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Dja Goat meat

Dja Goat meat || M’gbagba

1 kg goat meat

1 onion 

1 tablespoon ginger 

2 cloves

2 whole all spice

3 tablespoon garlic

1 cube

Salt

Mélanger tous les ingredients, ajouter de l’eau et cuire pour 1 heure.

Remove the goat meat from the stock and fry until golden. Set aside

  

6 large tomatoes

2 big onions

1 bell pepper

1 ~ 3 West Indian peppers or 5 gboyébssé

4 tablespoon tomato paste

salt pepper

potash (pea size)

1 cube

1 cup oil

In a saucepan, on a medium heat, add the blended tomato, onion, bell pepper and cook for 20 mins.

  

Add the tomato paste, oil and meat stock (to the consistency desired). Cook for 10 min.

  

Add broth if needed, peppers, potash, the fried goat meat, cube, salt, pepper and fry for another 20 minutes. 

  

Serve your sauce sauce with your main dish. 

Enjoy your meal!

 

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Simple Egusi Soup

Goat meat:

2 lbs goat meat

1 small onion

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoons ginger powder

1 tablespoons cube

Salt and Black Pepper

In a medium saucepan mix all the ingredients and add enough water to cover the meat

Cook until the meat is tender; add water as needed

Remove the meat from the stock, fry until golden and set aside

Egusi Soup:

1 cup red palm oil

1 large onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon paste tomato

1/4 pound Egusi, ground

2 cups tomato puree

3 cups liquid (the meat stock + 2 cups water)

3 habanero peppers

2 pounds spinach, precooked and chopped

Salt, pepper, and cube

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions. Sauté the onion until it is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste and the Egusi.

 

Cook for ~3 mins, add the tomato puree, the stock, and the water

Cook for ~3 mins, add the meat, the habanero peppers, and the spinach

Keep simmering on medium-heat approximately 10 minutes.

Adjust the taste if needed (salt, pepper, and cube)

Serve warm with plantains, eba, yams or accompaniment of choice.

 

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Best Lemonade Ever

Best Lemonade Ever

5 lemons

6 cups water

Sugar to taste

 

Cut lemons in half. Juice each lemon through a strainer into a large measuring cup. Keep juicing until you have 2 cups of lemon juice.

Add water and stir in sugar.

For lemonade using honey in place of sugar, simply replace the sugar with 2 cups of honey.

For sugar-free lemonade, replace the sugar in this recipe with ¼ cup stevia powder.

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Fried whole tilapia

1 Tilapia

2 habanero pepper

6 garlic

1 rosemary branch 

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt to taste

Oil, for frying

Ask your fishmonger to gut, trim, and scale the fish. Once you get the fish home, clean the it thoroughly, specially the inner cavity. Trim the fins and tail if desired. Score a diagonal criss-cross pattern across the fish body on both sides.

Rub some salt, black pepper, garlic and turmeric powder on the fish. 

Mix the spices and rub the spice paste generously on to the inner cavities and outside of the whole pomfret.

Heat oil on medium heat in a flat-bottomed non-stick pan. The oil should come up to the side of the fish. Heat the oil until it is smoking hot. Add habanero pepper, garlic and rosemary branch 

Add the tilapia and turn the heat to medium.

Fry the fish for about 8-10 minutes on each side. To turn the fish, slowly scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the fish. If the fish is ready, it should be very easy to loosen the fish. While frying, occasionally tilt the pan from side to side, so that the head and tail get submerged and crisped along with the mid-section of the fish.

Serve the fried whole tilapia

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Homemade yogurt with solar energy

Homemade yogurt with solar energy

1/2 gallon milk — whole or 2% are best, but skim can also be used
Warm the milk to right below boiling, about 200°F. Stir the milk gently as it heats to make sure the bottom doesn’t scorch and the milk doesn’t boil over.


Cool the milk. Let the milk cool until it is just warm to the touch, 112°F to 115°F. Transfer the to storage containers
Add 1/2 cup commercial yogurt containing active cultures and 1 cup of powder milk
Then whisking gently

Take advantage of the heat during the hot summer months by culturing outside. Simply set your yogurt jars in a closed cooler and then set it in the sun.


After the set time, take the jars out of the yogurt maker, close them with their lids, and put the yogurt jars in the refrigerator for storage.

Serve with some sugar (or honey) and some fruits

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Fried Yam

Fried Yam

Fried Yam (Koliko)

  • yam (as much as you can eat)
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Salt to taste
  1. Peel and cut the yam tuber into 1 inch cylindrical discs. Make several cuts across the discs to get large chips. Wash the yam chips and place in a bowl.
  2. Add a little salt and toss the contents to distribute the salt. Set aside for 20 mins
  3. Fry the yam at 350F
  4. When the oil is heated, add a few yam chips, leaving enough room for flipping the chips.
  5. Stir the chips till they have turned golden.
  6. Remove the chips and place in the paper towels to absorb the oil.

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Yellow rice with shrimp and braised Chicken

Yellow rice with shrimp and braised Chicken

4 Tbsp butter 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 tsp turmeric 

1/4 tsp cumin 

1 tsp ginger 

2 cups uncooked long grain jasmine rice 

3 cups Water (or chicken broth)

2 cup cleaned shrimp

1 onion

1 cube

Salt to taste

Add the butter, onion, Shrimp, garlic, turmeric, cumin, cube and ginger to a medium sauce pot. Sauté over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, or just until the onion has softened.

Add the dry rice to the pot. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes to slightly toast the rice. You may hear a slight popping or crackling noise as the rice toasts.

Add the water and place a lid on top, increase the heat to high, and bring the pot to a rolling boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer (with the lid in place) for 20 minutes.

After letting it simmer for 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest (do not remove the lid) for an additional 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

 

For the chicken:

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp ginger

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 cup olive oil

1 cube

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic powder and olive oil. Whisk well. 

Marinate the chiken and refrigirate for 4 hours.

Cook for 20 minutes, uncovered. Lower oven temperature to 375F and cook for another 20-25 minutes, or until chicken reaches 160F.

For a crispier skin, broil chicken for a couple of minutes!

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 Fresh fish stew with palm oil || Tuo Zaafi

 Fresh fish stew with palm oil

3 medium tilapia

2 onions

6 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon ginger

1 bouillon cube

2 cloves

2 allspice

2 red pepper

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons concentrated tomato

4 tomatoes

3 West Indian peppers (optional)

1/4 cup red oil

2 cups of water (or more depending on your taste)

A pinch of bicarbonate

Thoroughly clean the fish and rinse with water and vinegar (or lemon). Salt your fish.

Blend an onion, garlic, ginger, clove, all spice and dry red pepper and then season the fish with. Allow to rest at least 4 hours.

In a saucepan, heat the oil, add a chopped onion, and stir. Then add the concentrated tomato, the crushed tomato and the water and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the fish and spices.

Add the cube, baking soda and cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes. Do not use the spoon after adding the fish, stirring in circular motions with the pan.

Add the West Indian peppers. Cover the pan for about 5 minutes.

Tuo Zaafi

1 pack of ademé leaves (frozen) (Ayoyo leaves)

1 fish “lahoin” (dried and fermented fish)

1/2 onion

1 cube

Salt

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).

Enjoy your meal.

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No cornstarch Rice cakes (Ablo)

Le Ablo is a Togolese (Abolo Beninese) steamed rice and corn flour dish. The traditional method takes time, although most of it involves inactive waiting periods. The process spans three to four days from the first rice soaking to taking the finished product out of the steamer. In the original recipe the mixture of rice four is steamed in a banana leave or an aluminum mold lined with plastics.

No cornstarch Rice cakes (Ablo)
No cornstarch Rice cakes (Ablo)

I use real cute silicone molds. Properly prepared, the Ablo imparts the slightly yeasty aroma of fermented rice batter. It should be neither sticky nor dry and crumbly. The Ablo should be soft, moist, and with a fine, uniform grain. The essential flavor should be of freshly cooked rice, but it may be sweetened a bit. A lot of people requested the recipe of Ablo without cornstarch, So here it is:

Ingredients

  • 2 cup rice 
  • 4~6 tablespoons granulated sugar (or more according to your taste)
  • 1 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoons yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

How to make No cornstarch Rice cakes (Ablo)?

Soak the rice overnight

The next day, drain the water and blend the rice with  1 cup water.

Boil 1 cup of water and 1/3 of the blended mixture and cook for 3 mins

Mix the cooked mixture, the remaining  blended rice, sugar, yeast (and water if needed). Place in a warm place for 30 mins.

While the mixture is rising, prepare your molds. 

Add baking powder and salt. Whisk the batter until just smooth. 

Fill the mold to the 3/4. Let the mixture rise in the mold for 30 min.

Bring a steamer with water to running boil.

Working in batches and place the mold in the steamer. Steam for 25 minutes, or until the Ablo have risen and are firm to the touch.

Remove from the molds and enjoy warm or at room temperature. Serve warm with mgbagba, jus de tomate, piment…

Tips on how to make fluffy Ablo:

  • It is not recommended to use rice flour for this recipe as it will yield a slightly sticky cake with tint of yellow instead of snow-white rice cake.
  • Make sure the rice-sugar mixture is cool completely before adding the dissolved yeast.
  • You will need a steamer for this recipe. Make sure your steamer is ¾ filled with water. Let the steamer boils on high heat for at least 10 minutes before steaming the cakes.
  • If your yeast isn’t frothy or bubbly after 10 minutes, it’s probably expired. The active dry yeast is the key ingredient in this recipe.
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Paprika-Yogurt Baked Chicken

Paprika-Yogurt Baked Chicken

1 chicken cut in pieces

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 Tbsp sweet paprika

1 cup plain yogurt 

4 Tbsp garlic

2 Tbsp ginger

1 teaspoon salt

Put pieces of the chicken in a zip-lock bags, and add the marinade. Zip closed and knead the bags until the chicken is well-coated with marinade. Open bags slightly, squeeze out most of the air, and zip closed again. Refrigerate 12-24 hours. If serving this for dinner, I usually make the marinade and start the chicken soaking the evening before.

Turn the bags and knead the marinating chicken once or twice while it’s in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to cook, take the chicken out of the refrigerator, line a large roasting pan with foil, lay a rack over the pan so air can circulate under the roasting chicken, and pre-heat your oven to 425. 

Once the oven is hot, put the pan with the chicken in the oven, and leave the door closed. Turn the chicken pieces once after 30 minutes of cooking time, then roast for another 25 to 30 minutes, or until slightly charred on the second side. Poke one with a skewer to make sure the juices run clear.

Remove the chicken to a warm platter and serve