Foodelicious: 2011

Master Jayden

African Fried Liver

My little cute cousin, Jayden; he's is such a hunk of a kid, really I mean it, you should see the way he bites his tongue when smiling. I am begining to think he could be my son and I just don't know it(ok! am kidding about that) He has those cute bunny teeth that make him so adorable just like mine haha so anyway Jayden was once reason for family to get together. Ofcourse I can’t remember much except for the lovely cool Sunday afternoon weather and that there was lots of laughter, drinks, joking around and food that to this day I still reminisce over…all this happened more than 4 months ago.

Why glasses are shaped different...

... they serve differently.
I have not always known much about why glasses are shaped differently. I imagined I just had to pick a glass that looks good and feels right in my hands.

Then one day I just wondered if there is a wine glass and a whiskey glass, there must be more to the shape of the glass than just the looks and feel.
I mean, why does my dad insist on his whiskey glass and why are all his whiskey glasses always short.

So I decided to have a little bit of fun finding out and learning about what glassware is needed in every cabinet.
From sites like delish.com, I found these different glasses, their purposes and since to me pictures speak 000's of words I thought a picture of each glass would help us understand what the glass looks like.

I hope you enjoy realising the different glasses and their purposes. I know I had fun learning them and am still trying to master them though am sure I will never know what brandy in a brandy sniffer will ever test like ;-)

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An October Chutney

Last month we made us a Tomato Pickle and now we make a Mango Chutney for our 10^th month of 2011 which is sweet and pleasantly hot and is an extremely versatile hot accompaniment to curries or any Indian meal.

Ingredients for Mango Chutney:

1 kg sweet mangoes, peeled and cut in pieces lengthwise
1 ¼ kg sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
3-4 bay leaves, crushed
8-10 black cardamoms, crushed
2 thumb-sized cinnamon sticks, broken to bits
1 tsp cloves, ground

I feel so peaceful in my heart today and can’t stop thinking about chocolate. I love chocolate and I love custard. I always have custard stashed away in my kitchen cabinet somewhere. It is never-not-there so this evening I thought to mess around with my love for food and make me chocolate custard. I am so sure it’s going to be delicious! Here is my recipe:

Ingredients

Baking is one kitchen skill I really have to pull my soaks up at. It is enjoying a renaissance at the moment and eggs are a key ingredient in cakes and biscuits. Here are some things to remember when using eggs in baking. I learnt this all from my mum who could even bake using a traditional charcoal stove. I still wonder how she did all that.

When you’re making sponge cakes, beat the eggs together in a jug and add to the butter and sugar mixture gradually, whisking well between additions.

If the mixture looks like it’s going to curdle, add a spoonful of the weighed flour and beat again until smooth.

If you have any grease or oil in the bowl with the egg whites, they won’t whisk up. Similarly any egg yolk will have the same effect. Rinse the bowl out with boiling water first.

Line baking trays with non-stick baking parchment, this will peel away from the baked meringues easily.

I am yet to place my kitchen skills at baking and maybe then when I have mastered enough recipes to transfer to you, I may blog about Bakes J Wish me luck with that

Omelette

Omelettes allow you to choose whatever combinations of ingredients you like and they’re so quick to make, you’ll have a meal in minutes. But how do you make the perfect omelette?

Gently beat two eggs together with salt, pepper and a teaspoon of cold water.
Warm a medium frying pan over a high heat with a dash of oil
Pour the egg mixture into the centre of the pan and cook over a high heat for 1-2 minutes.
As the egg begins to set, use a spatula to push the set egg towards the omelette centre.
Continue until the entire egg mixture is set.
Cook the set omelette for another minute, then loosen the edges with a spatula and fold the omelette in half.
Slide onto a plate and tuck in a salad mixture with cheese!

Alternatively;

Poaching eggs is a skill that takes a little practice but it’s worthwhile for anyone wanting to rustle up fancy dinner-party starter.

I am not so excellent at poaching eggs but with these tips you and I can practice till we get perfect. When we’ve eventually mastered poaching, we shall try our hands at cooking classic recipe favorites that require poached eggs in… time.

These are one of the quickest and most convenient ways to cook eggs and by adding extra ingredients such as baked beans and tinned beef, you can turn a simple and easy recipe into a delicious meal.

Pan on heat

Gently beat two eggs together with salt and pepper.
Add 2 tablespoons of water or milk for a softer result.

Once you get the hang of it, boiled eggs are so easy and endlessly all-purpose. Whether they're for breakfast, picnics or lunch boxes, here are some tips to help you cook boiled eggs just as you like them.

Before you get started, think about timing. Really soft boiled eggs should be cooked in boiling water for 3 minutes. Hard boiled eggs with a lightly soft yolk require boiling for 6 minutes. Timings will vary slightly with size and the age of the egg. You may have to experiment before you get them just to your liking!

When my dad asks for a bull’s Eye for breakfast, if Idi Amin Dada was my dad’s chef, he would have killed a bull and brought it’s eyes served on a silver plate for my dad and would have placed his palms on his wide waist, pushed his chin forward, widened his eyes to say Bon appetite!!! But let’s not try to be like this guy that placed Uganda onto the world map and instead realize that a Bull’s Eye for breakfast is a fried egg.

When ready to eat, it actually looks like eyes. My dad loves his bull’s eye with salt and pepper sprinkled on top to give it a hot stingy taste. He loves it most with Indian chapatti but you can also have it with a buttered bread toast.

It is no longer an apple a day but an egg a day that keeps the doctor away.

Eggs are one of nature's most nutritious foods so if you are looking for a quick and tasty snack or want to impress with an easy egg recipe, I have from my humble kitchen and hot wok, some ideas on cooking eggs.

We shall get to share my tricks on how to get a well fried egg, poached egg, and boiled egg. How to bake with eggs and how to make a Spanish omelet

Follow the blog to get the egg cooking guide

Enjoy!!!

A September Pickle

Did you know?

September is the 9th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with a length of 30 days. In Latin, septem means "seven" and septimus means "seventh"

September begins on the same day of the week as December every year

I know we are already in the middle of September but we can still make this pickle to have in the remaining 2 weeks of the month.

Oh I almost forgot; my cousin KJ was born in September so this is her month. xxx Love you KJ

Hope you read this post when you get old enough to understand it allJ.

This month we shall be having a Tomato Chutney/ pickle

So I thought since we have got just about 3months and some weeks till the end of the year, I could post 4 recipes for some common chutneys/pickles each for a month.

Pickles can be eaten with just about anything from rice, to pilau to muchomo and just about any bread.

When I was little I always liked to pound my grandfather, his chutney. It was so simple. I had to just chop about 10 hot green chilies and pound them together with about flat a handful of raw ground nuts. That was the simplest chutney I saw my grandma make and it was the first I ever learnt to make.

As I became older I tasted more and different kinds of pickles, my fave being mango pickles that had a stingy taste of ginger and lemon.

Follow Foodelicious closely for 4' pickles, 4' months

Cheater's Capuccino

So we always hear "...hot cup of steamy coffee..." or " would you like some ice Tea?", yah!

Yes! But today I have for you a recipe for a simple Iced Coffee aka cheater's capuccino and making it is as simple as one, two, three. I have no idea why she called it cheater's capuccino but one of my friends whose name I choose not to state here

;-) corrected me that it's not iced coffee but cheater's capuccino, when I told her am making myself an Iced Coffee. I'll tell you what that means when I get a clue.

Ok seriously I know it's coffee and it's icy cold but actually it tastes like coffee flavoured ice cream.

Try it and see what I mean.

My grandparents had different kids under their care, so I grew up with other brothers and sisters that don’t even share a drop of DNA with me. I can’t say we were adopted or fostered. I just know that he’s my brother and she’s my sister.

While Christine used to walk me to school almost every morning and Denis used to protect me from the bullies at school that liked to pull my over grown afro hair plaited into one tail, still when I went home we would have fights like any brothers and sisters in other homes.

What I have never forgotten about Denis is his Macedonia. No one makes macedonia with a touch as Denis’. My grandma always praised his skills applied at that culinary stop and he got such praises from as early as when he was just about 10years.

His secret?? Condense milk. After having assorted fruits chopped into cubes and mixed all together, Denis would pour condense milk to top up his delicious mouth watering macedonia.

Tahania Dipping

Remember I told you once that I was born in Sudan and I haven’t been there since I was like 3!.

So am always dreaming that am on a journey to Sudan and I imagine all the bright coloured Kitenges (African designed pieces of cloth for wrapping), Henna decorated hands, pierced nose, and neatly plaited cornrows. I have so many imaginations about Sudan created by memories of how my mum used to dress, the smell of her perfume, the spices she had in her kitchen and the mesmarising stories my dad always narrates to my sister and me and the momments I think of my friend Aisha and her pride in being called Ali from Sudan.

Bongo is a home made yorghut that's make from fermenting fresh milk after boiling and leaving covered for about 3 days. Bongo is an ingredient that was always found in my grandmother's kitchen and used to make sweet fruit yorghut, dippings, addition to recipes aomg other creative uses. Follow the the steps below to come up with home made yorghut.

Get ½ pint of milk, boil and let it cool
In a clean glass bowl, spread a table spoon of plain yoghurt 9you can buy this from a grocery store nearby to start your process) into the dish surface. You can use more table spoons depending on the size of your dish
When the milk is cool, remove the top cream

A few days ago, I was coughing a lot and had a sore throat and a bad flu. I am not a doctor, but I think I can fix myself and anyone without any medication or doctor's help. Sorry Victor; this is where I don’t need your medical consultation. I just like my mama was; don’t trust modern medicine so much and love traditional herbs. So I made this ginger tea for myself. It has a warm character, helps blood circulation and kept my hands and feet warm. Besides helping with reliving me of the coughing and blocked nose trills. Though some doctors recommend not drinking it, if you have a fever I have tried and had no side effects but please I beg you, be a doll and follow your doctor’s instructions.

In South Africa, people my kind are called Salads.....

...and I like it when am called that...Salad ;-)

Ok!! so I said cooking is all about forging right?By forging I mean creativity. What do you do when you are so exhausted from a long day’s work. Have I cup of boiled rice that was left over from lunch of even last night’s dinner. You take a peek into your fridge and all you see is just 1 fruit; an apple, some frozen foods and you have no idea what to make?

I have found myself in such a situation and lucky for me I can forge my way to satisfaction

So I have the following ingredients in my fridge and honestly I don’t feel like standing near my gas stove right now.

I have never been to a restaurant and had my meal as fast as I ordered it. It always gets to me almost 30minutes after order. One has to order for a meal 1 hour earlier if you are sure not to loose a temper…remember an angry man is always a …..Yep...that’s right... a hungry one

I know sometimes we get so held up and fail to deliver our lunch to the hungry son and daughter that are soon to throw a tantrum or to the husband that has a meeting to get back to fast and can not concentrate on finalizing his report.

That is why we have starters ranging from Bajias to cucumbers to carrots and for me today am thinking Creamy Corn.

Want to bring the little kid out of you? Try Sultac

Yesterday was Eid, but for my Aunt Salma in Dar-es-salam and my friend Ameen in India, today is their Eid.

To me, from an early age Eid was all about eating and sharing. When we were little my mother who was Muslim celebrated Eid so big. On any Eid, She would make hundreds of samosas, sulu wai wai (small Nubian donuts), mandazis, pilau and all those delicious things you find on an Arab menu card. And she would call all the kids from the neighborhood to eat with us and we would play games, run around..., it is all memory of lots of fun and children screaming and all that. Thinking about those days, makes me wish I could become a kid again.

Well, every Eid I try to make something special even though just for myself and this Eid I thought to get that little kid out of me and enjoy innocence once again, I could make Sultac and share with whoever I could think of around me.

The Mayans: Are they all about the apocalypse?

Every time the word “Mayan” crosses our minds, we think “apocalypse”, cult”, mass murder and all those things associated with the end of days.

It’s been cold the past few days and yesterday, I found myself spending half of my day in bed, with my laptop watching “The Event”, a series all about science, fiction and a lot of things that can turn a sane mind into a whirlwind of confusion. I mean how does a plane take off from one state and pass through a portal only to end up landing into another state? ….Weird huh Even I think am not making sense.

Anyway so it all made me think of the end of days and that’s how I found myself thinking about the Mayans.

However, there is more to the Mayans than all those bad stories we read on the internet.

The Mayans were the only ancient American civilization with a recorded history of their own. According to, allchocolate.com the Mayans are the first true chocolate fanatics that treasured cocoa.

A 1988 Fish story

Although I speak polished English, it does not mean it was the first language I spoke as a toddler.

With so much pride I say this; I was born in Sudan to a Ugandan mother and an Indian Gujarat father and the first language I spoke was Arabic.

Sadly this date' I can’t form a beautiful sentence in Arabic let alone pronounce the words.

In 1986, my expecting mum moved down to Northern Uganda with me and found love and a great home in the company of my Indian grandfather and Ugandan grandmother. My first friend Miriam Akumu only spoke Acholi; the native language of the people that come from Gulu and on and on and on the story goes (let’s keep it for another day)

So you see, English was not the first language nor the second language I spoke but today when I speak it, believe me you will not even imagine that it was a 3^rd language I learnt to speak.

From Gulu, the land of the people of Acholi (Northern Ugandans), Fish is known to be dry, smoked or ……., I had no idea what the other fish was called.

Once when I was 5, my mum asked my sister and me what we wanted to eat and

Mama's extra-ordinary Potato Salad

For 6 or 8 people, here is a simple potato salad that I make in my own way with of course a little investigation into my mum’s kitchen crime. Her potato salad was to die for.

For a long time I did not understand why I never enjoyed my own potato salad as I used to enjoy my mum’s

Then I got the secret that turned my ordinary recipe into my mum’s extra-ordinary recipe….”MILK” and “SUGAR”

ding ding ding …..yeah I know that look, I had it too the first time I realized. How do you add sugar to a recipe that contains salt addition?

Pilau Mwakenya

Jambo!!!

Tomorrow is a Sunday and family comes together for a lunch or dinner. In my mother’s home whenever we all came together she made her best pilau and no matter how hard I try, I still can not make it as good as she used to.
So if you are a kitchen rookie like I am, here is a simple recipe we can share and try out. This is the Pilau made the Kenyan way and I hope that it turns out to the best so that my Kenyan friends can eat away and say Thankyou mama, you cooked a very nice meal and in my not so polished Kiswahili I translate it to"Asante sana Mama, we na piga chakula muzuri" .

This will serve 6

So what do we need?

1 kg goat, mutton or beef cute into medium sizes
4 garlic cloves pounded
Salt to taste
9 cardamom pods
4 tbsp vegetable oil or just about enough
1 large onion, chopped
3 cups rice (basmati rice makes the best pilau)

Italy comes to my house tonight

Tonight I visit Italy or should I say Italy comes to my house. From the fresh bread to the different pastas and the rosemary flavored soups, Italy has the best and widest range of salads. And how can we forget the best wines come from Italy. Tonight as I welcome Italy to my house, I present this ever so romantic visitor with a feeling of home away from home serving the best pasta and meatballs sauce I have ever made.

Ingredients:

1 kilogram of lean minced beef
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt or a pinch just to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper
vegetable cooking oil
1 jar of spaghetti sauce from your grocery store or you can make your own at home
3 cups cooked pasta

Egg Curry

Yesterday we prepared a Chicken Biryana and today we shall prepare the curry I love to have best with any Biryana or boiled rice.

Ashiana is one of my favorite simple and humble Indian restaurants in Kampala. Owned by a good friend of mine Bobby Sheath and situated in Bugolobi just a short distance from my work place in Bugolobi, once in a while after work I treat myself to chicken Biryana and egg curry.

With this simple recipe, you do not need to eat out but make Egg Curry at home for you and your family.

Chicken Biryani

It is the month of Ramadan and for all my Muslim friends and family who are fasting here is a Chicken Biryana recipe to try out. You can have Biryana at dawn before your fast or at dusk to break your fast. Its spicy taste and flavor will keep you going through out your day.

Biryana is a delicious Pakistani/Indian rice dish which is often reserved for very special occasions such as weddings, parties, or holidays. It has a lengthy preparation, but the work is definitely worth it.

All this while I thought I needed an oven to make Biryana but sometimes when you lack one thing like a cooker and as though to add salt to injury, with the kind of unstable electricity we can not rely on an electric cooker to do your cooking. So here is a fantastic procedure in preparing my chicken Biryana without using a cooker of any kind but just my gas stove.

Points to consider;

When boiling greens, do not cover the pan. Covering greens leads to discoloration
A drop of vinegar in a boiling pan of Irish potatoes prevents the Irish from discoloration
Sprinkle black pepper in the corners of your kitchen. Mice and rats are allergic to black pepper, it keeps them away
To remove gum that is stuck on your cloth, place the cloth in the freezer. When the gum freezes, it’s easier to pluck in off without making a sticky mess
When washing the inside of your flasks i.e. between the outer part of the vacuum and the caging, use baking soda to rinse. 1 table spoon of baking soda in a Luke warm 1 minute soak can take away any odor that detergents can not remove from any utensil
For vegetable meals like cauliflower, beans, cabbages, add more garlic than ginger
For non veggie meals, add more ginger than garlic
You can also use vinegar (I cup) in a basin of Luke warm water to soak a colored material for 1 hour and drip dry in a shade to keep the dye/color longer

A meal for a Sister on her Birthday

Today is my sister Farida’s birthday. When we were little, you could lure my sister into your van as long as you had anything beefy.

I remember once when she appeared with a torn skirt all soiled with mud and my mum who was such a clever woman she knew her daughters too well for us to even lie to her and get away with it. My darling mother remembered that

She kept roasted meat in the kitchen
She last saw Farida go into the kitchen and not out
There is no door out of the kitchen, except for the one mama sat next to
There is a window in the kitchen that one is able to jump through

…Bingo…

That explains my sister’s appearance. My sister went into the kitchen to pinch a piece of roasted beef and got stuck trying to climb out the window. I will make sure all her future kids get to hear this story and tell them what a crazy kid their mum was.

In Uganda when meat is roasted, grilled or dry fried in a masala, we call it Muchomo. So today am making a chicken muchomo, French beans salad and mashed potatoes in honor of my sister’s 20—something really old birthday.

Happy Birthday Farida and May you live to eat more and more of muchomo in your lifetime. xxx

One from America's Culinary History

I don’t always go out so much in huge groups, not that I don’t enjoy it, I do , I really do but I find myself taking in and watching a movie or documentaries or chatting away on a game of cards.

I have a global collection of friends. At any moment I know I took a walk through someone’s mind anywhere in the world.

I always thought that everyone knew everything I knew, I kind of had this idea that what I know is not so out of the ordinary, like I thought duh!!!! Everyone knows cassava but honestly am not sure if an Australian in Melbourne who has no idea that Africa now has a new state would know about cassava, I still doubt that the middle aged African in the deepest Bungatira village (my Grand papa’s village home) is aware that even the Scottish don’t patiently line up for food during rationing that is if they even know Scotland exists.

Dancing Carrots Season, Episode 3

Carrot Gravy

In the Dancing Carrots Season, Episode 3 we are going to make a delicious Carrot Gravy using fresh coconut.

I found some coconuts in Uchumi supermarket and you can find it anywhere in any store nearest to you. Traditionally in the Swahili cultures,cocounuts have been used to add into diffent foods to add flavour. The coconuts are pounded, ground or crushed and soaked in hot water . After about 12 or 24 hours, you can stain/sieve the coconut and use the juice to add to your rice, chicken or to a freshly blended juice to give it that sweet flavour .

Dancing Carrots Season, Episode 2

Carrot Curry

In the first episode we made ourselves a Carrot Soup, I hope everyone who tried it enjoyed it. I made it yet again and this time with a little more chilies. I find it so soothing especially with the flu I was suffering from, I couldn’t have asked for a better remedy.

Today I present to you in Episode 2, the Carrot Curry that comes out thick and tomato saucy. It not only looks so delicious served atop your white boiled green vegetable rice but the way it caresses your tongue mmmm am so sure you are going to love this one

Dancing Carrots Season, Episode 1

Carrot Soup

Planning a lunch or dinner for about 20 guests is no easy task. Even though I can cook, I can't really do it all like my mother used to, everything seemed so easy when I watched her do it but I try so hard to be like her in the kitchen and I still miss something. One thing I remember her telling me is that when you have such a hard time preparing a huge meal, make a variety in small enough portions. When there is a variety, there is always plenty. Carrot soup saved one of the lunches my aunt threw for my graduation get together. The dancing carrots season includes carrot gravy, carrot curry and carrot soup. Due to a ringing demand from my dear Aunt Jackie, am putting through a recipe for Carrot soup.

So, we need

Cheesy Egg

This past Sunday I never made any huge Sunday Lunch, after a late Saturday night I could not get up early enough to make something big to eat so I made myself a cheesy Egg

In my kitchen I had;

1 ½ tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 large eggs beaten
½ medium tomato chopped
½ medium onion chopped
A pinch of salt or as desired
I small handful of grated cheese
Microwave flat tray

Boiled Vegetable Soup

Today is Saturday, the day for spring cleaning. With all that’s to be done, there is not enough time to make a full course meal so I am having a boiled vegetable soup and French Stick. I find that the Bread Basket at Nakumatt Oasis Mall in my city, Kampala has the softest and nicely baked French stick. But you can find it at any store nearest to you.

For my Boiled vegetable soup I will need the following ingredients:

I big table spoon of olive oil or vegetable oil
2 large onions
2 large red tomatoes or you can use tomato paste
I really large Irish potato
2 long and think carrots

Indian Spiced Tea

It’s a cold morning, the whether has been bad lately, some of you may be suffering a cold, I have a sore throat. I am so addicted to coffee, I love coffee so much that if there was a coffee perfume I would buy one, coffee has got me so obsessed that I get its aroma from a distance even when its not anywhere close. But….its gotten me shaky and clumsy at this point so what do? I turn to

Indian spiced tea

What do I need? I need…

2.5 cups of fresh water and 1.25 cups of Milk (luke warm would be fantastic)
Spices (2 Cloves, 2 brown Cardamom ( I like to open it up), 4 Black Pepper corns,1 Cinnamon Stick)
2 tsp Tea Leaves (I love strong tea but you can put as desired)
Sugar as desired …do not forget to have a little sugar now so when you clock 60 years you can still have a little.

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