Boiled Yam and Egg Stew

Hiya, how is your week going?  Today we are all about yam. There was a period in my life that yam was my absolute favorite. Boiled yam and palmoil, fried yam,  boiled yam and stew, yam porridge, i just wanted yam, yam, more yam!

Coming to the US, yam became a luxury. It was expensive! between $10 and $15 for a tuber! In addition to that, a tuber of yam is too much for my small family so i end up freezing raw leftovers.

I eat yam occasionally now, and I make the moments count – like today with yam and egg :). Yam and egg is so special to me. My mother made it excellently, and making it today just took me back to saturday mornings in Lagos with my family.

For this quick and easy dish, you will need:

  • 4 tomatoes
  • A quarter of a large sweet onion
  • 1 Jalapeno pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • A small tuber of yam
  • 4 eggs
  • A couple tsps of oil (I used about 3)
  • Some salt
  • Seasoning for the eggs ( 1 used rosemary garlic salt and herbs de provence)

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Method

  • Slice yam in about 1/2 to 1 inch sizes
  • Peel the yam, and put peeled yam in a pot ( 1 used only 4 slices of Yam)

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  • Rinse the peeled yam.

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  • Still in the pot, cover the peeled yam with water, add about a tsp of salt and set on the stove to boil.
  • Chop the tomatoes, peppers and onions (TPO).

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  • Heat a nonstick saucepan on the stove top and then add oil.
  • Add TPO to the heated oil.
  • Add about a tsp of salt to cooking TPO.

** See how colorful TPO looks? YumVille all the way!**

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  • Cook TPO for about 10 minutes or until it breaks down and becomes more “sauce like”.

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  • Break the eggs, add seasoning and whisk vigorously until the seasoning blends. ( I used egg whites only and whisked a little too vigorously until it foamed up :))

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  • Check the yam. Yam is cooked when  it is soft and still firm – you do not want your yam broken and falling apart. Do the fork test.

** Fork Test – insert a fork into cooking yam, it should go through easily with no resistance)**

  • Pour out boiling water from the cooked yam pot. (pouring out boiling water quells the cooking process)
  • Add seasoned whisked egg to the TPO.

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  • Combine and then leave to cook for about 1 more minute.

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  • At this point, TPO has become Egg stew. TPO + Eggs = Egg stew 🙂
  • Serve Egg stew atop boiled yams

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  • Enjoy!

Oya come chop 🙂

Snacks for Guests : Prawn Crackers

I grew up eating these crispy crunchy crackers during the holidays, or when we had guests. While searching randomly on Amazon i found them, and HAD to snag sharply!

They are so easy to prepare.

All you need is a deep pan for frying, some oil, and prawn crackers.

The crackers look like this out-of -the-box.

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When you put them in very hot oil, they begin to transform, like MAGIC.

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It is so exciting to make these things and to eat them!

They are ready after about one minute of kissing hot oil.

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Crunch, munch, crisp… enjoy

Oya come chop 🙂

Fried Plantain (Dodo)

Dodo makes everything better. Do you know how to fry plantain? i will tell you:

Steps:

  • Heat some oil in a pan for about 7mins
  • Chop the plantain diagonally or in cubes

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  • Test the heated oil by dropping one cubed plantain in the oil

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  • If it bubbles and floats to the surface, then the oil is ready for frying
  • Use a slotted perforated spoon to carefully add the plantain to the oil

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  • Do not crowd the frying pan, else the plantain will absorb too much oil
  • Watch the plantain, and then stir

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  • When it is well browned on both sides, remove the plantain and put in a plate lined with paper towels

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  • Serve fried plantain with stew, rice, boiled beans,  or just eat by itself.

Oya come chop! 🙂

Egusi Soup

Just like ChOkro, Egusi is enjoyed by different tribes in Nigeria. It is a party favorite, and is usually present at weddings, and birthdays.

Typically, Egusi is made with Palmoil. This version substitutes Red bell peppers and vegetable oil for PalmOil.

Ingredients:

  1. 1 cup ground Egusi
  2. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  3. 3 tbsp crayfish powder
  4. 3 cups assorted obstacles in bite sized pieces – i used leftover pepper goat
  5. 1 tbsp cameroon pepper (optional – this pepper is fiery with a wonderful earthy smoky flavor)
  6. 2 knorr stock cubes
  7. 11/2 cup broth from the pepper goat recipe
  8. 1 large red onion
  9. 6 large red bell peppers
  10. 3- 4 cups chopped frozen spinach

Method

  • Blend the peppers and onion in a food processor. Do not add any liquids while blending
  • Add the blended mix into the pot.

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  • Heat mix for about 15 mins or until most of the natural liquids have dried up.

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  • Add the vegetable oil into the pot, and fry mixture until oil rises to the surface.

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  • Add seasoning, and obstacles.

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  • Add broth (mine was frozen), and egusi, and stir.

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***This is where the magic happens.****

  • Cook the mixture (stir continously) on low heat for about 20 mins or until oil rises to the surface and begins to bubble on the sides.

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  • If you want a thinner soup,  add more water at this point
  • Add the spinach, and cook for about 5 minutes.

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  • Enjoy with white rice, “Swallow”, plantain, or boiled root tubers.

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TIPS

  1. Make sure you use a non-stick pot, as this soup burns easily.
  2. After adding the egusi and broth, you must stir constantly to prevent burns.
  3. Bitterleaf adds an amazing twist to this soup.
  4. Dried Smoked Cat Fish in this soup will make it very memorable.
  5. Add salt according to your taste.

Can you beat this PalmOil FREE “redness”??? I did not think so! 🙂

Oya come chop 🙂

Chicken Stew

Hello hello,

Today is my Birthday!!!! Thankful to God for life, good health, and joy! After a walk around the MLK Monument in DC, i ended up at home for the #RealTurnUp. Details of the turn-up coming soon, but this stew was the main entree at my Birthday TurnUp.

This stew is not quick. it needs at least 45 minutes of cooking time.

Ingredients

  1. A whole “heavy” fleshy chicken from the African Store – chopped. (it is important you use this kind of chicken because the regular grocery store chicken will disintegrate in the sauce)
  2. 2 1/2 cups of pomi crushed tomatoes
  3. 1 cup of vegetable oil
  4. 4 large red bell peppers
  5. 1 large red onion
  6. 1 tbsp ground ginger
  7. 1 tbsp ground garlic
  8. 1 tbsp curry powder
  9. 2 bullion cubes
  10. 2 tbsp ground hot peppers (optional)
  11. 1 tbsp herbs de provence
  12. 1 tbsp thyme
  13. 4 whole bay leaves

Method

  • Put the chicken in a pot, add water, and rinse
  • Pour out as much of the rinsing water as possible
  • Set the pot on a stovetop on high heat
  • Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot

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  • Blend the peppers and onions in the food processor without water

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  • Blend until the mixture is crushed but not smooth like a paste

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  •  Add the blended mixture to the pot
  • Add everything else to the pot

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  • Stir the mixture, cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat for about 45mins or until the stew thickens and oil rises to the top.

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  • Turn off the heat and serve with rice, beans, lentils or root tubers like boiled yam.
  • We had ours with herbed white rice, boiled honey beans, and fried plantain

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Oya come chop! 🙂