Hello Boys and Girls, don’t read the title and think I’m talking about Christina Aguilera this is a totally different kind of blog! I want to try and make some dirty rice. It’s a Low Country staple dish (that means people eat it around New Orleans, Louisiana and other places in the American South).
[image: farm3.static.flickr.com]
Dirty Rice is one of the many dishes that uses the Trinity of ingredients, which is basically the ingredients that make almost anything tasty in Cajun food: they are onion bell peppers and celery. So, if you use those three, then your food will have a very authentic flavour (in France, they use carrots, celery and onions and they call it Mirepoix).
So, I wanted to try making it myself. Traditionally, you’re supposed to use chicken livers, pork and sausage, but I’m gonna give you modern eaters two options: the healthy one, and the traditional one. Maybe traditional fatty foods will become trendy again… here’s hoping, I’ll do my bit! Read on….
<3, Naimah
PS: now, all we need is some biscuits, grits, spicy fries, collard greens and fried steak and okra. Better get started!
1. Put the rice, cumin and stock in a large saucepan over a high heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is just cooked and most of the stock has been absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and celery and cook, stirring, for 6-8 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but not coloured.
3. Take the cooked rice off the heat, add the onion mixture and all the remaining ingredients and mix together well. Season to taste.
4. Divide the ‘dirty rice’ between serving plates and serve with a hot Jamaican sauce and soft-boiled eggs, if you like.
[recipe from: delicious. magazine]
1. Brown sausage in skillet until no longer pink, breaking up with fork.
2. Add minced onion and cook 2 minutes longer.
3. Pour off most of the excess fat. Stir in broth and rice.
4. Simmer gently, covered, 18 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender and most of broth is absorbed.
5. Add parsley, toss. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
[recipe from: about.com]
Hey!
First of all, I LOVE going to the farmer’s market! If you can get your butt out of bed on a Sunday morning and walk over to some park far away from your house, you will get rewarded!!!
I went to my local farmer’s market for the first time the other day, and I was pretty scared at first, because I didn’t really know what to expect. It was really nice though, all these people were there with really really fresh food and they let you BARGAIN over what you were going to pay for it!!! That doesn’t happen at the supermarket lololol. So, I got some cheese and I got this really amazing rabbit and leek and mushroom pie which I’d never had before. They just tasted soo incredible, I’ve never had food that tasted that fresh and incredible before. And the best thing about it is you get to see the same people over and over every time you go, so you feel like it’s a community thing.
OK, to be honest, I keep meaning to go back and then, come Sunday, I just roll over in bed and go back to sleep. But I definitely recommend the Farmer’s Market at LEAST one time for everyone!
And, I have been thinking about tofu and wanting to cook with tofu for a really long time now, but I want it to be easy. I found a recipe on about.com that I’m gonna try. It looks pretty easy and healthy, which is basically everything I look for in a recipe lololol. I’ll leave you with it. Love to you guys! Naimh. ^-^)
[image: cauldronfoods.co.uk]
Wrap tofu with paper towels and place it on a cutting board. Put another cutting board or a plate on the tofu to remove liquid from tofu. Leave it for 15 minutes. Dry drained tofu with paper towels and cut each tofu in half horizontally. Dust with flour. Heat oil and some butter in a medium skillet and saute tofu for 2 minutes on medium heat. Turn the tofu over and cook two more minutes. Serve tofu steak on plates. Saute bacon and spinach in the skillet on high heat until spinach is softened. Pour soy sauce and sake and stir quickly. Stop the heat. Place the spinach and bacon on top of tofu steaks. Makes 4 servings
People!! I went to the butcher for the very first time this weekend!
I usually go to the shop and get frozen ready-cooked meat, but my friend said that he went to our local butcher’s, and the quality of the meat was great, as well as being really really cheap!
It was a lot of fun; I went in and at first, I was really put off by the stinky meat smell and actually seeing dead animals freshly laid out everywhere and guys in blood stained aprons… I remembered why I was a vegetarian for those three whole months… !!!
But, anemia has driven me back to meat, and it’s a very good thing. I read that if you eat one portion of meat a day (so, the size of your fist) or every other day, that is a good amount to strive for. Apparently, meat used to be an every-once-in-a-while thing, so it’s better to get fresh ingredients.
OK, back to the quaint little butcher’s shop on my road… I literally had NO idea what I was looking for. I just wanted some chicken I guess? I wandered around inside for a little while, looking at GIGANTIC fish with the heads and eyes still on, and all manner of herbs and spices (I might need those later when I figure out what the heck to do with spices…)
So, I stepped bravely up to the counter and ordered three chicken thighs. And the man behind the counter said they don’t do chicken thighs. So, instead, I asked for three chicken breasts. And I got handed the most gigantic, fresh cuts of meat I’ve ever handled.
So, I took that chicken home and this is what I did:
1. Cut one chicken breast into bite-sized pieces
2. Put the cut up chicken breast in a pan
3. Drizzled some olive oil over the chicken breast
3. Sprinkled spices on the meat (uh, just whatever was on the counter top– salt, pepper, some random Jamaican BBQ spices, and paprika)
4. Turned the oven on (Gas mark 7… i think?!)
5. Put the chicken inside
6. Every once in a while, (maybe every 20 mins) I checked to see how the chicken was getting on. For example, I turned the pieces over when the tops looked kind of brown, and I also stuck a fork in them to see what color the juice was. (If the juice is milky white, the chicken isn’t done yet. If it’s clear, the chicken is completely cooked.)
People!!!! The chicken turned out wonderfully!!!! It was tender, juicy and delicious! OMG! I ate it with some lettuce, blue cheese and tomatoes. I can’t hardly believe it.
So, the next day (Sunday) I went back to my old ways, and I bought a ready-made chicken pie. I popped it in the oven for an hour and, unfortunately the top got burnt and the bottom was gummy and undone. Go figure.
love, Naimah.
Why am I learning to cook? I am learning because I feel every woman, if she thinks of herself as independent, should be able to cook for herself and not rely on someone else to cook for her.
That’s what Harumi Kurihara says, anyways! Ooooh, who is Harumi Kurihara you ask? Well, the New York Times calls her the empress of domesticity. The Americans call her the Japanese Martha Stewart.
She wrote a book called Harumi’s Japanese Cooking – I bought it recently and it’s amazing! It’s got recipes in it that you can use if you’re – NOT – Japanese and want to learn to cook healthy, yummy Japanese food. She is SO down to earth. She’s also got books called Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking and Everyday Kurihara which I would like to purchase as well. I’ve read through every recipe in the book, even though I haven’t actually… cooked anything from it yet! Here’s an example of one of her recipes:
Image: japantimes.co.jp
Chicken with Soy and Balsamic Dressing From Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking by Harumi Kurihara
Image: teamsugar.com
INGREDIENTS 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 clove garlic, sliced coarsely ground black pepper 1 lb boneless chicken thighs a little sunflower or vegetable oil a few basil leaves — for garnish
For cabbage: 1/2-3/4 cups of roughly chopped cabbage 1 Tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil 1 Tbsp butter salt and pepper
PREPARATION 1. Put the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Cut the chicken diagonally into bite-sized pieces and marinate for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken, turning halfway to brown both sides.
3. To make the sautéed cabbage: Roughly chop the cabbage into large pieces In a wok or frying pan, heat the oil and butter, add the cabbage, sauté until cooked, then lightly season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the cabbage on a serving dish and arrange the chicken on top. Pour over any remaining sauce from the chicken pan and garnish with basil leaves.
One other thing I love about Harumi is the fact that she’s got some amazing ideas on tableware and the presentation of food. If you look at the photos in her book, every dish looks elegant and laid back at the same time. I definitely love the little dishes that separate each different dish. I wanna get some!! I’m crazy about cute little dishes and setting everything up in an elegant, but NOT FUSSY way.
Images: http://bentonoibii.livejournal.com/
Oh, and I had my first bento box today! It was so cute, I went to this little restaurant called Bento Japan and got the teriyaki chicken with rice, bean sprouts and mixed veggies. I loved how many vegetables there were in my lunch, it was almost half full of vegetables, which is really really refreshing. I’ve added some links on the side of Japanese bento blogs, my favourite so far is http://bentonoibii.livejournal.com/. I mean look at how cute some of these lunch boxes are! I want a little curry fish and a rice and seaweed ninja! I’m definitely going to try and get some bento supplies and I’ll let you guys know how it goes.
Naimah.
I had to take some time out to post on fried chicken! It’s incredible, and you can make it healthy if you know how to cook it! So, here is the original, traditional recipe (how-to-cook-gourmet.com/) and here is a recipe that’s a little healthier (taken from womenshealth.about.com). I’m going to try them both and get back to you guys about how I did!!!
It’s mmmm mmm good!!!!
Naimah
Southern Fried Chicken
House seasoning (approx. 1-2 tsp.)
Dissolve salt in water in a large bowl; add the chicken. Cover; refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. Pour off the brine; rinse the chicken well under running water in the bowl. Drain. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the water. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange. In another bowl, combine the flour and pepper. Season the chicken with the house seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour mixture.
Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; stir in bacon drippings. Heat to 350 degrees, or until a drop of water spatters when it hits the hot oil. Add drumsticks, wings and thighs, skin side down (the oil should come about halfway up the sides of the pieces of chicken). Cover; cook until tiny bubbles begin to appear in the crust on the side facing up, about 10 minutes. Turn; cook 10 minutes. Uncover the skillet; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until chicken is golden brown, 5-10 minutes. Remove to a rack placed over a cookie sheet.
Raise heat under skillet to medium-high. Heat oil to 350 degrees; add breasts, skin side down. Cook until tiny bubbles begin to appear in the crust, about 10 minutes. Turn; cover. Cook 10 minutes; uncover. Lower heat to medium-low; cook until golden brown, 5-10 minutes.
Healthy Oven-Fried Chicken
Preheat oven to 350° F. Add 1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning to milk. Combine all other spices with cornflake crumbs and place in a plastic bag. Wash chicken and pat dry. Dip chicken into milk, shake to remove excess, then quickly shake in bag with seasoning and crumbs. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and sprinkle lightly with paprika for color.
Evenly space chicken on greased baking pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 40 minutes.
Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 30 to 40 minutes or until the meat can be easily pulled away from the bone with a fork. The drumsticks may require less baking time than the breasts. Crumbs will form a crispy “skin.” (Do not turn chicken during baking.)
I’ve wanted to go to Wahaca for a while and finally did the other day with my boyfriend and another couple of friends. Wahaca is the brain child of Thomasina Miers, winner of BBC’s Masterchef in 2005. It’s not described as a restaurant or fine dining, but as ‘mexican street food’, which gives the food, venue and whole meal an informal sense of fun. There are two Wahaca restaurants so far, both in London. The first opened in 2007 in Covent Garden and is hidden away downstairs, and always has a queue snaking down them. A second Wahaca was opened in 2008 in the brand spanking new Westfield shopping centre. Although not as busy, it is definitely just as good as the more central venue.
The menu is divided into different parts. Drinks and nibbles at the top, tapas style street food in the middle, soups and salads and then Platos Fuertes (or main courses) below and at the bottom, desserts! We wanted to try a bit of everything so went for the Wahaca Selection, a selection of their street food. It’s based on two people sharing (£20 each) but you each get something like 10 different dishes. We tried the pork pibil which was very nice. The Devon crab lacked crab but the broad bean, thyme and feta taquitos made up for it. The dishes come out quickly and it can be a bit overwhelming at first. However, you get into it and its fun figuring out which dish is which. For pudding avoid the churros con chocolate (ok but not that exciting). Instead, opt for the vanilla ice cream with caramel. Unctuous, full of flavour and lots of it!!! Perfect end to a gorgeous meal.
I would definitely highly recommend Wahaca to all my friends and family (and you guys!) as it’s so hard to find good authentic Mexican food. Not only is it all tasty but it’s also ethical, as produce is locally grown and even its décor was made from recycled fruit boxes!
The secret is out. Wahaca is the place to go. Just don’t go too often as I want to get in too! Hehe.
So my boyfriend and I went to Wahaca recently (amazing restaurant, I’ll blog about it in the next post) and got some free chilli seeds. So we planted them, all 30 of them. The thing you don’t realise with chillies is that they start off as cute little seedlings but that the end product is more of a bush than a tame house plant! And now we have about 6 of these bad boys left, having desperately found friends, relatives and strangers to accept some! I am now living in a jungle.
I think our chillies have grown to be so prosperous through careful watering (that was my boyfriend’s job) and light (the sun’s job). My job was to strategically position the plants on the ledge of our landing, on our desk and on bathroom shelves. They were quite happy as we were in the loft so it was warm and light, just what chillies need. It took about 6 months for them to grow fully and start flowering and even bearing fruit! Was very exciting until I realised that we had planted scotch bonnet chillies, which are one of the hottest varieties around. This was, and still is, disappointing. It’s nice to grow plants until they overtake your home; and it’s especially nice if they can bear fruit. But when it’s a ridiculously hot variety of fruit well, it is a bit of a shame. However, I recently found out that scotch bonnet can be used in lots of Caribbean recipes and will be trying some of them out. I’ll keep you posted!
