel to a smooth consistency. You can do this by hand, no need for a mixer.
Spread the caramel over the biscuit base. If you didn't allow the base to set first it will still be quite crumbly and come up slightly as you spread the sticky caramel so you want to spread quite lightly. It will also look a bit messy...but this is not Masterchef.
Then you evenly place slices of banana all over the caramel. We left the banana off because Bilaal and Yaasier don't enjoy fruity desserts unless it's fruit salad. So I guess ours if mor of a no-ban-offi pudding.
Then you whip the cream and spread it all over the top yum! If you want to be extra decadent you can grate some chocolate over the top.
And it's ready to enjoy!
Licking the utensils and bowls afterwards is highly recommended.

Now excuse while I go have some pudding for my mid morning snack.

Wordless Wednesday 88

Summer Lovin'

With the hot summer afternoons already here comes the Abrahams family favourite weekday activity...sprinkler play! When I've finished my cooking and Bilaal has finished his homework, it's the perfect cool down to the day. I usually turn the sprinklers on at about 4.30 in the afternoon when the sun is not so glaringly hot and its just before bath time. Sometimes we change into swimwear other times undies will do. Sometimes we don't use the sprinklers at all and just mess in the clam. When Samantha the au pair comes at 5pm they go straight into the bath. The kids absolutely love it and I get to just chill outside with Uthmaan before crazy hour kicks in.

Foody Friday: Poached Egg

It's been a long time since I've published a foody friday post. My cousin in Cape Town has also adopted the phrase Foody Friday for her business making yummy scrummy foods to deliver or collect. If you live in Cape Town you should check out her facebook page. One of the things I miss about Cape Town is the abundance of delicious halaal food no matter which part of Cape Town you're in. But I digress. Bilaal is actually the inspiration for this post. Since baby, Bilaal has loved food. Of course he has his particular dislikes, but in general he has always loved eating. I've posted previously about his recent interest in cooking. Admittedly I have not had the patience nor the nerves to cultivate this interest. I sometimes watch Junior Masterchef and wonder how those little people became so proficient with knives and hot burning stoves! The few times I have let Bilaal cook I hovered beside him like shadow, didn't let him cut with a sharp knife, and held the pot steady when he needed to stir! I noticed the other day that he is very awkward when spreading margarine on bread and realised that he needs more opportunity to practice. So what does this have to do with poached egg? Well Bilaal loves egg, especially boiled egg. But when my parents were here he stayed over at their hotel and discovered poached egg and he was hooked. I said to him, 'does this look like a hotel? Please don't expect me to make you poached egg anytime soon!' My sister was also visiting at the time and shared with me the best trick for making poached egg and it's even quicker than any other way of having egg! Now Bilaal and I both have poached egg regularly and he can even make it himself. So I thought I'd share this method for any other egg lovers out there. Bare in mind I didn't write down the measurements and I'm not an exact measurements kinda cook but here it is:

Pour water into a tea cup about half full. Add approxinately 1 teaspoon vinegar (I use white but Im sure brown works just as well). Break an egg into the water being careful not to break the yolk. Place the tea cup in the microwave. Now here's where you have to test this method on your own microwave to see what time produces the perfect poaching to your liking. Bilaal and I both like our eggs medium poached, meaning the yolk is slighly soft but not completely runny. I have no idea what wattage my microwave is but it's probably about 1000W and I am able to achieve this result at 50 seconds. Then I just scoop the egg out of the cup with a spoon and add seasoning. I've made 2 at a time with this method and just nuked it for a few more seconds and it was fine.

Now I realise you do get microwave egg poachers with probably better results, but I already have a tea cup so I personally would rather spend my R200 plus rands on something else. Bilaal makes his own egg now and just the other day had it for lunch with chicken nuggets. Here is a picture of his 'plating up'