MOIN MOIN (POWDERED BEANS)

 

This is one I have been trying to get right for a while! I have flash backs of a burnt attempt at Uni; the house smelled burnt for days. Oh in case you were wondering we still ate it anyway….. we are not wasteful over here!

I have successfully made moin-moin with beans before but the whole soaking, peeling and blending process was such a faff I didn’t bother making it again. Then I discovered powdered beans and thought all my prayers had been answered, apparently not. Cue a slew of failed moin moin attempts including an odd one that leaked water when I pressed it and would not set up matter how long I cooked it. (I cooked it for almost 2 hours, yes I knew it was a no go after one hour. Can’t tell you why I kept going, also can't tell you why I was poking my moin moin).

Eventually with my sister’s help and guidance via Facetime from Canada (yay for technology) I got it right! I have made this multiple times since then and its success every time :-). I'm so excited to share this with you so let's go to the recipe! 

 

Moin-Moin (powdered beans) – makes 10

 

Ingredients

2 large eggs

2 bell peppers

4-5 white onions

1-2 scotch bonnet peppers

½ (125ml) cup of water

2 tbsp tomato puree

½ cup of oil

200g (1.5 cups) bean flour

1 tsp aromat

1 tsp salt

4 cubes knorr chicken

Additions of your choice – boiled eggs, mackerel, corned beef, chicken etc.

 

Method

Put the bell peppers, onions, scotch bonnet, water, puree and oil into a blender and puree until smooth.

 

Add in the bean flour and the eggs, and blend until smooth. Add the seasonings and blend to combine. Pour into a bowl and mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer for abt. 1 min to aerate. Alternatively you can mix by hand with a whisk or wooden spoon for about 10 minutes. 

 

Place 2/3 cup of the batter into each ramekin, foil dish, leaf, tray whatever receptacle you are using, sprinkle in the additions and seal your moin-moin. Place the moin-moin in a large pot and add enough water to come halfway up the side of the bottom layer of moin-moin.

 

Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover with a lid and steam for 40 mins – if your lid is not tight fitting add a layer of tin foil before putting the lid on. Check your moin-moin periodically to ensure that there is still enough water.

 

Enjoy!

GARDEN EGG SAUCE

I am not a fan of garden eggs and no I have lost my mind posting a recipe for stuff I don’t like. Before you close your browser page and write me off completely let me assure you that I adore this sauce and you will too even if you hate garden eggs. The first time I tried this sauce I could not believe this deliciousness was made from garden eggs.

When I was younger I used to pretend to like garden eggs because all my older cousins that ate it used to make it look so yummy. I would take bit and wash it down quickly with water then rub the seeds on my mouth so that it looked like I was eating it lol! I think about it now and just shake my head. Why was I punishing myself and forcing myself to eat something so bitter?

 Eventually I realised it was not worth it and I stopped pretending; it is just too bitter; but believe me, something magical happens to garden eggs when you make it into a pepper sauce. Honestly I don’t know what it is but it just transforms from this bitter fruit into something oh so spectacular. My favourite way to eat garden egg sauce is with yam but it’s delicious with potatoes, cocoyam and bread and a whole host of other things.

SUYA SPICED CHICKEN OR TURKEY DUMPLINGS

Helllllllllloooooooooooooooo, anybody there?? I know its been a while since I blogged but I have had so much going on since the last time I blogged. I’ve moved house twice, gotten married and changed jobs amongst other things. Anyway I’m back with this delicious recipe that I hope will make up for my absence.

I’ve always liked experimenting with food, mixing cuisines and trying new takes on food. As anyone who experiments with food knows some are great, other not so much. One day I will take pictures of kitchen fails and post them up here; some of them are really bad. Sometimes I feel so sorry for hubby cause he has to think of creative ways to tell me that the result of my last 2 hours in the kitchen are a fail!

Anyway back to this recipe; I've always liked dumplings but I had never tried to make it before because I was too lazy to do all the chopping involved. A few weeks ago however Afrolems posted a picture of dodo gizzard dumplings and I thought that was pretty cool which got me thinking about other potential dumplings.

NIGERIAN CHICKEN PIE - IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED

Disclaimer: this is quite a long post with lots of pictures but its so worth it!

Happy new year guys, hope you all had a great Christmas, I did but I'm glad to be back with this chicken pie recipe

I have always preferred chicken pie to meat pie; don’t get me wrong I love them both but I just love the chicken pie more. My favourite one when I was growing up was from Mr Biggs (yum yum).Obviously since I moved to the UK I have not been able to get my beloved chicken pie and so the hunt for home-made chicken pie ensued.

I found a few recipes and settled on one I thought sounded nice. WHAT A DISASTER!!!!!! Although the filling was ok, the dough was so hard I swear it could have caused a concussion if thrown at your head. I’m sure this was more to do with me than the recipe but I was so disheartened I vowed to stay away from pastries for life (ok a tad dramatic but I was upset).

However I was in charge of finger food recently for a party, I went through so many ideas but the damned chicken pies wouldn’t leave me alone so I gave in. As I knew I could develop my own filling recipe, I focused my search on the dough and finally found this recipe with step by step pictures! I was ecstatic, at least with pictures I could ensure everything was looking as it should.

MONICA (FISH AND PLANTAIN) SKEWERS WITH A SPICY PEPPER SAUCE

3 days to Christmas guys, are you excited? I really am but I am even more excited about this recipe. It is an appetiser version of one of my favourite Nigerian meals ‘Monica’. For those that don’t know it is whole grilled tilapia fish served on a bed of dodo (fried plantain) with a very spicy scotch bonnet sauce.

I think I might actually like this version more than the actual Monica as it is easier to eat because you don’t  need to worry about bones and you don’t have to get your hands dirty (believe me to really enjoy Monica you need to eat with your hands) making it great for Christmas or any party.

I have done in two parts, first the skewers and then the pepper sauce. The pepper sauce is spicy but not as spicy as the one you would get with Monica as I wanted to brush it on the fish and plantain and not have people heads blowing off but if you love VERY spicy food just add more scotch bonnets and in the same vein if spice isn't your thing leave out the scotch bonnets.

The sauce is just like ata din din (fried pepper sauce) and if you have some left over you can stir it into some fried chicken or meat or use it as the sauce for dodo gizzard or just simply enjoy with rice.

NIGERIAN STYLE SHAWARMA

I have a pretty important exam coming up on Thursday but this recipe has been burning a hole in my virtual pocket and I just had to post it. Shawarma is one of those things that I look forward to having whenever I go home to Nigeria.  Sometimes I even make sure that there is one waiting for me at home when I get home from the airport.

The last time I was back home was back home I definitely had more than my fair share of shawarma (don’t judge me) and once I was back in the UK I was having withdrawal symptoms and thus this recipe was born.

COCONUT JOLLOF RICE

COCONUT JOLLOF RICE

Coconut and I have a great relationship, I love everything with coconut in it from Thai curries, to macaroons to chocolate (mmmm.............. bounty); the exception to this rule however is coconut rice.

My first experience of coconut rice was terrible; I ABSOLUTELY detested it and have stayed away ever since (I know now that it was the way it was served that was the issue, with tomato stew!!!!!! Who does that???? If anyone offers you this never ever speak to them again, seriously it was vile).

I'd never heard of coconut jollof rice and so when I was at my friend’s house a few weeks ago and she announced that coconut jollof rice was for lunch, I thought to myself thank God she has Indomie.

She managed to convince me to try it and I fell in love.