Just being alive is a truly wonderful thing.

Imqaret.

This is another traditional Maltese dish which I love to make. My nanna introduced me to imqaret and I absolutely loved them - and was desperate to learn how to make them for myself!
Imqaret (singular mqarut) are date-filled pastries, scented with orange flower water and served hot or warm. They are traditionally deep-fried but it's much easier to bake them. When we were in Malta we didn't get to try these but when I go back I will search for the real thing.
They are very simple to make and very, very addictive. Even if you aren't great at baking, imqaret are very hard to get wrong.
Below is the way I make imqaret:

500g pitted dates
Water
1tbsp orange blossom (flower) water
6 sheets puff pastry


1. Preheat the oven. I have a fan forced oven and usually preheat to about 180C. If you have a conventional oven, 200C should be adequate. Remove the baking trays from the oven before preheating.

2. Set aside the sheets of pastry to thaw. Traditional imqaret use handmade pastry, but puff pastry is so easy and works really well.

3. Place the dates in a medium sized saucepan, cover with water and add the orange blossom water. Using 500g of dates should be enough, but there is no reason why you can't use more.


*A note on orange blossom (flower) water. This is basically made from distilled bitter-orange blossoms and is used traditionally in Middle-Eastern cooking. It has a great smell and taste and is really nice in coffee. You can only really get orange blossom water from a deli or specialised stores.

4. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently. You will notice the dates breaking up and the water going cloudy. As the mixture thickens the water will turn brown and you should end up with a paste. Don't worry if you are still left with whole dates in the mixture, they taste great in the finished product.



5. Cut a thawed sheet of pastry in half, and spread one edge of each half thinly and evenly with the mixture. Fold both long edges of the sheet together and press the sides with a fork. Repeat with remaining sheets. The trick to imqaret is making them as thin as possible. If they seem to be too thick, press them down with your hands once folded.
Note: Always place the puff pastry on a cool baking tray, if you lay the sheets on a tray which has just come out of the oven the pastry will start to cook and will be difficult to manage.

6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until evenly golden, then place on a wire rack to cool slightly.

7. Cut each length into about five rectangles while still warm.



Imqaret are best eaten warm, but can also be enjoyed cold. They are a great snack and keep in the cupboard for about a week (mine never last that long!) Great with coffee, tea or on their own.
If you have leftover date mixture, refrigerate it for another batch. Dad tried it on his cereal and said it was really good, so I guess you could do that too.

Enjoy!

Rachel eating her tenth mqarut.

WINTER TERM UPDATE!!!!!

So I finally got my winter term results back.

Distinction!

I really, honestly surprised myself.

I thought I would die if I didn't tell you how I felt.

I'm still here, and you still don't know.

Imqarrun Il-Forn.

A.k.a. baked macaroni.

So I'm really getting into cooking! This is something I haven't made for a couple of weeks but is seriously one of my favourite things to cook and eat.
This is a traditionally Maltese dish. My grandmother (who is Maltese)makes this all the time, and the recipe found its way to my mother (who isn't Maltese) and then to me. I've made it so many times I don't need a recipe anymore. The following is the way that I make macaroni.

Ingredients:

Olive oil
1 onion
Garlic (optional)
Tomato paste
Grated zucchini, carrot (optional)
1 kg mince (I think I normally use lamb)
1 bottle of tomatoes (tinned tomatoes work fine also)
Peas (these are essentially optional, but they're great)
500g penne
5-8 eggs
Grated cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven and make sure you have a medium sized baking dish. I have a fan forced oven so I usually heat it to 200C, if you don't have a fan forced oven I'd say set it to about 220C. I don't usually find it necessary to grease the dish, but it depends on what sort of dishes you have.

2. Heat the oil, add the onion, garlic (if using), tomato paste, vegetables and peas. (if using). A staple food of the Maltese diet is tomato paste. You have to embrace the paste. Always remember you can never use too much of it. I always add the grated vegies but my grandmother doesn't. It doesn't make all that much difference. My dad loves peas and I always add them - I find they really improve the dish.

3. In a separate pot, cook the mince. Apparently you're meant to separate meat and vegetables when you're cooking, it's some hygiene thing...hahaha.

4. Once the mince is browned, add it to the onion mixture and heat together, then add the tomatoes. I have started using these bottled tomatoes called Italian Polpa. They're really good but the bottles are a pain to open. If you have muscles then they shouldn't be a problem.

5. In a separate pot, boil some water for the pasta and cook pasta as usual. You will use a lot of pots here, but it is so fun to make. I always add a little bit of oil to the water, just to give it a bit of extra flavour. You can cook the pasta at the same time as you're doing the mince, or afterwards, it doesn't matter all too much.

6. Once cooked, drain pasta and run under cold water to cool. It is important that you let both the mince and the pasta cool, otherwise when you combine them in the dish with the egg, the egg will cook.

7. Combine pasta and mince in dish, and then add the eggs. Be sure to combine them really well. Regarding the number of eggs, add as many as you feel is needed. I normally add about six, it just depends on the size of the dish.

8. Cover the top evenly with grated cheese and cook in the oven for around 30-45 minutes. I normally use tasty or cheddar cheeses. After half an hour, I usually check the macaroni and just see how well done it is.

This is a really great meal which can be enjoyed both warm or cold. I find it so fun to make (and eat) because there's such a process (as well as tradition) involved. My dad grew up on macaroni and so have I. It's certainly a meal I look forward to and one which I will definitely pass on. If you decide to make macaroni, I am sure you will enjoy it. And don't forget the tomato paste.



Photos 'borrowed' from http://www.spicyicecream.com.au/2008/06/expert-borrowers.html --> a fantastic blog which I really recommend.

It's All Greek To Me.

Due to the fact that I hadn't cooked for an ultra-long time and really felt like messing up the kitchen, last weekend I made this:



It's called spanakopita (σπανακόπιτα) and it happens to be a Greek pastry dish not unlike burek. I was introduced to burek by some Greek friends, and fell in love with it but never actually got round to trying my hand at it. Then a couple of months ago we bought spanakopita and tried it...and I started up a new love affair! Luckily I had a recipe for it in my Anthony Telford cookbook I blogged about a couple of months ago, so I gave it a shot!

Here is the recipe:

1 bunch spinach
500g Australian feta, crumbled
500g fresh firm ricotta
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon mint or dill (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
8 filo pastry sheets
3 tablespoons olive oil

1) Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a baking dish by lightly greasing with oil.

2)Wash the spinach thoroughly and place in a pot of boiling water. Cook for 20 seconds or until wilted. Drain and run under cold water to refresh and stop the cooking. When cool, squeeze the excess water from the spinach. You will have approximately 2 cups cooked spinach.

I had silverbeet, which was tough but alright to use. The book says that more spinach can be used if wanted. I broke the leaves away from the stem (which you don't use because it is tough as anything) and then shredded them using my hands. They wilt pretty quickly.

3)Place the spinach in a bowl, add the feta, ricotta, eggs, parsley, mint or dill (if using) and salt, and mix thoroughly. If you make this, be sure to CRUMBLE the feta into very small pieces. You don't want lumps in there. I also found I didn't have to add the salt because the feta made it salty enough. Be sure to mix it really well. Anthony Telford suggests Australian feta because he says it is 'less salty than European feta, therefore allowing the cook to control the saltiness of the dish'.

4)Place four sheets of filo in the prepared baking dish and brush each layer with oil. This forms the bottom layer. Working with the pastry was the hardest part for me. I had never used filo pastry before and was very clumsy! It is crazily thin and breaks easily, plus it dries out super fast. To stop it drying out I covered the sheets I wasn't using with a damp tea towel...which worked. Make sure you oil the sheets well and cover the base and sides of the dish with the pastry. The book also suggests using puff pastry...which I think I may try next time! If using puff pastry, you only need one sheet for the top and one for the bottom.

5)Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the filo. Repeat the filo layers for the top, brushing each sheet with oil. If there is excess filo, just fold it into the side of the dish.

6)Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy on top. I have a fan-forced oven so I set the timer to 20 minutes, which was adequate.
My spanakopita didn't look like the one above but it sure was fun to make, and it went in a flash! It is traditionally served as finger food, so wait until it cools and cut into individual pieces. If you want to eat it all on your own, then don't worry about the cutting.
This recipe serves 6 and the finished product tastes good (if I do say so myself). Definitely one I'll be making again.

Last Wednesday, I finally got my act together and donated blood. I'd been meaning to do it for some time but for some reason never got round to actually making the appointment.
It was surprisingly awesome. The donating centre was bright and comfortable, despite the sharp, clean smell that always accompanies places with needles. I filled out a questionnaire, complete with "personal questions", and then I went in for an interview which consisted of a nurse checking my weight, iron levels and blood pressure. Before I knew it I was lying feet-up in one of those reclining chairs.
The nurse put anaesthetic on the inside of my left elbow (a fluro yellow which subtly complemented my skin tone), placed an inflated cuff above my elbow to help blood flow and then gave me a small ball to squeeze when she stuck the needle in.
It didn't hurt at all! Just a slight prick really. Though she did sensibly encourage me to look away.
The whole donation took about ten minutes, then I was bandaged up and taken to another room where I got to eat junk (to increase my blood sugar and stop me from fainting) and drink apple juice! I didn't get a bruise either, though I still have a small rather attractive hole in my skin.
The best part about it was definitely knowing that I could help save lives. They tell you over and over again on the TV ads that one donation could save three lives, but I really didn't realise the full scale of it all until I had parted with a pint of blood. It felt great to know that I could be helping people in my own small way.
I next donate in October and am thinking of also becoming a plasma donor.

AHHH MAJOR WORK!!!!

So the time has come to start writing.

3,000 word short story in two weeks.

I have my idea, I arrived at it with some help but really like it.

So basically, I plan to write about this man named Richard (for some reason I only really saw him as a Richard) who has just died.
He isn't sure why or how he has died, all he knows is that he is dead.
Then it's like...he starts hearing the conversations of his family and friends, talking about him after his death. I want them to mostly be saying bad things/expressing their frustrations at him. Even though he is dead, I want him to realise that even though he thought he was a good man others thought otherwise. I want him to be scared of death and scared of hearing the conversations.

My character is meant to go through some sort of change but I'm not sure how I am going to make that work seeing as he is dead. Maybe his change will just be the realisation that he was only really living for himself.

Anyway, I will end with him being revived. The story will only cover about 15 minutes in time. I want the audience to be able to imagine what happens next - does he confront his family about their feelings, or does he try and make himself a better person?

I am really excited to write this, I hope that it works out. I'm really liking the class, but I have found it a little hard because I think I'm the only first year in the course, and everyone else just seems so...smart. It's been fun though and I'd glad I did it.

I'll keep posted on how the story turns out.

Peace!