MOI-MOI with a TWIST: Just in time for Christmas!

Saturdays are days for special delicacies. Yesterday, I made Moi-Moi. My family loves them. Moving to the United Kingdom, I found it so hard to adapt to the fact that there are no grinding machine shades around, like we are used to in Nigeria and other African countries. The very first time I tried to blend the beans for moi moi; it wasn’t as smooth as I wanted. Then @Zitera advised me to look for beans powder (already grind beans in powder form). Stating that she noticed one of her friends used some stuff like that whilst she was holidaying here in the UK. I went straight on a rampage for it… and guess what! I found it. It was so good but not the way I really wanted my moi moi to come out – fresh, natural and tasty…

Now, I’ve come up with my own perfect way to get that delicious moi-moi ready… And as perfect as it could ever be…Moi Moi fit for the gods, so smooth, so fresh, so natural and so tasty…

Here are the requisites in the processing to the preparation of MOI-MOI GODDESSES.

INGREDIENTS:

• Beans
• Onions
• 2 Knorr
• Crayfish
• 2 Tuna fish * I use tuna in sunflower oil*
• Sunflower oil
• Romero pepper a.k.a Tatashi
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Pepper
• Pinch of salt
• Foil or small plastic container
• Water

GETTING THE BEANS READY.

Soak the beans in a bowl with warm water.

After 5 minutes, drain the water and peel away the beans skin.

Rinse out the peeled skin totally

Soak the washed beans in hot water and leave for 4 hours.

**Note: if you are going to have the moi-moi for dinner, prepare the bean in mid-morning, so it would be soft enough to blend in other to get the smooth mixture**.

The amount of tuna fish you are going to use would depend very much on the quantity of moi moi you want.

romero pepper.

Blend the washed beans together with water, crayfish, onions, pepper, romero pepper, ginger and garlic.

Pour the blended mixture into a bowl

And add the oil from the tuna fish and additional 50 ml of sunflower oil.

Open the Knorr cubes, put them in on a small bowl plate and add hot water. Stir the cubes so as to melt entirely.

Stir in the cubes, the tuna fish, pinch of salt and water. * The mixture has to be a bit thick, not too thick and not to watery either*

Stir the entire mixture and check taste.

Pour in the mixture into each container or prepared foil

Cooking process

Cook in a medium pot, add 500mls of water

If you are using foil, use a smaller pot cover, as a base on the pot. It prevents the foil from burning or sticking to the pot.

For plastic containers, no need to protect the base of the pot.

Put in the containers and their contents.

Then cook for approximately 45 minutes.

Allow cooling before serving.

POTATOES SALAD

• One medium Irish potato
• Medium cucumber
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sweet corn
• Garden peas
• Boiled Eggs
• Carrots
• Salad cream
• Macaroni

Preparation.

Peel the potatoes and carrot, and then cut them in cubes.

Divide the cucumber into 2 and remove the seeds.

Remove the green back of one and leave the other half green

Dice the cucumber

In a steamer, put in the carrot, peas and sweet corn, allow to steam for 10 mins but remove the carrot at 5 mins.

In a small pot, boil the macaroni and potatoes until done and drain.

In a medium bowl, slice in the boiled eggs and put in all the ingredients. 

Serve with salad cream.

                                               He's the BOSS, always certifies before Mommy can blog.

Hope you try this one-day… I believe you would really love it. Your comments would be appreciated… THANKS… ENJOY!

Grilled Chicken Thighs served with Salad!

Juggling school and family life is like trying to juggle two bags of cement all on your own. One of my friends in school said the other day, "It feels like I'm ignoring my hubby and kids. I don't even cook for them anymore...that's so bad school work has affected our lives! My new best friend is my PC...so much course work! In fact Belle, any day you don't see me in school, just know that I finally quit school".

I've refused to let the stress interfere with my giving quality attention to my man and his stomach. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach after all! So I came up with this plan of stocking as many chicken thighs as possible, spiced and left in the fridge over night to marinate after which I pack them, as I want to use and preserved up in the freezer. It really comes in handy especially when an unexpected friend pops in to visit…

                               Here's my recipe for spicing the thighs, and the salad that goes with it. 

 

Ingredients         
 
Meat seasoning                                           Salad

Chicken                                                   Bristol salad {from Iceland or Lidl}
Beef                                                         Avocado
Knorr                                                       Cherry tomatoes
Salt                                                          Carrots
Ginger                                                     Cucumber
Garlic
Lemon or vinegar
Curry
Thyme


The seasoning process.
 

• Remove the skin of the back of the chicken
• In a bowl, put in the meat, be it chicken or beef
• Add the Knorr, curries, a pinch of salt, ginger, fingers of garlic, squeeze in quarter of a medium lemon and thyme
• Massage the spices into the chicken
• Put in the spiced protein into a freezer bag
• Put in the fridge to leave to marinate for 2hrs
• for the steak...fry with little olive oil and butter until browned

If you want to grill immediately, that’s fine. It’s up to you how you want it.  I usually freeze them and bring out the portion I will be using about 4 hrs before I use them so as to defrost.

For the Salad

• Empty the Bristol salad into a bowl
• Grate in your carrots
• Cut the cucumber and avocado and chunk into the bowl
• Wash the cherry tomatoes and add in
  Mix together and serve with any cream of your choice. I love my salad cream.

                                                       Made this for my friend and her son.

                                                                     Shiela and her Son

                                                                

                                                     Made this specially for him...Lazy friday.

WHAT WILL IT BE THIS CHRISTMAS?????

WHAT WILL IT BE THIS CHRISTMAS?????

Cooking comes so natural to me. I am that child who is always by her mom’s bosom whilst she cooks. So I learnt loads from her. Bless you Mom! I also get my inspirations from programs I watch such as the Master-chef series and Come Dine With Me ... I can literally make someone trying to be a size 8, go off her weight lose plans, @Zitera is a witness. I can concoct recipes and yet it works perfectly well.

Marrying a man that does not eat out is another motivational factor. Our first year of being married, I used to bribe him with different kinda delicacies. In fact, he got so confused as to how I can cook to perfection compare with my ‘nwatakiri and ajebota’ looks * wink *. My Millennium house dolls gave me the title ‘aka n’ewu ite’, maybe one day I would have my very own restaurant and cookbooks.

 My Nursing studies have taking my time and attention, so I hardly cook these days because I make them in bulk now so as to have time for my cute lil family.  Christmas is around the corner, for those of us that love surprises, here is the recipe that will make him buy that shoe, bag, perfume that has been making us go window shopping everyday.  Here is my very own coconut rice recipe.

Coconut Jollof Rice Recipe with prawns and veg.

This particular rice, Nwoke m loves it. I can practically cook it for him everyday and he will never complain. I cook it to perfection. Try this and your friends will come knocking at yours during Xmas.

Ingredients:

•  Three cups of basmati rice 
• Meat – chicken or beef 
•  3 Knorr cubes           
• Thyme, curries, ginger and garlic
• Onions
• Pepper
• 2 whole Fresh Coconuts
• Little or no salt…salt is not healthy
• Tomatoes 
• Sunflower oil or vegetable oil (I use sunflower)
• Peas
• King prawns
• Water

The Preparation stages:

Preparation of this delicacy, could take about 1hr. this is a multitasking process, from coconut processing to meat cooking and frying, to tomatoes blending and preparations up to the end process of adding water and rice.

Coconut Preparation

For those of us with bingo wings, here is the secret to losing those extra fat (grating coconuts). Its hard work but the end product is magical. Here we go - Break the coconuts, wash and grate with a grater. Once done, boil water and pour into the processed coconuts and squeeze out the coconut milk and set aside.

Meat Process

In a big pot, put in your meat, add 2 Knorr cubes, a tbsp. of curry, and tsp. of thyme, tiny ginger and 3 medium fingers of garlic. Add 800ml of water and cook until meat is done to your satisfaction. Once ready, remove the chicken/beef and fry them. Leaving the meat stock in the pot.

Tomatoes stage

While the chicken/beef is cooking, blend the tomatoes with onions and pepper. In another pot, pour in 100ml of sunflower oil, slice in the onions and add the blended tomatoes. Bring to boiling until all the water in the tomatoes is dried up.

The making of the shining rice

Pour in the meat stock into the tomatoes with the coconut water. Add the last Knorr cube and taste. Bring to boiling, then add the basmati rice, and allow boiling for 3 minutes. Then reducing the gas heat to the lowest and leave the rice to cook through steam. Carefully Stir the rice every 5 minutes. Then allow on low heat for 7 minutes until all water is sucked into the rice, add the peas and prawns. Allow for another 3 minutes and we are ready to eat.

 

For Serving

Serve with avocado prawn salad and chilled cranberry juice.

Hope you will try this recipe, for better shining and coconutty rice. The aroma is JUST heavenly. Enjoy!!!

Please feel free to drop a comment, I will be posting yet another recipe. 'Cow leg nkwobi recipe'.

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Finally, i am on blogsville. Afrilight is where i would be letting off the steam from time to time on a variety of topics. From sharing recipes, to all things fashion, to events and happenings in the life of a wife, mother and student. Feel free to follow this blog. I will hugely appreciate that! Do not forget to leave a comment! :)

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