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Jute leaves (Adémé Soup)

Adémé (Adémédéssi ou Adémé déssi)

My grandmother’s Adémé is my favorite soup. I remember my grandmother harvesting the Adémé the day before and letting it see overnight. The next day, we had to remove the dark end of the stem and remove the leave from the big stems. Next my grandmother washes the leaves with a drop of bleach to make sure they are no earthworm on the leaves. She will cook down the Adémé leaves with a lot of love, in a very simple way with doevi and serve it with Ewokoume.

The Adémé is also called Jute leaves or Lalo cultivated in the Caribbea, in Africa and in the USA during the summer time. The leaves of Adémé are sold in the farms during the summer time. I did not get a chance to go to the farm this year; therefore I had to use the industrial precooked Adémé. To tell the truth, I real don’t mind.

The Adémé is not just the delicious but very rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C , Vitamin E. Furthermore the Adémé contains a high percentage of calcium, which contributes to strong teeth and bones. The Adémé is rich in fiber; therefore regularly intake of the leaves help to control blood pressure, cholesterol build-up, diabetes, and also prevents heart disease.

This Adémé déssi recipe is a West African (Togo, Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast) recipe. The Adémé leaves are cooked in very little water and a generous amount of baking soda. The baking soda help keep the green color of the Adémé leaves and soften the leaves during the cooking process. Before, starting the cooking process, make sure to have all the ingredients ready because cooking the Adémé leaves too long can resolved in a dry, dark green and not slimy soup. Equally important, you should not cover the soup unless you want to cut the sliminess of the soup.

I have a tendency to overload my Adémé dessi with meat, fish and seafood. Some people do not use palm oil, but I cannot do without. In addition to the meat, vegetables like African eggplant and bell pepper can be added.

The Adémé is served with Akoume (like ewokoume. Makoume), Akpan, gari, or Ablo.

600 g of ademé leaves (fresh or frozen)

1 tablespoon of ginger

2 cloves garlic,

3 cooked crabs,

12 cooked shrimps,

1 smoked mackerel,

1 onion,

20 cl of palm oil

1 cube

Red and green pepper

Salt

Pepper

2 tbsp Potash or sodium bicarbonate

1 fish “lahoin” (dried and fermented fish)

The meat of your choice (seasoned, boiled, and fried)

Sort the leaves by removing the yellow or faded leaves, wash and drain in a colander and chop coarsely.

Put a little water in the bottom of a pot, and add the potash and as soon as the water begins to boil the leaves of ademe.

Add the fish “lahoin” and 1/2 onion

With the help of a spoon, break the leaves of Ademe.

Boil until the sauce is slimy (about 10 minutes).

Add chili, garlic, ginger, crab, shrimp, cube, meat and smoked fish

Add palm oil and salt and cook for another 10 minutes.

Potash or baking soda allows green vegetables to keep their color during cooking and soften

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Dried Okra soup

Dried Okra soup

1kg Fresh okra 

500g fresh goat meat

5 tablespoon red oil (zomi)

2 onion

4 crabs

habanero

3 tablespoon ginger

6 cloves garlic

2 bouillon cube

Salt to taste

1 pinch potash or bicarbonate

 

Scrub okra, rinse with cold water, pat dry with a towel and cut the okra in very thin slices.

Dry until crisp and breakable (about 12-18 hours, depending on dehydrator and okra size).

Crush the okra.

Clean the crab and cook with the palm oil, a third of of the ginger, garlic, onion and cube for 10 mins.

Marinate the goat and boil the meat with third of the ginger, garlic, onion and cube.

In a saucepan, add 3 cups water (or meat bouillon), a pinch of baking soda and add the dry okra. Stir constantly for 3 minutes and add the meat juice.

Simmer 2 min and add the habanero and the third of the ginger, garlic, onion and cube.

Simmer for 5 min.

Then add the palm oil and crab. Simmer for 5 minuted.

*For those without a dehydrator, no need to make the investment just yet. To dry okra in the oven, spread half of the batch of okra at a time in a single layer on a wire rack nestled in a baking sheet. Place in a 150 degree oven and turn okra every 3 hours for 12 hours or until desired crunchiness is achieved.

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Senegalese Tiebou Yapp Guinar

3 chicken thighs

2 onions

2 cloves garlic

3 carrots

1/2 white cabbage

1 cassava tuber (yuca)

1 African eggplant

1 chilli pepper

1 piece of guedjef and yete (dried fish and shellfish)

1 bunch of parsley

2kg rice (if possible broken 2 times)

2 cubes of broth

1 can of tomato paste

3 tomatoes puree 

1 cup oil

Salt pepper

 

Prepare the stuffing (Roff): Finely chop the parsley, garlic and onion, 1 cube; add chilli to make a more tasty stuffing.

Put the stuffing into the chicken and fry;  Set aside

In a large pot, fry  the remaining onion and add tomato paste, 3 tomatoes puree as well as guedjef and yete. Leave to cook on low heat 2 min. Add the water.

Add the vegetable, the chicken and the remaining Roff to the pot and cover with water.

Add the maggi cubes, salt and chilli.

Simmer for at least 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice and put it in a couscous pot. Preheat the rice with steam.

Remove the chicken and vegetables.

Add to the rice and Cook the Tiep over medium heat until the rice is cooked through.

Stir in the cooked leaves with chilli and a little maggi and add a little sauce taken from the pot.

To serve your Thiébou guinar

Put the rice in a large dish and place the ingredients in the center; decorate with lemon wedges and parsley.

Enjoy your meal!!

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Spicy Grilled Fish(Spicy)

3 Lisa Fish

Olive or Vegetable Oil

1 Inch Root Ginger

6 Garlic Cloves

1 Teaspoon Lime Juice

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Scotch Bonnet

1 Medium Onion

1 tomato

2 Tablespoons crushed Pepper Flakes

1 Cube

Salt to taste

Clean the fish thoroughly, then make deep incisions on the fish to allow deep penetration of marinade.

Blend 3 Garlic, Cloves, 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice, 1/2 of the Ginger, 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, salt and half onion till smooth.

Rub  the marinade on the fish and in the incisions and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours. 

While it’s marinating, Crush roughly the tomato, pepper, 1 beanie, 3 cloves garlic and 1/2 ginger and the rest of the onion. 

Then add the blended mix, 1 cube and salt to taste..

Build up a fire. 

When you’re ready to cook, brush a little plain olive oil on the cooking surface. Arrange the fish  so that they have equal access to the heat source. 

Grill for 30-40 minutes or until thoroughly cookedRemove immediately to a hot platter.

Remember to turn the fish over during the grilling process to enable even heat distribution. Also baste with some more pepper sauce

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Plantain fritters (Klako)

Plantain fritters (Klako)

8 ripe plantains or bananas

2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt or more adjust to suit preference

Mash plantains with a potato masher or spoon until puree or use a food processor to blend.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt. Stir until fully combined.

Adjust seasonings and let rest for 30 minutes.

Heat oil to 350 degrees in a skillet or saucepan. 

Carefully place spoonful of the batter into the hot oil and fry for 3-4- minutes, or until the fritters are crisp and golden-brown (you may need to do this in batches).

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

You may drain on paper napkin to remove any excess oil

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Deep Fried Sweet Potatoes (Dundu)

Deep Fried Sweet Potatoes (Dundu)

2-4 medium sweet potatoes

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

 

Peel, cut and clean the sweet potatoes

Soak the cuted sweet potatoes in salt water for an hour to allow them to soften and absorb the salt.

Add the oil to a large pot, place on below high heat.  Once the oil is hot enough, carefully add in the potatoes.

Do not crowd the oil with too many potato pieces, if you add too many potatoes at once it will not cook properly

Fry potatoes until golden brown.

Serve and enjoy with the meat of your choice

Baked Rib

 

8 beef short ribs bone-in

1 tablespoon ginger

2 tablespoon garlic

1tablespoon cube

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Sprinkle with the seasoning, on both sides and rub it in.

Bake for 30 more minutes.

Eat and enjoy.

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Senegalese Tiep Bou Wekh

Tiep Bou Wekh / Senegalese Rice and Fish (white)

Thiéboudiène, Thiéboudienne, tieb bou dien, tieb, chèp , ceebu jën? Senegalese or Malian? I’m not sure, but I know it’s one of the most delicious dishes in Africa. This wolof rice with fish is the national dish of Senegal. In Mali, for example, it is a dish called zamè. Thiéboudienne comes from Wolof “Rice” (ceeb) and “fish” (jën).

Thiéboudienne is made with rice, fish, tomato sauce, and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, cassava, eggplant, onion …).

1 thiof (or 2 seabreams)

2 onions

2 cloves garlic

3 carrots

1/2 white cabbage

1 cassava tuber

2 African eggplant

1 pepper lantern

1 piece of guedjef and yete for connoisseurs (dried fish and shellfish)

1 bunch of parsley

2kg rice (if possible broken 2 times)

2 cubes of broth

1 cup oil

5 okra

Salt pepper

Preparation of Tiep:

Prepare the stuffing (Roff): Finely chop the parsley, garlic and onion, 1 cube; add chilli to make a more tasty stuffing.

Put the stuffing into the fish and fry; then Fry.

In a large pot, fry the remaining Roff , 1 piece of guedjef and yete. Leave to cook on low heat 2 min. Add the water.

Add the vegetable, the fish to the pot and cover with water.

Add the maggi cubes, salt and chill, being careful not to burst it

Simmer for at least 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice and put it in a couscous pot. Preheat the rice with steam.

Remove the fish and vegetables add to the rice. 

Cook the Tiep over medium heat until the rice is cooked through and sale to taste.

Stir in the cooked leaves with chilli and a little maggi and add a little sauce taken from the pot.

To serve your Tiep bou dienn:

Put the rice in a large dish and place the ingredients in the center; decorate with lemon wedges and parsley.

Enjoy your meal!!

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Peas with meatballs

Peas with meatballs

Ingredients for the dumplings:

400 g ground beef

4 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon persil

1 cube

Pepper

Salt

Ingredients for the sauce:

3 tomatoes puree

250 g of peas

1 onion diced

1 tomato diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 teaspoon of paprika

4 pinch of ginger powder

6 tablespoons olive oil

Pepper

Salt

300 ml of water

Chop the garlic, ginger and persil.

Combine the meat, cube and spices. Mix by kneading the meat for a few moments. Make dumplings the size of a walnut 

Put the olive oil in a casserole on medium heat add the meatball. Remove the meatballs and set aside

Add diced tomatoes, onion and cook for 3 mins. Add purred tomatoes, garlic, paprika, ginger,  Simmer 10 minutes. 

Add the meatballs and cook for 10 minutes. 

Add the peas, salt to taste and cook for 10 minutes. 

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Vermicelli Rice

Vermicelli Rice

2 cups Basmati rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil (or butter)

1/2 cup vermicelli

3 cups boiling water

Wash the Basmati rice in water till the milky color turns clear. Let the rice soak for minimum 30 minutes, preferably one hour. 

Heat oil on medium heat in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, add the vermicelli and stir till they begin to change color a bit, around 3 minutes. 

Add the rice, and fry for 2 minutes

Add hot water, salt. Cover pot with a tea towel and lid. Turn the heat to low and allow the rice to cook for 18 minutes. 

Turn the heat off and let the rice rest for another 10 minutes. Decant with a wide-rimmed spatula or teacup saucer, to prevent the grains from breaking.

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Togolese Spaghetti Salad

 

Togolese Spaghetti Salad

Salad

  • 1 package (16 ounces thin spaghetti, halved)
  • 2 to matoes
  • 1 beet
  • 1 medium Bell pepper
  • 1 small onion
  • 4 carrot
  • 10 eggs

Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon parsley chopped
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  1. Place the beet and the eggs in a saucepan covered with salted water to taste. After 13 mins remove the eggs. Boil until tender the beet usually, 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of the beets).
  2. Dice the tomato , bell pepper, cooked eggs and beets. Slice the carrot and onion.
  3. Cook spaghetti according to package directions, usually 1 minute less in time (el dente); drain. Let it cool down.
  4. Boil the carrot for 2 mins.
  5. Mix the dressing ingredients
  6. Add a drizzle of olive oil so pasta does not stick together. Refrigerate until cool.
  7. Place in a large bowl; add tomatoes, cucumber, salami, pepper, red onion, and olives.
  8. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over salad and toss to coat. gently stir together. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; serve!