Easter Recipe You Should Prepare

Posted on March 26, 2018 by HishamAD

The month is almost over and EASTER is due!

Oh yes!

What do you usually do on Easter week and weekend?
Share those in the comments. I’d love to read them

Over the years, I’ve posted Easter recipes including traditional ones that my family prepares EVERY YEAR…

YES. KAAK ASFAR

If you are looking for that recipe and other things to prepare this week for this holiday, I will make your lives easier. Follow the list below to help you plan some Easter gatherings recipes, some traditional Easter recipes, and some fun Easter-inspired ones.

Special Easter Recipes

Maamoul: stuffed Easter cookies

Easter is not the same without Maamoul. These semolina butter cookies are heaven in a bite. Choose your filling; date, pistachio, or walnuts.

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Kaak Asfar (Palestinian Yellow Easter Bread)

Maamoul and Kaak Asfar are Easter staple for my family. It never an Easter breakfast without Kaak Asfar with labneh and the colored eggs, followed by Maamoul and coffee.

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Kaak Asfar – Palestinian Easter Bread

Naturally Colored Easter Eggs

The third MUST-HAVE for my family’s Easter table. We get the blessed eggs from Easter Mass at dawn and compete on who has the strongest egg by having a one-on-one egg-cracking contest. Watch out for the family member who is very watchful over his egg, it might be a fake 😉

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Hot Cross Buns

I’ve been a follower of Jamie Oliver’s magazine and his shows. I’ve used one of his recipes to make these with a few changes to suit what I have at home, first, and suit the flavors I want. These Hot Cross Buns are nice pillowy bread buns flavored with great spices, ginger, and sweet dried fruits. Brush the top with honey for a beautiful glossy glaze and cover the sliced halves with a generous spread of butter. Try it and let’s see what you think

The ones pictured here, as I remember, over-proofed and looked a bit weird and tasted yeasty. But that didn’t stop me from sharing

Hot Cross Muffins

A twist on the hot cross buns, also adapted from Jamie Oliver. As I was writing this, a video was released on his channel of Chocolate hot cross buns with melting chocolate inside! Possibilities are endless with these sweet spicy buns

Bourbon Easter Egg Cookie Truffles

Sneak in some booze into your Easter – because why not! – tradition by making these cookie balls with two shot of bourbon. Dress them up for the occasion

Pastel Decorated Chocolate Bark

If you’re not into fancy sweets or you don’t have much time, this is yours. Just melt the chocolate, bring its temperature down a bit and pour it over a baking sheet AND DRESS IT AS CRAZY AS YOU WANT. Break it apart or let your friends take pleasure in the task

EASTER LUNCH INSPIRATION

Coriander Rub Roast Chicken with Trimmings

This is making its way into my family’s Easter lunch tradition, in case we have the stomach capacity after a food-loaded breakfast. Serve it with a zesty salad with ginger and garlic

Marjoram and Pine Cone Roast Chicken

The epitome of spring in a roast recipe. Grab the fresh herbs and grind them into a paste and rub it onto chicken with loads of olive oil and butter. The vegetables at the bottom will roast and crisp up from the fat dripping down from the chicken. Grab the pine cones from the forest, wash them and add them to the tray for an added aroma of pine and wood

PIN- Marjoram and Pine Cone Roast Chicken Recipe - cookin5m2 -1086.jpg

Chicken Breasts in Tomato Sauce

This is one of my favorite easy chicken dishes. Marinate. Grill. Mix. Bake. Serve.
It should be ready in less than an hour

Coriander and Garlic Roasted Vegetables

Serve the above chicken with roasted vegetables with coriander and garlic. For me, roasted vegetables can pass as a main dish if well prepared and paired with something grains or pulses maybe.

Lebanese Roasted Vegetables with Grains and Greens

Speaking of which, roasted vegetables, with quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, or anything. I’m sold! Hold the meat. I’m happily having a salad

Goat Cheese Marinara Cups

A warm entree with delicious flavors and textures. It’s easy, quick and delicious. So what more do you want?

Roasted Strawberries with Labneh Cheesecake Cream

If you’re not making any of the sweets above, use the seasonal strawberries and prepare this fresh dessert. It tastes like a sundae, only BETTER

Whatever you decide to prepare, the most important part is to celebrate the holiday (whether you’re a believer or not) and the family gathering and the delicious food.

Have a blessed week

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Zalabye; Fried Dough for Epiphany

Posted on January 16, 2018 by HishamAD

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Some serious social media suicidal thoughts were spinning around my head.

I have neglected my social media accounts to a point that they might have died. I tried reviving my Instagram account. But still, I have reached a point where I do activities that I don’t want to share online. I meet people and rather not post a photo of us together.
Is this growth? Is this growing weary of social media? Is it social media suicide?

It is equivalent to leaving the big city and escaping to the mountains and seeing no one, sitting in between of beautiful high trees and waking up to the sound of roosters calling the sun to climb up from its slumber. It isn’t that bad if you think about it.

But for someone who is making a living from being online, sharing stuff online, and getting work from doing work and sharing it on the worldwide web… THIS IS SUICIDE!

Continue reading →

Pickled Stuffed Vine Leaves

Posted on July 4, 2017 by HishamAD

PIN-Pickles Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipe - cookin5m2 -1442 Pickled Stuffed Vine Leaves recipe - cookin5m2 -1444.jpg

If you’re anything like me, it would be the joy of your days to be in the wilds surrounded by nature. One can’t think of being away from nature would create a sense of anxiety that is only cured by total immersion.
This is one of the little things that one finds out about himself gradually as days go by. One goes from despising the idea of camping out there in the wild exposed to wild animals and insects to despising the idea of being in the middle of the concrete jungle exposed to wild humans and insects.

Whatever you do in the mountains feels purposeful. Sometimes you go for a walk in the neighborhood and that feels rewarding, sometimes it’s watering the garden, other times it’s the time take to remove the weeds, or climb up and pick the produce and pluck out the good ones. It feels that whatever you do is rewarding in a sense. Nature is rewarding and with some more time and patience, those rewards get more valuable.

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Continue reading →

Labneh Sandwich in Wood-fired Tannour Bread

Posted on October 15, 2015 by HishamAD

On an early Summer weekend, my family and a couple of friends decided to have a sleepover and rafting in Al Assi River in the Bekaa. We hit it off for the 3 hour drive, co-piloting to my sister’s friend which made the time pass like a breeze.

We reached there at night, modest bungalows by the freezing river, under the pitch black sky, around the fire that the other groups have started to keep warm. We slept around midnight to get some rest before the busy day ahead. Continue reading →

A Special Palestinian Brunch and Delicious Labneh with Vegetables

Posted on February 22, 2015 by HishamAD

In case you have been following my Facebook page (which you should –> www.fb.com/cookin5m2) you might have known about my new big announcement. Cookin5m2 was cooking in another kitchen and making food for people other than my family. My mom and I were cooking at Mòtto and had prepared a special Palestinian brunch with exceptional recipes that wowed everyone. THE PLACE WAS FULLY, if not over, BOOKED!