Lifestyle

Happy Birthday!

By Bhavna Bhatnagar

Mr. Blog turns four today!
Four serendipitous years, where
I found you, and you found me
And we have been together since 🙂
Over the course of the next one month
I have some very exciting announcements to make
And I am pretty sure that
They will be as exciting for you, as they are for me
But, all that is next month..
Today,
A dear new friend 
Celebrates An Indian Summer‘s birthday
By sharing a sumptuous breakfast laid out
On the sunny terrace of Dar Kawa
In the far away land of Morocco
Do come and join our breakfast shindig!
 

“Breakfast time is that time in the morning that wakes you up from yesterday’s slumber, to a beautiful, fresh life in the morning. I especially like the breakfasts in Morocco because all the ingredients are fresh. Nothing is better than a fresh squeezed orange juice, especially when you know that these oranges grow on trees just a few kilometers away. Homemade jams, breads, pancakes and all of them with a lot of variations. And the jams change with the changing seasons…
This breakfast today, is set in the orange and strawberry season, and later in the year, we will have cherries, apricots and figs. We cook without preservatives, which means that once the production is over you need to wait until the next year for the next delicious round. I like that; the idea of waiting…savouring what nature offers you and enjoying every part of it in that season. Not just fruits, but the bread and pancake varieties in Morocco are also so many that each day you can eat something different. During the winter and Ramadan, there are many street food breakfast dishes that you learn to appreciate when staying in the country for a while. My favorites  are bessara and amlou, two special blends, which traditionally are eaten with black bread and a sweet mint tea.

And some recipes now, straight from my breakfast table:


Marmalade
1kg of oranges
1/2kg sugar
Cinnamon pieces

Squeeze the oranges and cut the zest
Add the sugar, and

A small piece of cinnamon (just
for taste) with oranges and zest
Cook the mixture over high heat for + -1 hours
Cool and put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

Strawberry jam
1kg of strawberries
1/2kg sugar
Cinnamon pieces

Cut the strawberries into small pieces
Mix strawberries with sugar, And

Add a small piece of cinnamon (just for the taste)
Cook over high heat for + -1 hour and remove foam regularly.


 
‘Raif’ Moroccan crepe square
Serves Four:
1 / 2 kg flour
10g salt

Put the flour into a bowl, add salt and
water gradually until a ball of dough.
On an oiled surface make small individual balls of dough
Roll out each ball on an oiled surface

to obtain a very thin circle of dough.
Fold the sides to form a square.
Bake in a preheated skillet with a little butter.
Serve with jam.
 
‘Baghrir’ Moroccan crêpe 
(also known as sponge crêpe)
For Four:
150g semolina
50g flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 packet of vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt

Dissolve yeast in water, mix with flour, salt and semolina.
Add water gradually until
obtaining a slurry but velvety texture.
Cover and let ferment at room temperature for 2h-1h30
In order to double the initial volume.
In a preheated skillet with a little
butter cook the pancakes on one side. 

When small holes are formed on the surface the crepe is cooked.
Mix melted butter with honey on a plate put them in the pancakes, turning so that the honey spread everywhere.



 Amlou

1/2 kg almonds
Peanut oil
1/2 kg liquid honey
1/2 litre argan oil
2 pinches of cinnamon

Fry the almonds in peanut oil before
chop finely in a blender and mix with honey and cinnamon.
Pour argan oil gradually until a homogeneous mixture.

Amlou is eaten with black bread. It is a rich food
which is consumed more in winter.

Bessara bean

300g of dried beans
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
8 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Place the beans to cook in a large pot of
salted water for about 35 minutes.
After cooking, drain the beans then pass through blender with the garlic.
Put everything in a saucepan with the cumin, pepper, olive oil 

And simmer for 15 minutes.
Season to taste
 Merci beaucoup Valérie!
And Thank you,
My fabulouso readers
Here’s to another great year of inspiration
And exciting new ventures!
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Comments (24)

  5. Happy blog birthday!! I hope you have many many more to come!! Thank you for bringing so much beauty to our every day…

  9. Happy Birthday to "An Indian Summer" … Wishing you many more happy and successful years of blogging !! 😉 😉 …

    Have a great week ahead !

    P.S : Morocco always and continues to inspire me…

  13. Hi Sweetheart … Happy B'day to the most most adorable … dude in blogland … and Happy B'day to you to Bhavna … 😉
    I love the most elegent … gimmimck free… original … blog … loooove popping by to have peeks at you … :))
    Rajee

  23. Oh, happy birthday dear Mr. Blog! You have been truly inspiring all these years, and hope you continue the good work for many more years to come. Love.

    From your ardent admirer
    Kim

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