Tag Archives: Food Stylist

Green Power Juice

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GreenJuicebyMayaOryan

Might be choking for some people, but I don’t drink coffee. No black coffee, Turkish coffee, Espresso, Cappuccino, NOTHING!

But I do drink a lot of healthy juices. It’s an excellent way to get my daily serving of fruits and vegetables. I almost juice vegetables every day and keep the juice fruits as a treat (because without the fibers fruit juices are high in sugar).

A green juice is part of many detox diet and can cleanse your digestive system. Vegetables are easy to digest. This juice is a valuable factor in helping your body so energetic.

When we eat, our energy is focused on our digestive system to break down the food in our stomach. When we are not digesting our energy is doing other jobs like trying to heal and rejuvenate our body. No one wants an exhausted body all day long. It’s good to give your body a break and feed him light snacks:)

Green juices are really yummy and easy to prepare. I read somewhere Green Juice Recipes for Beginners. Well how difficult it can be to throw few pieces of vegetables in the chute of your juicer!!

You can make any combination you like. Peas, pepper, kale, cabbage, lettuce, carrot, beetroot, celery, fennel, …

All green plants have Vitamins A and C, which are important co-factors for calcium absorption. Vegetables contain many nutrients and among my favorites, are:

Cucumbers: Mildly diuretic. Great source of B vitamins and can lower blood cholesterol.

Spinach: Oxalic acid contents of leaves hinders absorption of iron and calcium. Contains large amounts of antioxidants and beta-carotene. High in folate.

Broccoli: High in fibre, antioxidant vitamins beta-carotene and C, which help against heart disease. Its phytochemicals have important properties, especially against cancer.

Parsley: High source of antioxidants, folic acid, Vitamins A and C, which help control blood-cholesterol, prevents constipation, protects the human body from free radicals mediated injury and from cancers.

Ginger: A well-known anti-nausea remedy; ideal for travel and morning sickness. Also stimulates circulation and aids digestion.

GreenJuiceNotebook-WhiteTo make my juice sweeter I sometimes add an apple, and here is one of my favorite combinations.

  • 2 Lebanese cucumbers
  • 2 cups of fresh spinach
  • 1 green apple, peeled
  • A handful of parsley (optional)
  • 1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled
  • ½ lime

Put all ingredients through your juicer. Spice it up with ginger and squeeze lime into juice, if desired. Have straight away and enjoy.

Happy 2nd Blog Anniversary!

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Devil'sChocolateCake-MayaOryan

It’s two years now since I posted my first post on this blog!

Two years and some hundreds of followers later! Two years and I’m still enjoying blogging more every day. I have no plans to stop now it’s just the beginning! ♥

Through blogging, I became a much more skilled and knowledgeable cook. I learnt about various food cultures and inspirational eating habits. I’ve come to know, virtually and in reality, many other amazing bloggers. And I have been part of wonderful food events.

Thank you all for your LIKES and SHARES and COMMENTS. And mostly thank you for keeping coming back you’ve been a great support to me.

Can’t wait to eat a piece of the cake, it’s one of my favorite chocolate cakes recipes.

Devil’s Food Cake 

Ingredients

Serves 10 to 12

  • 300g / 3 sticks unsalted butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ tsp Salt
  • 1tsp Baking Powder
  • 1tsp Baking Soda
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 ¼ cup hot water
  • 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream, at room temperature

For the Frosting

  • 200g / 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup icing sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 6tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 6tbsp hot water
  • 300g semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and hot water.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and cocoa powder mixture, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

4. Divide batter evenly between the cake pans and place them in the preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check early, cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pan, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

1.Whisk together cocoa powder and hot water until smooth.

2. With an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and salt on medium-high speed.

3. Reduce heat and slowly add melted chocolate and cocoa powder mixture. Mix until well combined.

Vintage Memories of Childhood Food

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Biscuit w Raha-M.OryanBiscuit Gandour 555, Unica, Ras el Abed, Dabké, Tutti Frutti, Choco Prince, Babol!

There’s no way you lived in Lebanon and haven’t got fond memories of at least one of these iconic food brands!

Some of them got a makeover, changed their name, but most of them are still on the rise and refuse to die out.

By chance, I went to the grocer last day where I spotted the famous green and red box of Lucky biscuits, or is it 555? I call it “Biscuit Gandour” and I consume it exclusively with Turkish Delight. However, I bought one box of biscuits and one box of Turkish Delight!

As soon as I reached home, I proudly displayed my little treasure on the dining table where everyone can notice it. AND EVERYONE DID NOTICE IT☺ And everyone tucked into the biscuits and the delights, or should I say into the feast of reminiscences?

Somehow, “Biscuit and Raha” (Biscuits and Turkish Delights) not only triggers happy memories but is still considered as an enjoyable and tasty treat. I introduced it to my daughters Kaia and Axel and watched them munching their share with indulgence and joy.

I know for sure, that many of you are still loyal to nostalgic food where simple treats like “Biscuit w Ra7a”, sounded like a real feast. I can feel your taste buds drawn to the past; to some of your favorite old-fashioned food, you no longer eat. I don’t know how many hearts belong to vintage food, but I know my heart does!☺

Strawberry Jam

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MayaOryanStrawberryJam

Who among us has never stopped in front of a street vendor mouth-watering over fresh oranges, roasted chestnuts, fluffy cotton candy, and the list is endless!

I love the way in Lebanon, street food merchants display their goods. When a fruit or a vegetable is in season, here they are, conveniently scattered everywhere, making sure you bump into one of them before you reach home. No matter what direction you’re driving in! And the best part about it, Sweet Heaven, you don’t have to leave your vehicle; Free Car Delivery!

I think best sellers in Lebanon are fresh fava beans (a.k.a. broad beans)!

Fresh peas, Greengage plums (janerik), loquat (akidinye), are quite popular as well, and very dear to every Lebanese’s heart:)

As for me I felt for strawberries yesterday. Small, aromatic and intensely sweet! The smaller ones are more tasteful than the large ones. I let my nose be my guide and look for fragrance rather than color. A sweet aroma is the best indication of good flavor. And at this really affordable price, why not buy a large quantity to make some jam that kids can enjoy and mommy can show off with her super easy recipe without using a pectin;-)

Ingredients

  • 1 kg fresh strawberries, hulled
  • 600g / 2½ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

Place the hulled strawberries in a big salad bowl and cover with sugar. Let it rest for 10 hours, preferably in the fridge if the weather is hot.

In a heavy based saucepan transfer the syrup without the strawberries and bring to boil for 10mn on a low flame.

Add the strawberries and the lemon juice and cook for about 25mn or until a small amount of the juice gels on a chilled plate.

Pour carefully in jars and keep refrigerated. Consume within a month.

Yield: 3 to 4 jars, 370g each

Tip: If desired, one extra cup of sugar can be added to increase the quantity and sweeten the flavor.

Let’s Hangout!

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FaçadeWhen you go to a restaurant what would you ask for more than a great food, nice atmosphere, big and lit space and a good service?

Well the Hangout restaurant has it all!!

The Hangout opened in December 2012 and since, it has made an indelible mark on Gemmayzé dining scene.

When I got an invitation to visit the restaurant for lunch along with other food bloggers, I surely replied: Hell Yes!

At my arrival I was welcomed by one of the owners Selim Heleiwa. Listening to him describing the restaurant brings many fond memories about our childhood. The place is an old Lebanese house from the late nineteenth century, beautifully restored, spacious and friendly. I certainly admired the little collection of cooking books on display.

To kick off we were presented with some Salmon Tartar, Fried Mushrooms with Halloum, Sahen el Teta (goat labneh, home made butter and organic pickles), fresh bread and a Goat Cheese salad. The cheese balls have an apricot fruity taste served with a slice of bread, iceberg, olives and sundried tomatoes. The dressing is so yummy that I ate all and will definitely order this one again!!

The Hangout cellar holds around 2000 bottles of wine with the finest Lebanese vintages as well as wines from around the world.

I had a glass of wine from Selim’s recommendation for this week Château Khoury Rosé de Rêve 2011.

The cellar with an 80% selection of the best Lebanese wine
The cellar with an 80% selection of the best Lebanese wine

I spent an epic two-hours at The Hangout, tasting and enjoying an array of delicious food. Everybody around was sharing the same experience and expressing how much the Gourmet Burger, the Côte de Boeuf and the Beef Stroganoff are delicious and flavorful.

I was offered a fresh mango juice with a hint of cardamom flavor I don’t know if this was on the menu, but I will sure ask for it upon my next visit along with the best Pain Perdu in town.

Everything on the menu was so creative and no wonder the restaurant is increasingly growing in fame so fast.

… in short, The Hangout is a breath of fresh air and just the kind of restaurant we’ve been waiting for.

The Salad Bar!

The Salad Bar!

Orange Marinated Salmon

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OrangeMarinatedSalmon-Blog

As the weather gets colder around here, more hearty meals and soups have been dispatched from my kitchen.

Last week was really cold, temperature dropped to 5°C, schools were off because of the storm. We had many “Raclette” nights and casual dinners with friends and neighbors. After all who wants to be out in that rainy weather!

We simply enjoyed the laid-back inside with the fireplace on to warm up the atmosphere.

One of my favorite quick-fix meals is Orange Marinated Salmon. It comes together really quickly! It’s entirely stress-free and enormous success. Don’t you love that?

Serve it with Basmati rice, baked potatoes or Fettucine. This dish is a glam!

4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 4 salmon fillet (around 200g each piece)
  • 1/4 cup runny honey
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Preparation

  1. In a shallow pan, place fish as one layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper rubbing both sides of each fillet. Combine the rest of the ingredients and drizzle over the salmon to coat well all pieces. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Drain marinade. Lightly grease a baking dish with cooking spray and bake uncovered at 180°C or 350°F for 15mn to 20mn or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
  3. Serve with Basmati rice.

Note: If desired, reduce 1 cup of the marinade over low-medium heat until it thickens and serve it as a sauce. 

It is becoming to look a lot like Christmas!

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Gingersnaps

Gingersnaps

Don’t we all, at some point of our life, have met someone who, from the first time, was stamped in our memory?

Last June, I flew all the way to Abu Dhabi just to watch Madonna’s concert. It was a huge thing to me. I love her songs, her performance and every bit of her show. Being standing close to the stage in the front row, felt like I was partying with the Queen of Pop and I was really happy to finally see her!!

On my way back home, I watched movies on board and barely gave attention to the girl sleeping in the seat next to me, until just before we landed we started a conversation. Traditionally it started with the where are you from question, and funny enough I found out that she was at the concert too, she lives in Lebanon just a stone’s throw away from my house, her girls are in the same bus with Kaia my daughter, she’s also in the advertising business and loves cooking!! All I can remember is that we kept on answering me too, me too:) It’s true I haven’t seen her since, but we do exchange messages on Whatsapp occasionally and the last time we did she asked me for the Gingersnaps recipes.

Mmm… one of my favorite too! Especially, the traditional Swedish recipe, the cookies are very thin and spicy. The dough is not sticky and very enjoyable to work with. I use black treacle or carob molasses, very popular in the Lebanese kitchen. I like to combine 2 kinds of sugar to have a nice brown color, but if one brown sugar is used it will not make any big change on the outcome. Warming up for Christmas!

This one goes to you Joumana! Enjoy it!

Ingredients

  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup black treacle
  • ½ cup drinking water
  • 150 g (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter, diced
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups all-purpose-flour, sifted
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of salt

Preparation

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, treacle and water and heat until it starts boiling.

2. Add the butter and stir constantly over low heat until it is completely melted. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

3. Blend in the spices.

4. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the mixture a little at a time and mix well to a smooth consistency.

5. Refrigerate overnight.

6. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.

7. Sprinkle flour on a working surface and roll it thin. Cut into desired shapes and place them on a lined baking sheet or a greased cookie sheet.

8. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Let the gingersnaps cool on the cookie sheet.

Chinese Noodles with Sesame Seeds and Tahini

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Here comes this time of the year when summer is over and big amounts of money has been spent on vacations and tuition fees and little money is left for my grocery budget. TIME TO CLEAN UP MY PANTRY!

What’s in here? Huge quantities of sauces that I never use, a stock of noodles that I forgot about and some canned vegetables expiring soon.

Concentrating on the noodles, I kind of created the following dish, it’s not one of those secret recipes that have been running in the family from one generation to other, nor a recipe I learned from some celebrity chef I worked with, it’s just a kind of inspired-by-the-moment recipes that turned out to be delicious and got the cheer of the audience*.

A true simple recipe that came together quickly like a magic meal. Hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we did.

*Audience as in Serge, Kaia and Axel

Ingredients

  • 1 pack of soba noodles
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tbsp fresh root ginger, grated
  • 2 sprigs green onions, sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 can whole sweet corn, drained
  • 1 cup baby carrots
  • 1 cup baby asparagus, each sprig cut in 3
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup castor sugar
  • ¼ cup tahini paste
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
  • ¼ fresh coriander, chopped
  • ½ cup toasted peanuts
  • ¼ cup cabbage, shredded

Preparation

  1. Cook the noodles according to directions on package. Drain and set aside.
  2. In a wok or a large frying pan, stir-fry the ginger and garlic on a medium heat, for 2-3 minutes then add the green onions.
  3. Increase the heat to high and stir-fry the bell pepper, for 3 minutes.
  4. Add the carrots, the baby corn, and cook for a further 3 minutes.
  5. Finish with the asparagus and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes.
  6. Drizzle with lemon juice and transfer to a large saucepan.
  7. In a measurement jug or a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, tahini paste and rice vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables and add the noodles.
  8.  Toss all together to mix and add the coriander then sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and peanuts and garnish with cabbage. Serve immediately.

Artichoke ragoût with Rice

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I opened my freezer to put some ice cream inside and realized that I can’t because it’s packed with Al Wadi Al Akhdar frozen vegetables. I recently was offered the whole range of their products and worked on more than 60 recipes for the re-launch of their website. I’m lucky I know to work on such a quality and tasty brand, but here’s what I encountered: food jam in my freezer!

I wasn’t planning to cook dinner! I was up at 7am, went to the gym, got back with full energy and worked like a happy busy bee, thinking of finishing my day with a nice warm bath and watching TV series in bed. So I stared at my freezer wondering either I eat the entire ice cream and work out an additional hour the next morning (Nope!) or forget about watching TV and cook something easy using some of those veggies.

It didn’t really take me time to decide, I’ve immediately chosen 2 bags of artichokes bottoms, one bag of baby carrots and some frozen coriander. In my recipe here below, I recommend using fresh vegetables, but if you were like me looking for a simple recipe that can be ready in no time, frozen vegetables are always my choice after fresh, especially on busy evenings.

My mom cooks this yakhne – like we Lebanese call a stew– with meat cubes and no coriander in it. It is also delicious, but since I prefer vegetarian meals, this is my version with an extra squeeze of lemon juice just before removing from heat.

“The food was ready in 45 minutes and Serge enjoyed a homemade dinner when he arrived! It just really can’t get any better than this!”.

Ingredients:

  • 500g frozen artichokes bottoms
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic gloves, minced
  • ½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • Juice of one little lemon

Preparation

  1. In a bowl combine artichokes, potatoes and carrots. Dilute the flour in the water and pour in.
  2. In a large pot, heat the oil and cook the onions, until golden.
  3. Add the garlic and the coriander, stirring frequently.
  4. Stir in the vegetables coated with flour. Season with salt and peppers. Cover with water and simmer on low heat until cooked well.
  5. Drizzle with lemon juice and serve with short grain rice and Lebanese flat bread.

Minted Frozen Lemonade or Limonada

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Every Lebanese knows that the best lemonade recipes are made the old-fashioned way; where lemon wedges are soaked with sugar and then kneaded instead of squeezed. But on this hot sweltering day, I opted for an easier way that is as refreshing and thirst quenching!

The Lebanese favorite lemonade has orange blossom water and served chilled. I love this frozen version, where the fresh lemon juice and the fresh mint leaves are paired to give a beautiful tangy and refreshing taste!

I’m totally into lemonade and love a strong mixture, when I prepare it for me I double the quantity of the lemon juice. It is perfect for hot weather when they are sipped as the crushed ice melts!

It is so addictive!

Ingredients

  • 1/2cup fresh lemon juice (2 to 4 lemons)
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • 8 mint leaves, minced
  • 1cup ice cubes

Preparation

Blend all ingredients together until ice cubes are finely crushed and mixture looks like a frozen slush. If you like a sweeter taste add sugar. If you like it semi-frozen add water.