Molehiya - Turkish Family recipe

Molehiya with chicken

Growing up, there were a few family favourites that we did not get very often (maybe that's why they were extra special), mostly because it was difficult to get the main ingredient - the molehiya leaves - in Denmark. This meant that we would only get this dish if my grandmother had sent the dried leaves to us from Cyprus. However, it was definitely worth the wait, and to this day it remains one of my favourite Turkish dishes to cook and eat.

Luckily, these days I have better access to the molehiya leaves, as they are sold in many Lebanese / ethnic veggie shops around Australia, so I now cook this family favourite a bit more often. I would probably cook it even more often if Kasper liked it as well... however he thinks it smells of hay when I cook it and is not a fan!

I mostly cook the molehiya with chicken, however lamb or beef can be used as well. Serve with steamed parboiled or basmati rice.

Here's the recipe: 

Chicken Molehiya - 4 people
* About 6 handfuls of dried molehiya (fresh leaves can also be used, however I've never seen these)
* 1 glass of lemon juice (if using freshly squeezed lemon, you can get away with a bit over half a glas, which is the juice of about 3-4 lemons)
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 onion
* 12 cloves of garlic
* 1 can diced tomatoes
* 500 g chicken thigh fillets (no bones)
* 4 glasses of water (enough to cover all the ingredients)
* 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
* 1 teaspoon of hot chilli paste or chilli sauce
* 1 chicken stock cube
* salt to taste

Preparation
1) Place the dried molehiya leaves in a bowl of cold water and leave to stand for 6-8 hrs (if you do this in the morning, the leaves will be ready for when you cook dinner). The leaves tend to float, so use a flat plate on top to keep the leaves under water.
2) Use a strainer to drain the water out of the leaves, and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. The leaves will be a bit sticky, but this is normal.
3) Chop the chicken thigh fillets into 3-4 cm cubes, and fry in a deep pot or wok in the olive oil until browned.
4) Cut onion into chunky boat slices and garlic cloves into 6-8 pieces and add to the pot, and fry for 3-4 min. 
5) Add the diced tomatoes, stir
6) Add the drained molehiya leaves, lemon juice, tomato paste, chilli paste and stock cube.
7) Top up with water to cover all the ingredients and season with salt to taste.
8) Pop on a lid that closes firmly and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes.
9) Cook the rice while the molehiya is cooking.
10) Serve rice topped with chicken molehiya in a bowl and ENJOY!

Weekend Activities

Last weekend (7-8/2), we decided to relax a bit before we got started with packing the removal boxes this weekend (14-15/2). Saturday 7/2 we had James and Monica come by for a BBQ lunch, and Sunday 8/2 we went on a trip to the You Yangs to get some fresh air and exercise. Oscar did it all on his back in his pram, and Julia came along as well.

We did the "warm up" walk as Kasper calls it, so we parked at the parking lot at en entrance and walked up the road to the viewing parking lot, from where you can go on more adventurous (and off-road) walking trails.

the "warm-up " walk

At the top we enjoyed the views, even though the weather was not so clear that we could see all the way to Melbourne like you normally can.

Just reached the viewing area, Julia & Kasper

The Tordal Mortensen family with views towards Melbourne in the background (not clear enough to see)

 

Oscar and Yasmin

Oscar snuggles into daddy, getting tired ready for his nap

Along the way back down the road, all of a sudden I noticed jumping movement in the bushes, and we managed to see 2 kangaroos jumping around away from the road. So Julia saw her first kangaroos in Australia, and even in the wild! Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to get any pictures!

Blueberry Muffins

As I am writing this post, I have actually just pulled out a fresh batch of blueberry muffins out of the oven, and it smells DIVINE in here!!!

So, the original title of this post was "Choc Chip and Walnut Muffins", however as I now have yummy smelling blueberry muffins sitting on the kitchen bench cooling, I'd thought I'd change the title, as this muffin recipe is actually a basic muffin recipe where you can easily vary the type of filling!

The basic muffin recipe makes really fluffy muffins because of the buttermilk.


Basic Muffin Recipe
2 2/1 cups (375 g) self-raising flour
90 g butter, chopped (unsalted preferably)
1 cup (220 g) caster sugar
1 1/4 cup (310 ml) buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Variations of filling (choose one)
1) 200 g of berries, fresh or frozen (could be blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.)

2) Date & orange: 1 1/2 cups (240 g) seeded chopped dates
                            3 teaspoons grated orange rind

3) Choc Chip & Walnuts:  3/4 cups (140 g) choc bits
                                      1 cup (120 g) chopped walnuts

4) Banana & Choc Chip:  3/4 cups (140 g) choc bits
                                     1 soft banana mashed up with lightly beaten egg and added with egg to mixture

5) Raspberries & White Choc Chip:  3/4 cups (140 g) white choc bits
                                                     100 g of raspberries (fresh or frozen)

6) use your imagination for further filling combinations ;-) 

Steps:
1) Grease a 12 hole (1/3 cup / 80 ml capacity) muffin pan
2) Sift flour into a large bowl, and rub in the chopped butter until it has a crumbly consistency
3) Stir in sugar, buttermilk and egg. Do not over-mix. Mixture should be lumpy.
4) Add chosen filling
5) Spoon mixture into prepared pan, bake in moderately hot oven 15-20 minutes (200 - 210 C), fan-forced oven 180 - 190 C (I usually do about 18 minutes)

Let the muffins cool down a bit after taking them out of the oven and then enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Oscar 4 months old

Yesterday Oscar was 4 months old*. My oh my has 4 months flown past quickly! Since last update a lot of new and exciting things have happened... so let me try to update you on it all! 

* When I started this post Oscar was 4 months old... now another 4 days have gone by and he is a bit older...

Oscar is now well out of all his 0-3 months old clothes and into the 3-6 months old clothes. He had his 4-month health check-up on Monday (2/2), where he gets weighted and measured - as I suspected Oscar is now over 7 kg, as he weighted in at 7.3kg!!! No wonder he has such chubby cheeks :-) He now measures 63cm, so getting taller as well.

We are also getting more talking (babbling) and smiling/laughs now, so this period of time is really rewarding and melting our hearts! There's nothing better than Oscar's giggles. I haven't been able to catch it on video yet, but hopefully one day soon!

Below are some photos from the last month. Even during this time, you can see how much he has grown!

Oscar 3 months old

Oscar 3 1/2 month old - on a cold Melbourne morning with his 1st pair of UGG boots (he is Aussie after all)!!

Oscar 4 months old - chilling on daddy's arms (used to fit on one arm, but too big for that now...)

Last weekend, Oscar was busy playing with daddy on his new play mat which is good for tummy time, as there are no toys hanging down on his little head. Pictures below.

Hello daddy

Ha ha ha good joke story... :-)

Hello mummy :-)

Tummy time with daddy - come on you can do it!

Look Oscar - no hands!!! Oscar proceeded to make his first roll from his tummy to his back after this :-)

Mother's Group - Play date for Oscar

Every Tuesday afternoon Oscar and I meet with the mothers' group that originally was held in the nurses health centre as education sessions (this ended before Xmas), but some of us have kept meeting every Tuesday for catch ups on how it's going with our babies.

Normally we have been meeting at a cafe to catch up, however at a cafe the babies are not able to play on the floor, as we have to sit with them on our lap or have them in the pram.

So Tuesday this week we decided to meet at one of the mother's homes, as we are a solid group of 5 that meets up every week, whereas some of the other mothers have only been to the meetings sporadically. This way, the babies could play on the floor and have some more interactive time together. 

Leah, the lady who held the meeting this week, had dished up a massive spread of fresh fruit, home baked apple cake, home baked olive bread and a selection of tea, coffee and fresh/sparkling water.... so now the standard is set!! :-) 

We also decided this week that we will take pictures of the babies every month so we can see how they are growing and have something fun to look back at when the kids are a bit older.

Below are some pictures of the babies playing, and the monthly photos...

Monique and Oscar having a little chat

Holding hands - Boyfriend & girlfriend??!

Oscar having tummy time with Monique

Tummy time - on the move

Monthly baby photo (star), clockwise from L-R is Oscar (in striped cardigan), James, Lila and Monique

Here they are again - Oscar is the youngest, then Lila is 1 day older than Oscar,
Monique is 3 weeks older than Oscar and James is 7 weeks older than Oscar

4 little babies in a row :-)

from L-R: Lila, Monique, Oscar and James

Finally, Leah took a great picture of me and Oscar :-) Finally a picture with Mummy!!!

Oscar 4 months old

Moving soon.... to Saltwater Coast

We have had a busy month which is why there has not been much activity on the blog...

Since having Oscar (actually before having him) we have been contemplating moving to a single storey house instead of the double storey we are in, as we had an idea that it would probably be easier not to carry Oscar up and down the stairs all the time. 

So it has been no surprise that we have actually found that to be a bit of an issue. It has been OK so far, but as Oscar is growing bigger and heavier, we sure would like to avoid all those daily trips up and down stair with a little wiggling baby in the arms!

Also with the arrival of summer and Oscar's room facing west, it gets incredibly hot in there in the afternoon/evening, so it is difficult to get him to sleep for his afternoon nap time and for bedtime at night.

So house hunting started after Xmas. We had a few requirements to fulfill;
- 4 bedrooms (Oscar's room, parent's room, home office and guest room/Julia's room)
- 2 living areas so our TV room is not in the kitchen area
- doors between master bedroom and ensuite and walk-in-robe
- nice quiet location with access to similar facilities we have now (pool, gym, tennis courts)
- fast internet
- nice functional kitchen (ideally with butler's/walk-in pantry)
- undercover alfresco outdoor area

So with a list this long we started looking at houses. We probably managed to have a look at 7 or 8 houses before we found one that fit the criteria (actually we found one quickly, however they wanted someone to move in straight away, and we still have a few months left on our current lease, so we did not want to do that). 

Because there were quite a few groups walking through the open for inspections, we actually did not expect to get the first house we applied for, but we were lucky enough to get it :-)

So we are now set to move on 6th March. We will be staying in the local Point Cook area, just a bit further south of where we are now - in a new estate called Saltwater Coast, which is close to the beach as well. You can see more about the estate here: www.saltwatercoast.com.au 

Our new address will be 25 Surrey Grove, Point Cook, however we will keep our PO Box for any mail, so that will stay the same.

Here are some pictures from the new digs...

Front of house

garden

Undercover outdoor alfresco

Big white kitchen - the door in the corner leads to walk-in pantry!!! :-)

kitchen from another angle

kitchen with sliding door out to alfresco

dining area

Family room next to dining area

park across the street - we have no houses opposite our house :-)

Little Mr Chatterbox

Happy New Year everyone!

We had a nice quiet Christmas and New Years period this year. Actually a bit too quiet. Kasper was so unlucky to get a bout of gastro just before Xmas, which resulted in him only being able to eat yoghurt and drink juice for 4-5 days, including Xmas Eve. So that was a cosy Christmas Eve :( Luckily he had recovered enough to have a few potatoes with a little pork roast and gravy, but no crackling and no red cabbage salad or anything.

While Kasper had gastro, we also had to keep him away from Oscar to make sure he did not give it to him... that of course meant that I was on full 24 hours duty with feeding and everything, so around 3rd Xmas day I was VERY tired!!

And just as we thought Kasper was fresh, he then caught a cold with lots of sneezing and coughing, and had that over New Year's Eve up until he went back to work Monday 5th January, so again he could not help with Oscar! In fact he is still coughing a bit, so it's been a tough holiday for him...

Oscar has grown a lot over the last month or so. Saturday the 3rd January, he was 13 weeks old, which is 3 months old. This also means he is now growing out of the triple 0 (000) clothes, which is in a way sad :-( but also good! I was at the community centre yesterday to weigh him, and he now weighs 6.3kg, so he is now heavier than Bailey, she again has the title of being the smallest one in the house :-)

Oscar has also begun to "talk" a bit more now, especially in the morning, but he can certainly also test out his lungs the rest of the day. There's no doubt there is a little one in the house :-)

Below is a video from yesterday morning of his morning "talk". So cute!

He is also starting to be a bit harder to settle at night, which means it usually takes between 1/2 to 1 hrs from putting him to bed until he is asleep with lots of screaming and crying in between :-( I think he reaches the point of "I don't want to miss anything" by evening so that's why, because during the day he is happy to take his naps. 

As he is also getting too big for his bassinet, we now have to get him used to sleeping in his cot instead, and we tried that for the 1st time yesterday, which did not go so well, so I think that will be a weekend project...