Memorable Mondays!

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatu! 

Is it already Monday? Alhamdulilah ! Yay Monday's!
This is the post where I get to share with you my great recipes that are just so memorable! Always remembering that food is truly one of the biggest blessings from Allah. We should never waste our food and if we have left overs we can either use them for homemade facial masks or feed the little animals out on our porch ( I had a entourage of friendly critters in my balcony when I had leftovers! Masha'Allah the squirrels became so chubby!) 

If we really take a moment to contemplate just how beautiful food really is! I mean, the colours of the different fruits and vegetables in all the different regions all over the world, the textures, the sweetness Subhana'Allah! The most amazing thing is how everything can be blended together to make a delicious savory meal! *sigh*, Alhamdulilah for food, what a big big blessing...and so many people take it for granted. May Allah protect us from gluttony and may we always remembering the beautiful blessings of food. Ameen!

Now for my lovely recipe for today! Homemade PIZZA!

I don't know about you, but pizza has always been an ALL-TIME favourite of mine!! I love me' a pepperoni and cheese pizza with some olives and mushrooms (but halal pepperoni  is hard to find around my 'no-man's land' of a town) So I opt for a mildly long drive to the halal market so I can have my very own personalized pizza! 

Here is what you need: 

for the crust: 
3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling (bread flour add more texture and a crispier crust, but you can settle for all-purpose white flour, or whole wheat! It's entirely up to you!)

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 envelope instant dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F (if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast and then the dough wont rise :( ! So becareful)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

Combine all in one bowl (I don't have an electrical mixer so I do it old school styles, and mix it with a fork lol)

-bread flour

-sugar

-yeast 

-salt 

Then slowly add the water bit by bit and 2 tablespoons of the oil and mix until the dough forms into a ball 

(note: if the dough is sticky, keep adding flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. )

Knead into a ball (i usually do this in the bowl, but you can use a clean surface, up to you)

Grease the bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a WARM area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.

For the toppings:

- Marble cheese (or what ever kind of cheese you prefer)

- Halal pepperoni (don't forget to remove the paper casing, I realised this after I ate some lol)

- Green olives 

- Mushrooms 

- Tomatoes

*note* These are my favourite toppings, but you can definitely use your own!

- Tomato PASTE ( I've never used tomato sauce as I think it takes away from the taste of the pizza)

- Oregano spice, Rosemary spice, Basil spice (you can use fresh or dried) and some salt and pepper to taste

I personally don't measure any of these ingredients because pizza's are usually made to a person's own preference! You can go less or more! But I go more with the cheese and the pepperoni and olives!

Pizza prep: 

Preheat oven to 425C

Grease your pizza pan with oil and dust with a bit of flour so it wont stick to your pan, you can also just roll your dough out and put it on parchment paper (which makes for a better crust). 

Apply toppings generously, starting with the tomato paste then your spices & salt. Then sprinkle as much cheese as you want, and place your toppings over the cheese leaving your pepperoni for last. Finally sprinkle more cheese (mmmm !) and then sprinkle light some final spices! 

Into the oven it goes for 15-20 minutes depending how well done you want your pizza ! Let the pizza cool a bit, and then slice ( I don't have a slicer so I use a knife , lol )

This is definitely something memorable you can share with your loved ones! You can make always invite your kids, husband, or lovely sisters into the kitchen to help you out! Surely a true bonding experience! 

Bil3afia & Enjoy! 

Memorable Monday's

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatu!

Introducing "Memorable Monday's" which I will share with you a memorable recipe worth trying and sharing with you and your loved ones. I wanted to sort of incorporate a bit more of a 'personal touch' to my blog, and food is just something that is such a blessing from Allah that I felt obliged to share with you my cooking concoctions, hoping that you will also benefit from the lovely meals as I have been blessed by Allah to enjoy. Alhamdulilah for the true blessings of food! All the different spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits from all around the world! Subhana'Allah, truly it is one of many miracles that we overlook that Allah has blessed us with (and think of all the health benefits of most!)

This Monday, I made my very first (low-fat) cheesecake and it turned out a success Masha'Allah wa'Alhamdulilah! It was memorable in every bite! 
I was a bit skeptical at first since I don't own an electric mixer but I left the cream cheese out to soften for a good half hour and applied some elbow grease and used my own arms (Masha'Allah) and blended away on low-medium speed. 

Here was the outcome & here is the recipe! ( I don't have those fancy DSLR camera's to take fancy 
food -blog styled pictures, so bare with my iPhone!)

Recipe: 

• Crust:
• 1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:

• 4 (250 g) packages (low fat) PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (I use imitation, to avoid the alcohol from real vanilla)
• 1 cup (low fat) sour cream
• 4 eggs

Strawberry sauce:

1 pint (2 cups) of  fresh strawberries 

1/3 cup of sugar

some lime zest

1 tbsp imitation vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F if using a silver 9 inch springform pan (or to 300 degrees F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer (or by hand if you don't own a mixer like me!) on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
3. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until centre is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Top with pie filling before serving. Store leftover in your fridge!

For the Sauce: 

Slice (washed) strawberries and remove the leaf then add sugar, a dash or two of lime (or lemon) zest and the vanilla and bring to a boil while stirring consistently. Leave aside and let it cool before topping it on the cheesecake. 

TIPS: 

- The cheesecake will come out a little bit firm but "jiggly" and the center will be more "jiggly" than the rest, this is OK! Let it cool and eventually the entire cake will set (if you over bake it will cause the cake to crack!) 

- Make sure you let the entire cake cool before you put it in the fridge otherwise it will build up moisture and taste like your fridge! 

- Make sure you enjoy it with your loved ones and second helpings are not encouraged if you have errands to run or business to take care of (may result in major relaxation and contentment, Alhamdulilah!) 

Bil3fia &  Enjoy !