Ozen oh man!

Those Triangular thingys with a wierd name

So what they didn't turn out like in the cooking books..or in the shops, no-one can say photoshop or false play here. This is the real stuff! warts and all!

Fact is they were D E L -licking-L I C I O U S!!

Next time think I will wet the sides as well as pinch them to obedience!

OK, filling first, thought I would cheat and fill it with dates stuff, but frankly the poppyseed filling was so delicious! so much better than in the shops!

The lemon zest in the poppyseed filling is great!

And the orange zest in the pastry G E N I U S!

Poppyseed filling:
150g poppyseed grinded

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tbps honey

3 tbps of sugar

1/8 tsp salt

180 ml of milk

Vanilla paste/extract

1/4 cup of crushed biscuits

1. Mix and heat all but the biscuits in pan till thick

2. Take off heat. Add biscuits. Allow to cool.

Pastry:
2 cups of Plain flour

1 egg

salt

3 tbps of sugar

250 gr of margarine

Zest of orange and juice

1 tsp of Baking Powder

(Better Recipe Click here)

Pre-heat oven at 190 c.

1. Cream margarine and sugar together.

2. Add zest and orange juice

3. Add flour with baking powder and salt

4. Add egg

5. Mix to make a soft dough.

6. Place in fridge to cool. 1 hour upto overnight.

7. Ready to roll, cut in quarters and roll out 1 quarter, keep rest in fridge in the meantime.

8. Roll out about 4 mm thick cut in rounds, place a healthy tsp of poppyseed mix in the middle and pinch with water to close. Leave a little opening on top.

Bake in oven till brown

Cool a little then sprinkle icing sugar (powder sugar)

Note: I think the biscuit recipe contains too much fat.  I found a much more successful cookie recipe Click here

Falafel2

Under here is a full layer of chickpeas

Ingredients:

2 cups of chick peas (post soaked)

5 cloves of garlic
2 tps of baking powder

Parsley/Coriander chopped

Onions chopped

Cumin grounded

Sweet paprika

Salt
Ground coriander seeds (optional)

Chickpeas need Only over night  soaking.  Do not cook.

Whizz in mixer all the above ingredients to a soft dough.
I have a too small a mixer so I tend to overload, either way, every time I find myself whizzing at least two batches.  Yet still I never have enough left to freeze....strange

These falafels are on the greener side as I threw in a full big bunch of corriander for good measure, stalks and all.
Also I prefer the Siani/Egyptian falafels which are very green compared to Israeli ones.

2nd batch

Whizz

Whizz some more

Final 'dough' (this stage can be frozen and defrost when needed, so I have been told, I've never had enough left to freeze!)

Best to fry one or two first, taste then adjust seasoning to the rest of the dough before frying again.

Deep fry in hot oil.

PACKED with flavour.

When you split these babies a delicious herby waft  is released... mixed in with a warm spicy aroma.

Dipped in freshly made tehina. The best.

Note:

Yesterday, finally tested the frozen dough theory.
Defrosted the falafel dough.  Fried a few, it lacked flavour and puffiness.
So I blitzed a whole bunch of fresh coriander added this to the lackluster dough along with some paprika, freshly grounded coriander seeds.  Then fried some more balls.  These came out better but were not so light and springy like real fresh falafels.

So verdict.  I wouldn't freeze unless absolutely have too, that is to avoid trashing the falafels.  Better to cook them all and eat them cold later, anything rather than freeze.

Hummus

Soak over night then cook the chickpeas (add baking soda after 30 mins of cooking, if you didn't soak it overnight with B. soda already - B.soda softens them)
Cook till soft, about 3 hours.
Onion adds taste, so I am told.
Smallest chickpeas should be sought out for this, it really does make a difference.

Cool and bag together with 'juice' for freezing.
The juice is important as when you finally use and make hummus, less water is needed, and a more flavourful hummus is achieved!

Bags in the freezer is a RELIEF.  Friends over unexpectedly or arrive home late, nothing in the fridge, too plain tired to cook or even think of what to cook.....Just a take out a few bags, throw into  microwave, blend in food processor, garnish.  Fresh/frozen pitta  warmed in the oven.  Deliciously filling, nutritious and FAST!

Recipe
Cooked chickpeas (defrosted)
tahini
salt
liquid (best to use juice of the cooked chickpeas)
garlic

Blitz in food processor till creamy done. Adjust to personal taste.
Smear onto a plate and garnish.
Garnish: paprika, pinenuts, chopped coriander, olive oil

Enjoy

Original hummus recipe - Click Here
Note: Some restaurants use yoghurt to make hummus or the tehina, it does give another silky texture.

Sorry wasn't fast enough to take ANY photos of the hummus dish before it vanished on the table.
Always chaotic when hummus is made at our place, usually with falafel, FAST food at it's best and fastest!
Will try better next time.  That's Reality Blog for you!

Remember to check for updates. 

Finally

This is topped with fried ground beef, you can top instead with  fried Onions or Mushrooms or nothing.

It's all good and delish.
Sprinkle of red paprika, toasted pine nuts and or chopped coriander.

Falafel

Home made falafel

Ultimate salad to go with

Click here for recipe