Hala's Diary

Oh hello! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Just a little bit about who I am and what I do, and what this blog is all about. My name is Hala, I do teaching for living, and travelling and baking for leisure. As a child, kitchen was my favourite part of the house. I would go in, open the cupboards and mix some lentils, rice and beans with water and salt, and stir them in pretending to make a soup (don't think it would've tasted so good!). As I grew up, this passion of mine grew with me. I'd spend my holidays baking and cooking and experimenting with recipes. Later on, I became a teacher working internationally away from home. I developed a huge passion for travel and exploring foods from different cuisines and cultures. I am a HUGE foodie and a coffeeholic, and I have very excited taste buds that are ready to have a go at anything. Since last year, I have decided to go vegetarian; taking my love for animals and the environment far more seriously. So here I am on Tumblr, sharing my love for food and travel with all you people. Find me on Instagram on halas_diary. Peace out!

[halasdiary]

Fluffy Plain Buns

What you’ll need:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbs caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm milk

1/4 cup warm milk mixed with 1/4 tsp lemon juice (substitute for buttermilk)

3 tbs softened butter

Method:

1. Dissolve the sugar into the plain fresh milk, and sprinkle the yeast and leave it to bloom for about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients  and mix.

3. Make a well in the centre, and add the milk/yeast mixture and the milk/lemon juice mixture. Combine using a spatula or a wooden spoon.

4. Once mixed, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes until you get a smooth surface.

5. Start adding the butter amount gradually. Each time you add butter, knead for about 5 minutes until the butter is all well combined with the dough. Continue to do so until all your butter amount is fully incorporated with the dough.

Note the dough is quite sticky bit super smooth and stretchy. To test how stretchy it is, use your fingers to stretch a small part of the dough. It should expand without breaking, showing a smooth texture. If you don’t get this texture, continue to knead by stretching and folding into the centre from all sides.

6. Lightly grease a large bowl, and transfer the dough. Lightly grease the surface of the dough, cover it properly with cling film and a towel, and pop it into a warm, dark place to proof for about 2 hours. Best place to proof any dough is your turned OFF oven.

7. Once all beautifully risen, transfer the dough into a surface and lightly knead for 2 minutes. cut the dough with a knife to make about 12-14 equal sized balls (each roughly weighing 25-30 grams). Cover the balls with a towel to rest for further 10 minutes.

8. You can stuff the dough balls with mozzarella cheese, cheese and spinach, cheese, spinach and Italian sauce, or basically any stuffing you like. You can even make it a sweet dish by stuffing it with cheese and drizzling honey after baking.

9. Back to further proofing, transfer the dough balls into a baking tray lined by parchment paper, shaping them in a similar manner to a hexagon, but ensure to leave about 2cm space between each. (They will really puff up).

10. Lightly brush them with warm water, and pop them into the oven at about 40c to proof further in a warmer temperature. Make sure your oven is NOT hot that it may start cooking them. The point is to accelerate the proofing process at this stage. Keep checking until the balls are nearly doubled in size. Make sure the surface doesn’t dry out, so feel them by the tips of your fingers and lightly brush them again with water if needed.

11. Now that they proofed further, you can brush them with either eggs (for a deep golden brown top, or olive oil (for a smooth lightly brown top) or salt water (for a soft brown top). I also sprinkled dried oregano on the top.

12. Increase the oven temperature to 200c and bake top and bottom placing the tray in the middle rack for about 20 minutes.

[halasdiary]

Barley Stir Fry (Vegan)

What you’ll need:

1 cup barley 

1 carrot, sliced length wise

a bunch of baby spinach, sliced length wise

1 small red onion (or normal onion) sliced 

a handful of snow peas

a handful of sliced mushrooms

1 tsp of (salt, cumin, spice mix if available)

Chilli flakes (add depending on how spicy you like it)

1/2 lime or lemon

Method:

1. Boil the barley until fully cooked.

2. While the barley is cooking, sautee the onions in some olive oil, then add the carrots and cover the lid and let them cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the spices and mix properly until all ingredients are coated.

4. Add the mushrooms and snow peas and continue to sautee.

5. When the barley is cooked, drain it and add it to the veggie stir fry above. Sautee and stir occasionally for 3 minutes.

6. Turn off the fire, and add the chopped spinach, and stir until the spinach is slightly softened.

7. Squeeze half the lemon or lime and voila! Enjoy.

[halasdiary]

Layali Lubnan/Lebanese Nights dessert

What you’ll need:

1 cup fine semolina

5 cups warm fresh milk

2 tbs white sugar

1 tsp rose water 

about 400ml thick cream (aka Arabic Qishta)

Mixed crushed nuts and shredded coconut for garnish

Honey

Method:

1. Heat the milk on low-medium fire. Don’t let it boil.

2. Once really warm, add the sugar and semolina and stir.

3. Continue to stir constantly until you get a thick mixture. Don’t let it thicken too much as it’ll get thicker as it cools down.

4. Add the rose water and give it a final stir.

5. Add the mixture to half of your serving bowls and let it cool down to room temperature.

6. Once cool, spread about 3 tbs of thick cream/qishta on top of each bowl.

7. Garnish with nuts and shredded coconuts and drizzle honey upon serving.

[halasdiary]

Nutella No-Bake Cake aka Lazy Cake

The leftover Nutella Cream frosting (recipe under the Hazelnut Cake with Nutella Cream Frosting)

Plain biscuits roughly chopped

Hazelnuts, cocoa powder for garnishing.

Method:

Quite simply, mix the roughly chopped biscuits with the Nutella cream and leave it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Garnish it anyway of your choice and pop it back into the freezer for another 15 minutes. You can either eat it immediately after that, or otherwise transfer it to the fridge to enjoy later.

[halasdiary]

Herb and Garlic Focaccia

What you’ll need:

5 cups flour of your choice (all purpose, whole wheat or a mix of both)

4 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup honey

1 3/4 warm water

1 tbs active dry yeast

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar (for activating the yeast)

4 garlic cloves

1 cup mixed herbs (parsley, dill and coriander)

Method:

1. Dissolve some sugar in half the amount of water, and sprinkle the yeast and let it bloom for 10 minutes. If your yeast doesn’t bloom, it is either because your water is too hot or too cold, or otherwise the yeast isn’t a good quality.

2. In a food processor, add the mixed herbs, garlic, water and a drizzle of olive oil and pulse for 2 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, honey and olive oil and mix using a spatula or a wooden spoon. Then, add the wet ingredients and continue to mix.

4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Note the dough is meant to be sticky, so don’t over flour the surface and keep half a cup of warm water in case the dough is too tough and it needs some wetting.

5. Once well kneaded and smooth, put the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling film and a towel, and let it rest for at least 2 hours in a dark, warm place (such as your oven, obviously while it’s off hahaha).

6. 2 hours later, your dough is now doubled in size and ready to be rolled. Lightly knead the dough one more time for 1 minute and cut it in half to make 2 focaccias as in the picture above. 

7. While you keep one half covered, roll the dough keeping a thickness of about 1 cm. Garnish the top with some herbs, and I highly recommend the combination of cherry tomatoes and fetta cheese. Then lightly brush it with some olive oil and sprinkle some oregano, and bake at 180-200c for about 20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, you may turn on the top heat to get that extra golden brown crunchy top.

Team it up with some soup, and voila! you have your delicious meal sorted.

[halasdiary]

Hazelnut Cake with Nutella Cream Frosting

What you’ll need:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup crushed hazelnuts. You can get whole hazelnuts and use a food processor to crush them.

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla powder

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/2 cup warm milk

1/2 cup caster sugar (or 3/4 cup if you’re a sweet tooth)

3 eggs

Pinch of salt

For the cream frosting:

1 cup of whipping cream 

2 tbs nutella

Method:

1. Preheat your oven at 200c.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl except for the sugar and set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and oil until smooth, then gradually add the eggs and continue to beat until you get a smooth mixture.

4. Gradually, add your dry ingredient mixture and continue to beat.

5. Once all smooth, add your 1/2 cup of milk and fold from the sides to the center.

6. Pour your cake batter into a lightly greased cake pan. Reduce the temperature in the oven to 180c and pop the cake in for about 20-25 minutes depending on the heat of your oven on both top and bottom.

As you wait for the cake to cool down to room temperature, you can start preparing your cream frosting.

For maximum success, all your whipping tools must be super cold, so it’s best to pop your whisks, mixing bowl and all other tools in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before you start the process. I also put the whipping cream in the freezer for about 5 minutes as the tools are cooling down too.

Mix the sugar, whipping cream and and whisk using an electric hand mixer for about 10 minutes or until a smooth peak forms as you lift your whisk. Keep the cream frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes before you start spreading it on the cake. Make sure the cake temperature is absolutely down room temperature or even cooler before you spread the cream or otherwise it will quickly melt down and make a mess.

Garnish with some crushed and whole hazelnuts dipped in melted Nutella, and voila!

[halasdiary]

Pistachio and Saffron Cake

What you’ll need:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup crushed pistachios. You can get whole pistachios and use a food processor to crush them.

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cardamom (optional)

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup warm milk

1/2 cup caster sugar (or 3/4 cup if you’re a sweet tooth)

3 eggs

Pinch of salt

For the cream frosting:

1 cup of whipping cream with a pinch of saffron soaked in overnight.

2 tbs caster sugar

1 tsp rose water (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven at 200c.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl except for the sugar and set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and butter until smooth, then gradually add the eggs and continue to beat until you get a smooth mixture.

4. Gradually, add your dry ingredient mixture and continue to beat. 

5. Once all smooth, add your 1/2 cup of milk and fold from the sides to the center.

6. Pour your cake batter into a lightly greased cake pan. Reduce the temperature in the oven to 180c and pop the cake in for about 20-25 minutes depending on the heat of your oven on both top and bottom.

As you wait for the cake to cool down to room temperature, you can start preparing your cream frosting.

For maximum success, all your whipping tools must be super cold, so it’s best to pop your whisks, mixing bowl and all other tools in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before you start the process. I also put the whipping cream in the freezer for about 5 minutes as the tools are cooling down too.

Mix the sugar, whipping cream and rose water and whisk using an electric hand mixer for about 10 minutes or until a smooth tip forms as you lift your whisk. Keep the cream frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes before you start spreading it on the cake. Make sure the cake temperature is absolutely down room temperature or even cooler before you spread the cream or otherwise it will quickly melt down and make a mess.

Garnish with some crushed pistachios and roses, and voila!