Seafood Rice Pilaf Phyllo Pies

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carrots, crab legs, dill leaves, How to, light lunch, main dish, middle eastern, middle eastern recipes, Oozi, ouzi, peas, Phyllo pastry, phyllo pies, pilaf, puff pastry rice pies, rice dish, rice filled phyllo, seafood, shrimp, vegetarian, اوزي, اوزي بالربيان

How to make individual rice pilaf pies that are tasty, elegant, and very easy to prepare. These also make a perfect light meal, accompanied by a salad or yogurt.

Did you hear about Ouzi?
No!
Not a problem then, I will help you.
It is a term you’ll never hear it except in middle eastern cuisine. This might be called for the mixer of rice, vegetable, and ground meat pilaf, or sometimes for the phyllo pocket or pies that filled with rice pilaf. The traditional recipe using the ground lamb or beef. In this recipe, I tried to go over and change a little by substituting the shrimp and crab instead, you can also prepare it with chicken or turkey too.

Usually rice dishes considered as a side dish, but this one is a whole main dish. My family enjoy it with some chopped fresh salad or yogurt on the side.

I love the ease on this dish, either when preparing or serving, never the less to say about the healthy side. You can make the rice a head of time, you just need to assemble the phyllo pies and bake them a little before serving to better enjoy the crunchy fresh phyllo. Some said it’s ok to put it in the fridge after baking then bake it again before serving but I never tried that.
For extra flavor, I added some chopped fresh dill with the rice pilaf, it goes well with the seafood dishes.

Variations:

– Traditionally, using short grain rice to make the pies, but works good too with long rice grain like basmatti rice.

– You can use vegetables any of your choice or favorite. Usually with this pies, carrots and peas with pine nuts or almond are widely preferred, I added also some chopped bill pepper to add value and color too.

– Use any kind of meat you like, I used fresh large shrimp and king crab legs. The traditional Ouzi pies prepared with ground meat, beef or lamp. Chicken also makes a good choice.

– The pies can be prepared using puff pastry too.

– If you want the pilaf alone but not to bother with the pastry crust, press the pilaf in a ring or dome-shaped mold and heat it through in the oven, turn it out and surround it with the meat and vegetables.

To make Seafood Rice Pilaf:

2 cups white basmatti rice, washed
1 cube chicken bouillon broth
1 lb fresh shrimp, any size available
1/2 lb chopped fresh crab legs
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup peas
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
Salt and pepper
Olive oil & sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon ground of each: all spice, cardamom, coriander
1 cube frozen chopped dill greens

In a large pot, add 2 tablespoon sunflower oil, add the washed rice, season with salt and cardamom, toast a little on medium heat for 1-2 min, stir occasionally. Add water (for every cup of rice you need 1 1/4 cup water or stock, notice that this will vary from brand to brand so read the directions). Let the water boil, cover and simmer on low heat until all the water absorbed and the rice cooked evenly, about 10-15 min, fluff the rice with fork and put a side covered.

Meanwhile, in saute pan, add some olive oil, cleaned and chopped shrimp (you have the choice to use any size, if it large chop into smaller pieces). Clean the crab legs, take out the meat, chop into smaller pieces, add it with minced garlic to the pan, season with salt and pepper, add the other spices, stir and cook all together on medium heat for 5-10 min. Leave it a side.

In a pot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, sauté the carrots and peas then add chopped red pepper and cook for 5-10 min on medium heat, you may add a couple of tablespoon of water to help the veggies cook without burning.

Add together, the rice, the shrimp and crab, the peas and carrots. for extra flavor add some frozen dill leaves. Stir gently all together and be careful not to break the rice grains.

To make the individual pies:

1 package frozen phyllo pastry
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon sunflower oil

Assemble the pies not too long before the serving. Roll out the phyllo pastry, follow the directions on how to thaw and handle. Cut into squares about 6-7 inches, it depends on how big or small you prefers the pies. Take two sheets, brush with a mixer of butter and oil, take another two and brush with butter and oil too, overlap each ones’ angle, use a small bowl dish as a mold to assemble your pies, fill with the rice pilaf mixer. Fold the edges of phyllo over the rice to close the pies. Arrange the pies into oven baking sheet, brush the top with oil butter mixer, bake 5-10 min on 400 degree.

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Shrimp Avocado and Pasta Salad

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avocado, healthy food, kids friendly, lemon olive oil dressing, Lunchbox ideas, Pasta salad, quick lunch, rotini pasta, salads, shrimp

My family’s favorite pasta salad that makes perfect picnic’s main dish and great lunchbox idea.

With weather changing to warmer temperatures, announcing beginning of spring, although the weather outside is still too cold, but we are getting ready to welcome the summer. Yesterday was the official day of spring, my favorite season.
Spring to me is not only a season, but it also means a lot;

The beginning of life…
Simplicity…
Warmth…
The beauty…
The bright flowers popping through…
Leaves starting to stretch out…
Songs of the new hatch sings…
Buzz of the bees…
Rat a tat tat of the rain…
Picnics and more family fun…

Every time I make this salad it remind me of spring. Cool, easy to prepare, with all beautiful colors; greens, yellow, red, purple, and white. Sure will feast your eyes, and sing a happy symphony in your mouth.

One of my family’s favorite salad, it makes a great lunchbox meal, plus it’s easy to make that the kids would love to share the work preparing it for the next day school lunch. It is also a savory side dish to bring for family gathering and potlucks, a satisfying one dish meal for busy weeknight or weekends, and wonderful main dish salad to prepare for picnics.

All ingredients complement each other. The juicy sweet and slightly tart tomato, the crunchy cool cucumber, the purple cabbage pop in, all combine to meet with the protein portion shrimp that sucks in all the tangy,lemony juices, while the onion gives a little push, and the cheese lends this very fresh dish the gravity of age, and the olive oil emulsified in for rich, slippery body. The flavors swirl as you slurp it up, bouncing from bright and clean to deep and savory, and once all the pasta gone, you’ll have the nice fresh vegetable salad.

Also, because I make it so often, I also make a lot of variations on it. Sometimes I use different vegetables, or substitute the chicken of shrimp or make it veggies only dish. But it will always be our favorite pasta salad.

Shrimp Avocado and Pasta Salad

3 cups uncooked Garden Rotini
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup high-quality olive oil
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (sometimes I use Mexican 4 cheese)
about 10 large shrimp (I prefer raw wild caught, but the frozen and cooked will work too)
2-3 Bay leaves
1 large avocado cut in cubes
1/2 cup diced green or orange bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoon fresh italian leave parsley, chopped
1 cup grab or cherry tomato, cut in halves
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup purple cabbage, chopped

In a pot, bring 3 quart of water to rabid boil. Add salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil (this helps the pasta not to stick together). Cook the pasta uncovered on medium heat until tender, about 10-12 min. Rinse the pasta in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and put into a large bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, dried basil leaves, oregano, and parmesan cheese, mix well, let the pasta soak all the juices.

Meanwhile in another pot bring water to boil, you may add some bay leaves, add the raw shrimp boil for 5 min, the color will change to pink. Rinse with water to stop cooking then take off the shells and clean. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and garlic powder, mix together.

In the pasta bowl, add the shrimp and the remaining ingredients and gently mix until well combined. Test for seasoning.

Serve chilled.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo : For The Daring Cooks July Challenge ” My Noodle Hands! “

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alfredo sauce, daring cooks, fettuccine, homemade fettuccine, homemade pasta, main dish, mushroom, Pasta, shrimp

Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks’ July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine.
Mandatory Items: Prepare some pasta by hand, without the use of motorized tools, and prepare the appropriate sauce/seasoning to go with it. The concept of “noodle” or “pasta” is being applied very loosely here, as some traditional recipes may seem closer to a dumpling than what you consider a noodle. Use your own judgment and creativity here.
Many variations are allowed here – no strict recipe is required. I choose to make the fettuccine as it is more easy to make, especially without machines in use.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

for the pasta dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1\2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1\4 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix flour and salt, make a well in the center, add the eggs and oil, mix, if the dough is too dry add water to make the dough easy to handle, if the dough too sticky add flour gradually.
Gather the dough into a ball knead on lightly floured surface 5-10 min until smooth and elastic cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 min.
divide dough into 4 equal parts, roll each into rectangle 1\8″ thick, keep the others covered, fold the rectangle into thirds lengthwise, cut crosswise into 2 inch strips, unfold and gently shake out strips, hang pasta to dry (I used a long metal skewers to hang it), let stand for 1\2 hour until dry.

Heat enough amount of water add salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil, add pasta, boil uncovered 2-5 min until firm and tender. Being testing for doneness when pasta rises to surface of water. Drain the pasta add more salt, olive oil and toss.

for alfredo sauce:

1\3 cup butter
1 tablespoon flour
1\4 cup heavy whipping cream
1\2 cup milk
3\4 cup parmesan cheese
1\2 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
dried basil, thyme

Heat butter add the flour until combined, stir, add the cream and the milk gradually, stir frequently until the mixture starts to bubble. Reduce the heat to low, stir frequently until slightly thickened, add the cheese, salt, pepper and the herbs, remove from the heat.

to assemble the shrimp fettuccine alfredo:

shrimp cleaned and cuted to medium pieces
fresh mushroom sliced
1 tablespoon butter
fresh basil and thyme
dried garlic powder
salt and pepper

add all the ingredient in a big pan, stir frequently and let sizzle for 2 min.
Add the alfredo sauce into the shrimp, let cook for 1 min more, remove from heat, pour all the mixture over the fettuccine and serve.