And to wrap it up…

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Last but not least, here’s the final recipe from last week’s Egyptian meal – the Ancient Marinated Chicken. We intended to grill the chicken on dad’s new grill, but within five minutes of putting the grill together on what was a sunny afternoon, it started to pour. So the grill must wait for another day – which no doubt will be soon as dad is quite anxious to get it going. Maybe we’ll have to venture to Australia next on this cooking adventure. Shrimp on the barbie anyone?!

Now that I’m salivating over the possibilities of Down Under grilled goodies, back to Egypt. We began by cutting the chicken breast into one-inch pieces.

We then added an onion, garlic and cilantro into the food processor and created a puree. Mr. N helped me to combine the puree with the olive oil, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. Continue reading →

Quick Cumin Couscous

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I just returned from a girls’ getaway weekend with my best friend. It was a fantastic, relaxing weekend – just what the doctor ordered. So since I’m stuffed from a weekend of wining and dining on some really good eats, my camera is still broken and I’m in need of some quality time with the family (Oh, how I missed Mr. N and Miss A – dad too of course!), I’m going to keep this one short and sweet.

This is the recipe for the Cumin Couscous we made and used to fill our pitas alongside the chicken (which I’ll post tomorrow). I found the recipe at Tour Egypt and adapted it slightly due to the fact currants aren’t available right now. The couscous would also stand on its own and is a wonderfully sweet complement to a spicy dish.

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Walk Like an Egyptian

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Okay, now I’m dating myself and getting another song stuck in my head. So now that we’ve had a few layovers for Royal wedding celebrations and fiestas, we’re back on track for our next international cooking destination and dad is taking us to Egypt! Tonight we had a great Egyptian dinner that began with a homemade Wheat Pocket Pita.

Both Miss A and Mr. N were big helpers today. Miss A and I began in the morning by dissolving the yeast and sugar in warm water.

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Our Take on Minnesota Bars

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When Erin and Molly requested we make a Minnesota bar recipe, I have to admit I had no idea what that meant. The only Minnesota bars that I knew about are those I frequented in college – but that’s a whole other story. So after a little research we discovered that in addition to the Minnesota hotdish, Minnesota bars are the second most popular potluck dish in the state. The dessert bars are any kind of dessert that fits into a large baking dish, is easily made and requires little to no cookie dough. For example Rice Krispie treats, lemon bars and peanut butter bars are all considered Minnesota bars – brownies however are not (although I don’t really understand why).

What I really wanted to make tonight was another batch of these lemon bars, posted over at Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide. These things are unbelievably good, but I know if we made another batch I would eat the entire pan. Seriously. So tonight we went for something a little less dangerous. Can you guess what dessert bar we made? (And it’s not Rice Krispie treats.) Continue reading →

Feelin’ Hot Hot Hot

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It’s state night again! Tonight we’re featuring a traditional Minnesota Hotdish at the request of Mr. N’s prize winners, Molly and Erin. Hotdishes, or casseroles, come in many shapes and sizes, but Minnesota hotdishes traditionally combine a meat, starch, veggies and cream of mushroom soup. This past January, Minnesota Senator Al Franken invited the other Minnesota Congressional delegates to a hotdish cook-off. While Senator Klobuchar’s hotdish won the cook-off, we chose to adapt Rep. Betty McCollum’s Pork, Cranberry & Wild Rice Hotdish since it incorporates wild rice which is home-grown in the land of 10,000 lakes.

We started making our Pork, Apple & Wild Rice hotdish by preparing 2 dry cups of wild rice by following the package directions; although we always add coriander to the rice as well. Then we began chopping some shallots, mushrooms, pork and fresh sage.

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Quest for the Best Banana Bread 2

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I had every intention of posting this delicious banana bread recipe yesterday, but the day just got away from me. It was a wonderful Mother’s Day spent with my little ones and was topped off with a special dinner that dad whipped up for me. It was the perfect day. It was also a great day to try a new banana bread recipe for our challenge. This time I picked the recipe that I’ve been dying to try – Bananas Foster Bread from Cooking Light magazine. I’m a huge fan of bananas foster. It was my favorite dish at a local New Orleans themed restaurant that sadly went out of business, so I was hoping that his recipe would fill the void.

We started by cooking the butter, brown sugar, bananas and cognac in a skillet over medium heat until bubbly.

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