Egyptian Ful Medammes

Ful Medammes or slow cooked Fava Beans, is truly the only food that is guaranteed to keep you full through most of your fasting day. It is an ancient dish, dating back to the Pharaohs, that is somewhat a traditional Egyptian breakfast nowadays. Being cheap and easy to prepare, it the perfect sohour. There are many recipes for full, but the Egyptian recipe is the most commonly preferred one.

Prep Time: 8 hours
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
• 2 cups of small Egyptian Fava beans ( full medames), soaked overnight with skin on.
• Salt to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter (3 tablespoons)
• 3 lemons, quartered
• 4—6 cloves of garlic, crushed and mixed with salt and pepper
• Chili-pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon Cumin

Preparation:
• Soak the beans overnight for 8- 10 hours then drain.
• Place the beans, garlic, and cumin in a large saucepan and cover with fresh, un-salted water.
• Bring to boil.
• Remove from heat and start mashing with a potato masher or a fork.
• Stir in the lemon, oil, salt, parsley, and chili pepper.

*Tahina, onions, and tomatoes give an added taste to the recipe.

Ramadan Atayef

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 30 pancakes

Ingredients: 
• 20-30 Atayefs / pancakes from the bakers
• Ricotta cheese
• Flaked coconut
• Orange blossom/ rose water
• Granulated sugar
• Nuts
• Honey

Preparation:
• Start by preparing your filling. Get 2 cups of ricotta cheese and mix with the rose/orange blossom water (optional). Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to taste but don't make it overly sweet.
• Take each round pancake and put a teaspoon of filling in the center (on the spongy side).
• Fold the pancake in half (without squeezing out the filling), and pinch the edges sealed to form a crescent shaped pancake.
• In a saucepan, fry the filled pancakes in ¾ inch layer of oil, until golden brown.
• Drizzle some honey and sprinkle some nuts on the top for garnish and added taste.

*can be cooked as an appetizer too by using white salty feta cheese for the filling and not adding the sugary ingredients.

Petit Four

Petit four are small cookies, usually eaten in a bite or two with a cup of tea. They originated in the 18th century where they were cooked in small ovens – petite fours. Whether dry or iced, they make the perfect afternoon dessert.

Ingredients:
• 1 cup soft butter
• ¾ cup powdered- icing sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 ½ cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder for chocolate flavored petits fours
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder

Directions:
• Preheat oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• With a hand held electric mixer, beat the butter until it turns white. Then add the egg, ice sugar, and the vanilla. Mix them very well until they turn into a creamy mixture.
• Add the flour and baking powder together, and then add it slowly to the butter mixture while beating. This mixture should turn into a ball of dough.
• Place this dough into a bowl and let rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
• Cut the dough into 2 pieces. Knead one part of the dough with the cocoa powder and leave the other part without.
• Using the cookie cutter, form the wanted shapes.
• Bake them at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
• After they cool down, take one of each color and place any type of fruit jam in the middle to form a stuffed cookie.

*icing can give an added taste to the cookies. Garnish with nuts, or almonds.

Vermicelli Cake

Serving: 3 persons
Time: 60 minutes

All You Need: 
½ cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. ground cardamom
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
4 eggs
2 cups al alali Vermicelli
2 cups raisin
2 cups water
1 Kiwi for decoration
1 Strawberry for decoration

Syrup
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ cup vegetable shortening
4 tbsps. brown sugar
3 tbsps. white sugar
½ cup milk
1 tsp. al alali vanilla powder
2 tbsps. cream

Directions
* Place milk, sugar, eggs, cardamom in a bowl and mix until dissolve.
* Heat the Olive Oil. Fry raisin for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
* Place vegetable shortening in a pot on low fire. al alali vermicelli. Mixing continuously until golden color.
* Add ¾ of the milk mixture and mix for one minute.. Set aside for ½ hour.
* Grease the mold. Place the vermicelli mixture. Cover with foil paper.
* Place the mold in a pan filled quarterly with water. Bake on low fire for 45 minutes.
* Put off the oven from the bottom. Grill for 15 minutes. Set aside until cool.

Syrup Preparation
* Heat vegetable shortening in a pan.
* Add brown and white sugar. Mix continuously until the sugar dissolves.
* Add the milk, vanilla powder, cream. Mix until boil for 1 minute.
* Remove the foil paper. Flip the mold in a serving plate. Pour the syrup.
* Decorate with raisin, kiwi and strawberry.

Khoshaf - Dried Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
• a cup of dried figs, cut in half
• a cup of dried, pitted prunes
• a cup of dried apricots, cut in half
• a cup of golden raisins
• ½ a cup of sultanas (white seedless grapes)
• 1/4 cup of roasted, unsalted almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts
• A cup of sugar (or to taste)
• 2 ½ cups of boiling water

Preparation:
• Place all the solid ingredients in a plastic or glass bowl and mix gently.
• Add the water to barely cover the fruits
• Sprinkle the sugar on the fruits and mix again
• Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow marination
• Serve chilled in juice

*recipe serves 4