Holiday cooking with kids

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It’s the long holidays and it’s the holiday most parents dread. The kids are in your face every minute, eating, talking and playing non stop!

Thankfully most schools have deviced a way to take them out of your hands for a few hours, Summer School they call it. But then they come back. As a parent you have to keep thinking of creative ways to keep them engaged and channel their energies positively.

So i have included in our fun list some cooking and baking in the schedule for them (my kid, my wards and a nephew).

Fun! Yaaay.

So far we have made Sponge Cake , Plantain Loaf , Rainbow Meringue Cookies. We would be baking some pastry soon.

Sponge Cake

For the Sponge Cake we used a recipe by Terry Adido of Grated Nutmeg

  • 120 Grams Cake Flour (1 Cup)
  • 6 Large Eggs (Separated)
  • 125 Grams Granulated White Sugar (1/2 Cup + 2 Tablespoons OR 10 Tablespoons)
  • 50 Grams Granulated White Sugar (1/4 Cup OR 4 Tablespoons)
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 85 Grams Unsalted Butter (6 Tablespoons) (Melted)
  • 2 Tablespoons Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Water
  • 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar (Optional)

Procedure can be found HERE

Plantain Loaf

We used a recipe we found on Allrecipes.com and altered it a bit.

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 over ripe plantains , mashed
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 Cup Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 Cup unsweetened yogurt

Directions

  • Prep 10 m Cook 1 h Ready In 1 h 10 m Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, add the lemon juice followed by the yogurt. Stir in the mashed bananas.
  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
  • Blend the banana mixture into the flour mixture; stirring just to combine.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

The rainbow meringue never quite made it to pictures, thanks to sticky little fingers.

And they made their own Chapman too

Yaay!

Chapman

  • 1 Fanta/Mirinda
  • 1 Sprite/7up
  • 1 Schwepps/Teem or Limca
  • 120ml of Tasty Time
  • 80ml of Grenadine
  • 5ml of Angostura Bitters
  • 1 slice of a medium sized Lemon Cucumber for garnish

Procedure

Mix all drinks in a tall glass pitcher adding the angostura bitters last, place a slice of lemon and allow it sit for at least 30mins. Serve with ice.

Black Soup  

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Bubbling hot Black Soup in an earthen pot

Black Soup is a rich herby soup with a delicate balance of aromatic flavours if well cooked. 

Recipe 

  • 1 1/2 cup blended Bitterleaf (before blending it must have been washed till it is no longer bitter, it would have a little bitter sweet taste 
  • Efinrin leaves 
  • Utazi Leaves 

*combine in this propositions 1 part Efinrin to 1/2 part Utazi Leaves and blend together. You would need 1 Cup of a mixture of this blend to cook with 

  • 2 cups Palmnut Cream (Banga)
  • 1/2 cup blended pepper /onion/crayfish mix (you can use more if you like)
  • Smoked and dried fish variety (obokun,stockfisk, bongafish)
  • Boiled meats (beef or goat meat, cowfoot, shaki, ponmo…)
  • Rich stock 
  • Salt to taste
  • Bouillon cubes. 

Basic Ingredients: (Back-Front, Left-Right) Smoked Eja Obokun (blue catfish), blended washed bitterleaf, blended Utazi and Efirin leaves, blended fresh pepper and dried crayfish, boiled meats of choice, palm nut cream.

Procedure

  • In a pot heat up your stock and add your cooked meats, bring it to a boil and add your palm nut cream and pepper mix.
  • Cook for about 10 – 15 mins.
  • Add the smoked fish and cook. If you pre-soaked the smoked fish you may not cook longer than 3- 5mins, if it is not pre soaked cooked the fish in the soup for about 10mins.
  • Add your blended vegetables to the broth on medium heat and cook. 
  • Taste and add your desired amount of salt and seasoning 
  • Cook with lid off and let the water reduce, be careful also not to over cook the vegetables. Personally I try not to cook vegetables longer than 5-7 minutes. 

Procedure in pictures

Serve with your side of choice. Enjoy

I find the earthen ware gives it a very local appeal.

Ube Hummus 

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I’ve been quite obsessed with Ube the last couple of days. After making a Corn on Cob rubbed with Ube a few days back, I realised Ube can be a great Dip, pretty much like Hummus. Hummus is originally made with chickpeas, it’s of middle eastern origin.

Since Ube already pairs well with Corn, I tried it with some of my favourite things and it paired really well.

Cooked Ube’s is like mashed Sweet+Irish  potatoes with a tang.

RECIPE 

Makes about 2 250ml Mason  jars.

  • 50 medium sized Ube
  • 1/2 Cup Olive Oil

* Optional Ingredients (didn’t use any)

Chill pepper

Garlic paste.
Procedure

  • Wash Ube gently but thoroughly to get rid of sand.
  • Bring about 1.5 litres of water to a boil.
  • Once boiled, dunk the Ube in it for not longer than 3 minutes and strain. (You can salt the water if you like but it’s unnecessary.
  • Allow it to cool a bit so you don’t burn your fingers before using a small knife to open the skin and peel the flesh off the seed of the Ube.
  • Blend in the Ube with Olive oil  two batches a blender.
PhotoGrid_1497983723483
Procedure in pictures. Wash, Blanche, Peel
  • Store in an air tight container and refrigerate. (I haven’t tested the shelf life inside the fridge yet, with do, I’d update this post)


Isn’t this platter gorgeous? (Carrots, Cucumber, Celery sticks, Corn, Potato chips, plantain chips)

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Cucumber Stick with Ube

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Ube Hummus with Carrots sticks, Cucumber sticks, Celery sticks, Corn, Potato chips, plantain chips

Corn on Cob with mashed Ube

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This is just a simple twist to the Corn and Ube you love. CORN on COB in a Skewer rubbed with mashed Ube

It’s Corn season and with corn comes Ube. Ube is an oval shaped, purple berry with a large seed in the centre. It’s in season at about the same time as corn. As a street food, corn is either boiled or roasted and usually paired with Coconut or Ube. 

Top-Bottom; Corn , Ube.   Picture credit: Google.

Recipe

  • Corn
  • Ube
  • *Salted Butter (or Herb and Garlic butter)
  • *Pepper flakes 

*optional items are marked with asterisk 
Procedure 

  • Dehusk the corn of it comes in a husk and cook the corn till done. Cook it in a pot with lid on
  • Ube is very easy to cook, just steam till the pod is soft and it would peel off easily. You can cook it by placing the Ube on the lid of the pot while the corn cooks.  
  • Mash the Ube with salted butter ( Salted Butter is optional, I used garlic butter). Add some pepper flakes if you want some kick of heat. 
  • Spread it on your cooked corn. 

This is so comfort food!

Plantain Veggie Sauce

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This was inspired by a post I saw last night on “So You Think You Can Cook”. The poster didn’t have enough time to share her recipe but I created this from visual inspiration .

Trust me when I say this is so delicious. You can eat it alone or pair with Rice 

Recipe 

  • 3 Large Ripe Plantain
  • 2 cups of meat stock 
  • 300g  sliced Vegetables (I used Ugu+Efirin+Efo tete/green)
  • 3 cups of blended pepper mix (tomatoes/scotch bonnet/ habanero (rodo)/tatashe(capsicum)/ onion)
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable oil (for the sauce, you’d need more for trying the plantain. 
  • 3 cups chopped lighty fried meats (I used goat meat)
  • Shredded Fish (Smoked cod fish, dried sardines (bonga fish), about 1cup or more)
  • Bouillon cubes (2 or more depending on your tatse
  • Salt to taste 

Procedure 

  • Chop up your plantains and deep fry till it’s almost turning brown and set aside.
  • You should have pre-fried your meats.
  • Pour 1/4 cup of oil in a pot, allow it to heat up, once hot pour the pepper mix , fry slightly and pour in the stock. If you are using bonga fish, rinse well and add to the pepper from the start. Cook for 5 mins and add the fried meats. On medium heat, cook the stew till the water has completely reduced add your bouillon cubes and salt. Cook with lid on.
  • Once the water has completely reduced, add smoked fish, and vegetable. Cook for about 5 minutes with the lid off.
  • Stir in the fried plantains and let it simmer for about 2 mins and turn the heat off.  

Moinmoin 

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Happy International Women’s Day. 

 I have a five year old son and I am raising him by God’s grace to be the best version of the man God has destined him to be. He loves to cook with me in the kitchen and I encourage him. We made this meal together and even made a video tutorial on How to wrap moinmoin in leaves.

I found a very inspiring post on Facebook that underscores the reason why I’m raising my son this way.

Read Excerpt below

“I’m Worried About Our Sons” By Funke Egbemode.


Today, I am worried about our sons, today’s young men. I am truly worried and every mother should pause, take a closer look at her sons and daughters and answer this question: are you empowering your son for the journey ahead of him? Answer truthfully, after all you are alone and you don’t have to let anybody hear you…


I think Nigerian mothers have not done well raising future husbands and fathers. Let’s admit it, we have not scored above average, that is if we achieved average at all…

Take a closer look at your beautiful daughter and your handsome six-footer son. Who is better prepared for the task ahead? I know some of us had realised this and have done better than others but most Nigerian mothers need to buckle up. Our sons are not what they should be and we cannot have the society, the country we desire when we put unprepared men and overgrown boys in positions of authority….

It does not matter if women produce the next president and Central Bank Governor and 20 state governors, the achievement of Nigerian women and indeed women world over will continue to be marred if all we do is churn out half-baked and ill-equipped fathers and husbands. We cannot have a great society with just great women and less than good fathers and husbands…

 We’ve got to pay more attention to the quality of sons we are raising. Are we teaching them the right values? Have you sat your boys down and told them only impotent men beat their wives? Have you told your sons a man is not man if he cannot provide for his wife and children, that the ‘dangling modifier’ in between his legs is not really what proves his manhood in his home? …

Since this year’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Inspiring Change’, let us change the way we have brought up our boys. Let us teach them the skills that will protect their manhood beyond using the right condoms. (First published in 2015)


Culled from Facebook

Recipe

(Serves 8 – 10 persons)

  • 3 Cups peeled   Beans (Honey Beans/ Oloyin)
  • 1 cup Vegetable oil
  • 1/2 Cup Crayfish
  • 1 or 1 1/2 cup Stock  (Fish/Beef/Chicken stock)
  • 4 Hard Boiled Eggs (chopped)
  • 500g Mackerel; boiled and Flaked
  • 1 onion
  • 8 (or more) Jalapeño  (Bawa) Pepper or Tatashe
  • 2 Bouillon Cubes  (Any season cubes of your choice e.g knorr) *or to taste
  • Salt (to taste)
Some of the ingredients used
Peeled Beans

Procedure

  • Blend Beans with pepper and onions to a smooth paste
  • Blended paste

(Ensure not make the paste too runny by adding too much water while blending about 500ml – 750 ml of water should be sufficient for blending this quantity of beans)

 

 

*Tip* don’t ever add tomatoes to your beans paste, the acidity in the tomatoes will not allow you paste to set when it is cooked

 

  • In mixing bowl, stir the paste well for at least one minute, then add your oil and stir thoroughly until the oil is properly incorporated. Then add your salt, crushed bouillon cubes and mix thoroughly till well incorporated.
  • Then add in the flaked fish and chopped eggs and mix.
  • Scoop into your leaves. * I have a preference for wrapping moinmoin in leaves as it is not only tastier in leaves, it is healthier. Cooking your food in polythene bags allows harmful chemicals to seep into your food*.                                                             I have a made a video tutorial on HOW TO WRAP MOINMOIN IN LEAVES  click the hyperlink to watch.

https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1235014743280473&id=613368625445091

 

  • *You can cook your moinmoin in ramekins
  • Add about a cup or two of water  to a pot, (preferably a steaming pot) if you don’t have a steaming pot, you can place the stalks you cut off from your leaves at the base of the pot as a barrier between the water and the wrapped moinmoin . Place the wrapped moinmoin on the barrier, cover the pot, you can cover it with more leaves to trap steam , cook on medium heat for at least 20 – 25 mins.
  • Your moinmoin is cooked when the paste sets  and it’s cooked all the way though.
Cooked Moinmoin.
Moinmoin is also called Olele in Yoruba

Ebiripo 

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I made Ebiripo today and I shared pictures on my Facebook wall, I had even written that I was channeling my imaginary Ijebu side, little did I know I did indeed have Ijebu Remo roots, royal roots as a matter of fact, LOL! My dad saw my post and sent me this message on WhatsApp.

Dad: “​Labake you made Ebiripo. You don’t know what you’re reminding the Bolumoles of. It used to be brought for the family from Sagamu, the native home of my father’s mother.” 

“Baskets of Ebiripo wrapped in banana leaves. You brought back my childhood  memory”.

“That food is  native to Remo people of Ogun State. Not very popular amongst the Yorubas”.

“I’m surprised that you’re eating. Who taught you to eat it?”

Me: The things I have learnt to eat in my quest for food, they are plenty

Dad: “You know my father’s mum was from the Royal family of Sagamu and her only son my Dad were treated with great respect.”

And that is how I found out I have an Ijebu side!

I’ve been meaning to try my hands on making Ebiripo, so I reach out to a friend Funmilayo Ademoye and she showed me how incredibly easy it was to make.  It’s so easy. 

Typically Ebiripo is eaten with Egusi soup, or pepper sauce, but it is acceptable to eat it with any soup of your choice. 
I made mine with Smoked Fish Pepper Sauce  and it was legit delicious!
How to make Ebiripo

  • Cocoyam
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Moinmoin leaves (to wrap the Cocoyam paste)
Cocoyam , Moinmoin leaves

*I didn’t include the measurements as you can make work with whatever quantity works for you. 

Procedure 

  • Peel and cut the Cocoyam 
  • Grate or blend into a paste. 
  • Peeled and cut Cocoyam, Cocoyam paste

    Add salt to taste and mix well. 
  • Place a pot on medium heat, if you have a steaming pot you can use it or place a barrier at the base of the pot, locally the stalks on the moinmoin leaves is placed inside the pot at the base before adding a little way.
  • Scoop the paste into the leaves and wrap. Place the wrapped leaves in a pot and steam till it is cooked

Serve with your soup of choice.

Ebiripo

To make the pepper sauce, I used the recipe I use for making sauce for Ekuru.I only added Smoked Cod fish (panla), Smoked Tilapia (Bonga fish), powdered crayfish. 

You can learn how to make the sauce here: Sauce 

Ikokore / Ifokore

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An Ijebu pottage delicacy made with grated Wateryam. Typically it is eaten with Eba (cold eba preferrably)


I’ve been craving Ikokore for weeks but I’ve been unable to cook because I’ve been convalescent. Now that I’m back on my feet, I cooked the first thing I’ve been craving. Ikokore Ijebu. I have a staff who is Ijebu, she ate it with left over Eba from the previous day. I’m  yet to try that though. 

This Ikokore is “Ikokore elemi meje” (Ikokore with Seven Lives). A joke we crack when there is a lot of protein going on in a dish. I only cook small portions of Ikokore because neither my husband nor my son eat it, I cook just enough to share with my Ijebu staff, my help, and any other person. I eat very small portions.
Recipe 

(Serves 3)

Ingredients 

  • 5 slices Wateryam 
  • 1/2 cup Palm oil 
  • 1 cup blended pepper mix  (tatashe/bawa/jalepeno pepper + Atarodo/Scotch bonnet + Onions, Ratio 4:1:1)
  • 2 cups rich stock 
  • Assorted Meats (about 100g or 1.5cups) (beef, offals, ponmo, cow foot)
  • 2 Medium sized smoked tilapia  (shredded)
  • 1/2 Cup Shredded Stock fish 
  • 1 small smoked catfish  (shredded)
  • 1/4 cup powdered crayfish
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 Bouillon Cubes  (eg Knorr)


Procedure 

  • Using the small grit of your grater, grate your slices of yam. If you have a food processor you can use the similar attachment on your processor to grate the yam.

A tuber of water yam, slices of water yam, the grater used to grate the yams, grated yam.

Shredded Bonga Fish (smoked tilapia), shredded stock fish, powdered crayfish, blended pepper mix, smoked catfish, assorted meats

  • If you don’t have your stock ready, boil your meats, season with salt, seasoning cubes and one onion. Cook till done. 
  • Then add your pepper blend, and palm oil, allow it cook for ten minutes then add the all the fish and  crayfish. If you had your stock ready, cook pepper first with palm oil, then add the stock, fish and meat. Taste for seasoning. 
  • When all these are well incorporated, spoon the grated Wateryam in small portions into the broth. If the fluid is too little add some more water and allow it to cook till the yam is well cooked. Stir with a wooden spoon or ladle. 

  • Your Ikokore should be ready within 10 minutes of adding the grated Wateryam and cooking on medium heat. 

Fried Chicken in Vegetable Gravy 

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Christmas Eve lunch. 

The initial plan was to make a simple gravvy using the stock I had from cooking all the chickens my husband brought from the farm yesterday. Then I remembered I had some vegetables that would waste if I don’t cook them today. I’d be spending Christmas with my parents and they would be no good by the time I return.

So here I have Fried Chicken in Vegetable gravy which we had with Basmati Rice. 

This is one of those recipes I practically eye balled , so I’d try to give a close enough recipe. 

Recipe. 

  • 2 cups Chicken Stock
  • 1/2 Cup flour
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp Tomato ketchup (*absolutely optional, i just wanted my broth to be darker) 
  • 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper 
  • 10 pieces of fried chicken 
  • 1/2 cup water 
  • 2 cups of mixed chopped vegetables (use your vegetables of choice)

Procedure.

  • Mix half cup of flour with half cup of water.
  • Place a pot on medium heat, add stock, warm it up and slowly pour in flour mixture. Stir while you pour.
  • Add the pepper, soy sauce, and *ketchup and let it simmer. 
  • Add your chicken to the broth, and cook on medium heat with lid on for 5 minutes. Cook with the chunky vegetables e.g Carrots and Potatoes 
  • Add the rest of the  vegetables, don’t  cook longer than a minute. Turn off the heat.