Salmon Pockets

I happen to love salmon. In fact, I love salmon alot. Tonight for dinner I wanted to try out this recipe that my friend Nicola has on her blog. You can find her wonderful recipes here . They are fantastic mashaAllah. The bulk of the credit for this recipe goes to her for having this dough recipe on her blog. JazakAllah khairn Nicola.
Anyway, I wanted to use her fatayer recipe but I wanted to fill it with something different. So I turned to the can of salmon that had been hiding out in the pantry for some time now. Canned salmon and tomato sauce are two of the few things that I actually use from a can. But feel free to use fresh if you have it. These are so easy to prepare that you will really be surprised that you've spent more time eating them than preparing them. Oh yeah, my kind of cooking. The bread was so tender and the word delicious doesnt even do it justice. My husband ate several of them. As did I. Shhhhh!!!!
Give em a try and I'm sure that you wont be disappointed.


Salmon Pockets

Nicola's fatayer recipe here

1 - 7oz can of salmon
1/2 small onion; finely minced
6-8 cherry tomatoes; finely diced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 garlic cloves
1/4 c. tomato sauce
1-2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1/4-1/2 c. water
2 tsp. olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add onion and tomato. Saute until onion becomes translucent and soft. Keep heat on the med-lo end as you dont want to color the onion.
Once the onions and tomatoes are ready, add in the minced garlic. Saute for a min longer then add in canned salmon breaking it down to a fine mixture. Season with salt, pepper, parsley and tomato sauce. Combine this well.
Pour in 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil. Mixture shouldnt be soupy but rather moist. Turn heat to simmer and let it cook for a few minutes. Taste for seasoning adjustment. Add more water should you need to.
Let simmer for 10 minutes. Continuously check as you dont want it to go completely dry. The end result should be a moist filling but not soupy. If it is soupy, let it reduce down.
Let this cool completely.
Once it has cooled, follow the instructions for making the pockets in Nicola's recipe.

Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes until golden.

Childhood Favorite.....Fish Bites

As I pondered what in the world I was going to do with the cod fillets that were nervously awaiting their fate, I thought, fish sticks. And man oh man did a flood of memories come back. I smile and cringe at the same time.
Growing up in the 80's and 90's with working parents and little time left for much else, frozen fish sticks were the way to go. Im sure my mother would get a little shiver of joy when she realized she had them in the freezer and could cut down her cooking time by popping those in the oven. Frozen and probably rubbery,lol, but we ate em. Now mind you I didnt care for fish as a child. In fact, it wasnt until I got pregnant with my first child that I actually started craving fish. Havent been able to get enough of it since then. Yep, 7 years now. MashaAllah it is so wonderful and healthy. However, I do remember eating those fish sticks for some reason. Not on their own but with Mount Ketchup sitting close by for my dipping pleasure.
Alhamdulila now I am able to offer my kids a much healthier and tastier version of something that so many kids enjoy. Give em a try and inshaAllah your kids will enjoy them as well. Also, I used cod as I think in order to achieve the classic fish stick taste, this is the fish to grab but you may use whatever fish you like or whatever you happen to have on hand. Oh and psst... be sure not to tell them that there is something so good for them inside the crispy crust. That'll be our secret ;)

I served these yummy little bites with oven wedges.



Fish Bites
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (may make your own, see note at bottom)
1/2 cup panko
2 Tbs. wheat germ
2 eggs (may use egg whites only; your preference)
1 tsp water
salt and pepper (according to your taste)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 cod fillets cut into bite size chunks

Mix together the breadcrumbs, panko, and wheat germ. Whisk eggs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and water.

Dip each chunk of cod into the egg mixture then transfer to the breadcrumb mixture. Shake off excess coating gently and lay on a plate. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes to allow the coating to dry out. This will make a crisper crust.

Heat 2-3 Tbs of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Pan fry the bites until golden all around and opaque inside. Cooking time will depend on how large your "bites" are.

Serve with ketchup, tartar sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.

** Notes**
To make your own breadcrumbs simply lay slices of bread on a sheet pan. Pop into the oven on a low temperature for an hour or so. Throw in the food processor and breadcrumbs you shall have. Be sure that the oven temp isnt too high as you dont want to toast the bread but only dry it out.

Bittersweet Memories

Dear Journal,

I had another day today. You know the day Im talking about. The day in which I look at myself and find it hard to believe that I'm getting older. I look at myself in the mirror and see age slowly coming to my face and turning the glossy brown locks upon my head into strings of silver. While I know that there are only a few gray hairs alongside the masses of brown, I cant help but be saddened a little. I try to remind myself that gray hair is noor. And this does offer a bit of comfort to me.

I see my beautiful children running and screaming and playing and it seems like not so long ago that I was doing the same. I see myself through a crystal clear lens just a few years back laughing aloud with my friends about anything and everything. We were so easily amused. We floated through life without a care in the world. Oh yes, sure, there were the worries that typical teens have but nothing that we can even remember today. Things seemed so complicated at that time. So laughable now.

I remember thinking that I wanted to be anywhere else in the world doing anything other than what I was doing. And now I am. Alhamdulila, I have been guided to the beautiful deen of Islam. So I am somewhere different. And I am doing something different. Truth be told, there is no other place Id rather be.

New Home

Hello friends. Awhile back I decided to take up blogging. I do enjoy talking so Im not quite sure why blogging hasn't exactly stuck with me. But here I am again. Giving it another go. So join me and let's ponder together.