Foodace's style Okra Soup

INGREDIENTS REQUIRED

1kg fresh Okra (finely sliced)

goat meat or any meat of choice (about 500g)

stock from goat meat and stockfish)

1 large Onion (finely diced)

A cup of Palm oil

stock fish (I sock mine in warm water and salt overnight and its softens)

1 small pointed pepper (tatahse)

spinach leaves or kale (washed and sliced)

3 knorr chicken seasoning cubes or any of choice

Salt

TO GET YOUR STOCK

In a small pot, add the goat meat, 2 knorr chicken seasoning cubes, 1/4 diced onions, little salt, water (up to the level of meat) and bring to boil. Once boiling, add the stock, reduce gas heat to the lowest point and allow to slowly cook until meat is soft or completely cooked. Then turn of gas and set aside.

COOKING OKRA SOUP

Divide the finely sliced fresh okra in 2 batches. Add one into a food processor and  further cut them by using the PULSE and STOP method. Do this couple of times, for like 4 times. The reason for this is that, when cooked the okra becomes more slimy.

In a pot, add the palm oil, 1/3 of the remaining diced onion and heat up. Once it starts sizzling, add finely sliced okra (the one in the food processor). Also,  add the remaining knorr seasoning cube. Fry for about 3 - 5 minutes, then add the cooked meat and stock fish and also the stock. Stir, cover pot with lid and allow to cook for another 3 -5  minutes. 

Then add the remaining okra, diced onion and sliced pointed pepper. Turn very well and add salt to taste, if need be.  Also add extra oil if need be and bring to boil.

Once it starts bubbling, add the sliced spinach or kale, stir in and allow to cook for a minute and turn of the gas. 

Enjoy... 

NOTE:

I estimated most of the ingredients as I did not weight them but this is exactly how I cook okra soup. It will be updated once I make another batch. Many thanks for your understanding.  

FOODACE

Plaintain chips made with semi ripe plantain

Ingredients

2 semi ripe Plantains

Frying oil for deep frying

Preparations

Peel the back of the plantains. Watch how you can do that here

slice using a mandolin slicer

Heat up the oil and then fry in small batches until crunchy

Allow to cool, then serve.

Yam Stir Fry - Ji agworu agwo

Yam is not a frequent meal on my menu but whenever I cook it, I try to make it very interesting, not just for me but for the family as well. Living in the UK, it is difficult to buy everything I need for my African dishes. This is why I always seem to cook most of our dishes with fewer ingredients but they still come out very beautiful! So here is my take on yam porridge (Ji ngwo-ngwo)!

Ingredients

1medium size yam

spinach leaves

Green vegetable/callaloo (any quantity)

1 large red onion (chopped)

1/2  cup of Palm oil

1 Cup ukpaka or ugba 

2 scotch bonnet

2 knorr cubes

Salt

PREPARATIONS

  Pluck out the leaves of the vegetable from the stem and discard the stem;wash the leaves, cut and set aside. Peel the yam, slice and then cut each slice into 4 . 

In medium pot, put in yam cubes and then add water. The yam should be completely covered with water. 

Add a teaspoon of salt, cook until yam is soft or cooked. Once cooked, drain the water and set aside.

In a clean pot, pour in the oil and  onion, Then heat up for couple of seconds, add the ugba. Fry for a minute.

Now, add the yam and sprinkle half of the knorr cube, so that the yam will be tasty. Turn, reduce the gas and cover the pot, this enables the yam soak up a little bit of the palm oil. 

You could allow this for over a minute; then add the vegetables and the remaining cube; turn, turn again and again…

The reason for turning as much as one can, is to enable the yam bring out its crumbs, which in turn helps make the yam more "ngwongwo"

Serve hot and enjoy…

Homemade Cherry Scones

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't necessarily mean you can't have the sweet things we sometimes crave for. In fact, you can indulge but in moderation. I try to teach my kids the importance of healthy lifestyle; now my son refuses things which he knows are unhealthy but that doesn't mean he eats healthy, I mean kids has to be kids. I have reduced the amount of cakes I bake, I have switched to using wholemeal flour when i can; just to help us stay focused and also to reduce the amount of sugar we consume.

Scones are the easiest snack or teatime meal one can make. you can customise them by adding dried fruits or even spices. The first time I tried to make these, they didnt come out very nice because I forgot to put in raising agent. The second time, it was just perfect. I made some and took to a friend, she loved them. So, here is the recipe

All you need

225g self raising flour

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch of salt

85g butter (cut into small piece)

1/4 cherries (chopped)

1 egg (lightly beaten)

3 tablespoons milk

1/3 cup nido milk (optional)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

Little nutmeg or cinnamon

Instructions

Lightly grease a baking tray or line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 220C.

Sift flour and baking powder into a processor. Add the butter and process until it forms a crumble, then add the sugar.

If you don't have a food processor, simply add the flour, baking powder and butter in a bowl, with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugar.

Add in the chopped cherries, then add the eggs and the milk. Mix well together to form a soft dough. The scone mixture should feel sticky to the finger.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of choice, but usually a thickness of 2 cm is fine.

Cut out circles using a round cookie cutter, size doesnt matter really.

Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet, brush top with little milk, bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until the scones are golden brown.

Transfer the scones for a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy with cold milk.

Nigerian Akara

Akara also known as bean cake is made by peeling Nigerian sweet beans or black eyed beans, blend into paste and then deep fry. Its one of the most popular breakfast for Nigerians and it is made with few ingredients; beans, salt, pepper and onion. But with the modern day cooking, other ingredients could be added, such as tatashe, maggi seasoning...

Ingredients

1 cup Nigerian sweet beans (skin peeled)

1/2 cup water ( from this half cup, minus 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon)

1 scotch bonnet

1 knorr cube seasoning

1/2 medium sized tatshe

salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

   Instructions

Method

• In a bowl, soak the beans in warm water for about 3 minutes. Drain and then briskly rub the beans between palms of your hands to remove the skin.

• Add enough water into your bowl, this makes the skins float to the surface and discard the skin. Repeat this severally until the skins are all removed just as in the picture. Then soak the bean overnight with hot water from tap.

• Rinse out beans , place in the blender with the onion, knorr seasoning, water, scotch bonnet and pointed peppers.

• Transfer the thick-smooth beans paste to stand mixer and attach the flat beater hook; add salt and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes.

• While this is mixing, heat the oil in a wok/pot, remember we are deep-frying. Also get every other thing we need ready. For instance, line the sieve with kitchen paper, get your frying spoon ready and spoon for scooping in the beans mix.

• Once oil is heated and ready,  scoop in mixture and fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper. Repeat process...

• Enjoy hot or cold...