Halloumi, Tomato and Pomegranate Salad

Here’s the part where I am supposed to tell you a lovely story about this salad and how to make it.  And I surely will!  But today is special because, for the very first time, I am guest blogging at Cooking with Books for the talented Marnely.  At first, I was nervous to put my virtual hand up when she was looking for guest volunteers because food bloggers who are actual qualified chefs sometimes intimidate me.  But Marnely isn’t like that at all!  In fact, I connected with her through two Facebook groups.  One is all about professional development but the other is called The Cookbook Junkies.  How can you not like someone who would join a group like that?!  Truth be told, it is not a self-help group because we tend to encourage each other in our addiction - sharing new cookbook finds and good-naturedly competing for cookbooks giveaways - but isn’t that how bonds of friendship form?  I knew at once that she was my kind of people.  First of all, she is into food.  Secondly, she is an expat like me, since she moved from her home in the Dominic Republic to live in the United States.  Lastly, and this may be my favorite reason of all, she has written a love letter to beets.   As a lover of beets, I only wish they could be a staple in my home.  Deep sigh. 

So hop on over and read my post and have a browse around Marnely’s site.  I know you are going to love her too!

Twix Muffins #MuffinMonday

Twix Muffins combine a sweet chocolate batter with crunchy Twix bars inside and on top for a batch of great snack muffins the whole family will love.

This past week has been full of fun days and one not so fun day. Last Friday I sat around in a room at the American Hospital in Paris, first waiting for my dear husband to be taken in for minor surgery, then waiting for him to return (which he did, in good health - yay!) and then waiting for them to release him. Those were nine plus hours I’ll never get back but it was all worth it in the end.

One good thing about sitting around and waiting is time to read.  I read Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar in its entirety again.  It’s been a very long time and it was just as good as ever.  You know when you are a student and you are made to read a book and sometimes you just hate it because you HAVE to read it?  I hardly ever suffered like that. Why?  Because I have an older sister.  That’s right.  Three years older.  So most of the time I read those books way before I had to, when she brought them home for her English classes, and so I could enjoy them without the pain of essay writing or critical analyses to suck out the joy.  And then, when it came time for me to really, really read them, I was one step ahead of the game.  

But enough of the not-so-fun day.  One of the FUN days this week involved shopping at a store named Casa with my friend, Mary, where we bought pretty new muffin liners and new muffin tins!  I didn’t realize how old and stained my own muffin tin was until I started taking regular photos for Muffin Monday.  But I couldn’t find a new one in Cairo.  So I tried to pretend I wasn’t ashamed of the old tin and just kept posting. Behold, the new muffin tin, just in time for Twix Muffins!

Twix Muffins 

Since I was baking in an unfamiliar kitchen, I kept the recipe simple this week and just followed instructions like a good girl. The only change I made from the original recipe was the addition of more Twix bars for topping.  Because, when it comes to Twix muffins, more = good.  

Ingredients
5 Twix bars (They come two in each individual packet.)
2 cups or 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda or bicarbonate of soda
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120g sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup or 110g butter, melted and cooled
1 cup or 240ml milk
2-3 Twix bars for topping
Powdered or confectioners' sugar, optional

Method
Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C and grease muffin tin well or line with muffin cups.

Cut the first five Twix bars into small pieces.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa and Twix in a bowl.

Slice the extra Twix bars for topping.  Set aside. 

In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar, milk and butter until smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir gently until just combined.

Divide your batter into the muffin cups and top with the extra sliced Twix bars.

A new muffin tin!  This one is actually Mary's but mine is identical.

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes in your preheated oven.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Remove from muffin tin and allow to cool completely on a rack before sprinkling with powdered sugar, if desired.  We decided not to cover the extra Twix pieces with sugar so we left the muffins naked.

Enjoy!

And here are the links to some of my past muffins:

• Banana Bacon Peanut Butter Chip Muffins 
• Cardamom Cinnamon Apricot Muffins  
• Double Nutella Swirl Muffins 
• Honey Date Pine Nut Muffins  
• Quick Bread Breakfast Muffins
• Salted Caramel Macchiato Muffins 
• S'mores Muffins

Zucchini Clafoutis

The English language probably has more words than any other language in the world, and yet, sometimes it is lacking.  As I write this post I am sitting in the dining room of an old friend who lives just south of Paris.  We met more than 20 years ago when I lived in the same little town.  But “old friend” sounds unwarrantedly negative because Mary is only a couple of years older than I am, and frankly, I don’t know anyone younger in spirit and full of positivity – and she is in pretty good physical shape too.  In French, on the other hand, an old friend - one you have known for a very long time - is an ancienne amie.   An old friend - one that is advanced in age - is an amie ancienne.  We need something like that in English, don’t you think? 

Anyhoo, here I am in Paris, enjoying a couple of days with my ancienne amie, Mary, and we have been cooking and gabbing and drinking wine.  She is a wonderful, natural cook who uses fresh ingredients to make delicious meals.  She and her family have made me extremely welcome and I would like to live here forever, except for the probably-imposing-after-a-few-days thing.  I happened to tell Mary about making zucchini clafoutis a couple of weeks ago and suddenly, we had added it to the menu for the evening, along with a sausage pilaf she had already planned.  I sliced and diced the zucchini in the kitchen while she taught a private English class out on the deck in the beautiful sunshine.  The weather has been GORGEOUS this week.  Then she finished the pilaf and got it in the oven, while we enjoyed a glass of wine.  And some more chatting.  Simple delicious food, lovingly prepared then eaten in the company of good friends.  It doesn’t get better than this.

Ingredients

For the vegetables:

2-3 tablespoons olive oil


1/2 large onion

1 lb 12 oz or 800 grams small zucchini or courgettes

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
 leaves

Salt and pepper for seasoning the zucchini

For the batter:

1/3 cup or 40 grams flour

1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

3/4 cup or 180ml heavy cream


1/4 cup or 60ml water


3 eggs


½ teaspoon fine sea salt


3 1/8 oz or 90 grams grated Parmesan (Don’t worry too much about the exact measure.  More won’t hurt. :)

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C.   Grease a 13X9in or 33X23cm baking dish with olive oil and set aside.

Chop your onion and set aside.

Scrub the zucchini and cut the ends off.  Slice in 1/4-inch circles. If you have big zucchini, you may choose to peel them. 

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Drizzle with olive oil and add the zucchini and cook till they brown a little.  Now add the chopped onion.

Season with salt and pepper.  Cook gently for a few minutes and then add the thyme.  

Cook until the vegetables are tender and the water coming from the zucchini has mostly evaporated.  Transfer this mixture to the serving dish and allow to cool.

 To make the batter, whisk together the flour, milk, cream, water, eggs, and the 1/2 teaspoon salt until they are silky smooth.

Pour the egg batter over the vegetables.  

Top with the cheese.

Bake the clafoutis until the eggs are set and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

If necessary, brown the top further with the oven broiler or grill before serving.  Can be served hot or at room temperature.

 Enjoy!