Food Minia

Truth be told, I do sometimes resent having to labour over the stove for guests, especially those ones that did not give you enough notice that they are come...and as always, they want to be treated to your usual signature dishes...! So I keep coming up with loads of different food ideas which can rescue me from this sorts of sticky situations. The recipe I am sharing today is one of them. Very simple and straight forward dish with little effort, and requires no elaborate ingredients. I have now grown to love my fish mongers at the Ozumba Mbadiwe Victoria Island (under the bridge) fish market in Lagos. The size of the prawns I get from there is huge, I mean, really huge. Still, they come in different sizes, and I kid you not, when cooked and curled up, some of the prawns can be as big as the circle you make with your index finger and your thumb...! So this my quick starter, prawns and dodo dish, when served with some wine, cocktails, mock-tails or just a delicious blend of fruit juices...

I love exploring new things, new food ingredients, new techniques, and such and such.....that is just the way I am....! I eat plantains regularly, not only because they represent one of the most staple sources of carbohydrates in Nigerian cooking, but also because they are versatile to use in different dishes, are extremely delicious and most importantly, they are a healthy source of slow release energy. I have so many plantain recipes ( check them out here ), and I continue to explore new ones to suit my taste, preference, mood etcetera. So in this recipe, quite simply, I cut plantains in the form of shards and deep fry them. I always fry my plantains with my oil of choice, coconut oil. I imagine you can cook the plantain shards by roasting, baking or boiling..... You are sure to achieve an equally fantastic dish. Plantains as I said earlier, are very versatile to serve with a range of different soups/stews or other dishes like pottages and hotpots. Well, after having discovered the ...

So now that I have discovered the goodness of Red Spinach.....I went to work on how best to put it to use and to start getting all the goodness it offers. Read more about Red Spinach here Red spinach is loosely called that, but really it is red amaranths, and thus can be used, cooked and eaten in similar ways. The first red spinach recipe am sharing with you is the Red Spinach Seafood Pepper Soup I could literally feel my age drop as I ate this soup, each table spoon added days to my year......really, really hehehe. This is because it is so intense in its colour, taste and flavour. And because I know that the brilliant colour of the soup is an indication of the richness and goodness of the soup....its packed full of minerals and vitamins vital to good health and for fighting signs of aging..! Whereas people tend to discard the some-worth dark coloured water created by cooking green amaranth, on the other hand, the deep coloured water created by cooking red amaranth is priceless in its ...

Plantains are just so versatile, and contrary to what you might have heard about them, they are a healthy source of slow release energy....! There are several ways of preparing and serving them.....baking, frying, roasting, mashing, pounding, making into snacks etc. What you make them into or how you process them is determined by their stage of ripeness. Read more about plantains here . I love plantains and have several recipes on then ( Check here for more recipes on plantains  ) I want you to get inspired by this simple plantain dish. No fuss, ready in a few minutes, especially if you already have some rich and smooth red pepper sauce/stew. The highlight of this dish goes to the sleek arrangement of the evenly sliced boiled plantain.......hmmm Simply gorgeous.... Make some as served with what ever you fancy. Mine is served with some stewed turkey.... What you need To make the boiled plantains: You need ripe plantains Salt. What to do Place enough water into a deep base pot and ad...

Garden Eggs (a family of aubergines) are readily available in Nigeria, sold on every street corner, and eaten largely for snack. There is nothing wrong with eating them for snacks, actually, as they add to your five a day fruit and veg requirement. ( Read more about Garden Eggs here) But because I aim to eat for health, I am always finding new ways to eat more vegetables, ways to actually make them the core of my meals. So after having Grilled them, Spiralized them, Stewed them, I have now also decided to bake them....! I have discovered that baking garden eggs actually gives them a better texture than boiling them. With baking, you do not have to remove the skin and this stills helps to keep the rigidity as compared to boiling where the skin is often removed and the flesh becomes mushy. I love the fact that I can keep the skin on, because it is so important to the overall fibre content of the veg. The skin also helps to keep the garden eggs in shapes and make them ideal for this p...

Its been well established that avocado pears are great for health. They are quite delicious too, but that is when they have well ripened, and soft and full of flavour. Okay, there are sometimes when you get the craving for avocados and the ones you have at home, are not quite ripe enough... so what do you do. The normal thing to do is wait a few more days to allow them ripen and soften. But what if you do not have that patience... I know its not a common thing to do, but I cooked my not so ripe avocados and I absolutely loved it. You have to try it. What you need Firm, not so ripe avocados Cooked shrimps Chopped onions Chopped red peppers Pre cooked red pepper sauce Chopped green peppers Salt Black pepper Coconut oil What to do 1. Cut into the flesh of the avocado pears and dice evenly. Set aside. 2. Heat some oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, peppers and a good amount of pre made red pepper base sauce. (Use an amount which is in proportion with the other ingredients.).  3. ...

So now I have quite a lot of meatballs in my freezer, after having made some previously ( check post here ). I particularly made them so that my daughter can readily have some whenever she wants....cause she loves meatballs. The idea of eating meat off the bone does not wash with her, and she wants little effort possible to chew her meat...! Meatballs are great with pasta, and also with rice. And as a new discovery for me, they are excellent in traditional Nigerian soups. So my daughter was the one who suggested that I should add some meatballs to my traditional vegetable soup, so I did, and the result is fantastic. The meat balls cooked so quickly and they soaked up so much flavour from the soup base. It is delicious, very simple to make, with very little effort. What you need Home made meat balls (check recipe here) Base sauce to make the soup Stock Some palm oil (or other vegetable oil of choice) Amaranth greens (blanched and shredded) Locust beans Whole smoked prawns (remove the he...

So, am really excited about this recipe....the tastes and flavours and textures I experienced from this dish, I cannot describe, you just have to find out for yourself....! First I have to say that the minced beef we get in the UK and the one I made myself (here in Lagos) with the local beef in Nigeria, are like chalk and cheese....miles apart in taste and texture and juiciness...omg! Already, Nigerians are known to favor beef with a firm texture, which is able to retain and soak up lots of flavours... This is because Nigerian cows are largely organic, fed on natural grass and vegetation, and put through a lot of "exercise" because they are reared by the a Nomadic Nigerian tribe known as the Fulanis. Everywhere they go, they take their cows and allow them to graze on natural vegetation as they move from one place to the other....actually they move in search of vegetation...! Anyway, I am totally in love with this beef, and when I decided to make some home-made mince out of th...

A truffle is a soft sweet, made with a chocolate mixture, and added flavours, often served as dessert; (not to be confused of course, with the expensive fungus delicacy, of the same name which is used in cooking.) Chin-chin is a popular snack in Nigeria, made by deep frying a sweetened dough mixture. As part of my journey discovering new ways of serving Nigerian food, I have done a few things with chin-chin such as adding to desserts as a base or just to add  some texture crunch... Chin chin could be quite versatile depending on how imaginative you are in the kitchen. ( Check out all of my chin chin recipes here .) So my newest creation, Chin Chin Truffles are so easy to make and are delicious to eat. They come in handy to serve to guests in combination with other sweets like coconut candy. Check out how to make some below. What you need Good quality chin chin extra crunchy. You can buy some in the store or make some (recipe here) Condensed milk White milk chocolate What to do Plac...

Plantains are so versatile, they can be used in whatever stage of ripeness they are...! I love that about them, and the interesting thing again is that they have a distinctive different taste at these different stages. Another interesting thing is that, their taste is further developed or enhanced by the method used to cook them and also the other ingredients paired with them...and I do have a craving for some of these distinct tastes from time to time, depending on my mood. Today's recipe works best with over ripe plantains....and because plantains do tend to ripen quickly, I do not tend to panic if I have an over ripe one in my larder. I just deep fry it first for a few minutes then transfer it into an oven to bake until it attains this "dryish" but not burnt texture, which is excellent to serve with some spicy salsa style sauce. And because the plantain is at its ripe state, it tastes really sweet, which also combines well with the saltiness and spiciness of the dip. T...

Hello everyone! Time for another recipe. This one is a highly favorited recipe by some of my customers. If you love blueberries and you love cheesecake, this one's the macaron for you! One of my fave macaron flavors, since it's creamy and not too sweet. Blueberry Cheesecake Macarons (makes about 12 completed macarons or 24 macaron shells) Ingredients: -70g almond flour -10g Graham Crackers -2 drops Blueberry Flavoring -50g powdered sugar -52g egg whites (doesn't need to be aged) -52g granulated sugar 1 drop blue food coloring 1 drop purple food coloring pinch of salt Crushed graham crackers, for topping Materials: -Hand mixer/stand mixer -Piping bags/tips (#12 Wilton) -Silpat/parchment (I prefer Silpat) -Aluminum baking half sheets (Nordic Ware/Costco/Smart and Final) -Rubber spatula -Bowls 1. Grind your graham crackers, almond flour, salt, and powdered sugar in a food processor. Then sift together into a large bowl. Add the blueberry flavoring. Set aside. 2. Weigh out your...