Wanjiru wa Drew: Mahamri / Mandazi
Also known as the african doughnut, this delightful little pastry is always a hit at tea time!
Year: 2015
Wanjiru wa Drew: Sausage mishkaki / skewers
If you’re looking for quick and easy to do this is it! I remember as a kid my mother would give us tasks in the kitchen to help with preparation, most a specially when we were hosting. I can just imagine her instructing to prepare these — that’s how simple they are. But don’t let the simplicity fool you, they are very tasty.
vegetable fried rice
This is an easy one to make. Like many rice mix dishes, it’s a great way to refresh leftover plain rice. So you can plan ahead and make lots of rice today, and do fried rice the next day, cutting prep time for a meal. A big part of making quick meals can be planning ahead with the meal you’re making today. Just make a little extra to use a different way tomorrow.
Coconut beans
This is one of my favourite ways to cook beans. Though I usually see it in other places with the kidney beans, I have used coconut in pretty much every type of bean that’s been though my kitchen, even butter beans, and they were all delicious.
Eggplant and pumpkin veggie side
Isn’t that a beautiful specimen of a pumpkin? My mother sent it to me, it is from her garden. One day when I own my own home I’d love to keep a garden like my parents do. It’s not just pretty with flowers, there’s plenty to eat. I remember when we were growing up there was always something you could snack from while in the garden, or pick to cook with. Mango, avocado and guava trees; rosemary and gooseberry bushes between the flowers; a few edible greens; passion fruit vine intertwined in the live fence,… Not all at the same time but there was always 3 or 4 things. Doesn’t it sound awesome though?
Sweet and savoury coconut rice
So earlier this year hubby treated us to some take out for dinner. One of the sides he brought was coconut rice. I have never tasted coconut rice that good before. It was sweet, packed with a burst of savoury flavour and creamy all at the same time. It was so good I’ve actually thought about it regularly since I had it, specifically how to recreate it in my own kitchen. So here it is, have a look…
Slow-cooked chopped lamb shanks
I wanted to call this post “tender deliciousness” because that is how I would describe this dish. It takes a while to cook but it is more than worth the wait. The up side is you can do something else while you’re waiting.
Veggies get nutty
I truly enjoy how simple additions and small changes can make a big difference. Adding a sprinkle of dania over a finished dish before serving it, or folding it in, in a stew just before you take it off the fire. One of my favourites is bay leaves in chicken stew (I add them at the beginning though, not the end). Nuts are also awesome to add to food. Grounded, flaked or whole they’ll will definitely refresh your dish. Like these stir fry veggies for example…
Sweet purple cabbage salad
Just look at those colours! Have you ever had purple cabbage? I had it for the first time two years ago. It was a catered lunch at the office. One of the dishes was a simple coleslaw made with purple cabbage and a sprinkle of pine nuts. It was delish. I can’t say the purple cabbage tastes any different from the regular green one but it makes such a huge difference when food just looks good and appetising.
Easy lamb chops
Sometimes the best way to make a meal is to keep thing simple. I always say the easy simple things we make at home are usually the tastiest ones. And I don’t mean the pretentious stuff. I mean the stuff that comes easily to us, the stuff we don’t need to reference a book to make, that’s my favourite stuff. No, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with referencing books. Even I need a break from my regular cooking sometimes, or just to get inspired. I use the books, the internet, whatever I can get my hands on, I even call people (mostly my little brother) to pic their brains for ideas. But in the end, I think the best comfort food is what flows easily out of us when we’re in the kitchen.
That said,… have a look at how easy these lamb chops are (^_^)
Experimenting with butternut and goat cheese
There are times when a combination of flavours just come to you. You have no idea what you’ll do with them, they just sound good in your head, so good you can taste them. Most of the time I just dwell on them for a couple of days then they get lost, they disappear, they become like a childhood memory, lingering in the background attached to a good feeling but everything is hazy, no details. Well, this time when the flavours hit me, I went with it.
Buttered roast potatoes
Everyone that has cooked with butter knows exactly what butter can do the taste. If you eat out a lot you have definitely tasted something that was smothered with butter. Once you try it in your kitchen though it becomes something you have to resist, or at least I have to. If I didn’t have to control my butter intake I’d probably put it in everything!! So when I use it, it’s a treat…
Refresh leftover rice with veggies!
I like rice. It has a nice flavour of it’s own — mild and delicate. The sticky kind is my favourite. I’ve been asked how to make rice “perfectly” in the past, and when they say perfectly they mean the way it’s made in hotels and restaurants so that it comes out “one-one” they always say. In other words, so that the grains are still separate but perfectly cooked. And the answer is, I have no clue. I’ve never bothered to know. I like mine sticky! But maybe I’ll make that an upcoming adventure. In the mean time, try this recipe, it will work just as well with “non-sticky” rice!
Savoury home fries
Here’s something to start your new year, tasty, savoury home fries. Janice made something like this for me when I visited her a couple of months ago. It was delicious. Tried to replicate it, I think I got pretty close, check it out…