"Hamburger" Cupcakes

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

It's no surprise that chocolate cupcakes are my go-to dessert for any occasion. But when I asked to bring some to a BBQ this past weekend, I wanted to make them a little bit more special than the usual. After a couple quick searches on the internet I came across an easy and ridiculously cute idea.

These look like they may have taken hours, what with all the little details, but you'll be surprised how quickly these come together. Weather you're grilling burgers outside or just enjoying these last weeks of summer, these "hamburgers" cupcakes will be a show stopper anywhere!

"Hamburger" Cupcakes
1 batch of chocolate cupcakes (recipe here, or  boxed version works)
1 box of 'Nilla Wafers (I preffered the size of the generic store brand)
1 pack of Keebler Grasshopper cookies (or any round chocolate cookie)
1/2 cup shredded coconut, tinted with green food dye
red frosting

Bake cupcakes per recipe.While cupcakes are cooling assemble your "hamburgers": vanilla wafers as buns, chocolate grasshoppers as burger patties, coconut as lettuce and red frosting as ketchup. Use a dab of frosting between cookies to hold it all together. After each "hamburger" is assembled, brush with the tops with juice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.After cupcakes have cooled and you've frosted as desired, top with "hamburgers".

Sisters Who Blog

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Visit Sisterswhoblog Network  




Just wanted to let you all in on a great network of blogging sisters over here that are doing some really incredible things together. The network allows you to hook up with sisters from all over the world that blog about the same interests as you do. And right now, there's even a Best Blog contest which, ahem, yours truly has been nominated for. Even if you're not going to vote, I highly recommend you check it out, meet some other sisters and get to know some new blogs. It'd be worth your time!


In the meantime, you can check out my latest recipe at the Sister's Who Blog Magazine site. 

Roasted Garlic and Olive Pizza

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

I have this fear that somewhere out in the virtual world, there is a reader who says "if Muslim Wife posts one more pizza post, that's it, I'm done with her!" because really, how many times can one person write about pizza? Well, dear reader, I ask you to bear with me one more time because this one is worth it.

This is a pizza that deserves a categories of its own. The type of pizza that, unlike the rest of them, takes a bit more prep-work and planning ahead. Yes, you'll need to get your oven going for a little while and yes I realize we're in the dead smack of a hot summer, but did I mention how worth it all this is?

Cuz it really, really is.

Roasted Garlic and Olives Pizza

1 recipe pizza dough (as usual, I use about 2/3 of this recipe for one pizza and save the rest for breadsticks, etc later in the week)
3 heads of garlic, cut in half horizontally
1 1/2 cups of a variety of olives, roughly chopped
red and yellow bell peppers, chopped in 1/2" pieces
1 cup of shredded mozzerella


1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Arrange cut heads of garlic on a square of foil each. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Seal-up foil and roast until soft, about 1 hour.Remove and let cool completely before squeezing out paste-like insides.

2. Spread roasted garlic on pizza dough. Arrange toppings and bake at 400 until cheese is bubbly.

Summer Lentil Soup

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Whoah. When did that happen? Somewhere in between experimenting with veggies, berry picking and long road trips, Summer quietly crept up on us and here we are in the middle of July. I can hardly beleive it myself and then I look at the types of food I've been preparing and it makes more sense to me. Quick simple meals that require as little stove/oven heat as possible. Meals that are full of fresh produce, that are light on your tongue yet still leave you feeling satisfied.

 

Lentil soup isn't usually considered a summer dish, but there's something about the tangy lemon juice and the zing of the dill that seems so quintessential summer to me. Or maybe it's because this dish comes together so quickly and that's really what I'm looking for in a good, summer meal. Serve this with a hunk of crusty bread on the side, and dinner is ready!

Lentil Soup, My Way
Feel free to adjust any and all seasoning to your liking. We like ours spicy and tangy!

1 cup split red lentil (Masoor Daal)
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/4 chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 - 1 tsp red chili powder or 2 green chili's chopped
1 1/2 tsp dill
2 tblsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, to taste
1 cup water, or more as needed

1. Saute the onions in oil of your choice, until translucent.

2. Add lentils, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili powder and dill. Still to combine and allow to cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds.

3. Add chopped tomatoes and lemon juice, still to combine. Add water and cover.

4. Cook on medium high heat until boiling, then reduce to medium low heat. Keep an eye on it to see if you need more water and stir often to check for sticking on the bottom. After about 15 minutes, check for doneness: the lentils should be soft and tender.

5. At this point, add the cilantro and using an immersion hand held blender, blend to a smooth consistency. Alternatively, you can use a regular stand blender or leave as is.

Fasolia Khadra bi Banadora (Green Beans in Tomato Sauce)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

If you've been following this site for a while then you know two things by now: 1) I'm not a fan of vegetables and 2) I am a fan of Laila's recipes. So it only makes sense that when we were gifted a huge bag of fresh green beans I turned to Laila for some direction. This particular recipe stood out to me because I fondly remembering having it at my dear friends house (the same sister who taught me how to make these) and that was all the encouragement I needed.

It's no secret that most Arab dishes are not spicy so I took the liberty to up the heat factor. If you prefer the traditional version, by all means leave it out. But I liked the spicy bite to the green beans against the smoothness of the tomato sauce.

Green Beans in Tomato Sauce
Serves: 4 to 6

- 1/2 Kg Lamb meat cut into 2" cubes (I used beef)
- 1/2 kg Green Beans … you can use fresh or frozen
- 1 Onion,chopped (
- 1 tb Ghee or butter
- 2 tb Tomato sauce
- 1 ts all-spice ( I used garam masala)
- 1 ts red chili powder (adjust to your liking)
- handful chopped cilantro
- salt and pepper

1.In a pressure cooker place the Ghee (or butter) onions and meat . Cook the meat until all its liquids is released and starting to dry out.

2.Add enough water to cover approximately 2 inches above the meat , if you want to make extra stock you can always add more water …


3.Cover it and cook for half an hour until the meat is well done and tender

4.Once the meat is cooked place it in a pot, to the meat add the green beans.

5.In another pot place around 3 cups of stock and add the tomato sauce to it and stir well

6. Then add the tomato stock to the green beans and meat the green beans are supposed to be nearly covered with the stock, if it didnt cover it add a little more stock …

7.Season the green beans with the all-spice, salt and pepper, red chili powder and cook it for around half an hour until the tomato sauce is slightly thinkened and reduced. If using fresh green beans then you will need to cook it for 1 hour until the green beans the well cooked and tender. Add cilantro in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Serve it with a side of white rice or with Pita bread

Berries, Part II

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

I'm a tad bit late posting this recipe, I used it to finish up the last of our hand-picked strawberries from last month. But I have good reason! If you couldn't tell from this post, we took a long road trip to spend time with those nearest and dearest to our hearts. There was not one, but two, delicious barbecues and loads more good food that could've filled up this site for weeks to come. But instead of snapping away pictures of everything we ate, I decided to go the old fashioned route and sit back and enjoy it all instead, alhamdulillah!

 

Back to the berries, like the other recipe, this would work equally delicious with any berry as the key to the recipe is the careful browning of the butter - it really makes a world of a difference! I used whatever bread I had on hand which is why the cups are a bit misshapen, but isn't that what a rustic dessert is all about anyways?Make sure you enjoy these warm with a nice dollop of whipped cream on the side!

Strawberry Brown Butter Betty's

Makes 6 muffin-sized desserts

3/4 stick salted or unsalted butter
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
6 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
1/8 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs ( I left these out....personal preference!)
1 1/2 to 2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
Softly whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, reduce heat to medium-low. The butter will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is less than a minute. Remove from heat.

Lightly butter muffin cups with some of brown butter, then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Roll bread slices with a rolling pin to flatten. Brush both sides with additional brown butter, then gently fit into muffin cups.
Stir together brown sugar, zest, salt and panko, then add strawberries and toss to coat. Stir in remaining brown butter. Heap strawberry mixture into cups, pressing gently.

Cover pan with foil and bake 15 minutes. Uncover and bake until strawberries are very tender, about 10 minutes more. Let stand 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.