Garlic and Oregano Bread

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I can proudly say that I made up this recipe, and I am satisfied with the result. I hope you would agree with me on loving it.

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbs yeast

1 tsp salt

4 tbs olive oil (and extra for kneading)

1 tbs mashed garlic

2 tbs oregano

water, for kneading (about 1 1/2 cups)

Method:

• Mix flour, salt
• dissolve yeast in a cup of water, set aside
• mix oregano and mashed garlic, and add olive oil to the mixture, shift into the flour
• Add water to flour and start kneading, add extra oil if necessary, knead till it is well combined, soft, and not too sticky
• cover the dough and let it rise for an hour
• roll the dough and cut into squares, arrange them in the baking pan, brush the top with milk or beaten egg
• bake for half an hour or till ready in a 175 degrees preheated oven
• let it cool before serving (and this is my mistake as I wanted to take a picture while it was still warm and cutting the bread at this stage makes it look heavy and wet)
• enjoy

Mango and orange juice

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It is too hot nowadays in Oman, the temperature is never below 45 degrees, so you only feel like drinking cold drinks, they are refreshing, and keep you safe from dehydration.

Ingredients (they can be adaptable according to your preferences):

1 raw mango (which is green and May/June was the season for it, so I had them peeled, cut into thin pieces and freeze them to use them longer), peeled and cut into thin pieces

1 orange, peeled and cut into pieces

2 tbs tang (which is a flavoured powdered drink, comes in different flavours, I used mango and orange flavour)

2 tbs fresh mint leaves

sugar (optional)

ice cubes (optional)

Method:

mix all ingredients in a blender, modify quantities according to your preference, if you don't have raw mangoes (which are quite sour), you can add lemon juice.

For some variety:

I add frozen strawberries always, but didn't have them that day, moreover, you can add rose water which gives you a sweet flavour

A note:

having all ingredients make it easy to prepare a fast refreshing drinks for your family and guests 

Brownies

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

What is better than good brownies, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream? nothing :)

I was craving for something very chocolaty, and this was just the perfect thing to make, at 8 pm, easy to make, and enjoyable to eat.

Ingredients:

100 g butter

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

2 eggs

125 g chocolate

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

Method:

• sift flour and baking powder and set aside
• place butter, both sugars, chocolate and golden syrup in a pan, heat in low heat till it is smooth and melted, set it aside
• in another bowl, whisk eggs, than add to the previous mixture
• add the flour mixture, mix with a spoon
• pour the mixture into a baking tray, bake in a preheated oven (170 degrees), for 20-25 minutes.

Vanilla Cupcakes with honey-cinnamon frosting

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I am still in search for the best vanilla cake recipe, and I can give this one 4 stars. I still didn't find the five star one, which I will keep searching for. 

Ingredients:

3 cups self-raising flour

1 1/4 caster sugar

200 g butter, room temperature

1 cup milk, room temperature

5 eggs, room temperature

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

Method (makes around 24-26 cupcakes):

• sift together flour and baking powder, set aside
• beat butter and sugar for 7 minutes, till light and fluffy
• add eggs, one by one while beating the mixture
• add milk and continue beating
• add self-raising flour, and fold with spoon
• bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven (175 degrees)

Honey-cinnamon frosting (from Martha Stewart book-cupcakes):

2 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted

200 g butter, room temperature

2 tbs honey

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

with an electric mixture, beat all ingredients.

use mixture or refrigerate for up to 5 days

(the frosting has lovely flavour of honey and cinnamon, however, it was too sweet)