Cooking:a relaxing hobby with a reward at the end!

There are many enjoyable hobbies. But nothing can even come close to cooking as a hobby when it comes to the benefits that people derive from it. No wonder you don't have to encourage most women to cook up a new dish. It is a reward in itself. There is no need for additional motivation. The joy of following a cookbook to produce a dish is a great experience in itself and if the end result is good then it is even more satisfying for the person and the admiration from others is an added bonus.

Some people cook for its relaxing qualities. Many do it for the thrill of experimentation or to improve their skills or to cook up an exotic dish that they have only seen on TV before. The other reason for its popularity is that you can learn cooking and improve your skills right at home.

Cooking as a hobby is the easiest to do among all rewarding hobbies. If you want to paint you must have the talent. If you want to do photography you must have the expensive equipment and the training. Other hobbies like listening to music are just plain relaxation and there is no end product. On the other hand most people have the equipment needed for cooking and though talent helps it is not such a basic necessity as in the case of other hobbies.

When it comes to cooking the possibilities are vast. There are so many cuisines in this world that there is no lack of variety. The availability of such resources like TV, cookbooks and internet has brought this variety within reach of almost everyone.
The dish that you choose to cook can range from the very simple to the complex. It all depends on how much time you want to spend and what ingredients you have on hand and to what extent you want to go. 

The amount of interest that cooking generates can be gauged from the high viewership of cookery show on TV, the number of recipes in magazines, the number of sites on the internet dedicated to cooking , the number of cookbooks being sold and the phenomenal success of cookery classes. 

Cooking is also an evolving art. Everyday people are experimenting with new dishes and adding on to the vast variety that is already available. The internet and the digital world have made it easier to share these innovations with others. So there is always something new to try and it need not be repetitive and boring.
So why is cooking so relaxing? Anything that takes your mind off your everyday problems is relaxing. The best way to relax is to do something that you enjoy. And if you enjoy cooking then it is the best way to relax. Some people feel there is something meditative about preparing and putting together all those ingredients. So pick up the cookbook and relax while putting together a great dish, and then enjoy it again while eating it and sharing your creation with others. Cooking is fun and a truly enjoyable and relaxing hobby and you can be sure that no one else in the family is going to complain about it.

Rice pilaf

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus 2 pinches
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 1 pinch saffron, steeped in 1/4 cup hot but not boiling water
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1-by-2-inch strip orange zest
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucier over medium heat.

Stir in the onion, bell pepper and 2 pinches of salt.

Decrease the heat to low and sweat until the onion is translucent and aromatic but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and add the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until you smell nuts, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the saffron and its water, the broth, orange zest, bay leaves and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.

OK, now the weird part: Thoroughly wet a clean towel, kill the heat, scatter the peas on top of the rice, then place the towel across the top of the saucier. Top with the lid, then fold the towel corners up over the lid.

Transfer the saucier (towel and all) to the oven and bake 15 minutes.

Remove and rest at room temperature for 15 more minutes without opening the lid.

Fish out the orange zest and bay leaves. Turn the pilaf out onto a platter, fluff with a large fork and garnish with the raisins and pistachios. Serve family-style, right in the middle of the table.

This recipe shines with preserved lemons. If you don't have access to any, you can use thin slices of regular or Meyer lemon, and you'll likely need to add quite a bit of salt to the dish at the end. If you use a tagine, you will likely need to soak it in water over-night before subjecting it to the heat of the stove. Doing so will help keep the tagine from cracking.

ingredients: 

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 chicken, 3-4 lbs, cut into 8 pieces (or 3-4 lbs of just chicken thighs and legs, the dark meat is more flavorful)
• Salt

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped

• The rind from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed in cold water, pulp discarded, rind cut into thin strips (if you don't have preserved lemon, use whole thin slices of regular lemon)
• 1 cup green olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

preparation:

1 Combine all the spices in a large bowl. Pat dry the chicken pieces and put in the bowl, coat well with the spice mixture. Let the chicken stand for one hour in the spices.
2 If you are using a clay tagine (if you have one, you must soak the bottom in water overnight before using), place it on a heat diffuser on the heating element to prevent the tagine from cracking, and place the olive oil in the tagine and heat it on medium heat. If you do not have a tagine, you can use a thick-bottomed, large skillet with a cover. Heat the oil in the skillet on medium high heat. In either case, sprinkle the chicken pieces very lightly with salt (go easy on the salt, the olives and preserved lemons are salty) and place skin side down in the tagine or skillet for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and onions over the chicken. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes.

3 Turn chicken pieces over. Add the lemon slices, olives, raisins, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, then lower the heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and quite tender.
4 Mix in fresh parsley and cilantro right before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Serve with couscous, rice, or rice pilaf.

HUMMUS

Hummus is one of the more popular Middle Eastern dips. Served with fresh or toasted pita bread, hummus makes for a great snack or appetizer. Tahini is an important part of the hummus recipe and cannot be substituted. However, it can be omitted. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
• 3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).
Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.
For a spicier hummus, add a sliced red chile or a dash of cayenne pepper.

Storing HUMMUS

Hummus can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and can be kept in the freezer for up to one month. Add a little olive oil if it appears to be too dry.

showarma secret has been revealed

Ingredients:

• 1,1 lbs of chicken breast strips
• a pinch of ground clove
• 1 tsp of ground garlic
• 1/2 tsp of grated nutmeg
• salt
• 3 tbs vinegar
• 1 tbs of ready made showarma spice mix
• 5 tbs of olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 diced carrot
• pickles
• lettuce
• 1 tomato
• pita bread
• sauce tzatziki
• water

preparation in this video:( the nutmeg should be added with cloves at the same time)

Cooking with Oprah: Batter Up!

When Oprah cooks up her corn fritters, it's not wise to keep her waiting. "You're supposed to eat them sizzling hot," she says. The scene is Oprah's home in coastal Santa Barbara, a spot that always makes her happy. Right now, on a morning saturated with California sun, she's busy in the kitchen of her guesthouse.
Making these southern-style corn fritters, Oprah seems completely in her element, and there's nothing that her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, would rather have for breakfast. Oprah's chef, Art Smith, is the one who actually came up with the recipe. "One morning, Stedman asked me for those corn fritters, so I just did it my own way. It may surprise people, but I cook all my meals on the weekends." That almost always includes corn fritters for breakfast, along with herbed scrambled eggs, sausage and turkey bacon.
She prefers recipes that are anything but complicated, and these corn fritters aren't tricked out with spices or even salt. You simply blend the five main ingredients, adjusting for individual tastes. Oprah uses unbleached self-rising flour for extra flatness. "If you want fluffier fritters, use regular self-rising flour," she says. If the batter gets too thick, add a bit of buttermilk or water. On the other hand, if you prefer your fritters lumpy and extra crunchy, add corn.
With the batter almost ready, she strolls out to her garden to snip a few sprigs of lemon thyme for the eggs. Back in the kitchen, she fires up the six-burner stove and lightly scrambles the eggs with the herbs, salt and pepper, and a bit of pepper Jack cheese.
When the fritters come off the stove, they're edged in golden brown. Oprah dabs them with butter and sets out small pitchers of maple syrup, fruit syrup and honey. As everyone contentedly chows down, she spoons some eggs onto her own plate but passes on the fritters—too high-carb. She doesn't feel she's missing out, though, since sharing them is the important thing.
"Homemade food," she says, "is like love on a platter.

 

 

what is Tajine?

The traditional tagine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides and a large cone- or dome-shaped cover that sits on the base during cooking. The cover is designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving. Tajines are also used and made in Morocco.
European manufacturers have created tagines with heavy cast-iron bottoms that can be heated on a cooking stove to a high temperature. This permits the browning of meat and vegetables before cooking.
Typically, a tagine is a rich stew of meat, which can include beef, chicken, fish, or lamb, and most often also includes vegetables or fruit. Vegetarian versions of this stew can be made.
The use of ceramics in Moroccan cooking is probably a Roman influence. Romans likely brought ceramics to the area during their rule of Roman Africa.
Many ceramic tagines are exquisite examples of show pieces as well as functional cooking vessels. Some tagines, however, are intended only to be used as decorative serving dishes.
Unglazed clay tagines are favored by some for the unique earthy nuance they impart to dishes. Like their glazed counterparts, they come in all sizes. The smallest might hold enough food for one or two people, while the largest can hold a meal for eight people or more.

Chicken tajine with Argan oil.

Ingredients:

• 2,2 of chicken cut in pieces
• 2 diced onion
• 1 sliced onion
• 1/2 tsp of black  pepper
• pinch of  safran (optional)
• salt
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• half preserved lemon or half lemon1 tsp of gresh ginger1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp parsley (optional)
• a handful of raisins
• 1 cup of petted green olives
• Argan oil or olive oil

Preparation:

Put chicken pieces in a bowl,add black pepper, safran, turmeric powder, lemon, ginger.
Put in in the fridge for 2 hours.

Pour argan or olive oil in tajine or cooking pan.
Put it on cooker or charcoal barbecue ( traditional moroccan way).
Add sliced onion.
Put chicken in tajine, let it simmer, add coriander, parsley, add diced onion.

Add raisins and olives, let it cook on medium fire until chicken is fully cooked.

Zaaluk salad (old recipe)

Ingredients:

• 3 egglants
• 3 tomatoes
• 3 garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 tbsp of vegetable oil. 

Preparation:

Partly peel eggplants, cut them in dices, boil them in water with garlic until fully cooked.
strain them, peel the garlic, put oil in frying pan, peel tomatoes, dice them, put the diced tomatoes in frying pan with salt,cumin, paprika, bay leaves, garlic.
stir until tomato melt, add the eggplants and mash them they fully mix together, and water evaporate.
add coriander,cook another 2 min.

Bon appetit.

cooking is a therapy.

Cooking is therapy: Making meals helps to reduce stress, heal a broken heart, among other benefits

 

In "Julie & Julia," Amy Adams plays a frustrated writer who attempts to cook every recipe in legendary chef Julia Child's cookbook when she felt stymied by her own problems.

It can soothe jangled nerves, heal broken hearts and cure boredom, insomnia and anxiety.
Cooking is therapy and, fattening or not, it's effective.
It worked for Julie Powell, who set out to whip up every recipe in legendary chef Julia Child's cookbook when she felt stymied by her own problems. The blog and book that resulted, "Julie & Julia," are portrayed in a new film starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.

Just why cooking is so soothing may be because it encourages creativity.
"Cooking is a great destresser because it serves as a creative outlet," says Debbie Mandel, author of "Addicted to Stress." "And while stress can numb your senses, cooking activates them. It's a sensory experience with aroma, taste, touch, visual delight and even sizzling sound."

Psychiatrist Carole Lieberman says cooking makes people feel good because it's a way for them to nurture others.

"If you're cooking for people you care about, you get nurtured by their appreciation," she says. "Cooking is like giving birth because you are mixing things together to create something new and wonderful."
For Brigita Jones of Carroll Gardens, cooking offers a way to feel better about life because it offers immediate gratification.

"For the most part, it's very manual," she says. "What I like about it is that it's honest work."

Jones, who has a corporate day job, liked cooking so much that she not only joined a monthly supper club, but took a part-time job working in the Chocolate Room in Cobble Hill. Now she looks forward to each delicious shift.
Making desserts clears her mind and makes her feel like she's more in touch with reality.
"These days, it's here's your degree, here's your computer, here's your email address and good luck with that," Jones says. "But with cooking, you can imagine someone cooking 200 years ago,

Debbie Mandel explains that cooking ensures such an intense involvement with an activity that it's possible to forget, at least for a little while, about less than pleasant aspects of life.
"You are in the moment," Mandel says. "And this shifts your attention from a brain locked into worries to a recipe for living."
Lucy Saunders, author of three cookbooks on beer and food and editor of Beercook.com, uses cooking to mend her broken heart.

"I've cooked my way through heartbreak several times," she explains. "You can start from scratch and have something fresh and new. It's creativity with some measure of pleasure, and you can enjoy the results right away. And it's a wonderful way to engage the senses, even without a spark of romance."
Home cook Danielle Cyr frequently takes classes in cookie and cake decorating just to take her mind off her work.
Some of my best client ideas come from being in the kitchen, when I'm relaxed," she says. "Cooking clears all work and stress related matters out of my mind so I can focus on something relaxing and enjoyable. It triggers ideas for work.

Julie Powell, who is played in "Julie & Julia" by Amy Adams, was a frustrated writer in a dead end secretarial job when she decided to write and blog about the dishes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
And when making Child's stuffed chicken, she felt better.
Which is why Nikki Cascone, chef/owner of 24 Prince, said she never skipped a beat in her cooking when her father died two years ago.
"It was the first time I had experienced the loss of someone close to me, and I didn't want to deal with it," she says. "Cooking was comforting then and now. Even today, when I get lost in the dough, I almost start meditating. For me, cooking is just so rewarding."

Belle cuisine

SPICES !!

Moroccan tea

in England, they call it moroccan whiskey..LOL

Shrimp soup

Ingredients: 

• 1,1 lbs of peeled shrimp.
• 1 tsp of chopped garlic
• sour cream or creme fraiche
• white or black pepper
• nutmeg
• 2 tbs of chopped coriander
• 2 tbs of butter
• 2 tbs of flour
• 1/2 squeezed lemon.
•  6,5 cups of water.

Preparation:

Put the shrimp in a cooking pan with the butter, add garlic, pepper, nutmeg ( grate a quarter ).
stir it frequently until it's cooked.
spray the mixture with the flour.
while stirring, add water gradually.

After 5 min, add creme fraiche or sour cream while stirring on small fire for 15 min.
Decorate with chopped coriander.

Bon appetit.

Bizarre foods

Andrew Zimmern's journey into the bizarre world of moroccan food.

Authentic moroccan couscous.

Do you know that moroccan couscous is the second popular dish in France?
enjoy..

Lamb brochette

Ingredients:

• 1,1 Lbs of lamb meat
• 2 diced onions
• cut coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper
• paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 squeezed lemon
• small cup of vegetable oil

 Preparation:

Cut meat, put diced meat in a bowl, add diced onions, coriander, salt, black pepper, cumin, paprika, lemon juice, and oil.

mix well, cover it, and put in the fridge for 2 hours,line up in the skewers, barbecue them on charcoal or electrical barbecue.

bon appetit.

Lamb tajine

Moroccan fish soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 220g of onions
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 5 garlic
• 150g of red paprika
• 2 big tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of concentrated tomato
• 250g carrots
• 1 swede
• 100g of shrimp
• 200g of withing
• coriander, parsley, celery, zeiter, bay leaf
• salt, hot chilli
• 150g of peas
• 2 liters of water.