Butter Crescent...

...Or as I call them, Fake Croissants.

The last time I made these was many years ago. I can not figure out why it took me so long to make them again, as they are sooo easy to put together, requiring minimal hands-on time. I doubled the recipe, because, if I am going to have my oven on, might as well make good use of it!

The boys have been eating them for snack as well as breakfast. They are perfect with a cup of Moroccan Mint Tea.

The recipe is from The Great American Home Baking Kitchen Helper

Unfortunately, I do not have all of the recipe sheets for this binder. Come to think of it, I have very few of the many recipe that it comes with.

Butter Crescents

For one dozen:

½ cup Milk

1 Stick butter; softened

⅓ cup Granulated sugar

Salt

1 pack Active dry yeast

½ cup Warm water

1 large Egg; lightly beaten

3.5 - 4 cups All purpose flour

1 large Egg; lightly beaten

Heat milk and add to combined butter, sugar, and salt. Let cool. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until foamy.

Beat yeast mixture and egg into milk mixture. Mix in 2 cups of flour until smooth. Continue beating until thick. Mix in enough remaining flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead dough very gently until smooth and elastic, 2 to 3 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Divide it in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll 1 dough half into a 12-inch circle. Cut into 6 wedges. Starting at side opposite point [This is where I added chocolate to some, grape jelly as well as peanut butter Reeses chuncks. It is Halloween after all ;) ], roll up each wedge. Place, point-sides down, on prepared baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover loosely with a damp cloth; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, 30 minutes.

Brush crescents with glaze.

Bake at 400F until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

Jacques Pepin's Fast Food

Eggplant, again ;)

LO decided to take a nice nap late afternoon, yesterday. So I decided to cook something that we normally eat raw in the house, lettuce. I have tried it in soup a few times but DH and the boys are not really into soup, unless it is Harira.
I did a quick check to make sure that I had all the ingredients and got to work. I made Jacques Pepin's Rigatoni with Eggplant and Lettuce. It was fast food indeed.

The result was great. Eggplant and lettuce. Who knew?!

I was a little worried that the boys would complaint but they mostly ate it without issues. My oldest actually liked it. Good and healthy. What more can you ask for?

You can find view a YouTube video of the cooking episode featuring the recipe here: Jacques Pepin's Rigatoni with Eggplant and Lettuce.

Update

Lots has been happening in our little corner of the world.

Our family has welcomed a new pair of feet :) so things have been a little crazy here. Sleepless nights and hectics days are the norm these days, leaving little in the way of long hours in the kitchen.

LO has mostly been taking 45 minute naps so that makes things a bit hard, though this past week has been somewhat better. So on Sunday afternoon, after feeding him and entrusting him to DH, I decided to get in the kitchen and make some no knead bread - using my KitchenAid was out of the question as LO was napping.


What was initially going to be a quick in an out in the kitchen turned into a whole afternoon affair. I ended up making some crescents, an apple-pecan pie (I only had to supervise as this was my 11 year old's baby), sauteed some ground beef for tacos later in the week and assisted DH in making a double batch of meatballs to use with store-bough spaghetti sauce.


I now have a couple of almost-ready-to-serve meals. This should make for more relaxing suppers this coming week.


All in all, a very productive - albeit exhausting - Sunday that left the house smelling heavenly.


A couple of recipes to follow, hopefully soon.

Tajine of beef and potatoes

I came home last night to this wonderful meal that my husband and sister prepared. It is a tajine of beef with potatoes and red peppers. The meat was cooked in the pressure-cooker and was perfectly tender. The potatoes and red peppers were added afterwards, followed by chopped parsley. Very simple yet delicious.

And to go along with the tea, a little something sweet...

The kids are home today because of the holiday. So things have been going at a slower pace. No appointments or after school activities to run to, just a leisurely day, giving us the opportunity to enjoy a little tea this afternoon with an easy to make apple and almond tartelettes.

The mini tarts are made with store-bought puff pastry (which I always keep on hand) and is just as delicious whether made with apples or with pears, both in season now.

Have some tea, Please.

Morocco's "official" drink is mint tea of course.

I have a cup of "Atay" (tea) every morning. My kids and DH love it as well.

I make it using green tea, fresh mint and sugar. I have been experimenting with different ways to sweeten tea (and everything else), using honey, brown sugar, as well as agave nectar. Each lends it a different flavor.

I started growing mint in the garden a couple of years ago and it finally took off this summer. I have yet to figure out how to make it last well into the cold season.

Za'alouk is what's for lunch today - Eggplant Caviar

Today is probably the busiest day of the week for me, since I spend the morning volunteering in my older's son's class and the afternoon doing the same thing in my youngster's. Needless to say, lunch is usually a quick bite (whatever is in the front row of my fridge) and sometimes it is totally skipped... Unless my husband calls to tell me that he is coming home for lunch. Which is exactly what happened today.

With no leftovers other that the anchovy-topped pizza from yesterday, I decided to cook something fast. I was running low on groceries - I was planing on doing some shopping between the classes. My veggie drawer had nothing but watermelon, cherries and Lo and behold, a shiny purple eggplant. Eggplant is not a #1 favorite of mine but it is right at the top of hubby's list. I thought about making some sort of stir fry but the idea of standing in front of the stove tending to the wok did not sound very appealing.

That is when I decided to make Zaalouk, which is a lot like a french caviar d'aubergine (eggplant caviar), only without the tomatoes. The dish is usually served as a warm or room temperature side dish. It is also good as a dip or as a topping on a nice crostini.

Zaalouk is made a few different ways. The eggplant can be roasted whole. The flesh is then scooped out and used. The eggplant can also be cubed then steamed or sauteed before adding the rest of the ingredients. The latter is my personal favorite.

To make Zaalouk, you need the following:

1 lb Eggplant (about 1 large), cut into 1" cubes

Olive Oil

2 or 3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Pepper

1 Tablespoon Paprika

1 Tablespoon Cumin

Chopped Cilantro (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 Cup Water

Saute the eggplant in the olive oil until it starts to brown. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredient but 2 Tablespoons of the cilantro. Add about half the water. Cook for about 15 to 20 Min's on medium heat with the lid on, stirring once in a while. Add more water if it looks like it is drying up. Add the remaining cilantro and a tablespoon of olive oil before serving.

You may add a pinch of cayenne pepper or pepper flakes if you would like to give it a little Oumf.

Zaalouk can also be made ahead of time.

Other recipes may use fresh tomatoes or even zuchini, or both. The way that we make it at home (above) is for the purists ;)

Enjoy!