Quarantine Chronicles: Nigerian Delicacies

I’ve been cooking. We’ve all been cooking. Initially it was to occasionally have a balanced, home-cooked meal in our bellies, but then I realized I had a captive audience. I could cook new things and fine-tune recipes without much push back. I have it pretty easy because my oldest eats (or at least tries) everything, and according to him, “everything mommy makes is yummy.” Praise God for child-like taste buds!!

My recipe for success

My key for a successful meal is one new thing, one healthy thing, and one tasty thing. Of course the new food can be healthy and tasty, but it is important to have at least one thing plated (or in a cup) that you know will get consumed to completion and could pass as a meal on its own. We try not to spoon feed our big kids. If they see us emphatically eating, they are more likely to at least try their own food. This is one reason why dining as a family is a priority even when my dining is me walking around while chewing to refill water and dish seconds. We also take this time to catch up with each other’s day as we all come together in the evenings.  Please know that every meal does not look like this, but it is nice to try to do this for our one meal all together. 

Clinical Pearl: I like to ask my son what his favorite part of the day was and what, if anything, made him mad, sad, and laugh. When he was attending pre-K, these answers gave me a lot more insight to the type of day he had than simply asking how his day was and receiving a one word response. I even try this with my husband sometimes!

Now, on to the Nigerian dishes I have been cooking.

Nigerian stewed beans

I cook these in my slow cooker over 6 hr or more at least once a month. I throw in frozen corn at the very end if I have some on hand. At a certain point when the kids were asking for snacks and walking to the pantry every few minutes, I joked that I would make them eat beans every time they asked for a snack. They were fine with that, which tells me they really were hungry! I have witnessed their growth spurts. Stewed beans and fried plantains are always a hit in my house. For the kids, I add a green drink, and we have a complete meal. For me, this meal is completed with gari and water with sugar and plenty of ice.

Nigerian jollof rice

This was my first attempt at following an actual recipe, and I have to say it was pretty great. My oldest said, “This is amazing” then requested jollof and nachos as his daily meal. I have made this recipe by Ronke Edoho six times now. It only gets better! I’ve tried making it with different pots and different amounts of pepper and salt. I’m excited to say that I have a designated jollof pot and a SOLID recipe that is now committed to memory! I use Better than Bouillon vegetable broth instead of beef broth, and I do not add Maggi. Judge me but give it a try.

Meat pie

The first time I attempted meat pie was at the University of Georgia during Pharmacy School circa 2007. Two friends of mine were helping. We really tried, but it was NOT good. I’m so thankful that this batch came out so well. I did throw away my first dough and run out to buy additional ingredients. The dough is very important to get right. The filling is easy if you follow this recipe by Dooney’s Kitchen. This filling was so good! I added the leftover filling to white rice instead of making more dough. My oldest loved these meat pies, but I can only see myself making these once or twice a year. It is pretty involved. Please let me know of anything else you add to your crust besides unsalted butter and flour. I need to make some adjustments for the next time I make meat pie. 

Moin Moin

This dish needs more work from me before I can start sharing it with neighbors and friends. Patience is required in the blending stage. Gritty moin moin is not good, but it is edible. These cooking pouches are super useful in speeding up the process, because who has the time to be folding foil pouches?!

Tips for following recipes

Seems simple enough, but I would have been more successful knowing these tips:

• Read through the entire recipe before cooking.
• Buy double your ingredients (just in case).
• Simultaneously make a dish that requires no disclaimer (stewed beans and now jollof rice for me).
• Make it again and experiment slightly to make your recipe solid.

Have you tried any new recipes during this time? Please share!