Last week I had started the hashtag #cooktoclearstock for many reasons that persuaded me to share the events on Instagram so that I can be accountable from the start to finish.

I have resolved to cook with whatever I am left with in my kitchen pantry and fridge as a self imposed challenge to be kinda a minimalist cook 😊It is a win win. I get to finish off all the things that have been waiting to be used and F gets to save some 💰😊 You will be surprised with what all dishes you can actually come up with. Tonight's dinner was this #sweetcornpasta in tomato sauce flavoured with dried #basil and #creamcheesecubes served with store bought garlic bread. #piperegate #delico #almaraicreamcheese #cooktoclearstock

A post shared by Famidha Ashraf (@fashfaiz) on Mar 20, 2017 at 11:36am PDT

While I am a frugal shopper (labelled by F) (he is lucky we are in Yanbu!) I always end up at the "supermarket" in the "mall" and go through every aisle (even though I have a list) and pick up whatever I "feel" I should make and then come home - unpack and stuff all the things we got into the little space and then I go crazy trying to make up my mind on what to cook next. When there is a lot of things, the confusion is even more.

The first time I made sweet potato patties were almost 10 months ago! It went down well but I was not too happy or convinced to blog about it. So this time, I took a lot of inspiration from various sources and made my own version. And another pressing reason was to use up my bulgur. :-P

Remember my #sweetpotatopatties ? Here is my quick breakfast sandwich because I had diligently made more to freeze for such days. 😋take out from freezer directly to hot greased pan and cook as usual. Tada! Labneh spread and nandos hot sauce on brown bread! Recipe coming soon!

A post shared by Famidha Ashraf (@fashfaiz) on Mar 8, 2017 at 11:24pm PST

This Sweet Potato pattie is so easy to put together as all the main ingredients are pre-cooked. If you are using canned beans, then it is even easier. Use a good non-stick pan and grease it well with oil. Do not get tempted to turn the patties too often while roasting on a lightly greased pan. Let it sit there for good 5 mins on a low to medium flame and gently turn sides and cook the other side too. A little burn is ok as it just adds to the flavour. The patties are soft, so placing it in a sandwich and giving the sandwich a light press with your palms just spreads it to all sides - which means - pattie in every bite!


Alhamdulillah! I am so glad I could update this post with better pics within 4 months... 

Sweet Potato Patties with Red Kidney Beans and Bulgur

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of sweet potato chunks (~500gms as a whole), steamed and drained or roasted 
3/4 cup dry red kidney beans (rajma), OR Chickpeas, cooked and drained or use canned but drained and mashed or processed

 (The entrance)

 (you will be amazed to know "the message" on the carpet from an aerial view pic)







May be the kids who have never been exposed to real butterflies would benefit from this park concept but not us. We were just curious to know what they might have - may be some exotic wild forest butterfly - nah! just a few pretty garden ones fluttering around the make-believe garden.



 (A boat with plastic bottles. Palm tree with tyres)






The recycling garden items amazed me and blew my mind! Look at the creativity!!!
Now for the surprise! The message on the flower carpet!

I love the fact the this country is "planning" a "vision" which they want to accomplish by "2030" and the some of the works are already in action. To have the message on the flower carpet that entered the world record is best way to drive home the reality.

With their main goal of saudization, I wonder how much of it is going to affect the expat population of all stature. The country is divided on the concept of Saudization which is focusing on reducing expat dependency - which means expats' job security, newer opportunities or better growth in the same job are all at stake. You can read more about Vision 2030 here.

Lets hope for the best because Change is permanent.

Today, I am sharing a thinner Batbout that was served on a weekend for lunch with Butter Chicken. 

Batbout | Moroccan Pita | Nigella Seeds and Buttermilk Stove-top Flatbread

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tablespoon fine semolina
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
Salt
1 tablespoon ghee
1 cup room temperature or 20 seconds microwaved buttermilk

METHOD:

1. Combine the flours, semolina, sugar, salt, cardamom powder, nigella seeds, and instant yeast in a mixing bowl. 
2. Add melted ghee and the lightly warmed buttermilk, and mix to form a soft, manageable dough.
3. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, for about 10 minutes or until smooth, non-sticky and elastic.
4. Divide the dough into equal sized balls
5. Place each ball on a lightly floured surface with some distance between each ball and cover it with a neat cloth. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
6. Ensure to start working on the first ball you had kept to rest and work in that order. Roll out each ball into a thin circle of 1/8 inch thick and lay them to rest on a flat surface, covered.
7. Leave them to rise for about 1 hour for a thin bread and 2 to 3 hours for a thick sandwich bread 
8. Preheat a lightly oiled cast iron skillet, or a non-stick pan over medium heat. 
9. Cook the bread by turning several times, until puffed up and golden brown on both sides 
10. Transfer the cooked batbout to a rack or towel-lined basket to cool. 
11. Serve hot with thick gravies, kababs etc. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had shared a few pictures of moments before and after the sunrise that we witnessed on a Friday morning. I had quite a few followers enquire about the location and thought it would be great to document it as part of Yanbu Highlights here.

For the benefit of outsiders, Yanbu is divided into three sections (similar to our own "districts in states")

Yanbu Al Bahr or Balad - The most populated section that includes both expats and locals.

Yanbu Al Nakhal or Nakheel - This section is the rural part of Yanbu which has about 30 to 40 pocket villages and the majority of the population being local tribes. With very few signs of modernization, this section holds the best picturesque mountains.

Yanbu Al-Sina'iya - This is the reason we are here (happy sad face) The industrial section that houses Saudi's promising Oil industry and a residential area called Royal Commission. This is also the section where we have the only mall - Dana mall - which is the one stop for all needs (not all yet. :-P)

(on the way to Nakhal)

If you have been around for a while, you can easily identify the section just by the look of it. From a tourist point, the best attractions are all in Yanbu Al Sina'iya - from beaches to parks, from best restaurants to best hospitals etc. Balad is a city where you will find a lot of shops catering for expat population. I don't know much about Al Nakhal other than the fact that it has the best spot to watch the sunrise! :-P

It is that time of the month when an MFB Challenge is due. This time we were asked to cook any recipe from our "stashed - must try -will do - have to try again" or commonly called the scrapbook. The scrapbook that has has been holding all our cooking dreams in the form of prints, cut-outs, handwritten, scribbled, tin wrappers with a recipe, carton panels, etc. I chose to make this Beet Chocolate cake that I had recorded in my "recipe diary" where I have handwritten recipes since the last 5 years.


Like always there is a story behind this recipe too. :-)


A couple of years ago, I was a Somewhat OK Cook and zero in baking skills, so much that I dreaded halving, deviating from a cake recipe. I used to bake cakes with the exact quantity the recipe calls for because there was "science" involved in baking and I did not want to tamper with that. :-)

I first attempted to make this Beet Chocolate cake for F's birthday two years ago and used the microwave with no idea how long to cook. I ended up with an unappetizing and inedible cake with an uncooked centre and dried up sides. :-(  I was trying too hard to be that wife who bakes a cake for hubby dear with beets (which I was told is a rich aphrodisiac ;-)) - while my intentions were pure, the results were dangerously awkward.

I never re-try when I fail. I move on.

While I was skimming through that recipe diary looking for a dish to make for this challenge, two things crossed my mind - One, I have to make this Beet Chocolate cake again. Two, I need to get back to hand writing recipes. There are so many memories associated when you see your hand written notes! Don't you think so?

I forgot to mention about these saucers that I have been using recently. These are as old as me that I looted from my grandma's home. :-D 

I baked this Beet Caraway Spiced Chocolate Cake on my birthday last month because it is a day to remind me how special I am. Now that I am at a better place with my skills, I took the liberty to make quite a few improvements to this recipe and it was a  mind-blowing winner. Even though I planned to give away half of it to the neighbour, but alas! because the following day was a weekend, we ate them all. :-D

The cake has beets in the form of puree and juice along with cocoa and caraway. Hence, this is a beet rich cake and you will get a mild taste of spiced beet that complements the cream cheese superbly. I would have gone for chocolate ganache but considering F's love for cream cheese, I chose to add that instead. We never stop thinking of them, right? even when this is baked for me!

I celebrated me quietly with this slice of #beetroot #caraway spiced #chocolate #cake with #creamcheesefrosting and #beetjuice because I deserve it. #loveyourself #pamperyourself #indulgemindfully

A post shared by Famidha Ashraf (@fashfaiz) on Feb 23, 2017 at 8:53am PST

To be honest, I was totally surprised by the outcome. Initially, I had no plans to blog about this because I don't enjoy stove-top baking but F insisted that this is too good to not be part of my blog. So here it is...

Beet Caraway Spiced Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS

2 medium beetroot
Enough water to boil (2" above the beets)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Dry items: 
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder, Hershey's 100% natural unsweetened
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt

Wet items:
1 large egg
6 tablespoon warm beet juice
2 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoon beet puree

oil to grease the pan
Baking paper cut in rounds to line the pan

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/3 cup cream cheese spread (I did not have cream cheese)
1 tablespoon softened butter
3/4 cup confectioner sugar or icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

METHOD

• Pre-heat the oven 180-degree celsius or pre-heat the cooker on a flat pan on medium to low flame
• Grease a 7" round cake pan with oil and line with a cut out round baking paper 

Prepare the beet puree and juice:

1. Peel, wash, and chop the beets roughly into bite size 
2. Boil the beets in enough water for 20 to 30 minutes, or until completely cooked
3. Drain with a bowl under the colander to collect the beet juice and keep aside
4. Puree the drained beet along with caraway seeds using a blender and keep aside 

Prepare the batter: 

1. Mix the dry items in a deep large bowl, ensuring no lumps 
2. Wire whisk lightly the wet items in another medium bowl 
3. Add the wet mixture into the dry and whisk using electric whisker on medium speed until everything is incorporated
4. Pour the batter into the cake pan and tap the pan to level the batter 

Bake the cake: 

1. Carefully place the pan inside the cooker and close with the lid ensuring to remove the weight/regulator/whistle. You can take the pressure cooker off the pan and place the cake pan conveniently and then put back on the pan on fire. 
2. Bake/cook? on a medium flame for first 10 minutes and then reduce to lowest flame and let it bake until the waft of the chocolate aroma fills the kitchen. You should also look out for the tiny water droplets that pop out of the regulator - a sign to check the doneness of the cake. 
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Mine took almost  1 and 1/2 hours. The centre of the cake takes longer to cook as my pan was a deep one. It is better to bake in low temp for a longer time than high temp shorter time. (oven bakers - may have to check the cake within 45 to 50 mins and adjust accordingly)
4. Remove the cake pan and let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Gently remove the cake from the pan, and discard baking paper. 
5. Let the cake cool completely.
6. Cut the cake horizontally into two equal halves. 
7. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the beet juice on top of the base half. You can also squeeze some chocolate syrup here. 

Frosting:

NOTES:

• You will not be using all of the puree and juice in this cake. You can make something else with the leftover. 
• I chose to add the Caraway seeds while blending so that the drained juice is free of the flavour and the puree holds most of the caraway flavour
• Replace the cream cheese spread with cream cheese for the frosting and you can reduce the icing sugar too
• The cake tastes great both in room temp and cold 
• Refrigerate the leftover covered in a airtight box