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Ginger Mango Lemonade Living in Nigeria, we are exposed to extreme weather conditions. Blazing heat. Tropical thunder storms. Its been blazing hot for the past few months and keeping hydrating is imperative to avoid sunstroke and general unpleasantness. Water is of course the best way to keep hydrated - the colder the better for me. However, we all need a break from water and crave something sweet to quench our thirst. Ice creams or fizzy sodas are not a regular part of my diet and I do not find them refreshing. Instead I find myself drinking water to cleanse my palate after I treat myself to any of them.
The only exception to my rule is lemonade. I love the freshness that comes from tangy lemons and by making my own versions at home, I get to control the level of sweetness. The flavor combinations are endless and if you are feeling naughty, you can 'harden' the lemonade by adding vodka to it. This version is a great way to use mangoes which are in season and by making a simple syrup and adding ginger to it, gives enough of a kick to cut down the sweetness from the sugar and the mangoes. Make a pitcher or 3 and keep refrigerated because you will not be able to get enough.
To make a pitcher of lemonade, you will need:
The variations are endless - add fruits of your choice and even herbs like mint or African basil (our local 'scent' leaf) for unexpected flavor profiles.

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 11:37 No comments: Labels: Drinks, ginger, Lemonade, Lemons, Mangoes

Saturday, 28 March 2015

Coming Soon....... Combining my 3 loves: Food, Brain Power & Mother Africa and working with the amazing Mayowa Fabode.

Are you ready?
Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 14:38 No comments: Labels: AFC, Africa, African Food Collective, Food

Friday, 27 March 2015

Thai Style Coconut Lemon Grass Chicken It is no secret that I love Thai food. I haven't been to Thailand before and while it is on the list of places to visit, I have had many a meal at Thai restaurants in a few countries and I have sampled a lot of the staples. Thai food has that delicate balance of sweet, sour and spicy elements that when combined in the right ratios is food nirvana. While I might not be an expert in this cuisine, there are a few staples in Thai cuisine that are pretty common in these parts and can be used with everyday ingredients to evoke tastes of street food in Bangkok. These include: lemon grass, fish sauce and coconut milk.

Which brings me to this baked chicken dish. The beauty of this dish is its almost a hands off dish. The chicken sits in the marinade overnight and is baked till done. This means you can spend your time making a side to go with it: rice, couscous, acha, salad, stir fry ---- whatever rocks your world.

To make 8 pieces of chicken, you will need:
There will be some marinade left in the baking pan after the chicken is ready. That is a simple pan sauce that you can reduce in a sauce pan and serve by the side of your meal to be used over the side you serve this chicken with.


Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 15:37 No comments: Labels: chicken, Coconut, dinner, lunch, Recipe, Thai

Saturday, 21 March 2015

I say Potato, You say Petatoes, We say Poraros – Sweet Potato Muffins With all the advances in technology today, I still cannot believe it is impossible to clone humans safely. This is a roundabout way of saying that life has been so incredibly busy that getting posts done for BN Cuisine has been next to impossible. However, I have come up with a few tricks that make juggling a little easier. If I can only stick to the plan…..

On to the potatoes…

Sweet potatoes are a favorite in many households (and kids absolutely love them) – usually served fried in Nigeria and available in different variants. The locally grown sweet potatoes look like cocoyams with tan or dark brown skin and usually have white flesh when peeled. Sweet potatoes from Benin Republic are very common here in Nigeria as well with darker peel than the local variety. These varieties of potatoes can range in taste from bland to mildly sweet. Some supermarkets sell imported sweet potatoes (usually from Europe) with darker red / orange skin that have orange flesh when peeled and can be saccharine sweet. The North Americans call them yams (insert side eye here) and are a staple at many a Thanksgiving dinner table with brown sugar and butter added and topped with marshmallows – bordering on dessert in my opinion. The local variety has the same texture as floury potatoes when mashed unlike the imported kind that tend to be moister.

We tend to get stuck in a rut with foods on heavy rotation in our lives and sometimes in the case of the sweet potato, it is just easier to fry them and move on. This humble root vegetable can be used in so many different ways – try boiling and mashing the potatoes and adding a little butter, salt and cream and serving with steak or grilled chicken with some veggies on the side, or bake with fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary for a fragrant healthier option, You can also make a traditional pottage (porridge) using yams and some sweet potatoes as well as add chunks of sweet potatoes into spicy pepper soup instead of yams.

So many options but how about making some muffins with them? Makes sense in my world for the following reasons: honey muffins, waffles and cornbread are common side dishes served with savory meals in certain parts of the world, sweet crepes can be stuffed with savory fillings – why can’t I make muffins using sweet potatoes that will be a little dense and not overly sweet – which will make them perfect for mopping up sauces? A crunchy topping gives textural balance to these little guys. I also committed to serving corn bread at a Southern themed brunch event and went into the pantry and discovered that packets of cornmeal had developed legs (or I used them all and forgot to restock) and needed an alternative fast and I had quite a few sweet potatoes staring at me. After 3 tries, I was happy with the results and got rave reviews. Seeing as I hate going anywhere empty handed, these also made a pretty gift in a box after the event.

To make 18 muffins, you will needs:

For topping:



Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 13:07 No comments: Labels: Muffins, Potatoes, Sweet

Friday, 20 March 2015

Green Egg Scramble Eggs. Simple enough to make one might think but it is for that exact reason that eggs can be boring. Like a lot of foods that we eat regularly, we tend to go into default mode with eggs – boil or fry. Make an omelet with onions and tomatoes and some chilies if you like some heat.
I love to use eggs as a carrier for vegetables. It is a lot easier to feed my family insane amounts of vegetables if I include them in eggs. This green egg scramble concept is also a very delicious way to deal with egg white only omelets if you are on a diet. By loading the eggs up with all these fiber and nutrients, a small bowl is quite filling which means – no need to have carbs on the side to fill you up. You can also make a few eggs go a long way as well.
To make a 4 egg scramble, you will need:

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 13:05 3 comments: Labels: eggs, Green, vegetables

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Making Dodo (Fried Plantain) a little sexier......

With the addition of just 2 ingredients, fried plantain gets a whole different flavor profile.

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 16:33 1 comment: Labels: Cooking, cooking show, How-to, videos, YouTube

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Garden Update - March 2015. Disaster + Progress

I cannot believe it has been 3 months since I started this wonderful journey. This month I suffered my first epic fail with my sweetcorn plants. However, every fail is a learning point.....
On to the updates:﻿

I bet there will be tons of updates next month. Happy planting!!!!
Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 23:15 No comments: 

Friday, 13 March 2015

Mango & Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Whipped Cream Topping I am dreaming of a holiday. Not just any old holiday. I am dreaming of white sandy beaches, clear blue skies, bathing suits and sarongs, ridiculously colored drinks with umbrellas – on a Caribbean island far, far away.

Since I will not be taking a holiday anytime soon (with the number of hats I wear, I can only pray for a break at some point), I figured I could bring a taste of the Caribbean close to home and satisfy my sweet cravings at the same time. There is no flavor more synonymous with the Caribbean than coconut. Papayas and mangos tie for second place in my opinion so I went into mad scientist mode and decided to play around with these flavors in cake. The papaya (pawpaw) experiment was a hot mess. Mushy and nasty. I shudder just thinking about it. Using mangos however, success. The result of this experiment are cupcakes that are not too sweet, full of tropical flavor and topped with light as air whipped cream with bursts of citrus flavor from grated lime zest – the Caribbean in your mouth.

To make 18 cupcakes, you will need:

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 19:45 No comments: Labels: Baking, Coconut, Cupcakes, Dessert, Fruit, Mangos

Monday, 9 March 2015

Prawn Stir Fry - A handful of ingredients make a sexy Sunday lunch I had the most intense week - Shoots, writing deadlines, recipe testing, the bakery, meetings, school run etc.

By the time the weekend came round, all I wanted to do was sleep, sleep and sleep.

Sunday came and I was still exhausted. I could have gotten away with take out. The mister wouldn't have minded. However, me being me (don't you see the super woman cape behind me), I decided I would rustle something up. The goal was to make some thing yummy that would not take any time but allow me to use up some of the vegetables I had in the fridge that I planned to do different things with but couldn't find the time to do.

I took inventory and I had: tiger prawns, yellow, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, red and white onions and tomatoes.

First step - get the rice going. I emptied a 400ml can of coconut milk and half a sachet of coconut milk powder into a pot with some salt and brought to a boil. I added the washed rice and set on low heat to cook gently and absorb all the coconutty goodness.

A good way  to stretch expensive tiger prawns is to cut each prawn into about 3 pieces. That way, each person can get 6  or more pieces of prawns rather than a single one which might look and feel stingy on the plate. Psychological but it really works.  I chopped the prawns into pieces and rinsed thoroughly and placed in a bowl. A dash of seafood spice and a good rub was all the prawns needed.

I sliced 1 red onion, julienned the peppers and set aside. As I was working I remembered my spiralizer that I got last year that hasn't really done enough work. I decided to make a simple salad using this cool gadget. I made cucumber strands (you can just chop the cucumber into bite sized pieces if you don't have a spiralizer), finely sliced a white onion and chopped up 2 tomatoes. I placed the cucumber, onions and tomatoes in a bowl and set aside. A quick dressing for the salad - extra virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper and a little pure natural honey for a hint of sweetness. Whisk and add to the salad. Toss and keep in the fridge till ready to serve.

On to the prawns. A wok. A dash of olive oil. Add the onions and peppers and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add some light soy sauce, a few drops of sesame oil and some pepper if you like - I used a pinch of dried yellow pepper. Add the prawns and stir till the prawns are cooked through.

Serve stir fry with the coconut rice and salad.

Simple, delicious, colorful and an all round crowd pleaser. I had some sauce left over and no prawns - I added some leftover baked chicken pieces to the sauce - voila - lunch for the little man for school.
Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 23:06 2 comments: Labels: dinner, lunch, Prawns, Salad, Stir fry, Vegtables

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Behind the scenes.... I just finished shooting a few episodes of a cooking show that will air on EbonyLife TV from May 2015. I will share more details and a few more pictures soon.

What am I looking at? A camera installed above the hub...LOL.

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 19:52 No comments: Labels: Behind the scenes, Cooking, cooking show

Monday, 2 March 2015

From Garden To Table - Cucumber, Onion & Radish Pickles After harvesting the last of the cherry belle radishes in the pot, I knew having them in a salad again would not go down well with the mister. I had a basic pickle recipe saved up using radishes but I only had 6 cherry belles left - they aren't called cherry belles for nothing. They are cute but really tiny. So clearly, I would need literally baskets of radishes to have enough for a decent sized jar.

Solution: a mixed pickle jar. This is a quick pickle recipe which means the pickles will be ready to eat in as little as 3 hours. I am keeping the jar in the fridge overnight and will use on sandwiches tomorrow.

To make a jar of these mixed pickles, you will need:
These pickles will be excellent in sandwiches and burgers, over grilled steak or as a crunchy, tangy elements in a salad and should keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 21:17 2 comments: Labels: Garden to Table, Pickles, vegetables

Noodles My Way

Say no to bland boring noodles.....

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 12:04 1 comment: 


Garden Update: Harvest..... Look at these little beauties. My first harvest - well 2nd but all radishes. I pulled 4 radishes out of the pot yesterday and had them in a little salad. Peppery and crunchy - they added a bite to the salad that I love. These 3 I got out today and there are only 6 left in the pot. The feeling I have  - excitement, happiness and fulfillment. I shall try my hand at quick pickles with these 3 tomorrow and I shall post results - success or fail.

I have planted another type of radish - white icicle radishes and since I have never tried them before, I am keen to see if the flavor is the same as these cherry belle ones.

From Garden To Table - simply amazing.

Posted by Uzo Orimalade at 20:59 No comments: Labels: Garden, Garden to Table, Gardening, Gardening Series, vegetables From my Food Lab to Yours Subscribe by email My favorite blogs