Snein El Ajouz

Snein El Ajouz is  a deep fried dough coated with honey syrup........This is my favourite dessert that mum used to make especially for me  when I visited her...Simple ingredients but superb taste.

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 Eggs

2 cup Flour (as much you need to make it a soft manageable dough)

Vanilla

Pinch of Salt

Vegetable fat and vegetable oil for frying

Syrup:

1 cup Sugar

1/3  cup Water

½ cup Honey

Squeeze of lemon

Mix eggs with vanilla, salt & flour until it becomes a soft dough. 

Roll into rope & cut them into small cube with the knife. 

Deep fry them in mixture of vegetable fat & vegetable oil until they become a golden brown.

Place them on kitchen towel to absorb the extra fat /oil.

For the syrup: Put sugar & water in a saucepan on the hob. Bring it to boil while continuously stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil the syrup for a couple of minutes till it thickens. Add a squeeze on lemon then add the honey. Bring it to boil again for a minute. Syrup should become thick. Remove the saucepan from heat.

Add the deep fried diced dough. Mix it with syrup for a minute & then pour it in a serving plate till it cool down.

Mum used to put a glass in middle of the plate & pour all the Snein El Ajouz around it. Once cooled, remove the glass & they will be in shape of a ring as above top picture.

Or simply as this -->

Rosto

Rosto is minced meat rolls filled with pistachio/olives/boiled eggs. It is a delicious starter and the filling can be one of your personal choice. Last Christmas we filled the rolls with cooked cranberries and added a bit of red wine to the meat!! Delicious!!

Ingredients:

500g Minced Meat

1 Egg

5 cloves crushed garlic ( I used garlic puree)

Seasoning: Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon

Filling: Pistachios (soaked in hot water than peeled) or pitted olives ( green   or black) or boiled eggs or cooked cranberries........

Mix the meat, egg, garlic and seasoning together. Divide the mixture in half.

pistachio

Green Olives

Take the first half spread it on cling film in a rectangular shape with ½ cm thickness. Spread the filling of your choice.

Roll it with the help of the cling film (make sure to keep the cling film on the outside!). Once rolled, twist the cling film on both ends & put in fridge for 20 min so the roll will stick together. Repeat with the other half.

Another option is to cover the boiled egg individually in your hand & then wrap them in cling film & put them in fridge for 20 min.

After 20 min, remove the roll from fridge, peel the cling film off. Seal the meat in a sauce pan on the hob . If your sauce pan doesn’t go in the oven, move the roll carefully to an oven tray. Before putting it in oven, add ½ cup of water ( or red wine if you like a bit of festivities!) in saucepan/ tray.

Then put it in hot oven gas mark 5 (350F) for 15- 20 min. Check on the rolls half way cooking and turn them to keep them golden all around.

Rosto stuffed olives  & egg

Rosto stuffed Pistachios

Leave it to cool for 1hr before cutting it into slices of 1/2cm thick.

Sahtein!