Chicken Shawarma

Looking through my blog posts, it is evident that I haven’t posted many (if any) recipes with an international flair. As I love trying foods and recipes originating from different locations around the world, I was disappointed by the lack of variety on this site. I also realized that just last week, I made this incredible chicken Shawarma that was rated as one of the top recipes by the New York Times for 2015. My great-grandmother, who is still unfamiliar with what a burrito is, was surprisingly impressed with this dish. The strong and robust taste of the herbs and spices are mouthwatering, and they come together with the chicken to form a intense flavor experience. For any Shawarma lovers…. this recipe is definitely for you! ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS:

2 lemons, juiced

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

½ teaspoon turmeric

A pinch ground cinnamon

Red pepper flakes, to taste

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 large red onion, peeled and quartered

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. To prepare the chicken marinade, combine the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and red pepper flakes in a large bowl, then whisk to combine. Add the chicken into the bowl and toss well to coat. Cover and store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
2. When you are ready to cook, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Use the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to grease a rimmed sheet pan.
3. Add the quartered onion to the chicken with the marinade, and toss once to combine. Remove the chicken and onion from the marinade, and spread everything evenly across the pan.
4. Roast the chicken in the over until it is browned, crisp at the edges and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let sit for 2 minutes, then slice into bits.
5. Scatter the parsley over the top and serve with whatever desired (tomatoes, cucumbers, pita, feta, rice etc).

Love,

Ally

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

While I love going out with friends, exercising at the gym, and spending the day outdoors, I definitely have way too many lazy, ‘never leave the house’ days. On these days, I generally find myself reading, watching tv, and of course cooking and baking. Yesterday was one of those days. After sweating through my class at the gym in the morning, I didn’t set foot outside my apartment all day.

I wanted to bake something for my great-grandmother who lives on the Upper West Side, but we only had the most basic of ingredients in our tiny kitchen: flour, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, vanilla, and cream cheese. The idea of having to change out of my sweats and walk across the street to the grocery store was obviously ludicrous, so I decided I would work with what I had.

I found the perfect recipe – a simple cream cheese pound cake with amazing reviews on AllRecipes.com. I had always found pound cake to be bland, dry and tedious to bake, but I really enjoyed myself while making this cake. The cake had more flavor and moisture than I expected, and it was exactly the type of simple dessert that my Viennese great-grandmother always loved. I was definitely glad that I was too lazy to leave my house today. ENJOY!

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese -at room temperature or slightly softened

1 1/2 cups butter- at room temperature or slightly softened

3 cups white sugar

6 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions                      

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.
3. Add eggs two at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the flour all at once and mix in. Add vanilla.
4. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Baking time depends on the cake, so check for doneness at 1 hour. A toothpick or knife inserted into center of cake will come out clean.

Love,

Ally