Year: 2016

Feta in the Oven

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Eating the same thing in a similar way gets sometimes boring! Feta in the Oven is a great and easy way to savor Feta in mornings and evenings. Ingredients: 200g Feta 1 Tomato or bunch of cherry tomatoes Fresh Thyme or Zaatar (Middle Eastern mixture of sumac, thyme and sesame seeds) 1 tbs Olive Oil 1. Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius (250 degrees F); 2. Dice the tomatoes or cut the cherry tomatoes in half; 3. Toss the Feta cheese in a pyrex baking dish with the diced tomatoes then top with Zaatar and Olive Oil. Bake for 15minutes in the oven until golden on top. This dish is best served with flatbread. Bon Appetit. The Urban Apron

Waffles, the old fashioned

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No better way to start a morning during your weekend without good old Waffles topped with honey and orange slices. Fortunately, I have the traditional recipe tucked into my apron. Please note that a less calorific recipe will be added later 😉  Ingredients: 2 cups Flour 2 Eggs 40g Butter 1.5 cup warm Milk 4 tsp Baking Powder 2 tsp Sugar 1 tsp Salt 1 tsp Vanilla extract Preheat the waffle iron before mixing the dough. 1. Put the flour in a bowl with the baking powder, sugar and salt; 2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add the warm milk, butter and vanilla; 3. Stir in the flour mixture and beat until blended, it will take less than 1 minute (make sure you don’t over blend); 4. Pour in the mixture into the waffle iron and cook until the waffles are gold and crispy; 5. Serve the warm waffles with honey and some fruits on the side. Bon Appetite! The Urban Apron

Strawberries 101

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It is a Berry season! Who can resist a ripe strawberry? I surely can’t.. especially when you know its health benefits: Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamins C and K as well as providing a good dose of fibre, folic acid, manganese and potassium. They have been used throughout history to help with digestive ailments, teeth whitening and skin irritations. Their fibre and fructose content may help regulate blood sugar levels by slowing digestion and the fibre is thought to have a satiating effect. You get to use the leaves as well as they can be eaten raw, cooked or used to make tea. The best part is that a 100g serving of strawberries contains: 32 Calories, 0.3 Fat, 7.7 Carbs & 2g Fiber. Now the FAQ about strawberries is mainly how to wash them and store them without having a washing after taste: First rinse the strawberries quickly before washing them in a diluted vinegar bath (1 cup vinegar for 4 cups water). The vinegar will destroy the bacteria and will help the strawberries to stay fresh for al …

How to peel & store Ginger?

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I consider fresh ginger to be a super food. I like to use it in my cooking, baking and my tea remedies so I need always to have fresh ginger on hand. My first encounter with the ginger was not that fruitful. I actually used a knife to peel it and I ended up having just half of it to be used! Few years back I discovered the real technique on a French channel, it is incredibly… easy: – Break one lobe of the ginger to easily reach all the skin and hold it firmly with one hand. – Hold the bowl of the spoon in the other hand, make sure the convex is towards you. – Scrap away the skin by using the edge of the spoon. Now that you have fresh ginger you can grate them, put them in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer. It will be super handy when a recipe requires freshly grated ginger! Hope it helps! The Urban Aprong    

How to store Cilantro – Garlic

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This mix is used in several dishes especially Mediterranean, whether you are making “batata harry” (spicy potato), “chich barack”  or simple grilled shrimps.. For 1 step faster and less dish washing, you can prepare this mix in advance and put it in the freezer. I usually crush 2 garlic cloves and heat in 1 tbs of olive oil for 1 small cilantro sprig roughly chopped. Cook for 2 minutes until leaves have shrink. > Store in a freezer container (up to 3 months) > I don’t add salt or pepper because it all depends on the dish you’re making. Hope it helps! The Urban Apron    

Chocolate Hazelnut spread

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Last week, I decided to make my own Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and got hooked ever since! Early 2016, I decided to lower my processed food (e.g. Nutella) consumption, which pushed me to search for different hazelnut chocolate spread recipes. My preferred taste combo: less cream & butter, and more chocolate. Note that the dosage hazelnut-chocolate can be changed depending on your taste. The spread lasts 4 weeks in the fridge, just remove ahead of time to let the spread soften. Ingredients for 100g: 1 cup Skinned Hazelnut 2 tbs Cream 2 tbs Unsalted Butter 2 tbs Sugar 100g Milk Chocolate 100g Dark Chocolate 1/4 tsp Sea Salt 1. Preheat oven to 180°C (about 350°F); 2. Spread out the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes until deep brown color. Make sure to shake them for even toasting and let them cool; 3. Grind the hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor until smoothed, it should take 1 minute for a buttery effect; 4. Melt the chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water; or just put them in the microwave for 15 seconds; 5. …

Carrot Cake

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I just love carrot cakes or maybe it is just the cream cheese frosting. This weekend was more about resting and indulging comfort food so I made the carrot cake with a ginger cream cheese frosting for a change and decorated the cake with pecans instead of adding them to the batter. I tried several recipes and came to this final one if you want a fluffy cake. As usual, I try to cut down as much as possible on sugar, I even tried to replace it with Agave syrup but the batter will get burnt quickly. Besides, it is always better to replace the vegetable oil with coconut oil or make it half half. Ingredients: 400g all purpose flour 3 large eggs at room temperature 300g vegetable oil OR 150g vegetable oil & 150g coconut oil 300g sugar 2 teaspoons of baking soda 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg 3 cups of coarsely grated carrots 1/2 cup of chopped pecans (optional) Frosting: 450g cream cheese, at …

Baked Salmon & Honey Mustard

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Let me introduce you to my new favorite marinade, the Honey Mustard. It is simply divine on any meat, especially when you do it yourself (no need anymore to buy the supermarket sachets). I was happy to use the honey I brought from my home country, Lebanon. I filled my honey pantry supplies with sample jars from a boutique dedicated to honey: L’Atelier du Miel, known to be distinguished by its honey production method: they move the beehives all year long to follow the blossoming seasons, so that the bees are fed only on nectar of flowers and honeydew of trees. In fact, I tried the Thorns honey (Epines & fleurs d’été) for its intense taste of freshness that would go well with ginger and salmon. Ingredients: 4 Salmon Filets 2 tbs Olive oil 1 tbs grated Ginger 1 tbs Honey 2 tbs Mustard seed (Dijon a l’ancienne) Kosher Salt & Pepper – Combine the marinade ingredients: oil, ginger, honey and mustard. Keep some marinade sauce on the side to brush the salmon filets before serving. – Pour the marinade on the salmon filets in a zip-lock bag and …

Magic T

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Good morning cold weather & soar throat!💨❄️⛄️☂ Its the flu season, make sure to have this “magic tea” every morning and night. Its a natural remedy that will help fight your illness and boost your immune system: Ingredients: serving for 1 mug 1 Cinnamon stick Hot water 1 tsp Honey 1 tsp Lemon juice 1 tsp grated ginger Optional: Green Tea • Boil water with a cinnamon stick • Pour the hot water in your mug on the grated ginger and your favorite green tea (optional) • Add honey and lemon juice • Mix well and drink up Get well soon! The Urban Apron

Healthy plan for 2016

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It is the first post of the year! Yes, I’ve been late to log in here and share some food recipes but getting back from holidays, resuming work and getting rid of a flu was quite time consuming. Looking at the bright side, I can say that I started the year with a healthy food plan and I surely intend having it as routine. I am cutting down on all the sinful dishes that usually contains refined sugars, avoiding processed foods, and making sure to balance  my meal plan to: 4 days grains, 2 days fish, 1 day poultry or meat. Here are some basics that needs to be considered for “clean eating”: Start by eating wholesome fruits and vegetables, especially the seasonal ones. Check out this seasonality calendar for easy reference. Choose whole grains and whole-grain products over the refined ones: white rice, pasta, bread and products like candy, regular soda, syrups, table sugar, cakes, cookies, pies, sweet rolls, pastries, fruit drinks and dairy desserts. Picking a “cheat day” will limit  for one day the saturated fats, sodium and added sugars in your cooking and …