Cilantro meatballs in North African style sauce and Egyptian Palace Bread

I wanted to make meatballs and spagetti but its soooooo old and I didn't want to eat Spagetti nor am I big fan of Penne pasta. So the search began and I ended up on the food network website with melissa-darabian 's north african meatballs recipe and I changed it to my convenience and it turned out to be great.
           I served the meat balls on a simple garlic couscous and the dinner was just finger-licking good.

And I also made Egptian Palace bread as a dessert to complete my north African dinner from one of the website I came across and ofcourse changed it a bit

Cilantro Meatballs (Turkey meatballs with cilantro and spices)

Cilantro meatballs

Ingredients

1. 1. 1 package ground turkey (1-1/4 lb) thawed
   2. 1 egg
   3. 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
   4. 1 teaspoon each of minced fresh ginger , cumin powder, salt
   5. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
   6. 1/3 cup finely ground rolled oats or fine bread crumbs (I used 1 package of quaker regular oats ground)
   7. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together with a light hand and make into 20-24 1 inch balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Turn midway. Keep warm

North African style Tomato sauce (Marinara sauce with North African touch)

North African style Marinara sauce

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1/2cup sliced onion,
3. 1 leek cliced
4. 2 cloves garlic grated
5. 1/2 cup pitted and chopped black olives
6. 1/2 cup Marsala wine
7. 1/2 cup chicken stock
8. 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of dried red pepper flakes, Salt lemon pepper

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion, leeks and garlic until soft but not brown. Add olives and cook for 1 more minute. Add the canned tomatoes cover and cook for 5 minutes and mash the tomatoes a little. Add the red pepper flakes and salt. Add the marsala wine, and let it boil for a 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, simmer for 5 minutes.

         Add the meatballs to the sauce, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve with pasta or couscous

Garlic Couscous (Simple Couscous with garlic)

Garlic Couscous with raisins

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups couscous
2. 4 cups chicken stock
3. 1 teaspoon minced garlic
4. 2 teaspoons butter or oliveoil
5. 1/4 cup raisins (optional)

In a pot heat the oil or butter and fry the garlic for a coupld of minutes. Add the raisins and fry for a minute if using. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cut the heat and add the couscous cover and set aside for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve

Egyptian Palace Bread (Baked sweet white

bread)

Egyptian Palace Bread

Ingredients

1. 8 slices white or wheat bread crust removed
2. 1/2 cup each of honey, sugar-free pancake syrup (the original recipe calls for 2 cups honey for 10 slices of bread)

Soak the bread pieces in the honey and syrup for 30 minutes. Turn midway

Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the bread becomes crisp. Chill

Serve with heavy cream