I had such a wonderful girls sleep over weekend, it was one for the books. A trip up North which was supposed to be just with a very good friend of mine and her family, turned into a girls weekend because we got 2 other women to join us. For one of them, we had never met her before, but we’ve all had such a great online connection for months now, you know how you feel like someone is your person, and when you finally meet, you hit it off immediately. We shall call her D. Then comes another friend whom we had met in person just once, but a friendship has ben building online for months, and she said oh, can I come over, totally un-planned, she got on the train and that’s how all four of us came together, it was like a coming together of old friends, a la Sex and The City. We shall call her A. I am feeling all Pretty Little Liars now, hehehehehehehehe. Gosh, that show is so stupid, I can’t believe it is still on, and so popular for that matter. When I posted “How to make Amala using a hand mixer” (click HERE), someone named Bev, left this comment.

“Dunni, did you say Starch? Throws down the gauntlet and yells CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!* I am ready to be a believer because I can’t imagine starch going through a mixer since it bakes off the heat from the pan as supposed to others that steam. The starch will just seize your mixer, being all rude and throwing gang signs, lol”.

You guys know by now that I don’t back down from a food challenge, especially one involving proving a point about Modern Nigerian cooking. You may have read me whine and complain about making starch months ago. Click HERE. My goodness, no wonder many of our mums and grandma’s from the Niger Delta had killer arms, that would make Michelle Obama jealous. Making starch is no mean feat. My grandmother only allowed me go halfway before taking over the wooden spoon from me. Watching her wrestle with the thing was fascinating, but why on earth should making food be that hard. Starch is right up there with Pounded Yam.

We have slayed pounded yam in a food processor and other kitchen devices. In February, I compiled a list of all kitchen gadgets that can make pounded yam. Click HERE to see the list, scroll to the end. If you are still making pounded yam traditionally, allow me to wag my finger at you. Even if it is done by your domestic staff, save them please, and move over to the cool cooks corner. Now, it is time to triumphantly announce that we are going to slay Starch, 2014 Nigerian Cooking style. Use a hand mixer. I had the confidence to try this because 2 weeks ago, I blended frozen green plantains and I used a hand mixer from start to finish over my cooker. It was amazing. I tried it twice, and thought wow, this is toooooooo cool. It will be published on the other site I write for.

The true measure of creative people is not entirely linked to inventing something new, but taking what already exists and making it better, or trying out other possibilities. Steve Jobs did not invent the computer, Microsoft already existed, and look at what Steve built. He didn’t even invent the tablet, now the Ipad is the highest selling tablet of all time. Mark Zuckerberg did not invent Social media, MySpace and Hi5 already existed, now see, that under 30yr old is richer than the creators of Google. Those 2 men and so many more of their caliber are my daily inspiration. As I was handed my new Apple babies on Sunday, I reminded myself again, to continually push the boundaries, to explore the possibilities of dishes/cooking methods, to improve on them and to use the influence of this blog to spread the word, irregardless of who has done it before, as long as due credit is given. The cookbook will blow your mind with totally new stuff. Bill Gates reached the Lighthouse, Steve Jobs met him there, passed him and raced to the top. Decades from now, Dooney’s Kitchen would have made an impact, stamped a large footprint on the food world, the kind Apple is known for. Can I hear an AMEN!!!!! Loooool. Let’s Cook

You will need

Powdered starch - i used potato starch (farina), you can also use tapioca starch sold in Asian food stores
Palm Oil
Water

How To

1. Dissolve the starch in water to form a semi thick paste. Add Palm oil to the solution. This gives the traditional yellow/orange colour. Place the pot on heat.

2. Attach the hand mixer. The lighting in my friend’s house is a food photographers delight. Thanks to A, my novice photographer, who did an amazing job. Start on low-speed to prevent the solution splashing about.

3. As the solution heats up, you will start to notice it get thicker, like the consistency of Pap. No lumps, no bumps, nothing.

4. As the solution thickens to form one big ball, you need to increase the speed, so the engine can cope with the firmness developing

keep going, making sure your hand is steady on the mixer

5. The speed of the rotating whisk rods, will cause the starch to fill their entire length, not to worry, keep at it. The Starch is nowhere near ready yet.

see how stretchy it is?

6. Switch off the machine for a bit only to scrape the starch down, just so the bits at the top get some heat to cook through. This should take you seconds

see, the pot has been on heat, the entire time. Turn the machine back on

7. and here we go, the starch is cooking. See how it has that smooth, shiny surface, and it is beginning to look translucent. Some bits will still move further up, but not as much.

Remember Bev’s comment above? Well look closely at the bottom of the pot. As the starch bakes/cooks, it detaches cleanly from the bottom of the pot. That is how you know you are doing it right. Ask any Urhobo person, they will tell you.

You know you can count on me to be honest and open with my cooking. Back to Bev’s comment about the starch “seizing your mixer, being all rude and throwing gang signs. Well Bev, is this gangster enough for you? Hehehehehehe.

See how stretchy it is? I would have held on for longer stretching it much farther, but it was too hot to hold for much longer.

Yes, you will face resistance, for sure. Starch is quite like rubber, just keep the mixer steady in your hand and you will do fine. If your mixer has a powerful enough motor, it will do just fine. Trust me, the pressure you will be applying to keep the mixer steady is nowhere near the arm cardio required to make starch using a wooden spoon. Hand on heart, trust me. See, how smooth the starch is. Not a single lump

8. The starch wrapping around the long bit of the whisk rods, will slip down to the pot. You can go on and on, I did, cos I was too excited, but the starch was done, done, done, I have a clean bottom of the pot to prove it. The yellow burnt bits, just came from me still keeping it on heat. See, how smooth the starch is.

………………and here it is Starch. Made with less than half the time, and waaaaaaaaaay less effort. Nigerian cooking on easy street.

Any complaints? Again, look at the clean bottom of the pot

anyone who has made starch before would recognise the crackly, burnt bits at the sides of the pot. This basically proves that the hand mixer replicates the manual stirring process, but much faster because it whips the solution in faster circular repetitions.

……………..and the starch came off cleanly from the pot

the only trouble was with eating it. My friends have never had starch before, so it was quite a lesson showing them how to bend their arms, make a pocket between their thumb and index finger and pinch. They weren’t impressed. As this was made with modern cooking methods, they decided to get out a fork and knife. Aint nobody got time to be fighting with food. Only A, was impressed with Starch though. The rest, didn’t like the texture when chewed.

The real thing. If you saw this picture, not in a million years, would you have guessed it was not made by hand. I apologise for the messy plate. Loooool. My Urhobo people, wado o. Life is now so much easier. Making starch has been brought forward to the 21st century. Pounded Yam is ubiquitously Nigerian, Starch belongs to us Niger Deltans. It is my wish, that we will embrace this new method for all the ease that it brings.

In retrospect, we should have shot a video, but we wisened up the next day, when I tried out another new method to making something that almost always results in bruised knuckles. Quite a funny video, to launch Dooney’s Kitchen YouTube Channel

The post Making Starch in 2014 appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

Oh, I had an amazing weekend, I am still repeating it. It was one of the best weekends I have had in ages, so much fun stuff done, and chasing new frontiers. I had part of my inner caucus with me, and it was such a relief to be able to bounce off ideas on how to grow the blog, new food ideas/recipes to try, golden words of advice to deal with negativity, it was a time to recharge the batteries emotionally and mentally, I am running on full steam ahead. I got to cook for the family, spend time with the children, talk shop on Saturday and Sunday morning, it was such bliss, I didn’t want to go home. We were up till 3am talking, my poor friend’s husband who was our host must have been thinking, goodness me, women sure can talk. He still finds it amazing that not only did we meet online, we have never known each other for years, and we are as thick as thieves already. As I was winding down to sleep on the sofa, I kept thinking about Kindred Spirits. It is not just two words but an activity, an action. Those words when put together are alive, they are pulsing, you can observe it everywhere. My faith tells me it is The Law of The Attraction of Homogeneous Species at play. You attract that which you are. It wasn’t just the good conversation and laughter, plus of course the food of which I came with an entire truckload, but the sharing, the frank candid advice. I got to talk to these women, like really talk. One was privy to what I have been going through with the blog and the unprovoked, un-solicited vitriol, the other two weren’t, still, they were open, honest, brutally so. You don’t get such with people anymore. Many people really don’t care, if y’all can gist about fluffy, bubble gum stuff, that’s okay, and you are friends, so much so. You could get a sense of these people are what you call “my person”, not to be sycophants which the world is full of but genuine, true friends. When I was going to do something quite silly and mischievous, quickly, they shut it down. Many would have laughed with me and said do it, do it, let it out, throw back your firing shot, gosh I love mischief, but they didn’t let me. The maturity displayed and the feeling of, no, we won’t let you do something that may possibly hurt you, was quite touching, plus the fact that I listened, which in retrospect, I amazed myself. Some of us carry the stubborn gene. I inherited it from my mother. Shhhhhhhh, don’t tell her I said so. Hehehehehe.

Breakfast on Sunday was to be Boiled Yam and a Sardine and sweet peppers egg stew. I was passed a tuber of yam, and chatting away, I did not notice on sight, that it was the wrong type of yam. I cut into it, and stopped. Wait a minute, this is water yam, and that is how Ojojo which A, hadn’t eaten in almost 30 years became a Sunday afternoon snack.

I have terrible memories of grating water yam. Bruised knuckles and finger tips for one. I am the person that will grate till the very last stump of yam, injuring myself in the process, but I never seemed to be able to let it go. Plus water yam is quite itchy. It touches your arm and you would almost scratch your skin off. Then I remembered the food processor. Someone had asked me last year if it would work using the grating rings, and I said why not. She tried it, it worked. Opportunity to try it myself for the first time and I was so pleased.

Kemi, dug out the traditional grater from her store. It caused guffaws of laughter. Look at the price on it. Hahahahahaha. Observe the grating holes, and look back up at the grating blade of a food processor. Come on, look at the tiny holes, they are THE SAME. Pick up your grater in the kitchen and look too, yup, THE SAME. So, why on earth won’t this work. Say bye-bye to bruised knuckles and finger tips.

You can have Ojojo (recipe HERE), Ikokore (recipe HERE), Ekpang Nkwukwo (efik version of ikokore, wrapped in cocoyam leaves), Ayan Ekpang or Ebiripo (grated cocoyam steamed in leaves) in record time and no injuries. You can also do this in a blender, or attach the knife blade to your food processor, as if you want to make pounded yam. Kemi tried that yesterday too and it worked. Don’t you just loooooove technology. #2014NigerianCooking. Here’s how: 1. Peel and quarter the yam. Attach the grating blade to the bowl, place the cover and lock. Place the pieces of yam through the chute. You can get away with 2 or 3. Yes, free advert for Kenwood, it is intentional.

2. using the chute cover, press down on the yam, and turn the engine on

3. Now watch as the yam is blitzed through the grating holes, and forms a paste into the bowl.

A, took such amazing pictures, you can see every step

look at that yam go down

and down

and down

almost done now

Yaaaaaaaaaay, done.

4. Repeat the process with all your yam. One thing to watch out for is that, you will get some bits left behind on the grating blade, but you can always put them back in between the bigger pieces of yam and it will blitz all through. remember, even when grating manually, you will have some stumps left anyway.

5. Here you are people, grated water yam, no stress, no sweat, no yelping in pain when your skin catches on the grater and no blood. SCORE!!!!!!!!

A tip I learnt from my mum. With some tubers, the water content is quite high, and when grated, it is not firm. Not to worry, just leave in the freezer for 10 – 15 minutes or more, depending on the volume you have. Take it out and start cooking.

Ojojo frying away.

By the time we were more than halfway done, it occurred to me that why don’t we shoot a video. A, is quite a novice with my kind of camera, so the first 2 takes were shot half at the beginning, half at the end. We were slowly running out of yam, so I said with all seriousness (i didn’t realise at the time, blame my headmistress Mum, I have quite an authoritative tone), this is the last piece of yam, let us ensure that we get it right. Oh dear, the phrase “the best laid plans” must have been talking about children. The entire time we were using the food processor, Kemi’s little boy did not pay us any attention. Now, when it got to the last piece of yam, the Pièce de résistance he unexpectedly ran into the kitchen expressing his displeasure with the noise of the engine running. It was hilarious. You just have to watch this video and listen out for Femi at the end. With all pride and joy, I am officially announcing the launch of Dooney’s Kitchen YouTube Channel. Long overdue I know, I have never shot a video with my camera before, but I was quite pleased with the quality. Now it is time to put my Tripod and IMovie to good use. More videos to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzETwByPlQk

I will be trying out the blender and knife blade method, and update this post hopefully before the week runs out. Starting my cleans August 1, so I only have 1 more day left for eating anything. Wish me luck

The post Grating Water Yam in a Food Processor appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

It took me long enough eh? As brave as I am with a lot of things in life, some things still scare me shitless, and shooting videos ranks high on the list. I have this HD all singing, all dancing DSLR camera that I have been getting better at shooting pictures with. I bravely moved over to shooting in Manual, which took me months to do. A very kind pro photographer was brought across my path at a friend’s baby shower and he kindly showed me what to do using his very expensive full frame camera. I had to run home to get my camera so I could practice. I was shocked at what I could do with it. Every serious photographer shoots in Manual and I have been afraid of venturing into unknown. Not any more. The pictures you are going to be seeing in the next couple of weeks/months, will have an edge to them. I am also stepping into the deep end with photo editing. Scary stuff right there, but I am determined. Enough of looking at pictures on foreign food blogs and thinking why, can’t mine look like that.

Before I ramble off, finally I got the nerve to shoot a video. It is not that often I have someone else in the kitchen with me holding a camera. 99% of all the pictures on the blog, were taken my by me. So last Sunday, I had this rare opportunity, so I told A, to hold the camera and shoot a video. It was quite the experience, especially the unexpected help we got from my friend’s son. Listen out for him and my laughter. We could have spliced up the other takes to form a perfect video, but I said no. We will use this one. Years down the line when I have TV shows, I want to look back and laugh at the very first video I uploaded unto the internet. I have zero experience with video editing, like zilch, but I am willing to learn. My colleague told me even kids in primary school can do it. The kick in the backside that I needed. My tripod and I are going to get very friendly. It has been sitting in my cupboard for months now.

So, don’t despise the days of humble beginnings, this is my very first video on the YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCazWa0sPIThe5kdGuEKkC8w

Dooney’s Kitchen How to series. How to grate water yam in a food processor.

Wish me luck!!

The post Announcing Dooney’s Kitchen YouTube Channel appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

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The post Introducing Clevenard Farm Foods appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

There are times in your life when you need validation. Believe me, even the best and most confident of us need it sometimes. Whether it is with work, or with your passion, even in relationships. Especially when it is with something you put your heart and soul into. You may not say it out loud, because you may sound childish, needy or whiny. Self validation definitely trumps someone else’s that’s a given, and it is important that you learn to validate yourself. I think I do fine in that category, but once in a while, a little external validation, goes a long way.

In relation to jam, my validation, the cherry on top came last Friday from a Cordon Bleu trained Chef. I was looking through BN Cuisine last Friday and Gbugbemi a.k.a Chef Fregz’s (whom I have mad respect for) words that leaped off the page for me.Click HERE

“The other day whilst doing the usual scrolling through Instagram, Sister Dooney dropped a chilli jam recipe and I almost took a spoon to scoop my share from my screen”.

For anyone else, it would just have read normal and they would have scrolled by, but for me, I stopped, read those words, over and over again and smiled, internally dancing a jig, I think I must have danced a little on my chair. Yes, people, 30 words made my day (oh, yes, I counted, lol). Validation!!!! My recipe, my Rodo Jam, it got noticed, noticed enough to be mentioned, noticed enough to inspire Chef Fregz’s Thai Chilli Sweet Sauce, which I am definitely going to try. On my next trip home, I am going with jars and jars of my Rodo Jam. Extra, extra, read all about it, you can place your orders now. Lol

Today, I am writing about Jam again, this time Onion Jam. It has been on the list to try for months now. When I made Rodo Jam (recipe HERE) it bumped up to the top of the list, I still forgot, then a series of events brought it all home. After attending the Walkers Chips launch event (read HERE), I wrote to The English Provender Company telling them how much I loved their Caramelised Red Onion Chutney. I introduced myself as a Nigerian food blogger and asked if I could get samples sent to me for a Product Review to introduce their products to a possibly relatively unknown market, Nigerians and West Africans in the UK and beyond, who read this blog. They replied almost immediately, got their PR company in London to contact me, and products were shipped. They could just have ignored my email, but from on High, He just sent me the validation I needed. Two days after, a reader Oyinlola wrote to me and said Dunni’ can you please try Onion and Bacon Jam. Twice in one week, okay, okay, I have to make this jam now, and so I did the last weekend with my friend A, with a little of this and that, some extra special hush hush ingredients. There is no bacon/alcohol in this recipe for the benefit of my Muslim readers. The next batch of this jam would be made with Bacon. I already have other possible add-ons, but for now, Let’s Cook:

You will need

1/2 tsp of Nutmeg
1/2 – 1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper - dry pepper 
2 pieces of red onions
1 knob of butter
1 clove of garlic - try the smoked variety
A pinch of salt
60 – 70g of Brown Sugar - you can try white
Water
60 – 80ml Balsamic vinegar
Sterilised jar

Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: make sure you have your jar sterilised and ready, so you can store immediately and retain moisture. This is especially important if you live in temperate regions. If you have no restrictions with alcohol, red wine or sherry works beautifully with this jam

How To

1.  Chop red onions. Let me tell you a little story. A, told me about the supposed myth about chewing gum while chopping onions. I snickered saying, old wives tale. She said, put it to the test. With my reputation at stake here, I can authoritatively tell you guys now that IT WORKS. I would have used a chopper bowl for this, but I chopped two large red onions while chewing gum and my eyes did not sting one bit. Until (yes, there is an until), I stopped concentrating on chewing and the sting came back. Apparently there is a scientific explanation as to why this works. Please don’t ask. Looool.

this brand right here is one of the best balsamic vinegar brands out there. Gourmet quality, I tell you, all the way from Italy.

2. In a heavy based or non stick pan, melt a knob of butter

3. Add the chopped onions and garlic to the pan and stir. Lower the heat to medium. Now it is time to let the onions sweat down and caramelise. This recipe will teach you patience, but the results are so worth it.

first stage – sweating down the onions

keep going, ensure you stir regularly, otherwise it will burn. If it starts to show signs of burning, further lower the heat

you are finally on your way there

4. Notice how the onions have started to come together, and have reduced in size. This would take you at least 25 minutes.

5. Add the sugar. I used Demerara, you can use caster sugar. If you have no caster sugar at home, just blitz granulated sugar in a mill till it becomes fine

stir and watch the sugar crystals combine and start to dissolve.

5. Once almost dissolved, add the Balsamic Vinegar. Balsamic vinegar and onions are a match made in food heaven. The dark, caramelised colour of onion jam comes mostly from balsamic vinegar, and I am cooking with one of the best.

now it is time to play another round of the waiting game. You need to allow the balsamic to slowly reduce with the sugar and onions.

6. Before the balsamic vinegar totally reduces, add a teaspoon of nutmeg, a pinch of salt and dry pepper.

and keep allowing the contents of the pan to reduce

7. You know you are there when the balsamic has totally taken over in terms of colour and the contents of the pan doesn’t come off easily from the spoon i.e. the consistency of jam

I needed to thin it out a bit, with water, because I didn’t get a sterilised jar immediately, and it congealed more than I liked. If you find that you don’t need to, don’t. Otherwise add water or red wine vinegar.

Serve immediately, with unusual bits of food, like this piece of grilled Sausage. It is still summer in many parts of the world, try this at your next barbecue, and watch your guests’s face light up at an unusual item on your menu. Especially with burgers or grilled meat. Yum!!!!

Put some jazz into your breakfast, by serving some sweet and savoury Onion Jam.

Or Go Food Fusion by serving it as a dip with Plantain Chips or Gurudi (coconut chips). I made another batch with much smaller sized onions, to make the jam less chunky.

I don’t have a preference. Chunky or smoother, both very delicious.

The post Dooney’s Onion Jam appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

You guys know I am half Igbo right? A friend of mine would read this and say, you always know when to claim your Igbo roots, very convenient. I am Delta Igbo and my people do NOT like being called Igbo, goodness knows why. My cousins would proudly proclaim that they are not Igbo, my Uncles would give you a good side eye if you ever dared call yourself Igbo. We are Delta Igbo you hear, errrrrrrr, trying not to roll my eyes, ‘biko’ (please) what is the difference? I think the need to experiment with food from different parts of Nigeria must be due to my family heritage. My taste buds have developed from lots of places. That heritage is quite conflicting because my first name is Yoruba, middle name, Yoruba, surname, you can’t place where, and just assume, Yoruba. This piece is linked to how something, in this case food, may look one way on the outside, but contain ingredients you would not have suspected.

Funny story. To apply for a Passport, you need a letter from your State of Origin. At the Delta State Liaison Office in Abuja, I confidently walked up to the desk and submitted the form. The look on the woman’s face across the desk was priceless. “Young lady, did you miss your way?” Ogun and Ondo State Liaison offices are across the road. I replied “no Ma, I am from Delta State”. She looked at the form, looked at me and said “you must be joking”. She called out her colleagues to come and see this Oladunni, claiming Delta. Then it became a circus. It was funny at first, because I get such comments all the time, then they became rude and annoying, which made me ask if the Delta State Governor issued a cheque for every Deltan and they think I am fraudulently claiming their state for monetary reasons. Oh dear, wrong move. They were seriously offended and called more people to come and hear this “small girl” insulting them.

Gesticulating and talking at the top of their voices, foaming at the mouth, “you are not our daughter”, “we know our children”. Such inane comments. I was told to call my mum, which I refused initially, but gave in. Another wrong move. These total strangers accused my mother of brainwashing “their son”, to give his child Yoruba names. “How can her Igbo name be her third name, and more. At that point, I was close to walking out. Next call, I put Daddy on the phone, and the “chief accuser” spoke to my dad in Igbo, which he barely speaks, hahahahahahaha and that compounded the matter. I was hearing words like “outrageous”, “abomination”, “lost generation”, “send her to the village”, “it is not too late to learn Igbo”, “she must marry a Delta man”. For heavens sake, on top of a stupid letter. I was their entertainment for the day. My saviour in the form a much older man, came in and must have taken pity on me because he told them to take a good look at me, I look like a Delta Igbo girl (whatever that means). Huh? Where, how, I am the splitting image of my mother. Of course, woe betide me to deny his claim. He must have spoken magical words, because they suddenly stopped, looked at me as if they had never seen me before, and started nodding their heads in agreement. Yes, my eyes, my forehead, my skin, my hairline, I must be Delta Igbo. I had to lock my jaw in place, to stop my mouth from opening in amazement. That was how hours later, this Delta girl with Yoruba names got a confirmation of State of Origin letter issued. Phew!!!!

This is my Paternal Grandmother’s Efo Riro. She herself half Ashanti, half Benin. The Benin side of the family also has Delta and Yoruba connections. I am yet to see anyone cook Efo Riro with the ingredients that she used .Efo riro being classically Yoruba, she gave a twist using aromatic ingredients, so despite it being a Yoruba dish, it is not what you would expect and it was delicious like you wouldn’t believe. I am only revealing one today, the rest will be stored in the ‘isale apoti’ (deep recess) of my memory. One of her key ingredients, Efinrin. Let’s Cook

You will need

1 bunch of Efinrin - scent leaf, nchawu, ntong. Substitute with Basil
2 – 3 bunches of Efo Tete - spinach, greens
1 bunch of Efo Shoko - callaloo, hospital too far, efo iyana ipaja, substitute with kale 
Tatashe - red bell pepper
Ata rodo - scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
Chopped red onions
Assorted Meats
Beef Stock -
Eja Sawa -
Eja Osan - smoked fish
Panla - stockfish
Palm Oil
Iru - fermented locust beans
Ground crayfish
Salt
NO SEASONING CUBE - oh yes, I mean that. Zilch, none, nada

How To

1. Blend the tatashe and rodo till you get a smooth consistency and boil in a pot till it becomes very thick. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: There was something she did, which you will notice in the final picture. 80% of the pepper was blended to a smooth consistency. The rest 20% she used a grinding stone. Errrrrrr, just roughly blend in food processor or blender just and set that aside. When the pepper mix has boiled through, in a pot, heat up palm oil and fry chopped onions till it softens, then you add the pepper and fry till it starts to take on the look of well fried stew. This should take you quite some time, because you need to really fry this pepper.

2. Add your meats, and lots of it. You need enough meat to almost take over the pepper, as if you are trying to make the peppered meats, served at parties. Funny, this is how both grandma’s cooked their Efo riro. Don’t ask, I have no idea myself. Considering they never got along, it is quite strange. Hehehehehehehe.

3. Add the washed iru, ground crayfish and a little of the water used to wash the Iru. Give it a stir, and let it fry, to allow the meats absorb the flavours of iru and crayfish.

4. Add beef stock, enough to dilute, add the smoked fish, and stockfish. Lower the heat, cover the pot and just leave it to simmer. This is all you need. You need to try this efo riro without seasoning cubes, to really understand how good it is. To get really rich beef stock, boil your meats with enough smoked fish and stock fish, and really let that stock reduce till it becomes very intense.

5. This is what you should get roughly after 5 – 7 minutes. it should have thickened, with oil peeking out on top

6. Add the first batch of vegetables. 80% of the Efinrin and Spinach. Give it a stir, with the heat still lowered.

You need to add spinach and efinrin together because as the spinach wilts, it releases water, which makes it easier for the flavour of the efinrin to permeate the meats and other contents of the pot. By this stage, you should be able to smell the efinrin. If you can’t smell it, it just means that you haven’t added enough.

7. You know that roughly ground pepper that you set aside? You should have about 2 cooking spoons of it. The rest of the efinrin too, Now it is time to introduce them to the pot with your efo Soko or callaloo, or efo iyan ipaja or in this case Kale. Stir and cover the pot. Give it a couple more minutes

then take it off the heat, and leave it to continue cooking in its residual heat. When you open the pot, the scented aroma should hit you with a pleasant sweet smell. That people, is Iyenekere’s Efo Riro. If you need to add salt, add a teeny bit and finish off with ground crayfish.

if you are left with more liquid pepper stock than you would like, don’t sweat it. Just leave the pot covered and walk away. The vegetables will absorb more water, the longer they stay un-disturbed. Besides, it is based on preference. I like a little of that liquid stock to soak up Eba or Pounded yam with, in fact the essence of the efinrin is mostly present in the liquid stock.

Enjoy!!!!!!

Try it sometime, and you will wonder why you haven’t been making efo riro like this, all your life. Can you see that roughly ground pepper, peeking out among the greens. This is one of the reasons why her Efo didn’t just taste great, it looked great.

The post Iyenekere’s Scented Efo riro appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

If you couldn’t pronounce the words above, don’t worry, I can’t too. Somehow in my head, it is stored as akpurukuku gunam gunam. Don’t ask my why, it just is. Funny, that pronunciation flashes across my memory at very odd times and I find myself chuckling unexpectedly, getting me weird looks from people around me. I have resolved to keep the ‘mgbam’ instead. I am a lost cause regarding its prefix. In case you are wondering, Ofe is the Igbo word for soup and Okazi is a vegetable.

I have never seen this made before. I only saw it once and it was not even a clear picture. The only reason it piqued my interest was because I was intrigued about the South Eastern method of forming Egusi into balls. My Ijebu grandmother taught me how to use onions, and that has worked for me since like forever. If you would like to know the Yoruba way of forming Egusi balls, click HERE. With being a food blogger, I have the privilege to be exposed to different food cultures from across Nigeria, and I have to thank the people who are willing to share their knowledge with me. Usu is a word I had never heard before. If you would have asked me to take a guess, I would have said it is another spelling for ‘Osu’ (outcast) seeing that okazi is also spelt ukazi and same with oziza vs uziza. I never thought this soup was within my reach, until Serah Ogidi.P kindly gave me some of her stash of Usu. Without her, it wouldn’t have been possible. I also have to thank Chichi G, Susan H, and most especially Chibruoma Iroegbu who painstakingly dictated the recipe to me over the phone. Chiby is from Nkwerre in Rivers State but married to man from Umuahia, Abia State. She had to learn how to cook this soup as it is native to her husband’s people (good wife alert).

Google is a resource for even the weirdest of things, but for this mgbam, no such thing exists, so whatever you see below is my interpretation based on the instructions I was given. This is also my first time of cooking Ofe Okazi. I see Food bloggers as having the responsibility and privilege of being custodians of Nigerian food culture. Many dishes and food items are getting lost probably because of the lack of documentation, particularly food from the South East and South South which I find to be quite insular. Despite self proclaiming to be the poster child for 2014 Nigerian cooking, I still realise that some things must be preserved, well except there is a modern way to achieve the same thing. Pounding vs food processor for example. That is a no brainer. Today, I humbly and proudly say  there is now a documented resource for akpuruakpu mgbam. Lets Cook.

You will need

1 or 2 tablespoons of Usu - white chalk like substance NOT Potash
1 cup of ground Egusi
Dry pepper or  Fresh pepper

Usu – as you can see, it is not potash

Now to the hard part. Making the Mgbam. You have two options. The traditional way using a mortar and pestle or the cheat 2014 way using a chopper bowl.

The Traditional Method

1. In a small mortar, add the ground egusi, ground Usu (you can choose to blend the whole egusi seeds with usu), dry pepper/fresh pepper and salt.

Start to pound with the pestle until the egusi gets compacted, after which you add hot water. Roughly about 2 tablespoons.

Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: the hot water is to aid the release of  the natural oils from the egusi. Keep pounding until you begin to notice the egusi form into a dough-like paste, like eba, but firmer and the colour starts to change to brown.

Keep pounding, and the egusi will become even more oily and takes on the a firmer doughy like consistency

you are there when the dough starts to come together with no torn edges

You should be done pounding when the mortar comes off clean after pounding.

Unfortunately, this process is long, and tedious. Good for those upper arm muscles though. I decided to try another batch using my hand blender chopper bowl. Goodness me, it does 90% of the work for you in less than half the time.

2014 Cheat Method

Pour all the ingredients from above into a chopper bowl and whizz until the egusi forms a dough. Depending on the quantity that you have, you may need to transfer into a mortar to finish it off when the blades no longer spin the egusi dough, but the best part is the majority of the work has been done for you, in less time and less arm cardio, well unless you are like me on the perpetual quest for toned arms, then you can pound away from scratch.

See below

next stage

Told you!!!

I didn’t make a large enough batch in the chopper bowl, otherwise it would have done the job for me from start to finish. You can also do this in a food processor with the dough blade attached. Regardless of which method you use, you should end up with a fully formed dough ball

It should come off the sides of the mortar cleanly as a whole dough, no torn edges.

Moulding and shaping the Mgbam

Take out portions of the dough into small balls and squeeze in your palm to extract, the extra oil from the mgbam, until it starts to feel dry, you will also notice the mgbam darken slightly in colour.

Tear out a small portion from the balls. Pinch the dough, flatten and manoeuvre with your thumb, index and middle finger

into an oval shape.

Repeat until you exhaust the egusi balls

and that people is How to Make Akpuruakpu Mgbam. Also called ahuu, or mkpurusu. I hope the Ndigbo’s approve.

Now, it is time to cook the mgbam and transform all your efforts into an absolutely delicious Ofe Okazi that will make all that stress so worthwhile. See you at the next post. Click HERE

The post How to make Igbo egusi balls – akpuruakpu mgbam appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

After making Ofe Okazi, which rocked something awful, I wanted to try this, and I thought hmmmmmn, the Ndigbo’s will have my head for this. Amala with Ofe Okazi, I can almost hear them say Taaaa!!! I will say, why the hell not. A fusion of cultures and the best part is that it works. Afterall, amala is sometimes served with Egusi.

This plantain amala is even more special because it introduces a type of sweetness to the dish that rhymes well with the earthy taste of the achi. Why I was even more excited to try this was because, I kept getting requests and questions, if the hand mixer method will work with making semovita, ground rice and other Nigerian starchy solids made differently from the hot water and flour amala method. I love me a challenge. My brain imagines the possibilities and i think sure, I will give it a try. Give it a try I did, using Remmy Tee’s frozen green plantain amala. Loved it, loved it. I finished the last of the Ofe Okazi yesterday, eating with one hand, working on the computer with another, fearing for my poor Mac that I will spill something over it and cry to high heavens because I have plans to sell it.

You try this out for yourself and see. That wooden spoon of ours is going to be having some major hand mixer envy very soon. I took it even further and made the dreaded Starch eating across the Niger Delta. The urhobo’s call it Usi. Click HERE to see how. If you would like to see how to use your hand mixer to make traditional amala with the Elubo flour, oh yes, you can, click HERE.  Lets Cook

You will need

2 Frozen Green Plantains
Small quantity of water to blend
Hand mixer - with the whisk rods attached

How To

1. Take the plantains out of the freezer and leave to sit on your kitchen worktop for 30minutes, which will make it easy to peel off the skin. I tried to get the skin off straight from the freezer and had a battle on my hands. It will be best to chop the plantain in small pieces before blending.

2. Blend to a smooth puree

3. Pour into a saucepan

4. Where you would have normally gotten out the wooden spoon, get out the hand mixer and attach the whisk rods. You are about to watch technology in motion. #2014NigerianCooking

5. Set the engine in motion and whisk. I started at number 1 and cranked it up to number 3 about a minute after.

because the whisking motion is faster than what turning with a wooden spoon will achieve, it makes the plantain amala much quicker. Trust me, I timed this one too. I achieved the result below in way less time, than i would have using my hands.

6. As the mixture, thickens as a result of heat, the amala wraps itself around the whisk rods, in a rapid circular motion, making it very stretchy and fluffy. Amala fele fele (light and fluff) as my Yoruba people say.

7. ……………..and you are done. Timer off, 4 mins 54 seconds. If I didn’t have to stop to be taking pictures, I would have finished in less time. To show you how stretchy this amala is, i lifted up the whisk rods and took a picture. Look below to see that the plantain amala in the pot is still connected to the bit around the whisk rods. Yup, it is that stretchy.

8. As for cleaning, it isn’t that much extra work, compared with cleaning a wooden spoon.

see, it falls of cleanly. Experiment over. You can make this with semovita, ground rice, oatmeal, wheat flour, the next experiment is with……………… stay tuned.

Amala is not the easiest or prettiest of things to plate, so I used a ring food mould which I was conned into ordering. The picture on Lakeland’s (yes that store has gotten me hooked) site looked like a standard sized mould, I was too busy smiling at the 99p price to check the dimensions. When it arrived, I thought what the heck, what am I going to do with this puny thing. It just so happens that on the same Sunday I planned to return it, I thought to mould the plantain amala inside it to see. I am a very proud somebody looking at these images. Not only did I make this amala using a modern kitchen tool, I also got to plate that same amala in the non traditional way.

Win-Win for #2014NigerianCooking

Plantain Amala rings stuffed with Ofe Okazi and topped with mgbam (flat egusi balls)

the recipe for Ofe Okazi is on Bella naija. Don’t have the time to post it here, but come back next week, I will have even more pictures of the step by step details.

Still not convinced about amala and okazi soup, you try it out and see.

Akpuruku mgbam, sitting atop plantain amala

#fusion of cultures. Yoruba meets Igbo

The post Frozen green plantain amala – using a hand mixer appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

This simply means Okazi soup cooked with akpuruakpu mgbam, english for Egusi balls. This is a delicacy from the people of Umuahia in Abia State. Adding to my repertoire of dishes from the Eastern part of Nigeria. I started making this dish with a lot of trepidation. Achi is a thickener I am not fond of at all. Now I know that I must have been buying it from questionable sources because I got my friend Chiby to send me some all the way from Scotland. Chiby gets her stash sent by her mother in law from Nigeria and I must tell you people, I am now an Achi convert. All I need now is a good source of Ofor (another soup thickener used by the Igbos) and I am good to go. If you live in the UK and you would kindly want to gift me some ofor, please send me an email. I will be very grateful.

Okazi is by far not my favourite vegetable to cook with. I can see why the Efiks pound it for Afang Soup. It is quite a tough vegetable, with not that much flavour. As you only need a handful for this soup, if you are not a huge fan of Okazi, you wouldn’t even mind at all. The star of this dish is the mgbam. Ooooooh, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, and I thought egusi balls made with onions are the best things since slice bread. This is equally as good. Ofe Okazi is the soup to try if you are looking to step out of your comfort zone with cooking. Some dishes I try once for the education and experience, and may never make again for a long time to come, I don’t think Ofe Okazi is going on that list at all. It will be a regular from my kitchen, well until I run out of Achi and back to begging Chiby nicely for some more. Join me in the Ofe Okazi fan club, all hail the people of Umuahia for introducing this delicious goodness to Nigeria. Let’s Cook

You will need

Pre made akpuruakpu mgbam - egusi balls. Learn how click HERE
Okporoko - stock fish
Dry fish - like azu mbasa or mangala
Ground crayfish
Assorted Meat
Snails - if you have
Palm Oil
Achi – powdered
Salt
Beef Stock
Water
1 handful Shredded Okazi leaves - fresh or dry
Achara - if you have
Isam - perwinkle
I would like to state that I could not source achara where I live, and I had run out of periwinkles

How To

First you cook the mgbam. This, people also takes a lot of time and patience. the one good thing, or should I say one of many is that you can make a large batch of the mgbam and keep for later. I definitely did, and I have subsequently made Ofe Okazi. Amazing, how quick it took with already cooked mgbam. While the mgbam is cooking, boil your assorted meats with a lot of stockfish and dry fish. You need to get a very rich stock out of boiling your meats because you should not have to add seasoning cubes or possibly salt when you start cooking the soup.

1. Fill a big pot half way, add palm oil and bring to a boil. I took some cooks artistic license here by adding some ground crayfish into the water, for extra absorption of flavour.

Drop in the mgbam and let it boil until it turns completely white.

This would take quite some time and you would need to top up the water again. You will know the mgbam has cooked completely when it is also white inside when you bite into it. Very important to check the insides.

2. See, the previous brown mgbam? Now white

3. Take out the mgbam from the pot and transfer into another boiling pot containing assorted meats, shredded stockfish, smoked fish, isam, dry fish, a little extra palm oil and fresh pepper and achara (if you are using). This is a rich stock that forms the base of your soup. The flavour of the stock should have a deep robust flavour. If you are not quite there yet, add a tablespoon or 2 of ground crayfish, leave to boil for about 2 minutes and it should do the trick. Allow the mgbam to boil in this stock for 7 – 10minutes to absorb the flavours in the pot.

4. Mix 1 tablespoon of crayfish with 1 tablespoon of achi powder. The crayfish is needed to prevent the achi from forming lumps. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you only need a little achi to thicken the soup, because ofe okazi is not a thick soup at all

5. Add the achi-crayfish mix to the pot and stir quickly. Leave it to cook  for about 5 – 7 minutes to thicken the soup.

Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: if you have never cooked with Achi before, a little caveat. It would look at first as if the soup is not getting any thicker. DO NOT be tempted to add more. That is a rookie mistake I myself made a few times years ago with achi and ended up with a thick globby mess, before i got the hang of it. 

Give it some time and the liquid stock you started with would get thicker and take on a pleasant light yellowish orange colour.

see what I mean. Taste to ensure that you are fine with the flavour. Re-adjust if necessary.

6. Rinse your dry shredded Okazi leaves with enough water, add to the to the pot and stir. You can also choose to add more smoked fish, if you wish. Give it another 3 – 5 minutes, take off the heat and serve.

…………….with all pride and pleasure, for a soup I attempted for the first time, here is my Ofe Okazi na akpuruaku mgbam

May The Lord bless the Umuahia people…Mamma nu o!

It is not just the stock part of this soup that rocks something awful, chewing the mgbam, which previously tasted bland, but has absorbed all the flavours from the other contents of the pot. YUMSSSSS!!!!!!!

As written previously, Ofe Okazi is not a thick soup by any means. So, make sure you get the consistency right

Despite the soup being named after the vegetable Okazi, don’t add too much. One handful is just about right

I thoroughly enjoyed this soup. Pairing it with steamed green plantain amala, was a very wise decision. The sweetness of the amala, combined with the sour earthiness of the soup is something better tried than imagined. To learn how to make steamed green plantain amala, click HERE

#steppingoutofmycomfortzone #expandingmycookingrepertoire #igboandyorubafoodfusion

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My family received one of THE best news of our lives late last month. The kind that you are crying over the phone, your mum is crying, both of you are muttering you don’t know what, shouts of praises, Daddy is trying to chip in excitedly, Skype + phone conference calls, with everyone talking at the top of their voices, over each other, yoruba and english flying left and right, talking ten to a dozen no one could get a word in edgewise. We were all really jubilant, a time it would have been amazing if we were together in the same room, because I wanted that family group hug, but nevertheless, courtesy of technology, we connected as a family with joy and gratitude. If it was a scene in a movie, the screen would have been divided into four with, people screaming and shouting and smiling, and wiping tears, gosh, the impossible happened. I don’t think I have ever seen or heard my mum cry before, but it was a good sound in my ears, nothing like cries of joy. I pinched myself severally, asking for the news to be repeated multiple times, just to be sure I heard correctly. It was an amazing experience that kept us all awake for hours, well for one it was just afternoon, while for the rest of us it was almost midnight, but people nobody cared, news like this comes rarely, but when they do come, you just know the The Hand of The Almighty was in this, you don’t get to beat such odds, just by being, and for that we are very grateful. Mummy had to say okay, okay, there is work tomorrow, off to bed now, I know she and my Dad would have been talking till the sun came up.

I have been walking on air since then, especially as something is coming up in next month that is going to blow you guys away. My excited mode button has been activated and by His Grace, it will stay activated for a long time. Nothing can spoil my joy for the rest of the year and nothing will, ever. Faith came through for us, it wavered, it shook at some points, we almost gave up, but collectively, our faith came through for us. Odds that humans set, The Lord beat it, we came out victorious. Lol. I am so happy, it is unbelievable. I pray this Grace extends to everyone out there reading this and is waiting on The Lord to show His hand. Your turn to celebrate is almost here, He hasn’t forgotten, He has heard you, when the time is right, that closed-door you are standing at, will swing wide open, and immeasurable joy will flood in.

I was writing this recipe last month when the message we had been waiting for came. I abandoned it and started screaming the house down. Looking through my Drafts folder, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t published it. By some weird coincidence on that day, after I hung up the phone, at 12.56AM an email came in and guess what, a reader was giving me an excited feedback about trying the old Giz-dodo recipe (without pictures HERE) on the blog, telling me how it was a major hit with her family. I thought, what are the chances? Two instances of Giz Dodo in one night. It  has been almost a month since then. The euphoria has passed, but the joy and sense of gratitude has not waned. I might as well continue with publishing this recipe. Giz Dodo is a dish that is somewhat synonymous with parties and celebrations in Nigeria. Today, I am re-defining Giz Dodo. Re-defining how? Use it as a chunky dip. Making sense yet? Wait, think about it and say why not. This will go beautifully with chancy chips (potato or yam), Plantain chips, Tortilla Chips etc. You just have to look at Giz Dodo and see it beyond that side dish served rice or something for your guests to nibble on like stick meat (kebab) for example. Still not sure, Let’s Cook and start imagining the possibilities for your next party.

You will need

Chicken gizzards -
Tatashe - red bell pepper
Green pepper
Ata rodo - scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
Red Onions
Curry powder
Dried Thyme
Salt
Vegetable Oil
Tomatoes
Diced/cubed ripe plantain
Chicken Stock

How To

1. Boil the gizzards with salt, chopped onions and seasoning cubes till tender. Proceed to frying or grilling in the oven

2. While the gizzards are boiling or frying, dice the plantain into cubes

3. Also chop the onions, red bell pepper, green pepper and ata rodo. be careful with the volume of green pepper though, 1/2 to 3/4 of one is enough otherwise it will introduce some bitterness to the stew, which can be unpleasant. In the same vein, blend half an onion, 3 pieces of tatashe, 4 large tomatoes and 1 – 2 pieces of ata rodo to form a smooth puree. Boil this until it reduces and most of its water content has evaporated.

4. Salt the diced plantain and fry. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: this is my tip to make sure you get gooey sweet, and slightly chewy giz dodo. Dice the plantains, salt it and just let it sit there for a while. The salt will leach out some of the water content, which makes the pieces stick together. When you fry, just leave it to sit in the oil undisturbed. You do NOT want the pieces to separate at all. they should fry in one large clump. You will thank me don’t worry. The taste is out of this world. When one side browns, carefully flip it over like an omelette. if you are having difficulties, break up the lot into max 3 portions and then flip. When you sieve this out of the oil, it will be gooey, soft and very very sweet. 

5. Take out some of the oil used to fry the plantain/gizzard and pour in a deep saucepan. Add the curry powder, dried thyme and fry. This is a tip I learnt from watching Indian cooking shows on Food network. Dry roasting spices in a pan or frying in hot oil intensifies the flavour. Let it fry for 1 minute

6. Add the chopped peppers from Step 3, and saute till they wilt and soften.

see………………….

7. Add the reduced blended pepper mix to the pan,

stir and allow it to fry, till it thickens and absorbs some of the oil

8. Add the gizzards

9. Add chicken stock, and lower the heat. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: it is essential that you lower the heat to allow the gizzard soften and absorb the flavours in the pan

10. Once the gizzard stew has thickened, add the plantains. Remember what I said earlier about allowing the plantain pieces fry and clump together? See the evidence below. This is wicked, wicked, wicked, dodo. if you don’t end up eating half of it before you remember it belongs with the gizzards. Once the plantain has gone in, stir and allow it the stew to coat the plantain pieces properly. It is only after the plantain goes in that you can re-season if needed. My major pet peeve with giz dodo made by a lot of caterers is not allowing the plantain to shine. It is called Giz-dodo for a reason. Dodo is a major ingredient.

so, ensure that when you are re-seasoning, you can still taste the sweetness of the plantains. The plantains are already salted, so you shouldn’t need extra salt or seasoning cubes.

aaaaaaaand there’s your Giz Dodo, ready to be scooped into big dip bowls and passed around for your guests.

The trick to using Giz-Dodo as a chunky dip is to ensure that the fried pepper is thick and gooey.

I have redefined Asun by serving it with Goat’s Cheese (recipe HERE), taking Giz-Dodo to new level.

I sat down with this and was so very pleased. Did you know you can make Giz-dodo into a Fajita wrap? Yes you can, yes you can. See how click HERE

I didn’t eat all in one sitting though, but it was delicious and surprisingly different. The sweetness, and the crunch. Yum. You can make this even more celebratory by making my very own Dodorishi. Click HERE for the recipe

If I could share food to all of you guys to say come celebrate with me, I would, but you can celebrate with me by trying out Giz Dodo this weekend. Coming September, we just may come together for some mini shindig. Lagos readers, take note.

The post Redefining Giz Dodo appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

Hello guys, gosh I haven’t done this in a month now. Last post was Aug 20th, yikes. I really should have kept you all updated but I was gunning for the surprise factor. Things didn’t go according to plan and something that should have been done and dusted, I am on the 3rd iteration. Frustrating I tell you, but I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.

What is this iteration you say. Okay, okay, I confess, the site is under re-design. It has taken more work than I ever thought possible and I would like you guys to please bear with me while we put up the finishing touches to what will definitely be pleasantly surprising. You know I did hint that something was coming in September, well September will gracefully draw to a close and you will see the new and improved Dooney’s Kitchen. I wish I could give you a sneak peek, but I have been advised against it. Dooney’s Kitchen is setting the trend again, and best to do the grand reveal when it is all done.

So, what else has been happening, well I got to meet the talented Banke Meshida Lawal. We chatted on Instagram, she told me she would be in London with her family and she needed food. My very first VIP Client. The pressure was on, but I delivered. Banke is such a sweetheart. The amazing feedback she gave on her Instagram page, and I mean in Nigerian colloquial terms #feedbackoflife has opened so many doors for me for my meal drop off service, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing. The people I have come to meet and cook for, people ordinarily I wouldn’t have had access to, all thanks to Banke. The ministry is moving and I am now more confident with long-term plans for the future.

Oooooh, something also amazing happened, well it was kept under wraps too for the grand reveal. I was commissioned to provide pictures and recipes for the first ever Knorr Nigeria site. This was a project I worked on months ago and was waiting patiently to see the site. Very proud moment I tell you. To see my work associated with a brand like Knorr. People, Dodorishi is now legit. Knorr Nigeria accepted the signature Dooney’s Kitchen dish. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be accepted to be honest. I googled dodorishi to pass the recipe on to a reader and saw the Knorr ng site link. I screamed so loudly that evening, I must have scared my neighbours terribly. A day to be remembered, surely. Link to Dodorishi on Knorr Ng right here: http://www.knorr.ng/recipes/detail/14232/1/dodorishi

Here are a few pictures from the Knorr Ng site:

Here is a link to the site: http://www.knorr.ng/recipes. You will find old Dooney’s Kitchen favourites and some new never been seen before pictures and recipes. All 50+ of them.

So, that is what I have been up to this past month. For all of you who left comments asking about my absence, facebook messages, emails, tweets and instagram comments, I would like to say thank you very much for the love and concern, I truly appreciated that you noticed my absence. It really meant a lot. The countdown has started to the grand reveal. Count with me and wish me luck. I am coming back bigger and better. The best you have ever seen yet. Have a lovely weekend folks and y’all in Lagos, get ready!!!!!!!!!!

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I am in Lagossssssssssss. Apart from being too hot, I am excited to be home. I would really love to see many of you. The blog re design did not allow me out plans on ground to organise something before I arrived, but I have 2 weeks, I will see what I can do. If you guys have any suggestions, please share

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Shouting out from the roof tops, I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaack to blogging. With heartfelt gratitude to those who checked up on me via emails, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and for some who had my number who called or texted. Thank you very very very much. I sincerely apologise for being away for this long. As I announced months ago, the blog was under re-design and this meant that I wasn’t allowed into the backend to add anything. I realised I bit off more than I could chew, and wanted so many amazing functionalities for the new site – (enter Type A personality), and this has meant a job of weeks has taken months, plus the dangers of outsourcing. What I should have done was just to continue blogging, and not taken such a long hiatus. We live and learn don’t we, I promise it won’t happen again. I know better now, and I apologise again for the long hiatus. A friend said to me last week, Dunni, just continue blogging. 2014 will not end without your new site being up, go back to blogging, and back I am. 3 new recipes a week, onward and upwards. When this is all done, I would tell you guys all about how stressful it is to outsource your IT job to somewhere thousands of miles away with a 5 hour time difference. Anyways, there would be other times to talk about that, today it is all about food, food, food and catching up. How have you guys been? The beauty of this hiatus is that, I now have sooooooooooooo many amazing recipes to share. Like A LOT. I have been cooking, taking shots (oh, I have gotten soon much better during this break) and doing more cooking, and coming up with amazeballs twists to traditional classics, one of which is Ewedu Asepo.

I know you must be thinking whaaaaaaat!!!! Yes, you read correctly, Ewedu Asepo. This is simply a one pot dish. Rather than having to cook stew separately, Ewedu separately (my recipe HERE), how about just cook together in one pot. Some of you must think, ehn, so? Oh, this is not just your basic Ewedu and stew, the stew base is the same as my grandmother’s fabulous Scented Efo Riro (recipe HERE), which has been so successful on this blog. I also introduced something totally off base, something not expected in Yoruba cuisine and you would never think would work in Ewedu. What is that thing you may be wondering? One of my favourite Nigerian ingredients – Uziza leaves. I cooked this in my friend Funmi’s house and she kept saying OMG, OMG, OMG, Dunniiiiiiii this is amazing, the Uziza just takes it to a whole new level, you wouldn’t expect it at all. BOOM!!!!!!!!!. You guys know I just can’t introduce a new dish and make it bleh!!!!! Ewedu has always been a dish that relied on the stew to give it flavour. With this dish, Ewedu rises up to the challenge of Uziza. The addition of Uziza is a flavour enhancer. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it would work. Ewedu and Uziza, but I was pleasantly surprised.

In my Buka Ewedu recipe (HERE), I add a few pieces okro to the Ewedu before blending. When I made this dish the first time, Funmi and I were gisting and I wasn’t concentrating on how much okro I was adding to blend the Ewedu. When the soup was done, I thought hmmmmmn, I was expecting a smother consistency. I didn’t want it to look like Ila Asepo at all. Funmi said Dunni, forget the look, this is way too nice. I wasn’t convinced. When I imagine a new dish in my head, and don’t get the look I want, I am not satisfied. I imagined the dish to look like Ewedu cooked separately and mixed with stew. To rectify this, I decided to call the first batch, Part 1 – where you can add as much okro as you can, if you enjoy okro, especially for you guys from the Eastern part of Nigeria, and for my South West folks – Part 2, to really give it the look of Ewedu, you only add a few pieces of okro when blending the Ewedu. Whichever version you choose, the taste is the same. I repeat, Uziza does something to Ewedu, like you won’t believe. It takes your Ewedu from the same taste you have known all your life to something better times 100.

This week is Cultural Food Fusion Week on Dooney’s Kitchen, and you would notice that in the next 2 recipes posted tomorrow and Friday. Let’s Cook…….

You will need

2 – 3 bunches of Ewedu – you really need that many, otherwise the ewedu would be swallowed up by the stew base
a handful of Okro – or less, if you are making Part 2
Tatashe – red bell pepper
Ata Rodo – scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
Iru – fermented locust beans
Palm oil
Ground crayfish
Beef Stock
Assorted Meats
Smoked fish/stockfish
Uziza leaves – a few leaves. about 10 or under depending on the quantity of Ewedu you are working with

How To – Part 1

1. Pick the Ewedu leaves and add to a blender or mini chopper bowl. Slice the tips and heads off the okro and add to the bowl.

As you can see, I added quite a number of okro to the bowl. A mistake that turned into a happy cooking accident

2. Give it a rough blend and set aside

You can see the ewedu leaves peeking out and roughly chopped okro

3. Now for the stew base. You would need already blended and reduced pepper mix, so you can start frying immediately in hot palm oil

4. Rinse the Iru and add to the pot to fry. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you add the Iru this early to infuse flavour into the pepper. Allow it to fry and dilute the pepper a little with beef stock.

5. Add the assorted meats, ground crayfish and let it fry some more, till the pepper gets thick.

6. Then you add a generous amount of beef stock to dilute and lower the heat, to allow the flavours combine. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you add a generous amount of beef stock, to allow for some fluidity for the Ewedu and okro mix. This isn’t Efo riro (recipe HERE). 

Have you tried to mix Ewedu with really thick stew before? You end up with a sticky globby mess that isn’t appetising. Dooney’s Kitchen tip: i feel I must also warn that the amount of beef stock you add should be commensurate with the volume of of the Ewedu and Okro mix, because if you add too much beef stock, by the time you add the Ewedu and okro mix to the pepper base, you end up with a watery soup, with very low viscosity. Funmi called my attention to that, and I had to take out some of the stew base. Allow this pepper base to reduce on low heat, and you would notice when you taste at interval,s that it is very very very delicious. If you have to re-season, please do, but your beef stock should do the trick.

7. Once you are satisfied with the flavour of the pepper base, then add the ewedu and okro mix, give it a stir with the heat lowered, then add the chopped Uziza. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: You don’t need to cook for much longer once the Ewedu goes in, because you don’t want it changing colour. The addition of Uziza should come in about 1 – 2 minutes after you add the Ewedu and Okro mix, to allow its flavour to permeate the contents of the pot. Using a cooking spoon, make vigorous circular/whisking motions, to increase the viscosity and stickiness of the Ewedu and Okro. As you can imagine, I needed two hands for this, so no pictures. I hope you get the drift.

……………and that’s your Ewedu Asepo Part 1. Someone asked on Instagram if the viscosity is still intact – yes it is. The addition of the okro, plus not cooking for too long keeps the “draw” intact.

I really don’t know know why I was upset at the visual. It looks fantastic. Well, I didn’t agree until I got home and looked at the pictures. I am very very very proud of this dish. Like Veeeeeeeeery.

Now, to Part 2

1. The same process, but this time, you use less Okro, so the Ewedu mix, looks like the traditional version, we all know and love. See below. I would like to point out that this mix is slightly dark brown and that’s just because my Ewedu had started to go darker after days in the fridge, and I wasn’t prepared to go back to the shops to pick fresh ones, which resulted in this greenish-brown colour. If you use fresh Ewedu, you shouldn’t have that problem

2. As with Part 1 too, you start with cooking your rich pepper base

3. Then you add the Ewedu

4. Allow it to cook in the pepper base, and remember to use your spoon in a whipping motion to increase viscosity.

5. For the grand finale, add chopped Uziza and okro rings.

…………and that’s your Part 2. Notice how it looks like the traditional Ewedu mixed with stew? This is sooooooo much better.

………..and that’s your one pot Ewedu Asepo. Which is your favourite?

It is back to blogging people………………….compulsory hiatus OVER!!!!!!!!

The post Ewedu Asepo – one pot dish appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

I know I have been on a break from blogging, but my social media accounts have been somewhat active recently. If you are not following Dooney’s Kitchen on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, I suggest that you should. Lots of yummy pictures on there, I thought to share some of the pictures I have uploaded lately

#PyramidJollof – I used my Party Jollof rice recipe (HERE), but with Ofada rice instead

#Eko a la posh – not your average Eko (agidi), this is roughly chopped Eko with thinly sliced coconut, evaporated milk, and topped with toasted desiccated coconut and roughly chopped almonds. I would be showing you the process of making Eko at home

#Eko a la posh

Cooked by Chef Fregz on my recent trip to Lagos – eaten and photographed by me. Lol. Chicken Breasts and Shrimp Linguine. The green veg – our very own Ugu leaves. That was my addition to the recipe

Rice and Veg with Big Oladunni’s chicken stew – recipe HERE

#Okro soup of life – my surf and tur otong soup: recipe HERE

#Scented Efo Riro – recipe HERE

I will be uploading more throughout the day, please check back and remember to Like Dooney’s Kitchen on Facebook and Follow on Instragram @dooneyskitchen and Twitter @dooneyskitchen. Thanks again folks!!!

The post My food Gallery – enjoy the pictures appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

The last time I posted a recipe for Egusi Ijebu feels like a lifetime ago now. I didn’t exactly nail the recipe then, because some of the feedback I got said it didn’t look as smooth as Egusi Ijebu is supposed to be. I admit I was wrong with that recipe, because it was a little pebbly looking, plus I didn’t blend all the ingredients before cooking. Oh, I didn’t know my friend Funmi then. You guys know Funmi is like the cooking twin sister that I never had. We are even a few months shy of each other, born the same year. We can’t be around each other for more than 2 minutes without talking about food. In fact, Part 1 of Ewedu Asepo (recipe HERE), was cooked in her kitchen. Sadly, Funmi and I are no longer neighbours. Thankfully, they have moved to a bigger house now. I say thankfully, because it is progress for her and her family. She and Bros have always wanted a bigger place for their girls, so, I can’t be anything but happy for them. I was in physical shock when she told me, and was sad for days, but hey she only moved 5 minutes drive away, and yup the new kitchen is huuuuuuuuuuuge. I can spend forever there. Double this, double that and a GAS cooking range. Our development only has electric cookers. I have told her I am going to be camping there ever so often, she will have to chase me out with her cooking spoons. Her girls are delightful children, especially the little one, who is such an energetic child, we call her Duracell baby. It can be exhausting just following her with your eyes, but her smile is so beautiful and especially her laughter, is one of the best sounds I have ever heard.

To launch my presence in her Kitchen, the first of many by His Grace, after I was done with Ewedu Asepo (recipe HERE), I told her to show me how she made her Egusi Ijebu, because the colour and consistency of her Egusi Ijebu is amazing. I have eaten it many times and it reminded me of Iye Gbuyi’s Egusi Ijebu. She didn’t have goat meat in the freezer, and I wasn’t willing to go back home to go get out my uncooked and frozen goat meat. Did I mention that I went home THREE times to get Palm oil, which by some weird reason I kept forgetting. Smh. In the absence of goat meat, we decided to do Surf and Turf, and not just with any fish, but a firm fish that would hold up its own like Hake. Hake is the fresh form of Panla/Stockfish. What better fish to use. Funmi also suggested that we fry the fish amd meats lightly, for extra flavour. You know anything fried is tasty right, even better in Egusi soup. It is always a lovely experience to stand by in the kitchen and watch someone else cook and learn. I never miss an opportunity. I owe all my cooking knowledge and expertise to watching and learning. So, thank you Funmi for this. #Let’s Cook…..

You will need

Toasted Egusi (melon) seeds – very important, to toast in a pan to ease out the natural oils from the egusi, which help it form that very vital smooth texture
Red/white Onions – lots of it
Tatashe – red bell pepper
Ata rodo – scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
Iru – fermented locust beans. You can leave this out, if you can’t source it
Ogiri – one – two wraps, depending on the volume of Egusi. You can leave this out, if you can’t source it
Smoked Mackerel – optional
Smoked fish
Assorted Meat – preferably goat meat, but any type of meat is fine
Hake – or any firm fish like croaker
Palm oil
Stock – from your meat
Water

How To

1. Toast the Egusi seeds in a dry frying pan, until the seeds start to brown a little. Be careful they don’t burn (i will bring a picture later)

2. Blend all the ingredients save for the Fish, meats and Ogiri in a blender. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: egusi Ijebu is meant to be smooth, smooth, smooth. So therefore, eveything you need to add flavour, that will not dissolve naturally (like Ogiri), should be blended.  You also need to blend with water and beef stock, because the paste should be quite watery to start with. It will thicken in the pot don’t worry, besides Egusi Ijebu is a very fluid soupy soup.

3. Empty the contents of the blender Jug into a pot, and pour in Palm oil

4. Now, this is where Funmi instructed very seriously. As soon as the pot is on the heat, you have to stir and stir with your back into it, because if you leave the Egusi undisturbed, it will start to clump together and naturally form lumps, or at the least pebbles, which you don’t want, so you stir, stir, and stir, while it is cooking, to incorporate the palm oil, at first, and then as it cooks.

5. Keep stirring until you can see and feel the egusi thickening. The palm oil should have properly combined, and the signature Egusi Ijebu colour, should be slowly forming. Midway before this stage, you should have added the Ogiri. It will dissolve, and the aroma is amazing

6. You now need to let the Egusi bubble up and cook some more. You know you have done a good job of stirring, if when left alone, it doesn’t clump up, stick to the bottom of the pot or form pebbles. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: Remember my tip in Step 1, where I advocated for lots of water and/or beef stock. You will see why that is important.

7. While we were allowing the Egusi cook undisturbed, we fried the hake. It looked prettier to cut the standard fish slices to bite sized chunks.

8. When the soup has thickened sufficiently, add the fish and assorted meat pieces – goat meat, beef, saki, pomo, cowleg, anything you have at home. Once they are in, stir, taste for salt and seasoning cubes, and re-adjust if necessary.

see how smooth the soup is? This is the real McCoy Egusi Ijebu

Give it much longer on the heat, and you should notice the colour of the Egusi deepen to a mustard-ish shade. Also teeny tiny patches of palm oil interspersed with the natural oil of the Egusi should be doing Pee-a-boo on top of the soup………………and you are done

One of the most beautiful Nigerian dishes is Egusi Ijebu….

Before I went to “launch” Funmi’s Kitchen, I was watching TV one evening and one of the adverts for winter soups was on. It was a butternut squash soup, and I thought hmmmmmmn, now that reminds me of Egusi Ijebu. Loads of Nigerians live abroad. For many of us in Temperate regions, Autumn is here to stay, and cold is no respecter of nations. We all need something to warm our cockles, and peppersoup (recipes HERE) seems to be our only option, so I thought hmmmn, if I let Funmi cook that her marvelous Egusi Ijebu, and make it spicy enough, that can be a winter soup for us Nigerians, right? Serve with toasted/grilled baguette slices to complete it, and that can be a bona fide  Autumn dinner.

In the past, I used to get a little apprehensive about releasing some food combinations, because I wasn’t sure if it will be well received. I am thankfully over that now. If it makes sense in my head, and it looks great, out into the world it goes. One of those moments when I get feedback, saying oh Dunni, sure, we eat it like that at home. Bread and Egusi is a good combination. In fact, a friend Lola whose husband is full Ijebu, and also raised in Ijebuland told me her husband eats Egusi Ijebu with bread very often. Slam dunk!!!!!! Signed off by an Ijebu man. Se fini. I also got suggestions about Panini, Agege bread, and so forth. My bestie Kemi, enjoys her with Agege bread and sometimes Dodo. I was grinning from ear to ear the day this picture went up on Social Media. It feels good to know you are not crazy. Emphasis on totally, some of us are a tad functional crazy. Just a tad though. Hehehehehehe.

Enjoy the pictures. Egusi Ijebu never looked so good.

Curl up on the sofa on an Autumn evening, lightly grill your bread, and dip happily into your bowl of Egusi Ijebu.

I want to share some of the woes of web development. I hired the services of a graphics designer for logo designs. I wanted something representative of our food. Hmmmmn, people, this experience has made me more motivated. The sheer volume of people who have no clue about our food, or have a misconception that it looks crude and all over the place, will shock you. I got this feedback from so many designers on what “African food” is supposed to look like. A few came back and told me, after going through the blog, never in a million years, did they think “African food” can look good. They just think of “foufou”. While I was plating this dish, those conversations came flashing across my memory and I said you know what Dunni, this Egusi Ijebu is NOT going to look like what people expect. I wasn’t going for any plating pyrotechnics, but simple, classy, chic and most of all stunning.

Amazing what a difference slices of red chilies, spring onions and of course by new Canon lens can do. I hope you agree

My new personal motto – make regular Nigerian food look not like Nigerian food, if that makes sense.

Happy Cooking!!!!

The post Egusi Ijebu – the authentic version with a twist appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

I have written a post on how to make your own Ogi (akamu) – click HERE, I guess the next logical stage is to write about how to make Eko (agidi). I am one of those weird people who absolutely hate Ogi, but really like Eko. Strange I know. I like how Eko is a smooshy solid, it is also quite tangy, and it goes with everything. From Efo Riro, to Egusi, to Okro, Eko is just amazing. If you live in Nigeria, and Eko is not commonly sold in markets near you, or you are worried about the possibly iffy environment it was cooked in, how about you just make your own. If you live abroad, I guess, I don’t have to preach to the choir. Total no brainer.

You may have tried to make Eko (agidi), in the past and you were not successful. Well, I have a very very handy tip for you, that will ensure that you nail it on the first try. This week, is just dedicated to all things Funmi, because she taught me how to make this. This post, is one that keeps on giving because you also get another piece of handy information – more pictures, showing how to wrap moin moin leaves, in the traditional shape. If you would rather try the modern 21st century no stress version, click HERE.

You will need

Raw Ogi
Water
Local Moin moin leaves (for flavour – you can also use banana leaves sold in Asian stores

How To

1. Heat up water in a pot and get your wooden spoon ready

2. Dissolve Ogi in just a little water and mix

3. Pour the cold Ogi and water mixture into a pot of simmering water

4. Stir continuously until the Ogi starts to cook and thicken

5. Keep stirring. You know when to stop when the Ogi coats the wooden spoon, with a thick even film.

see below. Once you get to this stage, you no longer need constant stirring, just leave it to cook

6. A good first test to be sure it is ready is by pouring some cold water into the centre of the pot. This should form a curdled line, showing the distinct change in temperature

7. Leave it to cook for a few for a few minutes, and give it another test. Simply fill a small bowl with water, dip a fork into the ogi cooking, and place that fork into the bowl of cold water. If the ogi doesn’t hold, the Eko (agidi) isn’t ready. As you can see below, bits of ogi slipping out from the edges.

8. Give it a few minutes on the heat to thicken some more

and then test again. This time you can see that the change in temperature caused the Eko (agidi) to solidify immediately. No spillages. One of the most useful tips ever for making Eko (agidi)

Now, to the wrapping – you can choose to simply pour into plastic containers and place in the fridge. For the more traditionally inclined, wrap in moin moin leaves for added flavour. Here’s how

1. Hold two leaves in the palm of one hand, and with the other hand, fold the first edge inward. Take the other end, and fold over the first one

2. The second edge, should be folded and wrapped around the back of the leaves. Notice that below

3. You should have a funnel shape now, so you bend the tail end of the funnel to face upwards. This is to close the funnel to prevent spillage

Ta daaaaaah!!!!

firm and secure

4. Pour in the Eko – don’t over fill

5. Now, to close the top of the funnel, fold one edge (start with right or left, whichever you feel most comfortable with) towards the centre, and fold the other edge towards the centre, giving the funnel a thin V shape, almost like the beak of a bird. See below

6. Now, you have gotten the thin V, then fold it down unto the back of the funnel

…………….and there’s your Eko (agidi), nicely wrapped and ready for the fridge.

………………….and that’s how to make Eko (agidi). Try it this weekend. Stay tuned for the next post coming right up. Coco for Eko. Nutty for Eko, or should I cal it Coconutty Eko.

The post How to make Eko (agidi) appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

The words Coco for Eko did come to mind to name this, but I wanted to represent the fact that it had nuts in it. In this case almonds, but you could use brazilian nuts, cashew nuts, and even groundnuts. Eko and milk is a classic combination, but I wanted something extra. I wanted ooomph, va va voom, the wow factor. I mean Eko is probably the most bland of food items, save for its sourness, so I decided to Jazz it up a little. Continuing this my new mission to re-invent the visual perception of Nigerian food. The point is to look at a picture of Nigerian food and think, wait is minute is that……………….?????? NO WAY, and to you I respond back with a smile YES WAY!!!!!!!! Hehehehehehehehe. If you have other names for the dish, please let me hear it. Dodorishi (recipe HERE) was born out of a clever reader’s mind.

You will need

Eko (agidi) – to learn how to make your own, click HERE
Evaporated milk
Desiccated coconut – sweetened or unsweetened
Thinly sliced Coconut
Chopped almonds – you can substitute with any type of nuts you prefer

How To

1. Roughly chop your Eko (agidi)

2. In a dry pan, toast desiccated coconut till it browns

3. Thinly slice coconuts, and roughly chop almonds (or your choice of nuts)

4. Combine all in a bowl, and that’s breakfast right there. You can also do this with fruit, or even fruit and nuts, add raisins, go to town people. Eko is your base flavour, build upon it.

Try this for breakfast tomorrow, and you would never view Eko (agidi), the same way again. Have a lovely weekend folks. I am going to be cooking as usual, and I have two innovative recipes to try. Think Okro, think beans, think root veg. Don’t worry, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The post Coconutty for Eko appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

This post is a Business 101 class, so take notes. Lol. I had an idea I wanted to run by a friend a few weeks ago. The conversation naturally drifted to food. This friend and I are huge foodies, so it was expected. Anyways, I sent her links of the new juices/smoothies bar popping up all over Nigeria, and one thing I loooooove about this friend of mine is her bluntness. It may rankle sometimes when you are the receiving end, but once you get to understand that, it isn’t personal, that is just her personality, you take it in stride. The first thing she said was Dunni, I am not impressed. I laughed and said why. Her response was – of all the lovely natural fruits in Nigeria, why on earth do we have strawberry smoothies, blueberry that and kiwi this. Well, I said the world is more cosmopolitan now, and the Nigerian palate is evolving. A good chunk of the fruits in British supermarkets are imported. We were not speaking face to face, but it wouldn’t have been far-fetched to imagine her rolling her eyes. Her counter argument – importation of fruits is due to the historical circumstance of this country doing trade with many countries, the slave trade era, and bringing back foods from conquered nations, besides the British farming industry cannot grow the volume needed to feed the population. Nigeria doesn’t have that problem. She went on about how we are always too eager to throw away what we have to the detriment of something foreign even when it will cost more. I said to her, to run a successful business, catering to people of a certain social class:

1. You have to tap into their Ego. It is why Apple is the most successful brand in the world today. It is why even in the recession, luxury brands are doing very well. Tap into the Ego of a consumer and you have a lifetime access to their Wallet. I would know, Apple and Canon, can tap into my bank account, anytime. Teehee. 
2. The smoothie/juice bar industry, is the forte of the rich/upper middle class. They are well-travelled, well-educated, a good number of them are expatriates, “I just got backs” and returnees, so they would want to enjoy things they previously could only get outside the country – it is the major reason why the wedding industry has exploded today. 

Oh, she chipped in and said it was still possible, it all depends on packaging and marketing. I said to her that all over the world, it is the rich that influence culture and change. Cast your mind back to the scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway’s character laughed about the colour of a belt. To her non fashion mind, they all looked blue, but Meryl’s character explained how a luxury fashion house (can’t remember the name now) premiered a shade of blue during fashion week and it spiralled down the fashion chain to the cheap blue sweater, Anne’s character was wearing. The rich influence change, and it trickles down to the masses, because everyone wants to be them, have what they have, emulate their lifestyle, be it fashion, music, food, they call the shots, and if you want to serve them, you do what they want. 

• Unfortunately, and I use that word lightly, those who went into the business of catering to the rich, quickly realised that they would want all things foreign, and capitalised on it. Business and Patriotism have never been in bed together. Enter Western companies who outsourced to India and China. The bottom line rules at the end of the day

Oh she didn’t agree. I said to her, it is how it is. It is how the world works. If you go into business marketing pure Nigerian smoothies/juice, it would go belly up very fast. She said but Dunni, you are living proof that Nigerian ingredients ROCK!!!!, and my response was, it is a passion not driven by business. If I started Dooney’s Kitchen as a business, who knows, I probably would have succumbed to the rules of the money god. Which is why I am eternally grateful for The Grace to be able to do this for the joy of doing it. Not worrying about money has helped me flourish. My mind is unencumbered and it makes me more creative. I have spent a small fortune on photography gear in the past few weeks. The kind that if I was running this as a business, I would have paused, but I need to grow photography wise, and they don’t come cheap. The next target now is how to turn that creativity into profit, backed by the zeal to educate people, that it can be done. 30 years from now, if we are not careful our grandchildren would think strawberries grow in Nigeria. The way British kids think mangoes are native to Great Britain. You would be shocked how many kids in the UK think Satay Chicken and Curry’s are native to Britain. 

• The Marketing psychology of value. I learnt that from Uncle Joko, on my last trip home. People pay for an item based on its perceived value. Imported fruits are expensive, so if you charge lets say 3 thousand Naira for a cup of smoothies, people have a perceived value of its contents and would pay up. Now, try charging 3K for a cup of smoothies made with Nigerian ingredients, and your clients would go, “for what”. Your running costs (and we all know how high those are in Nigeria), are the same, whether you use foreign or local ingredients, the same process to make the smoothies, but to charge more, your products have to have a higher perceived value.

Then she said, sooooooo, what is the way forward? how can we ensure that what makes us, doesn’t disappear on the altar of foreign capitalism. I said to her, that it won’t because unless some major economic overhaul happens, the rich and middle class will always be a minority, so our fruits and veg are going nowhere. Besides, people like me will always be there making sure that it won’t. We are cooking differently, we have a word or two for those who doggedly insist on the traditional way, we can’t then turn around in the same breath and wonder what strawberries are doing in local smoothie and juice bars. Change is like a ball rolling down a hill, you can’t pick and choose which things attach to it as it moves. 

I was making Edikang Ikong last weekend and I had some leftover Ugu. As I was putting it away, I came across my frozen pineapple chunks in the freezer, and I suddenly remembered the conversation from weeks ago. I needed one more thing to complete it. I didn’t want to use Yoghurt or Ice cream – we are trying to be healthy, then I remembered that I had Tigernut milk in the freezer courtesy Labake. …..and that people is how my true Nigerian smoothie was born. Yum, Yum, Yums, considering I am supposed to hate Green smoothies. This was awesome raised to the power of 100. Over the course of the next few months, I would be releasing a couple more Nigerian smoothie recipes. We need more of them. We are a nation of a bucketload of fruits. Before you go paying 3k for a teeny tiny cup of smoothie, just head to your local market and let the sight and sounds inspire you. 

You will need

Chopped Ugu leaves

Your choice of fruit – banana, pineapple, oranges……go to town with Nigerian fruits

Non Dairy milk – soy milk, coconut milk, Tiger nut milk

How To

As with a smoothie – chuck it all in a blender and whizz. I wanted it to be rich and creamy, so I did not add water. Here, you have Ugu leaves, banana and orange juice

whizz in a blender or smoothie maker till smooth. If you want it really cold, blend with ice cubes

…………………..here you go. Peep into the jar, and be amazed at how pretty it looks, and how deliciously healthy it is. The creaminess from the banana and the yellow of the orange juice, produced a stunning smoothie. It tastes quite nice too, I promise you

 Another flavour combination – Ugu, pineapple and Tigernut milk - Kunu aya. This is dark, and rich and naturally sweetened. Very nutritious. 

Now, let’s play a game of, how much would you be willing to pay for a Nigerian Smoothie -

if it is packaged like this – be honest now

 Stay tuned for more Ugu combinations, smoothies and more.

 I will also be experimenting with other Nigerian Veggies

Disclaimer: this post was not written to offend anyone in the juice/smoothie bar business in Nigeria.

The post The Nigerian Smoothie Series – featuring Ugu appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

There is a recipe for Gbegiri on the blog, quite an old recipe, but I haven’t cooked this dish in what feels like forever now, well if you read that post, you must know how much I whined about the process. I have eaten Gbegiri in Funmi’s house quite a number of times, and it always amazes me how often it shows up on her menu list. Bros is a very lucky man, I swear. Anyways, I have an interesting twist to Gbegiri but you see my lazy ass was not in the mood to go through the process, besides I wanted to see it cooked by someone who cooks it more often than I do. When I mentioned my twist to Funmi she said oh wow, okay then, let’s pick a date. I didn’t want to rely totally on her to make it from scratch so I offered to bring the sieved beans paste. Oh, I have a very very very handy tip to share that cuts the prep time in more than half. You would be mightily pleased.

Of course Buka Stew is the 2nd of the Abula Trilogy and Funmi does do a very mean Buka Stew. I have this fetish or should I say habit of finding out how other women cook their stew. If I like it, I ask how you made it. One of Big Oladunni’s famous words when it gets to the taste of stew – “it all depends on the pepper mix”. Method is the same, it is the pepper mix. So, I said today, let me see what the ratio of the mix is. You know how I always advocate for red onions (purple onions), I am still team red onions, but last night I got to notice how much difference your choice of onions can make to the overall taste of the stew. Her tomato – tatashe – ata rodo mixture is similar to mine, but what made a world of difference was the white onions. I thought hmmmmmmmn, no waaaaaaaay. The volume too of course counts for something, but it was surprising the lovely effect it had. If you had told me the difference what the type of onions, I would have gone huh? The cooking method, same-ish as mine, but it was all down to the pepper mix. So, if you want a different taste from your usual Buak Stew, try white onions next time. I sure will. Funmi and I have decided her recipe isn’t going beyond us. Errrrrrrr, sorry. Let her keep that one to be tantalising Bros, and save for her girls when they come of age. I share a lot on the blog, but I also have some things that will never be cooked by anyone else but me. As a friend of mine Ekwitosi says, they are “vault recipes”. Truly signature dishes, that are reserved only for special palates and will be passed down. We women are allowed to have our secret weapons. *Wink*, *Wink*. Food is a very powerful tool, if you know how to use it well. Best believe……..Teeeeeheeee.

Twice, or wait 3 times this Gbegiri did not happen. I already had the beans prepped and ready to go. First visitors from Nigeria took over her time, then I fell ill housing all the nasties – there is a bug going around now, then it was her little girl. We are all fine now, visitors have returned back home, last night was the night for Gbegiri. I also picked up another handy tip which Funmi said is her mum’s tip. Let’s cook.

You will need

De-skinned beans
Iru
Tatashe – red bell pepper or the long red pepper
Ata rodo – scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
White onions
Crayfish – optional and make sure you blend it with the pepper
Beef Stock – optional if you have some
Palm oil

How To

1. Peel the skin of the beans. Oh please don’t do this by hand. Peel your beans in a blender (method HERE) or a food processor (method HERE). Welcome to 2014 Nigerian Cooking. We too sexy to slave in the kitchen. Teeeheeeee.

2. Now, I would have told you to put this in a pot unto the stove with enough water. Funmi’s Mum’s Tip: boil the beans with Iru. When she told me my head spun. Wowzwer!!!! that is a genius idea. Thanks to my friend Ade, who suggested a Pressure Pot. OMG, whyyyyyyyyyyyy in the world didn’t that occur to me. OF COURSE a pressure cooker would do the trick. I did it twice to jaw dropping results. Add enough water to the peeled beans in a pressure pot, place on the heat and simply walk away. Give it 30 – 45mins or less depending on the quantity of peeled beans. When the pot has stopped whistling, open it and marvel at how all your work has been done for you. You are basically going to be staring at semi smooth pureed beans. See picture below.

Yup, that was straight from the pressure pot. ZERO effort. My kind of cooking. I mean knowing especially how tedious Gbegiri is.

3. Proceed to sieving the beans. Another tip is to blend everything in a blender, but somehow I drifted to sieving it instead.

I started with a colander for the first sieve – that’s just my OCD talking

then I proceeded to a finer sieve to truly get it all out

4. Second batch of sieving

you can see a much smoother paste collecting at the bottom of the bowl

sieve out as much as you can and then use hot water to draw out more of the bean puree, and dilute it a little. You don’t want a globby Gbegiri. The flavour of the Iru should be well evident in your bean paste by now.

5. Blend the pepper till very smooth. This is essential because Gbegiri is a creamy smooth soup.

6. Heat up Palm oil in a pot, add chopped onions and let it fry

7. Add the blended pepper and beef stock straight into the pot and let it fry until it thickens

8. Add the bean paste.  Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: If the beans have been left to sit for some time while you got along with other things, chances are that it would have thickened, especially if you live in temperate regions. Don’t fret, just add hot water till it is light and fluid again. Very essential that your bean puree is not thick. Once you have well fried pepper, with enough oil, add the bean puree and give it a good stir.

9. At this point, it is just a waiting game. At first you will see patches like it is above, and with time, the bean puree is well incorporated with the fried pepper it begins to take on a very smooth consistency, and the orange colour starts to develop.

it is still quite watery at this stage, not close to being ready. Taste for salt and season and adjust accordingly if needed

10. Stir at intervals and let it continue cooking, you will start to notice that the soup is smoother and the orange seems to be fading into a mustard/custard shade of yellow. Yes cooks, you are getting there.

11. Allow it to boil some colour, the colour is even fainter, it is looking yellowish now.

Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you may begin to see some oily patches float on top. Nope, that is not allowed stir it back in. 

Gbegiri once it gets on the heat is not a tedious soup. You really don’t have to be there. Like many creamy soups, it cooks itself. Just remember to check up on it, and don’t let it burn. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: usually by this stage, I would advice that you lower the heat and let it thicken. Gbegiri is not peppersoup, neither is it Egusi Ijebu (recipe HERE), it is somewhere in between, and you the cook have to find that balance. 

Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: on further cooking, you know you are basically almost done when you notice a pool of some sort beginning to form in the centre of the pot. If you are very proficient in cooking creamy soups, this is usually your signal that the soup is thick enough, because the remaining water content that is left separates from the soup and pools in the centre.  

…………….and you’re done. The shocking yellow colour of Gbegiri is its signature. Scooping with a ladle will tell you, you got the consistency right. Also, the volume is a good hint. We started with bean puree more than double this size, not taking into account the fresh blended pepper, and see what we ended up with. Funmi said at the beginning, Dunni I think this bean puree is too much, I told her, let us use the entire lot, because this soup is going to reduce with time, and reduce it did. Remember to give it a final taste before serving

To serve with Gbegiri, have your pot of Buka Stew (recipe HERE) and Ewedu (recipe HERE)

Of course to complete it, the bona-fide popular Ibadan dish called Abula. My contribution to dinner, apart from the beans? I finished off the Amala. You know where you take the pot off the heat, place between your feet, and start to work the amala, with the wooden stick until it is light and fluffy, yes that one. I will bring my hand mixer with me next time. Oh you didn’t know you could make Amala light and fluffy with a hand mixer. Click HERE and be inspired to join the 2014 Nigerian Cooking revolution.

Did I mention that Bros is a very lucky man? That was his dinner.

Guess what’s in my packed Lunch for today? Yup, Abula, and I am eating it AT MY DESK. I only have a teeny bit of ewedu, so it wouldn’t be to sticky and all over the place. This smells AH-MAZING!!!! I am sure I am going to get them talking and asking what’s in it. I never miss an opportunity for good old Nigerian food-ucation. Have a lovely weekend folks. Keep calm and Eat Abula.

Next week, I am going to take our very beloved Gbegiri and give it a Dooney’s Kitchen-esque you never “hesperred” it kind of twist. Stay tuned.

The post Gbegiri – updated recipe appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.

Okay, that was the fanciest name I could come up with. I am all for Nigerian Nomenclature with food, but after reading a lot of your comments about the Ugu Smoothie, I am taking my your advice about “packaging”. Today, of all days, I would have jetted off to a warm location to celebrate my birthday. I do it every year, but this time around, I traded a holiday for an Iphone 6. Shame on me right. Teeheeee. I looked at it, one week in a sunny location versus Iphone 6 plus, and that darned Apple won again. Holiday cancelled, I took the day off instead, (I mean who goes to work on their birthday) and decided to try out something that had been bugging me for weeks – an alternative to Soya.

I am Aunty Dunni to a special little boy who is on a gluten and diary free diet. Both of us are late November babies and in my head I wanted to bake him a cake. Oh yes, you read that right. Me, bake and not just any ordinary cake, but with special ingredients. I started searching for recipes with excitement, which slowly dwindled when I realised I probably wouldn’t pull it off. As an alternative to cow’s milk, many recipes required soya milk, almond milk, coconut milk and the likes. Soya, came out on top a lot, and people, I have a lot of reservations about Soya milk. Especially for women. It contains phytoestrogens (false oestrogen) which can mess up with your menstrual cycle. I don’t know if it is scaremongering or not, lots of things in this world will probably kill you but better be safe than sorry. After making Coconutty for Eko (recipe HERE), I made a mental note to make almond milk. As I was bringing out almonds from the freezer, I spied my honey beans which I store in the freezer to prevent weevils, and that is how this idea was born. Honey bean Milk

Ewa Oloyin – honey beans

Usually when I want to try something new, I go online to find out if it has been done before, for many reasons top of which, it will serve as a guide when experimenting. Putting bean milk into Google was quite annoying, all I got was Soybean milk, then I changed tactics and started searching for brown bean milk, black bean milk, and Voila!!!! I came across two vegan recipes sites. One of them used white beans, and the other used Navy beans. I already knew I was going to go the soya bean milk method, but I needed validation. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to try it out. As I am home today for my birthday, before all the dining out in the evening, I soaked some beans in water last night and tried it today. Pleased to report, it works, it is sweeeeet, the vanilla takes it from really good to AMAZING!!!!!! You can use this milk for anything, from cereals, to Ogi, (pap) to smoothies, or just a chilled healthy drink for the kids. Your kids will love this, trust me. Let’s Cook

You will need

Ewa Oloyin – honey beans 
Water
Vanilla – or you could use cinnamon, cloves, ginger, star anise

Dooney’s Kitchen Tip – you can go to town with this milk, in terms of flavourings. I am going to try using cloves next, or cinnamon, or star anise. Anything you can think of, go for it. 

How To

1. Soak your beans in enough water overnight. Leave the skin on. I didn’t want to try this with brown beans, because the flavour of brown beans is quite strong. Ewa Oloyin (honey beans) is mild, plus it is naturally sweet.

the beans should have softened and plumped up by the morning.

2. Drain any excess water and pour a couple of handfuls of the soaked beans into a blender. Top with up with enough water to more than double the level. You are not making Moin Moin or Akara here, it is a light fluid milk like Soya Milk. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: you need to leave the skin on the beans as most of the natural sweetness is found on the skin.

3. Blend till almost smooth –

4. Pour into a fine sieve, cheese cloth or fine mesh cloth and drain. The chaff should remain. Oh, don’t worry if you think what is this Dunni girl saying, this smells like I am making moin moin. I had to write that here because those were the thoughts that flashed across my mind. Don’t worry, the magic will soon begin, you just wait.

5. After sieving, you may need to do it twice if you don’t have a cheesecloth, the liquid milk should remain in the bowl. If it is too thick, dilute with a little water.

now look at that, doesn’t it look like Soya or almond milk?

6. As with making soya milk, you need to heat up this milk a little. This gets rid of most of the strong bean taste, leaving a light beany flavour, if that makes any sense. You need to heat this up slowly and stir constantly, otherwise it will start to curdle. If that happens, not to worry, just pass through a sieve again

7. Add your flavouring – in my case I use Vanilla Extract, just a few drops. If you are using cloves, cinnamon or Star Anise, add them at the start so they infuse into the milk. If you are suing any sweeteners like sugar or honey, now is the time to use it.

8. Let is warm up nicely for about 8 minutes, if it thickens, you can dilute with a little warm water, then pour into containers to chill in the fridge.

I got these cute small milk bottles,

Vanilla Honey bean milk – and of course, my green, white green straws that scream – Proudly Nigerian

Now off to take a good whiff of the flowers that arrived today from friends. Y’all are invited for dinner.

The post Dooney’s Vanilla Honeybean Milk – Ewa Oloyin Milk appeared first on Dooney's Kitchen.