October 2015

Welcome to this month's edition of The Slice.

Heads up and mark your calendars! Minnies Dried Fruits & Vegetables will be attending the following events:

October 3:  Nun Center Farmer's market, at 4 Shafik Mansour St. in Zamalek, from 10-2pm

October 10:  Mahragan El Nakheel  at Fagnoon

October 14: Farmer's Market at Arkan Mall in 6th of October city from 2pm -9pm

October 14: Look for the banner in the facebook group called Real Foods and Nourishing                      Traditions

October 17: Nun Center Farmer's market, at 4 Shafik Mansour St. in Zamalek, from 10-2pm

October 24:  Ko7l e-magazine will be writing articles about our products and posting                            recipes using our very own dried vegetables and dried soup mix

More to come later in The Slice 

September  2015

DATE Season in EGYPT

      The farmers have built the corn stalk enclosures where they will spread  the dates until they ripen. And  they have climbed the date palms with their round trays and gathered their bounty. 

      The red 7amrawi were taken down and carted to markets immediately followed by the yellow seewee which are collected, cut from their branches and spread  on the ground and allowed to ripen and dry for a few days. The drying dates make for a very colorful pattern when seen from above. 

Photo courtesy of Google 

      People at home are busy making date jam with the samanee variety- the yellow fat date with a pink cheek. They spend hours peeling, cooking, pitting, stuffing with cloves and almonds and canning; a long and tedious process that is crowned with one of the most favorite Egyptian jams .

      This year, I decided to do things differently. We dried many kilos of our dates which are grown under safe agriculture measures, making them one of the safest dates to eat. I also turned a portion of my date crop into raw date paste to use as a sweetener later on in winter. Then I used my mother's recipe to make a date delight that isnt quite a jam, but is sweet and creamy with pieces of dates swimming in a date sauce. It is best when served cold with fresh cream or piled on toast or dry bread.  I will be taking my new products to the annual DATE FESTIVAL at Fagnoon on October 10. Come by and taste! 

bil hana

EGGPLANT

Minnie's Dried Fruits & Vegetables grows eggplant in Dahshour under safe agriculture practices. We use our own compost, made from left over peelings of fruits and vegetables that we dry and we fertilize using our Bokashi tea and mix.  To extend the shelf life of our crop and to offer a great vegetable to you, we slice the eggplant and dry it. 

Why eggplant?

Because:

Eggplant, which Is a  member of the nightshade family of vegetables, is not only delicious, but it is a wonderful substitute for meat in most dishes, as it has a toothsome, chewy texture plus all these nutritional benefits - it:  

1. Is a low-calorie food
2. Provides fiber, potassium, manganese and vitamins B1, B6 and folate
3. Is a good source of phytonutrients and flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties and help neutralize free radicals, which in turn lessens oxidative damage to cells

Please refer to the full article by Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP05682/3-Reasons-to-Eat-More-Eggplant.html


How do I use dry eggplant?

munch on it as a snack, it is good
substitute for bread used in dips such as yogurt, cucumber and yogurt, tahina etc..
make lasagna with it, look for our recipe under Recipes tab
add to a medley of vegetables and cook in fresh tomato sauce

or you can come up with your own recipe and share it with us here.

The Slice 

September 2015

Welcome September! The month of Dates! 

If you are driving around the country side in Egypt, you will notice that the palm trees are heavy with their bounty, and that the dates are changing color as they are maturing on the tree. It is a sight to behold!

Dahshour is famous for its date palm groves and for the variety of dates growing there:  the yellow 'sewee' that turns brown when ripe, the red 'hamrawyee' that turns almost black, the 'samanee' with its pink cheek that turns a golden brown, and of course the small and very sweet brown 'amhaat'.   Already the peasants have gathered the dried corn stalks from their fields and have begun to build the enclosures where the dates will be spread on the ground to dry. 

And we at Minnie's are ready to dry our very own 'samanee' dates in our solar tunnel shielded from the elements of nature. We are also gearing up to making date paste to use as sugar substitute in our famous biscottis. If successful, I  think we will have to change their name as the ingredients have shifted from being biscottis. I will keep you posted on the results.

Minnie's Egyptian do'a

We make our own do'a following an old Egyptian recipe handed down from my mother.  It is different from the various do'a we see on the market today that are made essentially from thyme-zaatar. 

The traditional Egyptian do'a is made from apricot kernels, coriander seeds, and sesame seeds, lightly roasted to bring out their flavors and then ground and mixed. We add a little sea salt to the mix and you may choose to add hot pepper-chili to it if you like.

The coriander and the sesame are grown on our premises following safe agriculture practices. In other words we do not use pesticides and do not spray our plants. We use our own compost and natural animal fertilizers. 

People are sometimes leery when they hear that we use apricot kernels. I am posting this link to reassure you about these kernels and to encourage to taste this wonderful condiment.

http://fitlife.tv/apricot-kernels-a-cancer-fighting-superfood-original/