Date-Nut Drama

If you're like me, every time Ramadan rolls around you spend a decent chunk of your paycheck on a treasure chest full of California-grown Medjool dates. If you're like me, you also barely make a dent in them by the time the month is done!

So what do you do with all those leftover dates? Well, you could just eat 'em like popcorn while watching The Office or 30 Rock (that's Glee and Gossip Girl for you ladies). Or, you could make this fairly simple dessert recipe to share with friends and family.

As desserts go, this one is fairly healthy: No added sugar, butter, Crisco, or anything of the sort. Just plain old dates to make it sweet, and some other stuff to add flavor!

Let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients	Quantity	Preparation
Medjool Dates	10 oz	Chopped
Pistachios	1 1/2 cups	Shelled
Graham Crackers	5 oz	Ground crumbs
Clementines	3 medium
Evaporated Milk	1 cup
Chocolate	1 tsp	Powdered
Cinnamon	1/4 tsp	Powdered
Nutmeg	1/4 tsp	Powdered

Method:

1. Peel the clementines, being careful to remove the peel in large quarters.
2. Use a butter knife to remove and discard as much of white pith from the inside of the peel as possible by scraping it.
3. Arrange the peels orange side up on a baking dish. Place the dish in a toaster oven set at 135F for a couple of hours until the Peel appears dry and slightly crispy
4. Meanwhile, remove the pits from the dates and chop into quarter inch peices. Transfer to a big mixing bowl.
5. Crush the graham crackers until finely ground. Should yield about 1 1/2 cups. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the dates.
6. Once the clementine peels have dried, chop them up into tiny peices. Transfer to the mixing bowl.
7. Arrange the shelled pistachios in a baking dish. Place in toaster oven at 400F for about 5 minutes or until the nuts are toasted.
8. Once done, roughly crush the nuts by pressing down on them with a hard object like the bottom of a glass bottle. Also transfer to the mixing bowl.
9. Add the evaporated milk to the mixing bowl.
10. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together properly for 5 minutes.
11. Lay out the resulting mixture in a shallow dish. Spread it evenly and press down on it to compact. The mixture should form a layer about 3/4th inch (2 cm) thick.
12. Sprinkle on top with powdered chocolate, cinnamon and nutmeg.
13. Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours.
14. Before serving, cut and arrange in 1 inch squares on serving dish.

Makes 20-24 individual-sized servings.

Serving suggestion: None.

Variations:

1. If you can't find clementines, try other citrus fruit like tangerines, lemons, or even candied limes.
2. You can probably do these with any dates. Try Deglet Noors if Medjools aren't your thing.

Bon Ap, y'all!

Spicy Burgers from Hell!

Some of you know how much I enjoy me a good Ronie Burger at Miracle of Science. Well... as much as I do, I couldn't help but wonder: What if you could take this symphony of meat, peppers and cheese, and amp the spice level up to 11?

Introducing: The Spicy Burger from Hell!

Don't worry. It's still halal.

I used this recipe for a small party at ma man Adnan's the other day. You can scale everything up or down proportionally, or just make a big batch and store it in the freezer. Should keep for a month or two.

Ingredients	Quantity	Preparation
Ground Beef	5 lbs	I prefer ~75-80% lean
Habanero Chili powder	1 tbsp
Habanero Crushed pepper	1 tbsp
Assorted Hot Peppers	8 oz	Chopped into 1/4" size pieces
Salt & Pepper	To taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients with the ground beef. Knead the mixture for a few minutes. DO NOT touch your face during or after the process! Not until you've washed your hands thoroughly anyway! Use gloves if you have them.
2. Form the beef into loose patties about 3/4-1 inch thick. Don't pack it in tight. 5 lbs of meat yields about 12-15 patties depending on how big you like 'em.
3. Season the patties with a sprinkle of salt and fresh pepper.
4. Cook the burgers on Med-High heat on a pan or grill. If you're doing this indoors, you might want to open a few windows...
5. You want to cook them about 6 minutes per side for Well-Done, about 3 for Med-Rare. The more you cook it, the more subdued the spices get.
6. Don't press down on the burgers while they're cooking. Nobody likes a squished burger.

Makes 12-15 regular-sized servings.

Serving suggestion: suggestion.

1. There's more to a burger than just the beef. Try different kinds of bread. I prefer a Ciabatta or Multigrain roll.
2. Having said that, don't forget about cheese. Sliced pepperjack complements the burger perfectly.
3. Serve with standard condiments like sliced red onions, tomato slices, lettuce, ketchup, and pickles. I prefer just the first two.

Variations:

1. For the "Assorted Peppers", I prefer using Jalapenos for half and whatever other hot peppers I have lying around for the rest. Jalapenos hold a lot of moisture and therefore make for an interesting bite when you chow down on the burger.
2. You could probably just use one type of Habanero (either the chili powder or driend & crushed version). I had both lying around so I threw em both in.

I won't even take a stab at telling you the nutritional info on this one. Just enjoy it. You deserve it.

Here are the pictures. Yes, I had the heat on too high for the first batch.