Sunday, August 19, 2012

Stir fried Shrimp Egg Noodles

The other day (more like months ago), at my neighbourhood supermarket, I stumbled upon packs of egg noddles. Gladly, they were being sold at a reasonable price, so I threw one into my basket.

A few days later, I whipped out the pack, rummaged through my cupboards and refrigerator and here's what I came up with;



Preparation

I chopped up some red onions, tomatoes and green beans and stir fried them in a heated, lightly greased pan - adding in that order. I then added the noodles (which had soaked in hot water until tender), as well as some pre-cooked shrimp.  Finally, I added a couple of dashes of soy sauce and 'garlic and chilli' sauce, as well as salt and black pepper to taste.

The result was the simple yet delicious meal above. Not a bad substitute for a Chinese take away :D

Monday, August 13, 2012

My version of Piedmont BBQ Sauce

I spoke about whipping up some BBQ sauce in my last post. Basically, I had a craving for some BBQ, with some solid glazing (and maybe dipping) sauce. Typically, I would run to the grocery store and buy a bottle, but being on this side of the pond, it's sometimes a bit difficult and expensive to find.

I have seen a couple of chefs make their own. Plus, it is the healthier and more adventurous choice. Who knows... maybe 'BBQ saucing' could become my new obsession and one day you'll find yourself running to the store for a bottle of 'Ovuoke's Fine BBQ sauce' :-)

To get me started on this quest, I looked up a few recipes online. As usual, I looked for something simple but tasty. So here's what I came up with;
It's a classic Carolina Style Barbecue Sauce - which is said to be typically served on smoked pork. I tweaked the recipe a bit, utilizing more readily available ingredients (recipe calls for cider vinegar rather than white wine vinegar and red pepper flakes rather than cayenne pepper)... well, what I had at home, and voila!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper


Preparation:Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for several days, allowing the flavors to blend. Shake before using.


It is designed to be a thin but flavorful sauce. However, preferring a thicker sauce, (and haven seen a few TV chefs at work) I reduced the mixture on the stove top for about 15 mins till it was about a third of the original volume.


I used the sauce with some chicken, and loved every bite of it. I'm sure you will too!

Here's my jar of 'Ovuoke's Piedmont BBQ Sauce'. It's still in the developmental stage :D

Firing up the grill 'just because'

Oh my... I looked at the date of my last post and almost passed out. I honestly cannot believe it's been over a year since my last post.

Life has been quite different since I left the states and I guess re-assimilation combined with less readily available ingredients, I just haven't experimented that much. I did however keep blogging - just not about food (check out naijacopa.blogspot.com).

Anyhoo... in all this time, one thing that I have gotten round to do, on the cooking tip is barbequing. I've loved to bbq since my mom bought our first outdoor grill some 15 or so years ago. Back then, I'd beg her to let me experiment with meats and bless her heart, even though my efforts were not exactly always successful, it gave me the confidence I needed to keep at it.

Fast forward to today. I won't call myself the next Bobby Flay and claim grill master (madame) status, but I do, do pretty ok. I got courageous a few months back and attempted to whip up my own BBQ sauce out of ingredients I already had at home, and charred up some chicken. Both were quite successful if I say so myself :-)

Titus fish - which is quite popular out here in Nigeria, is another frequent choice for me on the 'barbie'. I try to experiment with my spice mixture each time - one of my favs is a dried cumin/thyme mix which has this earthy and aromatic kick to it.

More recently - I went for a slightly bolder choice and skewered up some juicy chicken gizzards marinated in a mixture of dried spices and garlic & chilli sauce - something about the garlic & chilli sauce and gizzards, just works for me.

Below are some pictures (I apologize... forgot to take pictures most times). Hope you enjoy them, and they inspire you to light up your grill, experiment with spices, marinades and flavors; and just get lost for a few minutes in the delightful flavors of charcoal, smoke, spices and meat.