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50/50 Week 22: New Zealand Jelly Slice

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Ingredients

  • 2 packs of strawberry jell-o
  • 3 cups boiling water
  • 1 packet (250g) superwines or any plain sweet biscuit
  • 175g melted butter
  • 2 Tbs gelatine
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • juice of 1 lemon

Hooray for no-bake desserts! I’m not going to lie, initially when I was reading about this dessert it struck me as that weird jell-o pretzel dessert that shows up at every redneck cook-out. After tasting it though, its so much better!

Line your desired dish with parchment paper and set aside. Grind up your biscuits in a food processor and combine melted butter and optionally, the zest from a lemon. (I highly recommend bc its delicious) Press into your dish to form the crust and place in fridge for 30 minutes to chill

In a medium bowl, combine gelatine and 1/2 cup boiling water and mix until dissolved. Add the sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice and mix well. Pour over the crust and place back in the fridge for 30-40 minutes until completely set.

Mix your jell-o with the 3 cups of water and let cool- don’t let it set. Pour it on top of your milky layer and then place back into the fridge until set.

Once its all set up, slice into squares and serve. It can be easier if you use a hot knife, but I think that depends on the pan you’re using.

Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge, though, I don’t think leftovers will be much of a problem.

50/50 Week 21: Morocco Seffa Medfouna

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A literal mountain of food! Delicious, delicious food.

For the Seffa:

  • 2 pounds of dry broken vermicelli
  • 3 Tbs vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup golden raisins, soaked in water for 20 minutes
  • 4 Tbs butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

For the Saffron Chicken

  • 1 whole chicken, disassembled
  • 2 large onions chopped
  • 1 Tbs ground ginger
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 small sticks of cinnamon
  • 1 tsp saffron threads, crumbled
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 1/2- 2 tsp salt- to taste
  • 4 Tbs butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Toppings

  • 1/2 – 1 cup almonds (blanched, fried & ground)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbs ground cinnamon

I will warn you that this is time consuming. Not a casual weeknight meal, definitely a special occasion- lots of people over- type meal.

I bought an instant pot for this haha If you have a steamer, you’re good. I’ve had so many recipes that require a steamer and I made due, but for this recipe in particular, I knew I needed to bring out the big guns.

Fill the base of your steamer with salted water and proceed to steam the broken vermicelli 4-5 times (add the raisins for the 4th steaming)

For exactly how to do the steaming process, go here: https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-seffa-medfouna-2395009

Mix the chicken, lamb or beef with the onions, spices, butter, oil and cilantro in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot. Gently brown the chicken over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat is very tender. This will take about 1 hour. When the chicken has been cooked, reduce the liquids until a thick sauce has formed. Discard the cinnamon stick, and taste for seasoning. If desired, remove the chicken from the bones.

To Serve:

Gently toss the steamed broken vermicelli with the butter and powdered sugar. Place about 1/3 of this mixture on a very large serving dish. Arrange the chicken in the center, and cover with the sauce. Pile the rest of the vermicelli on top of the meat, using your hands to shape a dome.

Decorate the mound of seffa in a vertical pattern with the cinnamon, ground almonds and powdered sugar. Serve immediately, with small bowls of powdered sugar, ground almonds, and cinnamon on the side.

50/50 Week 20: Egyptian Jalebi

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Batter

  • 3 cups AP Flour
  • 2 cups plain greek yogurt (original recipe calls for hung curd, but greek yogurt is a good substitution)
  • 1/2 cup ghee
  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups of oil for frying

Syrup

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3 cups water
  • 5 strands of saffron
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 4 drops rose essence

So first things first, this isn’t a one day recipe. You need to let the batter ferment over night. Mix AP flour, cornstarch, and baking soda together in a bowl. Add ghee, food coloring, yogurt, and water. I didn’t list the water in the ingredients because you’ll add it little by little until you reach a slightly flowing consistency. Cover the bowl in a towel and let sit for 8-10 hours on the counter.

For the sugar syrup, heat water in a pan over medium heat. Add sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Simmer the syrup until it reaches one string consistency. ( I didn’t know what this means so I messed up this step and had to redo it) One string consistency is reached when you put a little of the syrup between your fingers and there’s a “string” when you pull your fingers apart. Remove from heat and add saffron, cardamom, and rose. Stir well

Now time to fry!

Heat your oil over medium heat until you’re about 350-365F

Put your batter in a ziplock bag and snip a small hole in the corner. Moving from the inside-out you want to make concentric circles in the oil with your batter. This will take a few tries to look right. Practice makes perfect and all that.. Fry a few minutes on either side until they’re crisp and golden.

Your syrup should be warm, but not hot. When your jalebis are done frying, soak them in the syrup for 2-3 minutes and place on a foil lined tray. They should be served warm or at room temperature.

I will warn you that this makes A LOT of batter. The good news is that it freezes well.

50/50 Week 19: Greece Portokalopita

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Like Sunshine for your mouth!

Ingredients:

Syrup

  • 2 1/2 c sugar
  • 2 1/2 c water
  • Juice of 3 oranges (zest before juicing)

Cake

  • Zest of 3 oranges
  • 2 oranges
  • One package or ~454g phyllo dough
  • 1 c sugar
  • 1 c olive oil or other neutral oil (not EVOO)
  • 1 c greek yogurt
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs
  • optional: orange slices for decoration

Directions:

  1. Defrost your phyllo on the counter until you can unroll it. Then separate into a few sheets and scatter them about to dry. (Obviously clean your counters first) Once they’re dry they will crumble very easily. Use your hands to crumble all of it into a large bowl.
  2. Put your 2 oranges in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for an hour. When they’re cool enough to handle, cut in half and remove any seeds and most of the juice. Place the oranges in a food processor or blender.
  3. To your blender, add the zest, oil, and sugar. Blend until smooth. Add egg, yogurt, vanilla, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend until fully combined.
  4. Preheat your oven to 320F and lightly grease a 9×13 pan or two 9 inch pans
  5. Now, make the syrup. Put the equal parts sugar and water in a pan, stir, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. When all sugar is dissolved, add the orange juice and set aside to cool completely.
  6. In a large bowl, combine your crumbled phyllo and your batter. I did this in 4 stages. Just add little by little of each so that its all fully coated. Once done, add your batter to your prepared baking pan(s). At this time you might wish to add your orange slices to the top for decoration. I say decoration because its really pretty, but not super pleasant to eat.
  7. Bake for 40-45 minutes if using a single 9×13 pan. If using two 9 inch pans, check after 30-35 minutes. If you use a different sized pan, it may take longer. If you have a digital thermometer (which, you should. Seriously, makes life so much easier) you want the internal temperature to reach 200-205F
  8. Once the cake is done, immediately ladle on your syrup. ONLY IF YOUR SYRUP IS COOL! Which, it should be, unless you forgot that step and tried to do it last minute. Warm cake + Cool syrup = the only way to go. If you try to add warm syrup to warm cake, it will not absorb well. You’ve been warned.

Let the cake soak up and rest for at least 30 minutes before you try to dig in. Trust me, it’s worth it.

10/10 would make again

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50/50 Week 16: The Netherlands Bitterballen

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I didn’t enjoy this one. You’ve been warned.

These are not a 1 day make, allow for at least 2 or start in the morning.

Ingredients:

Meatballs

  • 8 T butter (unsalted)
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 3 cups beef broth
  • 2 T parsley
  • 1 small onion minced
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 t black pepper
  • 1/4 t nutmeg

Breading

  • 1/2 cup AP flour
  • 3 eggs (beaten)
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

+ vegetable oil for frying

Melt butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. Once melted, add your flour little by little, whisking until a thick paste forms. Slowly stir/whisk in the beef broth, making sure to stir thoroughly. You want all of the broth incorporated in your roux (pay special attention to the sides of your pan) Your gravy will be smooth and get quite thick. Simmer for a couple minutes and add your parsley, onion, and raw ground beef. Stir well, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Adjust seasoning as needed. This will look all sorts of wrong and frankly disgusting. It is what it is.

Transfer your meat/gravy mixture to a tupperware container and refrigerate overnight or until it has solidified (4 hours probably)

⭐⭐ It’s worth noting at this point that I refrigerated mine overnight and it was still not solidified..however I think that’s because I opted to use the lean ground beef instead of 80/20. I think the higher fat content would have made it tighten up better. ⭐⭐

Assuming your mixture is solidified, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put flour in a plate, bread crumbs in another, and your eggs in a pie pan. Shape meat mixture into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet. Roll in flour, then eggs, and then bread crumbs. Repeat for all and then place pan in fridge while your oil heats. You want your oil to be about 375F

Fry 5 meatballs at a time until they’re golden brown. This will take about 4-5 minutes. If you have enough oil in your pan, the meatballs will actually float when they’re done. Drain and repeat until you’ve cooked them all.

I learned quite a bit while making this. Mainly I learned that I fucking hate frying things. Well, breading and frying. Fuck that. I hate it. It’s messy and to me, just not worth it. Not to say that these weren’t good, because I think they were quite delicious. I just don’t think they were worth it.

Serve with spicy mustard.

50/50 Week 15: Canadian Butter Tarts

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Ingredients:

Crust

  • 2 1/2 cups AP flour
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 cup cold butter
  • 3/4 cup cold water

Filling

  • 1/4 cup butter (room temp)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs (room temp)
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1 t vanilla extract

This goes super quickly if you use a food processor for the crust. Put your flour, sugar, and salt in and add your cold butter in chunks. Pulse until the butter is in small pieces..about 8 times. Slowly add your cold water and pulse until the dough starts to come together. (It will still be a little crumbly but should hold its shape if you press it together)

Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and pat into a disc. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

While your dough is chilling, work on the filling. HA wow..unintentional rhyme 😅

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together your butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each. Add maple syrup, salt, and vanilla. This will look…well, frankly it will look curdled. Its not, I promise. It makes everything easier if you put your filling in a large glass measuring cup with a pour spout for later. If you make the filling and let it sit for a while until you’re ready to use it, you’ll need to give it a good whisk before using it.

Preheat oven to 350F

Now back to that dough! Separate into 2-3 portions. Put the dough you aren’t actively working on back in the fridge. Flour your counter and roll out until its about 1/8 of an inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter that’s about 4 inches across (I used a glass and cut around it) Grease a muffin pan and place your dough rounds in each cup. If you’re a slow cutter/its warm, place your muffin pan in the fridge while you work.

Now whisk up your filling and pour just over half way up for each cup. Do not overfill/spill. It will be a mess and is not gonna be a fun time. I have 2 – 6 cup muffin pans so I placed them on a cookie tray in case of any spillage/stability. Bake for 25 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes before removing and placing on a cooling rack.

Let these cool or they will be like fucking lava in your mouth. You’ve been warned!

These were so delicious and I’ve never been happier to send things to work with my wife. They were all gone before lunch 😉

50/50 Week 17: The Philippines Macapuno Salad

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Holy crap..what a week. Here’s the recipe and then we’ll jump into the rest.

1 jar macapuno balls (I used strings)
1 jar nata de coco
1 jar kaong
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks (I didn’t add the additional pineapple but I should have)
2 cans (30 oz.) fruit cocktail
1 pack Nestle All purpose cream/or heavy cream (I used the heavy cream since I couldn’t find all purpose)
1 block (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

Additionally, you may wish to add sweetened condensed milk to taste if you’d like it sweeter. I didn’t add any since I found it perfectly sweet on its own.

This week has been a hectic one. Trying to get back on track after the holidays..case in point, I’m editing and posting on the same day. I try to never do that because, well it’s a lot. To make things worse, I pinched a nerve in my shoulder this morning so I literally feel like I’m being stabbed in the back. Fun times.

I’m trying to get this food blog/ recipe center back on track as it’s been sadly neglected in the last couple of weeks. Please be patient with me haha

Anywho, back to the recipe. This is super simple to throw together provided you can find the ingredients you need. I had to hunt a little but it led to the discovery of my new favorite grocery provider so it’s not all bad.

I followed this recipe: http://www.mamasguiderecipes.com/2017/07/22/macapuno-fruits-salad/

Though, I will probably update this once I get my hands on Mark’s moms version.

10/10 would definitely make again!

50/50 Week 13: Tres Leches Cake

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Holey moley me oh my…

I don’t know how I’ve never tried tres leches cake before. *chefs kiss* fucking delicious!

For this episode, I followed this recipe: https://ethnicspoon.com/traditional-tres-leches-cake/

I highly recommend this one. Its easy to follow and nearly impossible to fuck up. I will say I was a little concerned this would be overly sweet with the sweetened condensed milk, but it’s honestly perfect.

she looks plain, but she’s tasty

50/50 Week 12: Finnish Munkki

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Holy delicious, Batman! Let me preface this by saying: I don’t really like donuts. Okay, now that’s out of the way…this week, I made donuts!

These are absolutely the best donuts I’ve ever put in my mouth. I was extremely grateful that my wife took them to work because me and my jeans would have been in serious trouble…

Here’s the recipe:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/may-day-munkki-cardamom-doughnuts-4037817

I did change it a little. Instead of rolling the cooked donuts in sugar, I did cinnamon/sugar. I highly recommend this as the cinnamon plays really well with the cardamom.

Seriously, make these. You will NOT be sorry. . unless you’re on a diet.

This literally makes my mouth water LOL
Video releases 11/24/2020 at 2:15pm