Mexican food is probably a favorite for a lot of people, its full of flavor and is made from a blend of tasty ingredients. I was at a Mexican restaurant having lunch with my mom  the other day, and we ordered guacamole for appetizer.  A little bit later a guy came with a tray and made the guacamole right next to our table. It was like a free lesson on how to make guacamole. I wrote everything down, and a few days later made it  for my family, they just loved it. The secret is to prepare it and serve it right away, the freshness of the ingredients is essential in this appetizer recipe.

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados

1 medium tomato finely chopped

1 green chili (jalapeno) finely chopped

2 tbs red onion finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped

1 clove garlic minced

juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

dash of freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. cut avocados in half, remove seed and scoop out the pulp
2. in a medium bowl mix scooped avocado pulp with the rest of the ingredients
3. if you want it smoother you can mash it with a fork or potato masher
4. serve and eat with nachos or pita bread or any way you like it

Once you prepare the ingredients for this recipe it takes literally seconds to combine everything together and enjoy this easy and flavorsome dish, either as an appetizer, dip, or just on its own. This dish is perfect any way you serve it.

One of the easiest ways of cooking is stir fry. In moments you have a ready to eat dish without the hassle of difficult cooking techniques that you can only learn in culinary school.  Another good thing is that you can make your own combination of food; you can use any kind of meat cooked with the vegetables that you like and voila, you have a complete nutritious dish that is better than take out. This beef stir fry recipe is sweet and full of flavor if you like sweat and sour you will probably like this beef recipe.

Marinade:

1tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

Ingredients:

1 lb beef cut into strips

4-6 tbs vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

3 tbs honey

2 tsp black vinegar

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp water

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1  small red bell pepper

1 small yellow bell pepper

1 cup snow peas

3 green onions

Method:

1. mix marinade components, add beef then marinade for at least 1/2 an hour
2. make sauce: mix 1/2 cup water, honey and black vinegar
3. Heat wok, add 3 tbs oil and stir fry beef (without marinade) until beef turns brown then remove meat
4. add the rest of oil to wok and stir fry garlic and ginger till fragrant
5. add peas, red pepper and bean sprouts stir fry for 2 minutes
6. add sauce mixture and stir
7. add beef and stir
8. add cornstarch mixture
9. mix everything together then serve

Everybody loves chocolate, at least everybody i know, so a cake like desert made of chocolate becomes an instant hit. I really believe that anything made of chocolate is out of this world. This cake recipe is different because it isn’t a typical fondant that is like cake icing or frosting, its more like a chocolate pudding cake; where the actual cake makes the fondant. I know i probably don’t make sense, but  once you make this desert and taste it, you will then get what i am trying to say.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

4 oz  sugar

2 1/2 oz flour

7 oz cup butter

7 oz dark chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs powder sugar

Method:

1. preheat oven to 400 f
2. butter and flour 4 molds
3. melt chocolate with butter and 1 tsp vanilla in bowl over hot water (do not stir)
4. cream eggs, egg yolks , sugar and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla until fluffy  (you can use a mixer or a whisk)
5. when chocolate mixture all melts stir and pour in the egg mixture
6. add flour little by little while mixing
7. pour mixture in molds
8. pour water in oven tray and put molds in tray
9. put tray in oven for 15- 20 minutes
10. you will no when its ready when it rises and the top part looks like a cake
11. serve by inverting molds on a serving dish and sprinkling the powder sugar on top

This cake like desert melts in your mouth in every bite. The outer layer is like moist chocolate cake and the inner layer is like pudding, it should be gooey and runny from inside that’s the fondant.

I was watching a cooking program on t.v where the main dish was noodles. The cool thing about this noodle recipe is that it could be made with chicken, meat, vegetables whatever you want and the end result is a guaranteed success. The way the hostess cooked and presented it made me want to jump into the t.v set and eat that bowl of noodles. So i decided to make it. I always wanted to try to cook noodles with seafood so i chose to make it with shrimp.

Marinade:

1 tbs fresh grated ginger

1 tbs fish sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 packet rice noodles (about 8 oz)

1 lb shrimps shelled and deveined

2 tbs sugar

1 red chili thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup fish sauce

1 tbs vegetable oil

1/2 cup green onions sliced

1/2 cup been sprouts

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup toasted crushed peanuts

Method:

1. combine shrimp with marinade and leave in fridge for at least 1/2 an hour
2. make dressing: combine rice vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, and chili then set aside
3. Boil noodles for 5 minutes, drain and run warm water through it, then put it in a serving dish
4. heat wok then add the vegetable oil
5. add shrimps with the marinade and stir fry for 5 minutes
6. add the green onions and bean sprouts and stir fry until shrimp is cooked
7. add the shrimp mixture, coriander, peanuts and dressing to the noodles
8. mix everything together and serve

There you have it, a super easy way to make super yummy noodles. You could make this noodle dish with more chilies if you want really spicy noodles. The ingredients of this recipe combine together and disperse their intense flavor in your mouth. It really is worth trying.

I used to think that cooking lamb is one of the most difficult things  to do, when in fact it turned out to be the exact opposite. If you have the right kind of lamb meat for the recipe it becomes a piece of cake. This lamb recipe is one of the most traditional Arabian ways of cooking lamb, it requires a lot of cooking time to make sure the lamb is completely cooked and all the succulent flavors of the tasty spices have been completely absorbed by the lamb meat. For this recipe you can use the lamb leg if you want to make roast lamb using the same ingredients, but i find the lamb shank, which is a smaller cut, easier to cook.

Ingredients:

4 pieces of lamb shank with bone (if you want boneless lamb meat use 4 lbs of lamb shoulder cut up into chunks)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2  onions coarsely chopped

8 garlic cloves minced

2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp grated fresh ginger)

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp crushed cardamom

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground all spice

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/4 tsp ground saffron

1 tbs salt

8-10 cups boiling water

Method:

1. Heat oil in large pot over high heat
2. add the onion and garlic saute for 1-2 min
3. add all spices and saute for another minute
4. add lamb pieces and mix well with the spices, onion and garlic, till the lamb is coated with the mixture
5. saute everything together turning lamb pieces frequently until the meat loses its pink color and the onions become soft almost 15-20 minutes
6. add the boiling water and bring to a boil
7. skim the foam that forms on surface
8. reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 2 1/2-3 hours
9. the boiling water should reduce to form a sauce but if it reduces too much add more boiling water
10. you will know when its done when the meat becomes fork tender

This lamb recipe is best with white basmati rice.The meat becomes so tender that you wont need a knife. You will be able to taste the marvelous combination of spices in every bite.

Soups are always a delight to eat with meals or as meals, and there are so many variations. One of my favorite is lentil soup (orange lentil soup) because it combines different kinds of healthy ingredients that are commonly used in most vegetable soups. it is a typical Egyptian dish, I got this soup recipe from my grandmother I always remember her when I make it. She used to make it for us in winter, it warms us up and keeps us full.

Ingredients:

1 cup orange lentils

4 cloves garlic

1 onion coarsely chopped

1 large carrot sliced

1 large tomato chopped

1 potato cut into cubes

6 cups water

2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp ground cumin

salt to taste

3 loaves of pita bread cut into small squares

1/2 cup melted butter

Method:

1. boil 6 cups of water in a pot
2. add veggies (onion, 4 cloves garlic, tomato, potato, carrot) to boiling water
3. wash lentils in cold water, drain, then add to pot
4. let everything boil for about an hour until vegetables are soft and easily mashed
5. let it cool for a while (about half an hour to an hour)
6. put the pita bread squares in a pan and brush generously with butter from all sides
7. put in 400 f preheated oven for 15 min or until they turn golden brown, then set a side
8. When vegetable mixture cools down blend it  in a blender in batches, if the mixture didn’t completely cool down don’t cover the blender to let the hot air pass out.
9. in a deep pot or sauce pan heat the olive oil, add the garlic and cumin stirring until they become fragrant
10. add the blended mixture to the pot and stir
11. add 2 cups of chicken broth and stir, the soup should have a thick texture
12. salt to taste

This soup is so yummy, the pita bread squares complete this soup making it a full meal.