Koreshte Qeymeh

It's time to travel back to Iran. This time to make one of my favorite stews Koreshte Qeymeh. "Koresh(t)" is the Persian name for stews. They usually include herbs, meats, beans, grains, and sometimes dried fruit. This koresht has beef, yellow split peas, and my personal favorite home made french fries! As a kid you would imagine that I was not a big fan of vegetables or herbs, but this koresht has french fries! How it could it be wrong, when it feels so right!? Serve this along side with the recipe for Chelow and you'll have an authentic, fun, Persian dish.

Oh, and don't worry about not being able to pronounce Koresht Qeymeh, the Q makes one of those Q/G noises that come from the back of your throat. Fun to say, but difficult to master.



Koreshte Qeymeh
Adapted from "New Food of Life" by Najmieh Batmanglij
6 Servings
Prep and Cook Time: 2 hours, 15 min.

Ingredients
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 pound stew meat (lamb and beef are preferred), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 tbsp oil
2 whole dried Persian limes. Can be found in a Persian or International market. You can omit but it's best to
      include at least one
1 tsp  salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp advieh (optional, mix of ground rose petals, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, nutmeg, cumin, and
       coriander seeds
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp saffron dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water
1 pound or 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into sticks
1 cup oil for deep frying
1/3 cup yellow split peas
1 1/2 cups water

Directions
1. In a non-stick Dutch oven, brown the onions and meat in 2 tbsps oil.

2. Add dried Persian limes, if desired, salt, pepper, and turmeric. Saute for 2 minutes longer.

3. Pour in 1 1/2 cups water and bring to boil. Cover and Simmer over low heat for 55 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the advieh, fresh tomato, tomato paste, and saffron water. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

5. During this time fry the potato sticks in the 1 cup of oil. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.

6. Cook yellow split peas in 2 1/2 cups of water and 1/4 tsp of salt for 30 minutes. Drain and add to the Dutch oven.

7. Check to see if meat and peas are tender. Taste the stew and add seasoning as desired.

8. Serve the koresht on the side of  or on top of the Chelow and arrange the french fries on top. Nush-e Jan!

More Cheesecake in a Jar!

I fell in love with cheesecakes in jars from the first time I tried the recipe.  Ever since then I've come up with different variations and recipes but nothing beats the original (except perhaps the dark chocolate cheesecake in a jar which is climbing in ranks and soon to be posted!). 
After a few variations of this recipe, I've finally decided that I like it better without the crust. And besides, this cheesecake doesn't need a crust because it's already held together by the jar! (My "duh" moment)
In this variation I've left out the crust and made one batch with berry layers and another with caramel layers. 


Berry or Caramel Cheesecake in a Jar
Servings: 12 Servings (8oz. mason jars)

Prep & Cook Time: 1 hour 30minutes +refrigeration time

Ingredients:

3 -8oz packages cream cheese (at room temp)
1 1/3 cups sugar

5 large eggs (at room temp)

16 ounces sour cream (at room temp)

1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (at room temp)

2 teaspoons lemon juice (at room temp)

1 jar strawberry or caramel topping (even better with your own homemade recipe)

Directions:

1- Prepare your jars as you would for canning mason jars. Set aside being sure they do not become contaminated

2. Preheat oven to 325F

3. Keeping your mixer on a low setting throughout the beating and mixing process, start by beating the cream cheese until light and fluffy.

4. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy.

5. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.

6. When eggs have been mixed into the cream cheese add flour, vanilla and lemon juice, mix well.

7. Add the sour cream last and beat well.

8. One jar at a time, begin layering the cheesecake batter and strawberry or caramel topping. Be sure to leave about an inch of space at the top of the jar since cheesecake does puff up when baked. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean paper towel when finished layering.

9. Place the jars in a large roasting pan and fill the pan with boiling water, careful not to splash any water into the jars. (I also placed the roasting pan on a large cookie sheet to make it easier to move around)

10. Place the roasting pan with the cheesecake jars in the oven and bake until they no longer jiggle in the middle, about 1 hour.

11. Once finished baking, turn the oven off and leave the oven door slightly ajar.

12. After 30 minutes take the pan with cheesecakes out of the oven and begin placing the lids on the jars. Be careful to use oven mitts as the jars are still hot and you need to get the tops screwed on nice and tight. You may hear the jars make a pop noise when they seal.

13. Let the jars cool on the counter for about 2 hours, and then place them in the fridge overnight.

14. Open a jar when you’re ready to eat and ENJOY! (I found them to be the best around day 3-5)

Biscuits

My first time making biscuits and unfortunately I forgot to add the baking soda which meant these were pretty flat, but still delicious! The second time around I made sure not to forget this key ingredient. Both times the bf and I ate them in one sitting with jams, so baking soda or not these biscuits are a great way to start the day. You can also add ingredients to the biscuit recipe such as green onions, bacon, or herbs. This recipe is adapted from another recipe I found, but without the green onions.
Interesting factoid, biscuits have been around for centuries, usually made dense, dry, and unsweetened. But around the 7th century AD, the  Persian empire started experimenting with the basic recipe by adding eggs, honey, spices, and cream. Have I mentioned that I'm Persian? Go Persians!
In addition, biscuits were very valuable to travelers and sailors because of it's long shelf life.

Biscuits
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites
Makes 10 biscuits
Prep and Cook Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 cup sour cream


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (optional).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar

3. Add butter to bowl and rub into flour mixture with your fingertips until mixture resembles very coarse sand. The average piece should be about the size of a pea. 

4. Stir in sour cream until dough is moistened, then turn out on to a lightly floured surface and lightly knead until the ball comes together smoothly. Press dough out until it is 1/2-inch thick.

5. Use a 2 1/2-3 inch round cookie/biscuit cutter to cut rounds, then place on baking sheet. Dough can be gathered and rerolled once. You should get about 10 biscuits, depending on size of the biscuit cutter.

6. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until tops of biscuits are golden and sides are puffed and firm.
Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been on a major bacon binge lately. I never used to eat it the stuff, but thanks to the bf I started to get it at restaurants, which led to me buying it and fried it up at home for breakfast, and of course I've reached that climactic stage in bacon evolution, a week of bacon in everything! From sandwiches, to breakfast foods, to bacon wrapped hot dogs, I have been hard at work clogging up my arteries. But there was one recipe that was amazingly delicious: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Baking with bacon seems to be a new trend. Chocolate dipped bacon, maple bacon cupcakes, and bacon cookies have been popping up in restaurants, bakeries, and blogs. How could I not try a recipe that combines that greasy, salty taste with the chocolaty goodness of a chocolate chip cookie?! And get ready for this... instead of butter, this recipe uses bacon drippings. Oh ya, I said it. Enjoy it.

Now for some exercise...

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Butterscotch Chips)

Recipe adapted from A Cozy Kitchen

Makes about 24 cookies

Prep and cooking time: 1 hour  

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup bacon drippings at room temperature

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

6 pieces of bacon, fried and chopped (the original called for 4, but come on, it's bacon)

6 oz. of chocolate chips

3 oz. of butterscotch chips (optional- but the flavor goes really well with bacon)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the white sugar, brown sugar, egg and bacon drippings.

3. Add the oats, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, flour and mix well.

4. Gently fold in the bacon and chocolate chips (and butterscotch chips).

5. Using your hands shape the dough into 1 1/2″ to 2″ cookies. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for ten minutes or until done.

Irish Beef Stew

Sometimes you just crave something hearty, warm, and simple. I originally looked up recipes for a beef stew, but I came across a couple Irish beef stews so I thought I’d go for it. Well, it turns out that I made the right choice because Irish Beef Stew has one of the best ingredients ever: beer. Guinness, to be exact. The recipe calls for a only 1 cup of Guinness, but I went for it and used a whole bottle. If you don’t like the hops flavor, then use only 1 cup or less.

I made this stew in a slow cooker, but when browsing I definitely came across some that you can make on the stove top. But my advice, if you don’t have a slow cooker, do yourself a favor and buy one. They are only $15-$30 for a decent one, or better yet find one at a second hand store. The recipe below is adapted from this recipe at SimplyRecipes so that you can use a slow cooker.

Fun Facts: Irish beef stews were traditionally peasant style dishes made with the most readily available ingredients, which were usually lamb/mutton, onions, potatoes, and some greens. This dish traveled to America when Irish people began immigrating to the U.S., and evolved according to different regions. They 

made the right decision with adding Guinness.

Irish Beef Stew

Servings: 5-6

Prep & Cook Time: 30 minutes prep, 8-10 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/4 pounds well-marbled beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces

6 large garlic cloves, minced

6 cups beef stock or beef broth

1 bottle of Guinness beer (or 1 cup if you prefer less)

1 cup of fine red wine

1 small can tomato paste

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 tbsp dried)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)

1 large onion, chopped

1 regular bag of baby carrots (or 2 cups chopped carrots)

Salt and Pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in heavy large pan over medium-high heat. Lightly salt and flour the beef pieces. Add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook until nicely browned on all sides, but not all the way through. Add to crock pot.

2. Sauté the garlic in the pan for 1 minute. Add Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and some of the stock. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil.

3. Add the potatoes, onion, and carrots to the crock pot. Then pour in the stock mixture and add the remaining stock.

4. Set the slow cooker to low for 8-10 hours, or 4-5 hours on high. Season with salt and pepper.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

This may be my favorite cupcake. It combines my love of cupcakes, chocolate, and cheesecake. The all important 3 C’s! My recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com, with just a few minor changes. Mostly that I add plain yogurt to the recipe, and omit the vinegar. I don’t know why, but it just made sense to me when I did it. It tasted great, so I’m sticking to it. You can also make this into a cream cheese filled cupcake by layering: cake mixture, cream cheese mixture, cake mixture. This way allows for frosting, whereas with the method below, the middle of the cupcake sinks a bit making an uneven frosting surface. Try baking these in a mini cupcake pan for extra cute cupcakes.

Factoid: Cupcakes have also been referred to as “fairy cakes” and “patty cakes”.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Servings: Makes 24

Prep & Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 egg1/3 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoon plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

This is a batch I made for my friend's bridal shower. The cream cheese mixture is in the middle, and I made this frosting recipe and then topped each one with an M&M.

Strawberry Cheesecake in a Jar

Yes you read that right; this is a recipe for strawberry cheesecake in a jar! I’ve recently discovered that you can bake cake in a jar (go figure!) from reading someone’s comment on AllRecipes about sending home baked goods baked in jars to their husbands overseas. Seriously great idea!

I took it one step further and decided to make a layered cheesecake since you can see the different layers so well in a jar. Once I had the idea I thought about it for two days straight until I finally got a chance to try it out (I’m pretty sure strawberry cheesecakes were flying around in my dreams).

After searching around the internet for recipes of cheesecake in a jar I only found one that I really liked and unfortunately my browser would kick me off the website because it was infected! Bummer. So I did the next best thing I combined advice from different websites on baking cakes in jars, and then I found a cheesecake recipe I wanted to try. I found this Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake recipe on Food.com, and just omitted the steps for the crust. I kept the crust nice and simple using a common ration: 1.5 cups crushed graham crackers: 2 tbsp butter. Finally, to give the cheesecake a pretty layered look, I used two jars of strawberry topping that you normally find in the ice cream isle at the grocery store. This is definitely a semi-homemade recipe, but you can of course make it a full homemade treat by just making a simple strawberry (or any fruit) sauce.

On a side note, cheesecake originated in Greece, but “cheese molds” have been dated back to 2,000 B.C!!

Strawberry Cheesecake in a Jar

Servings: 12 Servings (8oz. mason jars)

Prep & Cook Time: 1 hour 30minutes +refrigeration time

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 ½ cups crushed graham crackers

3 tbsp melted butter

Filling:

3 -8oz packages cream cheese (at room temp)

1 1/3 cups sugar

5 large eggs (at room temp)

16 ounces sour cream (at room temp)

1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (at room temp)

2 teaspoons lemon juice (at room temp)

Strawberry Topping:

2 jars strawberry topping

Directions:

1- Prepare your jars as you would for canning mason jars. Set aside being sure they do not become contaminated

2- Preheat oven to 325F

3- In a medium bowl add the melted butter to the crushed graham crackers. Mix and set aside.

4- Keeping your mixer on a low setting throughout the beating and mixing process, start by beating the cream cheese until light and fluffy.

5- Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy.

6- Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.

7- When eggs have been mixed into the cream cheese add flour, vanilla and lemon juice, mix well.

8- Add the sour cream last and beat well.

9- One jar at a time, begin layering the crust, cheesecake filling, and strawberry topping. I chose to do from the bottom up: crust, cheesecake, topping, crust, cheesecake, topping so you can see the layers all throughout. I did about 3-4 tablespoons of the crust, 4-5 tablespoons of cheesecake filling, and 2-3 tablespoons of strawberry topping for each jar, split into two different layers. But you can do any amount you want for each layer, just be sure to leave about an inch of space at the top of the jar since cheesecake does puff up a bit when baked. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean paper towel when finished layering.

10-Place the jars in a large roasting pan and fill the pan with boiling water, careful not to splash any water into the jars. (I also placed the roasting pan on a large cookie sheet to make it easier to move around)

11- Place the roasting pan with the cheesecake jars in the oven and bake until they no longer jiggle in the middle, about 1 hour.

12- Once finished baking, turn the oven off and leave the oven door slightly ajar.

13- After 30 minutes take the pan with cheesecakes out of the oven and begin placing the lids on the jars. Be careful to use oven mitts as the jars are still hot and you need to get the tops screwed on nice and tight. You may hear the jars make a pop noise when they seal.

14- Let the jars cool on the counter for about 2 hours, and then place them in the fridge overnight.

15- Open a jar when you’re ready to eat and ENJOY!