CATCH UP

Hey lovelies. I know I’ve not blogged in a while but July has been an extremely busy month. You are all probably wondering what have I been up too? Well, I have been busy eating. Yes, you read it right, eating. I need timeout to eat sometimes. Lol! Ok and a bit of going up and down here and there. Anyways, I have decided to do a catch up series on some of the food I have had in the past few days.

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Classic Spaghetti & Salmon

One of my favourite dishes is spaghetti. I eat it with almost anything. I will be posting different ways I eat my spaghetti on the blog. For me, it’s like rice. You can make jollof rice, fried rice, rice and beans etc...  

When it comes to my cooking ideology, one of my belief is food doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. This meal will take less than 30 minutes providing you have all the ingredients to hand

Ingredients

250g Fresh Spaghetti

400g Salmon Fillets

250g King Prawns

Bunch of Parsley

2 handfuls Spinach or Rockets

Extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp of garlic granules

2 shallots

250g cherry tomatoes

1tablespoon of tomato puree

1 scotch bonnet

1 Lemon

Water

Sea salt to taste

Slice your shallots, chillies, cherry tomatoes, and put aside.

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REVIEW: MILLER & CARTER LAKESIDE

In as much as I love cooking, I love dining out. So from time to time a restaurant review post will pop up. Don’t worry I will try and not make it about Nandos. Lol! For those that know me know I live in Nandos. Ha ha ha!

On this occasion, it was Mr IDJAY’s birthday and his wife Marianne decided we were going to Miller & Carter. This restaurant is on a boat but getting on was not tricky but ladies if you are wearing heels be mindful of not getting stuck in between the wood logs on the walkway. As we got in the atmosphere and mood was just right for a relaxing dinner but as it was a weekend they do not take any bookings so we went straight to the bar. We ordered some cocktails and within 20 minutes we got a seat. 

    

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Infused Ice Cubes

Infused Ice- Cubes

Summer is here and it seems like its staying. You all know what that means....BBQ time. You either hosting or going to one. Whichever way these infused ice cubes are always a winner!

Wow your guest with a nice cocktail and drop the mint infused cubes or make water enjoyable for kids by adding the infused cubes.

It’s simple and quick so let’s get straight into it.

Drop in your desired fruit in the ice tray. (Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes or mint leaves)

You can crush the fruit if you want to release some of the juice.

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Chocolate Crunch Puff-Puff

Puff-Puff is a Nigerian snack that everybody loves. You will always find puff-puff in any occasion.

Whether it’s christening, weddings, funerals, engagements etc you will find puff-puff there. It’s part of the popular “small chops” collection too.  A Nigerian parry without “small chops” is not a parry.  This is a topic for another day. hehehe

We will explore puff-puff as a dessert in this post.

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Efo Elegusi

Efo elegusi is made with ground melon seeds and vegetables such as spinach or fluted pumpkin (ugwu). It is enriched with various protein such as meat, fish and prawns. It is popular among the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria.

Grounded melon (egusi) can be cooked in several ways; we will be focusing on cooking it with vegetables and frying the egusi first.  

Ingredients

1kg Spinach

200g Melon seeds or grounded (Egusi)

Assorted meat of choice (goat meat, tripe (Shaki), beef, cow leg, cow skin (ponmo))

Jumbo Prawns

Dry cat fish fillet, stock fish fillet and prawns

1 cooking spoonful palm oil

1 scotch bonnet

1 Onion

1tsp grounded crayfish

2 Stock cubes

Wash, season and cook your assorted meat. Soak the dry fish fillets in boil water and set aside.

Cut some of your assorted meat in small pieces and leave the rest uncut or cut everything and make red stew on the side with the uncut meat (This is optional)

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(VIDEO) African Restaurants

African restaurants I love them but sometimes can drive me crazy. They never have anything but on their menu name the dish they have it.

Me: Can I have Aya mashe for pick up?

Restaurant: Errm let me check * keeps me holding for 5 minutes* I am sorry we have ayamashe but it will be ready at 9:30pm.

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Oxtail Stew

The love I have for Oxtail is intense.  What makes oxtail special is the gelatine in the meat and bones. When cooked slowly, this gelatine dissolves into the dish, creating a rich mouth-feel. When I think about slow cooked dishes, cold nights come to mind. It’s hearty, stick-to-your-ribs type of feel that will knock you out in summer. So since the weather has been really crap this week, it was time to unleash the bad boys.

Ingredients

Oxtail chunks
3 medium size carrots
1 leak
1 onion
4 fresh tomatoes
6 table spoon soy sauce
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic granules
1 stock cubes
I litre of water
2 table spoon of plain flour
1 big spoon Vegetable oil

Cut and peel the carrots, onions, tomatoes and leek.

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Ewѐdu (Corchorus Leaves)

The benefits of ewedu are amazing, it contains most of the nutrients we all need and the taste it adds to stew is exceptionally special.

It is rich in calcium, iron, protein, vitamin A, C and E, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, foliate and dietary fibres.

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Àkará (Bean Fritters)

Breakfast is so important. I feel having the right breakfast can dictate how your day goes. So last weekend Akara won over my big breakfast and I am glad it did. Everyone was asking for more. Lol!!!

Akara is a Nigerian breakfast or snack that is made with brown or black eyed beans.

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Chicken Curry Kebab Sticks

Today's feature is one of my favourite dishes. 

I really don’t like most Indian dishes but this is exceptional, because the flavours are not complicated and I can eat it with practically anything.

This is one of those meals you can have has a starter, mains or as part of a finger buffet.

I remember every time I wanted anything Indian I would just add curry and Maggi and YAY! my Indian dish is ready but thank God for growth.

So let’s get right into it.

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Ila Alasepo

First recipe on the blog is Ila Alasepo. Only reason, this is what I made for the Hubz last weekend.

This is a Yoruba dish and I like it because it’s rich in fibre, it’s quick and easy. It can be done between 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on if the meat is already cooked or not.

Ingredients Variety of meat (beef, oxtail, cow leg, ox stripe, smoked turkey)
Beef stock or water
4 Tomatoes
1 Onions
1 Red Bell Peppers
2 Red Habanero Peppers
Seasoning (maggi, Knorr cubes etc)
400g of Okra
Dry fish (Smoked catfish fillets, Stock fish fillets, smoked prawns)
100g Prawns
Crabs
Palm Oil

Cook the meat, when done fry or grill.

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