Tasty and Easy Recipes

Ingredients:
7 litre pot (I used a 12 litre pot)
2 potatoes, cubed
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 large carrots, diced
1 large onion, cubed
2 medium zucchini, cubed
1 medium piece of pumpkin or big orange squash, peeled and cubed
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled (I used 6)
Fresh dill
1 teaspoon Yemenite hawayij (chuaij chawaj)
Dash soy sauce
Water
Fresh parsley, for garnish
2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper

Method:
Put all vegetables, herbs and spices in the pot. Fill to cover with water. Bring to a boil.
Turn to a low fire and simmer for about 1 hour or until veggies are soft. (I think longer.)
Serve with a parsley garnish.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound beef shoulder or ribs, with fat removed
3 pieces of marrow bone
6 to 10 garlic buds, according to taste, unpeeled
1 large onion, peeled, whole
1 carrot, whole
1 large tomato, almost quartered, but not cut apart at bottom
4 sprigs parsley
4 sprigs dill
2 chicken legs, including thighs
1 zucchini
2 potatoes, peeled
4 celery stalks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup cooked noodles or rice (optional)

Method:
Place the beef and marrow bones with 1-1/2 quarts water in a kettle. Bring them to a boil and skim the froth from the surface, removing every bit.
Lower the heat and add the garlic buds, (by being left unpeeled they do not get soft in the cooking.) Add the onion, carrot, tomato, parsley and dill. Cover the pot and cook, simmering for about 20 minutes. Remove the marrow bones.
Add the chicken legs, cover and simmer another 20 minutes. Add the zucchini, potatoes and celery, cover and simmer another 20 minutes.
Add the salt and additional spices and cook for the final 10 minutes, remove the garlic buds.
When serving, place a portion of rice or noodles in a large soup plate. Pour in some soup liquid and add meat and vegetable portions.

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/3 tsp. baking powder
2 or 3 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa, the more, the better
1/4 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp cinnamon, optional
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 to 1/3 cup. water

Method:
Mix the dry ingredients until well integrated.
Mix well the wet ingredients, EXCEPT water, until thoroughly integrated. Add the wet ingredients, mix into the dry ingredients and mix until integrated. You will have a lumpy granular batter. Add water gradually, mixing until batter is smooth and glossy.
Pour into baking pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean or cake has pulled away slightly from sides of pan.

Variations:

White Cake:
Omit cocoa, double vanilla in wet mix.

Chocolate Chip Cake:
Omit cocoa, double vanilla in wet mix, mix in 1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips to finished batter before baking.

Spice Cake:
Omit cocoa, add 2 to 3 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, dash white pepper to dry mix.

Lemon Spice Cake:
Omit cocoa, add spices as above, add grated lemon rind–the more the better–to wet stuff. NB, don’t substitute lemon juice for any of the wet ingredients in an attempt to get more lemoniness–it’ll throw the leavening off kilter.

Almond Spice Cake:
Omit cocoa, add spices as above, add 1/4 cup ground almonds to dry mix.
If disaster strikes, almonds are also good if you find you’ve added too much water; just throw in ground almonds until your batter’s texture comes right. (Adding flour won’t work because flour is too dry. Almonds, because they have oil, won’t make your cake dry out.)
For the enterprising among you, I don’t know why you couldn’t mix up a triple or quadruple set of the dry ingredients as your own cake mix. Store it in an airtight canister, then take out 2 cups or so, add the egg, oil, vanilla and water, and you’re away to the races!