Tag Archives: carrots

Carrot Cake

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Photography Serge Oryan – IG @sergeoryan_photography

Are friendships like recipes?

Imagine friendship as a thoughtfully crafted recipe. There are moments when I want to sprinkle in extra spices to infuse excitement, and other times, a dash of sugar to sweeten the bond. For depth, a pinch of salt is added, and for nourishment, a touch of aroma is introduced. I’d prepare it on high heat for a profound connection or simmer it slowly for a more leisurely pace. Casual friendship resembles a comforting cup of tea on chilly days, providing warmth and solace, while long-lasting friendships are akin to a glass of wine on challenging days, offering both tranquility and a touch of sparkle.

I am not only blessed with the most amazing family, but I am also surrounded by numerous friends whom I love and trust, whether it’s a day of joy or a day of difficulty. I know you are many, and you know who you are. Let’s continue to enrich our friendship, making it enduring and meaningful.

Back to the kitchen where baking lifts my spirits when I’m in a good mood, and even when I’m not, it has a way of brightening my day. Yesterday’s choice landed on carrot cake, a household favorite, possibly inspired by the fall season or the Halloween decorations adorning my house.

There are different variations, but I’ve been loyal to this recipe for years now. I wonder why I never thought of posting it before. It contains shreds of carrots, walnuts and raisins for added texture and flavor. The use of carrots in cake recipes can be traced back to a time when sweeteners like sugar were scarce or expensive. Carrots provided natural sweetness and moisture to cakes. However, the carrot cake we know today, can be quite high in sugar and calories, particularly with the cream cheese frosting.

This cake is appreciated for its sweet, moist, and subtly spiced flavor. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup brown sugar

  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups shredded carrots

  • 3/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt

  • 1 can / 227g crushed pineapple in juice

  • ¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts

  • ½ cup raisins

Preparation:

  1. Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch baking pan (or a 7-inch/18cm round pan).
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
  3. Add shreds of carrots and coconut and beat until combined.
  4. In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  5. Stir into the egg mixture. Stir in pineapple chunks with the juice, chopped walnuts, and raisins.
  6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 180°C / 350°F for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
  7. Let it cool in the pan on a rack.

If desired, you can spread cream cheese frosting on the top, and this is how you make it:

Ingredients: • 227g / 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature • 2 tbsp butter, at room temperature • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 2 cups icing sugar, sifted • A pinch of salt

Preparation: Whisk together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined.

Tenderloin Strips Easy Version

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Beef Tenderloin-MayaOryan

I learned this recipe from my sister Hala. She has a whole repertoire of delicious recipes that can be ready in half an hour. She, like many working women has little time to spend in the kitchen and big concern about giving her family the right healthy food.

When she first gave it to me, I thought it was too simple to be good, but it turned out to be one of the juiciest and most flavored beef strips recipe, I cook.

It’s a family meal! When it’s on the menu: NO complains, everyone is eating happily. I usually add carrots to the mushrooms, too bad this time I didn’t, they would have added some color to the photo. When I was cooking this morning, I had no intentions to take pictures, I decided only when I saw the kids’ friends eating and asking for a second serving. Then I said: “Let’s shoot and share!”

This recipe can be done with rice or mashed potatoes, it can also be prepared as a festive dish, trust me, your guests are going to love it.

Tenderloin Strips Easy Version

Ingredients:

  • 1kg beef tenderloin, cut into strips
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 200g mushrooms, sliced
  • ¾ cup Ketchup
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ¾ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups basmati rice

Preparation:

Marinate in the refrigerator, beef strips with ketchup sauce, soy sauce and olive oil, overnight.

Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed pot and add the onions and the garlic. Sauté for few minutes or until the onion starts to wilt and the garlic starts to turn golden.

Add the meat in batches and cook for 2-3 minutes or until it starts to brown on all sides, add the marinade, season with salt and pepper and let it simmer, with the lid on, until the meat is tender and the liquid is reduced and reaches a thick consistency.

Finally, add the mushrooms and let it simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Cook the rice according to package instructions and serve hot with beef strips.

Note: Since the marinade has a big amount of soy sauce, which is high in sodium, better not to add too much salt.

Chef Emile’s Vegetable Salad

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IMG_4430MayaOryan

Last year, my daughter’s class, Grade III, at school had to present POLAND on International Day. I, of course, offered my help to cook Polish food to be presented at our stall. Some moms signed in their name in my group before I even announce myself as a contributor. Thank you for your trust;-)

Well my menu and especially the salad, turned out to be a hit as people kept on coming back for more.

I thought the best is to serve something cold like salad and cake, as it’s going to be a lot of people coming at the same time for tasting after the dancing show. There were 1200 visitors and maybe 12 stalls. Salatka Jarzynowa is a traditional Polish salad that is served during holidays. It is prepared with root vegetables like carrot, potatoes and celery root. This salad is best prepared one day before as it needs to mature and tastes really better the next day. This was really convenient as part of the savory menu.

The best version to make it is my dad’s recipe; I did mention that my dad was a chef and I sure learnt from him a lot of cooking. His recipe has always been a star dish! It’s so consistent that we can eat this alone. I remember how he decorates it with shrimps or cold cuts, and always place it side by side with the turkey on Christmas. This year’s dinner was at my sister, and dad showed up with THE SALAD and they were both more than welcome.

Emile’s 2 important tips are: to prepare the vegetable salad with only vegetables that are not juicy, and to never skip the honey in the dressing.

I hate when one’s look at this salad and tells me I don’t eat potato salad, am like it’s okay to venture once, it’s not only potato … my genius dad taught me how to add Emmenthal cheese, ham and apple and this is the tastier salad you can ever eat!

My last request, please don’t open cans and throw in this salad, it only tastes better when you make it with fresh ingredients. How long does it take to chop little vegetables and let it boil for 10 minutes.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe and consider making it during holiday celebrations. As I said, it is best to prepare one day before serving.

For a fancier look, store it in a round container in the fridge, and just before serving, turn it upside down on a flat round plate and decorate with salami, cheese, salmon or shrimps.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh potatoes, diced and cooked al dente
  • 1 cup fresh carrots, diced and cooked al dente
  • 1 cup fresh (or frozen) peas, cooked
  • 200g Emmenthal cheese, diced
  • 200g Ham or turkey ham/ slices of ½ inch thick, diced
  • 200g Granny Smith apples, diced
  • 2 tbsp gherkins pickles, sliced (optional)

Dressing:

  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • Pinch of salt

Preparation

  1. To cook the potatoes, boil water and cook potatoes 7-10 minutes until cooked but still hard.
  2. Cook carrots and peas same as potatoes, and each one separately. Please don’t cook all together in same pot because the time of boiling varies for each one.
  3. Set aside to cool.
  4. Combine cheese, apples and pickles. Add to potatoes, carrots and peas.
  5. Mix all the ingredients of the dressing and toss in the salad. Combine well gently. I use a rubber spatula not to mash the vegetables. Refrigerate.