Red, Red with Fried Plantains

This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Ghana in West Africa for a short, 3 week study abroad. While there, I was fortunate enough to get a cooking lesson from our neighbor, Margaret. As she cooked, I took notes and created the following recipes. She didn't measure anything, but I think I guessed on the amounts pretty well. Since I've come home, I've made the recipes twice and it tasted great! (Imagine an African version of Chile).

Red, Red

1 large piece of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
2 small onions (1 chopped, 1 for the puree)
1 lb black eyed peas cooked according to package directions and drained
1 cup palm oil*
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 – 1/2 tsp red chile paste

Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
1 cube fish bullion (optional)
salt to taste

Combine ginger, garlic, and one of the onions in a food processor and process until it becomes a thick paste. It should make about 1/2 cup. Heat the oil in a large pot over low heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and onion puree and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and chile paste, stirring to combine (also add nutmeg and fish bullion if using). Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans, as well as a little water if the mixture is too thick (it should be the consistency of a thick chile. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally while you make the fried plantains. Can be served with either plantains or rice.

*Palm oil, which is quite commonly used in Ghana, may be difficult to find in the U.S.A. It is colored very brightly red and is what gives the meal its name. If you can't find it in a store in your area, it is available on amazon.com

Fried Plantains

Palm oil or canola oil
8 – 10 ripe plantains
1 tsp salt

Fill a frying pan with 2 to 3 inches of palm oil and heat over medium high heat. While the oil heats, cut the plantains in half lengthwise, seeding if desired, and slice in 1/2 inch slices. Toss the plantains in a bowl with the salt until coated. Add to the frying pan (you may need to do in 2 or 3 batches) and deep fry for 7 or 8 minutes until the plantains turn red from the oil and float to the top. Margaret reminded us several times to always hold the handle when stirring the plantains in the hot oil. Remove the plantains and drain in a sieve or on a plate lined with paper towels. Serve as a side to red, red.

It's been awhile...

So it's been awhile since I added an entry to my blog because not only am I a working mom, I'm also currently in grad school. I've been having a lot of ideas lately however, so am planning to take some time out of my busy schedule to add some more recipes and cooking ideas. Tune in for more!

A Favorite Cookbook

I’ve always loved cooking. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of helping my mom cook dinner or bake cookies. By the time I was 11 or 12, I was making spaghetti and bean burritos on my own. By my late teens, I had the basics of cooking down. When I left home, I wanted to expand my cooking repertoire and lucky for me, I worked at a bookstore where I could buy bargain cookbook for under $2. I bought several fancy books that were simply too hard. When I would look through the recipes, I wouldn’t understand the directions (what’s a bain marie?) or I wouldn’t know what the ingredients were or where to find them (What are kaffir lime leaves?). Luck for me, I stumbled on a great cookbook that was perfect for my cooking skills and allowed me to make meals that were not too hard, but looked impressive and tasted delicious! What is this wonderful book? Better Homes and Gardens America’s Best-Loved Community Recipes Volume II. I later purchased volume I and still continue to use both cookbooks frequently. They have step-by-step instructions, pictures of every dish, and recipes from all categories. I believe they are out of print, but I just checked amazon.com and they are still available for purchase. After using these cookbooks and several other intermediate level recipe books, I was eventually able to tackle the difficult books as well!

Greek Pizza

Pitas (I buy whole wheat when I can)
Olive oil
Minced garlic
Spinach
Feta
Cooked chicken
Sliced peperoncinis
Greek olives, pitted and halved
Sun dried tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the tops of the pitas with olive oil and sprinkle desired amount and combination of the next 9 ingredients. Bake pitas for 10 minutes.

*Easy gourmet tip: fresh ground black pepper. It tastes so much better than pre-ground pepper!

Fancify Your Food!

You may be a gourmet mom, but your kids aren’t too sure about unfamiliar foods. The trick is to present new foods in a familiar way or familiar foods in a new way. Here are a few examples.

Welsh Rabbit: This is the British version of an open faced, grilled cheese sandwich. I have no idea why it’s called “rabbit,” but the name makes it more fun. Here is a link to a few recipes on allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe sites:

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=welsh%20rabbit

Sweet potato French fries: they are delicious and more nutritious than typical French fries. You can make them from scratch, or buy them in the frozen food section. In the grocery store I shop at, they are located in the organic food isle.

Crepes: make your kids some delicious dessert crepes, then have them try a dinner version.

Cheddar cheese risotto: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114320079
(See my recipe review from March 2010).

Peanut Butter and Jelly Panini: Use your fancy sandwich press to make a familiar treat. I prefer grilled pb&j!

Use a variety of cheeses: Instead of using the same old cheddar or American (which isn’t really cheese, but a “processed cheese food”) cheese on your kids sandwiches; give them something different like Swiss or provolone. Instead of mozzarella string cheese, look for mini Babybel cheeses in the deli section.
http://www.mini-babybel.com/products/mini-babybel/

Use a variety of pasta: Don’t just use the same old macaroni and spaghetti noodles; make rotini and cheese or substitute angel hair or linguini in your spaghetti and meatball recipe.

Go on a new fruits and vegetable hunt: When I was in 4th or 5th grade, I took cooking in 4H. One of the assignments was to go to the produce section and find fruit that I had never tried before. My mom and I found something called an ‘ugly fruit,’ which was a scary looking, wrinkled citrus fruit. I was a little nervous to try it, but it was delicious! The fact that I remember this project 20 years later says it all.

Dress up your food: One of my daughter and my favorite books is Fancy Nancy. There’s a line in the book where she says, “Sandwiches definitely taste better when you stick in frilly toothpicks,” and it’s true! Cut your sandwiches into small squares stick in a frilly toothpick. Practice your cutting skills by julienne-ing your kids’ carrots. Start using garnishes. Serve juice in elegant glasses. The fancy possibilities are endless!

Peppermint Sun Tea

Peppermint herbal sun tea (which technically isn't tea, but tisane)is a great way to hydrate during the summer months. It is cool, refreshing, and won't dehydrate you like caffeinated beverages will. In fact, I recently asked my doctor and she said that drinking unsweetened herbal tea counts towards your daily glasses of water.


You will need:

1 gallon ice tea jar (I found mine at the grocery store for $5)
4-5 bags of peppermint herbal tea
1 gallon of water


Fill your ice tea jar with cool water, put tea bags in the jar, and set out on the porch in full sun for the day. I prefer my tea without sweetener, but you can add sugar or honey if desired. It would be best to add sweetener while the tea is still warm so that it will fully dissolve. Pour over ice and store the rest in the refrigerator.

Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Every gourmet mom needs a fabulous dessert cookbook that never fails to impress. My favorite dessert cookbook is the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. I’ve made a large number of the recipes from this 400 page book and have come to rely on it to consistently impress. Most times that I’m taking a dish to a large gathering, I make sure to bring something that I’ve made before, but with this cookbook, I know that anything I make will be beautiful, impressive, and most importantly DELICIOUS! I highly recommend buying this cookbook!