Recipe: Chocolate Chip Brownies

As requested by @7abitainBLOG on twitter! ;)

 

Ingredients

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, cut into pieces

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

 

Melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips and butter in large, saucepan over low heat; stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs. Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla extract and baking soda. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips and nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.

 

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

 

 

My trip to Turkey :)

I know i havent posted in a while but it was because i was in Istanbul, Turkey and i was busy packing that i didnt have enought time to post before i went. I had no internet connection while i was there so i didnt get a chance to post there either. However, i did bring my camera along and i thought i would share some pictures.

I'm sure you all know the KDD icecream sandwitch ? Well in Turkey they have it in Kinder flavour!! Delicious!!!

The familiar face of starbucks coffee ;)

We went to a really good restaraunt called happily ever after.

They have a corner with delicious baked goods.

We also had breakfast there:

There is a really good restautant called Mado which we went to a couple times for breakfast.

They also have a baked section with arabic desserts. I highly recommend. Their ice-cream is so good!

And here are some pictures to show the wonderful views of Turkey:

It was my first time in Turkey and i had an amazing time there.

I will have some new posts up soon.

Thank you for reading! :D

-Noura

Review: Cocoa Room-Futoor

Today I had a late futoor with my cousin at cocoa room. We had soup at home and then decided to finish our meal there.

So this is what we ordered:

Rice Krispies Shrimp

Margarita Flat Bread Pizza

Breaded Chicken with a Side of French Fries (Not sure of the name)

And now for dessert:

Oreo Crusted Chocolate Molten



I have to say that i heard so much good things about their futoor. I had previously tried their breakfast (post) and it was really good! My favourite dish was probably the flat bread pizza. The dough was wonderful and crispy.They have many options like mushroom and chicken that you can also have on the flat bread pizza. The chicken dish was okay, if you are a fan of breaded chicken then you'll like it. and it was HUGE! I wasn't really expecting it to be that big. We shared it and still couldn't finish it all! ;p But i really liked their french fries even though it was a little bit too salty. The garlic mayonnaise that came with the french fries was really good as well. The rice krispies shrimp was good as well and i really liked how crispy it was but i didn't really taste the rice krispies which is okay, i guess. The sauces with the shrimp were good.

The dessert was not what i expected. For some reason we thought it was a custard dessert! ;s

My way to describe it is that its a dark chocolate molten cake with a layer of chocolate and oreo covering it up. Like i said it was not what i expected but it was still good ecspecially with the ice-cream on the side.

If I would have the chance to go again I would like to maybe try the nutella soufle and the red velvet pancakes. I have heard so much good things about them.

And I would also like to quickly thank the staff for the amazing and quick service. I had a lot of fun today! :D

If you have tried anything from the menu leave me in the comments below what you thought about it! :D

-Noura

Suhoor at Maki

Before starting this post I just wanted to say that you will notice a huge difference in the picture quality because yesterday my mom surprised me with a new camera and it’s the one that I had wanted so thank you mommy! ;* From now on I hope that the picture quality will be much better and more clearer! :D

So anyways yesterday night me and my family went out to have suhoor at maki because we all wanted sushi and so we headed over to maki at Burj Jasem.

So this is what we ordered:

Edamame Salad

Spicy Edamame

Spicy Tuna Sushi & Spicy Salmon Sushi

Salmon Sushi & Shrimp Sushi

Essa III (3) Maki

Chicken Teryaki

Garlic Fried Rice

Beef Tepenyaki

Yaki Udon Noodles with Shrimp

This was the first time that i had tried the Essa III (3) Maki and we had the rocket removed and it was delicious but very different than the other 2 Essa maki's.

The food was excellent as usual but their was a roll that i didn't take a picture of which was the Mango Mame Maki that came late after all the food- im not sure if they had forgotten about it or something but i didnt get a chance to picture it. The service was a little bit slower than usual but it was a great night that i got to spend with my family.

-Noura

Nino's Desserts

I have been going to nino for years and have tried so many different things from their menu but never their desserts. I recently went before Ramadan and saw that they had a new menu and after we finished the food we really wanted dessert but didn’t know where to go so we saw the desserts and ordered. I saw that they had crème brulee and I ordered that because it is my all-time favorite dessert. We also ordered the banana fried rolls. (Not sure what it’s called)

The fried banana roll came with a side of icecream and the crème brulee was very creamy and both tasted very good in my opinion. If you haven’t tried nino’s dessert than I would recommend it! :D

Nino is located in the avenues phase 1 and also by the seaside on gulf street.

Telephone: 22541900, 22597379.



Baking Tray's Cookies

I love baking tray’s sandwiches but I never tried their cookies until recently and everyone has been saying how amazing they are and I completely agree!!! They are AMAZING!! If you’ve never tried them I do warn you though they are pretty oily so I don’t think they are the best choice for a diet however if you are a fan of cookies you will really like them since they are so soft and chewy. I got the classic chocolate chip cookies but they do have other flavors as well such as: raisin and oatmeal, chocolate and dried black currant, dates and harda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are located in: Mishal Tower, Jaber Al-Mubarak Street, Sharq, Kuwait.

Telephone: 22251544

Website: http://www.bakingtraycafe.com/ 

 

 

Ramadan Update

Mubarak 3alaikom il shahar! :D

I hope everyones first day of ramadan went smoothly. I wish i could have posted this earlier but i've been spending alot of time with my family that i didnt realize how long its been that i havent posted. :(

I have 2 new posts that i want to put up but since they are food related i'll put them up after fu6oor since it wont be fair for all of us fasting.

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy month that you can enjoy spending with your family! Ta8abal allah 6a3atkom.

And dont forget to check out eb6ainiya's blog ramadan recipe competion. The deadline is on the 5th of August so hurry up and submit!!

Thank You All For The Wonderful Support! :D

-Noura

Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes

My last two posts have been healthy recipes and so i thought it would be nice for a change! ;p

I took me a while to find the perfect recipe for red velvet because you always want it to be very moist and flavourful. 

 

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour or cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 stick of butter at room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 tablespoons red food coloring

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

In a bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.  Make sure to sift all the dry ingredients.

On meduim speed of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, making sure to beat well after each egg. 

In another small bowl add the baking soda and apple cider vinegar and mix. Then add it to the butter and sugar mixture with the eggs. Then also add in the milk. Mix it in on a slow speed until all of the mixture is mixed in well together.

Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well on a slow speed until all fully mixed together. Then add the second half of the dry ingredients and continue mixing slow until all the ingredients are mixed in together. Then add in the vanilla and food coloring. Then move up to meduim speed until the whole mixture gets coated in the food colouring and turn off the mixer.

Fill lined cupcake pans 1/2 full of red velvet batter.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Make sure to cool the cupcakes before frosting them or else the frosting with just melt.


*To make the cream cheese frosting:

In a large bowl, beat together 100g of butter and 100g cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar and mix until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla essence.

Healthy Recipe: Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup

I was looking through my flash drive and i found this recipe that i had typed up for school as an essay for one of my classes last year and it had to be a healthy recipe and i remember my teacher telling me i had the one of the best ones from the whole class and i thought why not share it with everyone. It's actually very easy to make because i tried making it before i handed it in and it was delicious! I think i now know what im having for lunch today!! :D  Enjoy..

Healthy Recipe:

Recipe: Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup 

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 ounces dried soba noodles                 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped                                          
1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock or broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup plain soy milk (soya milk) *optional
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (fresh coriander)

Directions

Bring a saucepan 3/4 full of water to a boil, add the noodles and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside until needed.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the ginger and carrot and sauté for 1 minute. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds; don't let the garlic brown. Add the stock and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is cooked for about 4 minutes. Add the soba noodles and soy milk and cook until heated through; don't let boil.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Place into individual bowls and serve immediately.

Per Bowl:

Calories    185

Total Fat   5 grams                                                       

-Noura

Healthy Recipe: Grilled Teryaki Chicken With Light Salad

I wanted a lunch that was light yet still taste good and thats why i came up with this recipe! I first made the grilled teryaki chicken and then added it to the salad!


To make the chicken:-

The type of chicken i was using was boneless and skinless chicken breast which to me is the easiest! It was frozen and i left it to defrost for a couple of hours before i used it then soaked it in warm water to make sure that i got rid of any access dirt.

In a very hot pan i drizzled a little bit of olive oil and i while i waited for the olive oil to heat up, in a bowl i added a tablespoon of each of the following ingredients:

• Soy Sauce
• Maggi Food Seasoning Sauce
• Sweet Soy Sauce (the brand is called indofood)
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper

I mixed the ingredients together with a wisk and took the chicken out of the water and into the bowl with the sauces.



Let the chicken in the sauce until each piece is fully coated in the sauce.

Slowly add the chicken pieces in to the pan and because of how hot it should be, you should hear a sizzling sound so be careful when puting them in. It should cook pretty quickly so make sure you turn them so that they dont burn on one side!

Once they have browned from the outside make sure you cut in to one of them just to make sure its ready! Then carefully take it off the heat but keep them in the hot pan so that they don't get cold while your making the salad to go with the chicken.

To make the salad:-

I cut up a little bit of lettuce (i used the long lettuce instead of the round because i like them better) and i added a light dressing that has (#) tablespoons of:

• 2 Tbls Lemon Juice
• 1 Tbls Olive Oil
• 1 Tbls Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Tbls Light Plain Yogurt



After you mixed the dressing with the salad, cut the chicken slices into small cubes and add them to the top of the salad and Enjoy!

I hope you try it out and please let me know how it goes in the comment below!

I haven't cooked chicken in a very long time and i was pretty proud of myself because this dish tasted really good! ;p

Thank You For Reading! :D

-Noura