Egyptian Ka'k Shortbread Cookie

The perfect Eid cookie! A melt in your mouth buttery shortbread cookie that is PERFECT with turkish coffee or espresso. They look fancy but are super easy to throw together and you can have them ready in a tin for when your guests pop in.

Basic Egyptian Ka'k (shortbread)
Approx. 60 cookies

4 cups flour
50 g powdered sugar + extra for dusting
3/4 tsp baking powder

sprinkle of salt (1/16 tsp)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp Ka'k essence  (or ground mahlab, which comes from the pit of a cherry giving it that almost almond like essence)



Whisk all of the above.

Add until absorbed:

300 g ghee or clarified butter at room temperature, it's creamy textured (or 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp)

Splash of orange blossom water

Incorporate the milk until dough forms:

40 g milk at room temperature, or add up to 80 g if needed

Mix all together and roll into balls. Use a tbsp sized scoop if you have one and put evenly sized balls of dough onto your baking sheet.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F for 22-25 minutes until firm to touch and golden all over. Remove from oven and cool

Lay on a tray or flat surface and dust with powdered sugar using a fine sieve and tapping the edge from a height over the cookies.

Store in a container, these will keep for a very long time.

Quick Brunch - Sujouk and Eggs

Nothing beats Arabic style eggs...  It's amazing how few ingredients can come together and make such an amazing dish. I had forgotten that there was a piece of sujouk in my freezer and of course eggs in the fridge, radishes in the crisper and wild arugula in my garden (It sprouted in my front garden and I transplanted it to the back herb container and now it's completely taken over!) Chives too from out back.

It's as easy as 1 2 3 and makes for a perfect breakfast, brunch, lunch or even dinner. I had a couple of toasted pine nuts in my fridge from garnished a recipe I made over a week ago of Lebanese stuffed zucchini so I sprinkled them over top and voila!

Egyptian bread is always found in my freezer, that's the best place for it, goes straight into the freezer once it arrives from the store and stays perfectly fresh and all it needs is a quick warm up in the microwave of my new favourite way is to cut it in half and pop it into the toaster!

Yumyum!

Sujouk with Eggs 

- Chopped sujouk (Arabic spiced sausage) 

- Eggs

- Olive oil

In a small non stick pan sautee your sausage in the oil until the edges are crispy and it's browned nicely. Crack the eggs into the pan and let cook to desired doneness. Add a sprinkling of salt and black pepper and serve with sweet black tea and a plate of fresh herbs, olives and crusty fresh bread.  

Delicious treats we had earlier this week and mulberries from my backyard!