Kunafa with mahlabiya and pineapple

Kunafa is one of the very famous traditional middle eastern desserts. Kunafa is very long thin pastry kind of looking like soft and very thin angel hair pasta. Something has been going on with kunafa lately, for some reason there is a trend to fill it with tons of different flavors and options. Long time ago the…

Egyptian Kabab Hala: Beef stew with potatoes

Kabab el hala means in english pot kabob. It is small pieces of beef cooked in its own broth with onions and garlic. Some people add mushrooms but the old traditional way is to add potatoes. Some people cook it in tomato sauce but I call this something else as in Kamounia. It is also very…

Middle eastern donuts: zalabia

Zalabya or Loqmet el qady is the middle eastern version of donuts. They are crunchy from outside though and covered with powdered sugar or more traditionally a sugar syrup. The best you can ever eat is in Alexandria, Egypt. They are all shaped like perfect sized small balls as in donuts holes. Unless you make…

Ramadan Iftar Recipes

Ramadan Iftar Recipes & Ideas Ramadan Iftar Day 1 Ramadan Iftar Day 2 Ramadan Iftar Day 3 Ramadan Iftar Day 4 Ramadan Iftar Day 5 Ramadan Iftar Day 6 Ramadan Iftar Day 7 Ramadan Mubarak to you all! If you do not know what Ramadan is, it is a special month for muslims when they…

Om Ali recipe…The Egyptian bread pudding

Om Ali  “Ali’s mother” is an Egyptian dessert that could remind you kind of bread pudding if you have never tasted it before. It is usually served in small clay baking dish as individual portions. Om Ali dessert came from a long amazing and bit dark history mixed with the Egyptian folklore. For sure, it has…

New and easy artichoke dip

This is a very easy recipe to put together and it looks fancy! Not a lot of people might like the taste of marinated artichoke since it is tangy and sharp but my family LOVES it. I decrease this sharpness by adding mayo. This dip goes so well with some fried pita bread. It is DELICIOUS…

Egyptian basboosa: my favorite dessert!

    Basboosa is my favorite dessert since I was a little kid. If you have never tried it before, it might be close in description to a very thin crumbly cake covered with a lot of syrup. So it is moist, sweet and dissolves in your mouth. It is GOOD! In Egypt, almost every bakery…

Mahalabiya the very easy and yummy Egyptian milk custard

Mahalabiya is one of the traditional Egyptian desserts. However, I do not believe it has the same popularity as the rice pudding does. I remember the first time I tried it was at a seafood place!! They brought a small bowl made of clay filled with mihalabeya after a huge seafood meal and it was on the…

Easy appetizer: Crispy cheese triangles

This appetizer or snack is super easy and fast to make. It is always an awesome side dish and make any meal looks fancier. It should not take more than few minutes to have this dish on the table. Ingredients Few egg rolls square sheets (if not found, Fillo dough can be used) 4 tablespoons feta cheese…

The secret of crispy qatayef

Qatayef is the most traditional Ramadan dessert. I do not recall eating it except during the fasting month of Ramadan but at that time, I would like to eat it every single night after Iftar. In middle east countries, you can get the qatayef dough from the bakery, fresh and ready made to be stuffed right…