Fried Calamari
Its amazing how we sometimes call ourselves food enthusiast while there is sooo much out there that we have not tried or are not even willing to try. I find that as Kenyans we live in our own little box of food. We have fixed notions of what food is. To us food is rice, ugali, chapati, mukimo served with meat (chicken, beef and fish <mostly tilapia unless you come from western or coast>) and sukuma wiki, spinach, cabbage and our local veggies. Rice should either be white or a pilau and if you’re a kikuyu like me you can mix everything including the kitchen sink into your rice or stew. Beef and chicken in stewed. And most of us rarely leave this box.
This box annoys me. I have called people over to my place here for tea and later the boys later go and say I made them “magic” WTH magic in this sense being mini pies, German style pancakes, churros etc just because I did not serve tea with bread and mandazi everything else is “magic” I know they mean it on a light note though. I also made my brothers a bacon and cheese burger (where everything in the burger not on the burger, ill post the recipe soon) and can you imagine what one little bugger called Nyaga said “Aaaiih Wangeci mimi nimezoea burger halafu bacon na cheese juu” ( I am used to having the burger with the bacon and cheese on top) AAAARRRRRG I was so upset but the annoying young man went ahead to eat 3!!
Anyway long stories aside, I am in that kind of box too. Just that my box is for extreme foods. And its not that I won’t eat them it’s just that I am scared of trying them eg snails, frogs, snakes. A few years ago though had I known that Calamari was actually cut up squid I probably would never have tasted it off my girl’s Waringa’s plate. A fish with tentacles is not anything I’d ever imagined I would love, actually it took me a while to get of my box on my hate for seafood. But I’m sure glad I did. I love calamari, it takes the flavour of whatever you put in it. I hope you will love this recipe as much as I do.
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- Calamari
- Garlic
- Juice of lemon
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper
- All-purpose flour
Instructions
Instructions
Slice the squid up to form rings, put them in a bowl. Add the lemon, garlic, some salt and a little cayenne. Let it soak for 10 minutes.
Mix the flour with the remaining salt and pepper.
Dip the marinated calamari in the seasoned flour shake off excess
Heat oil in a pan and once hot place the calamari rings and cook for 2-4 minutes. Do not cook them more than this as they will over cook and become chewy.
HAPPY EATING!!
Notes
I buy squid from a fish monger in Westlands near occidental house. you can also get from the fish monger on Ngong road at China Centre
Bacon Pancakes
So I have been babysitting twins for about two weeks now and let me tell children are a handful. I feel like I have been shoved right smack in the middle of motherhood without actually going through the whole being pregnant and giving birth phase. It is a tiring job being a mummy and I give respect to all you mummies out there. But on the other side kids are amazing. I fall in love with the girls a little more each day. When they smile, when they turn, when they fuss for attention its beautiful, I look forward to having my own babies someday.
So today’s recipe is pretty easy. A little mix of sweet and salty. Its not a recipe really but more of a how to. Just make your pancake batter as you usually do then pour it on top of cooked bacon and that’s it. HAPPY COOKING!!
INGREDIENTS
Flour
Milk
Sugar
eggs
Cinnamon (optional)
Bacon
Method
- Make your pancake batter as you usually do; mix the flour, sugar, eggs, and milk and cinnamon.
-
2. Cook the bacon to your liking
3. Place a strip of bacon on the pan and pour some batter on it and cook it as you normally would.
PS: you can also chop up the bacon and mix it into the batter
Curry Coconut Fish Parcels
It’s amazing how versatile food is. How one basic dish like fish or beef or chicken can be made in 1000’s of different ways. How condiments that you use like honey or a curry paste can also be made in 100’s of ways. All you need is the interest and the time to do a little research or to just try and see what you can discover. Well that is how I came across this dish in one of the issues of GoodFood Magazine.
It uses three basic flavours
Thai Red Curry, coconut milk and soy sauce
I put in some garlic and dhania(coriander) for extra flavor but also because I just love those two ingredients. This dish was fast to fix and it was super delicious. I hope you will love it as much as I did.
apply some lemon juice and garlic of the fillet and place it on a foil paper
spread the red curry paste, coconut milk and crush the dhania leaves with some garlic and leom juice and spread at the very top
Seal the foil by bringing up the sides of the foil, then scrunch the edges and sides together to make 2 sealed parcels.
Bake for 10-15 mins and Voila!
Ooh have you heard of the new Hello Food website? It’s amazing for those days when you really cannot be bothered to make even a meal as quick as this one. They have a wide range of restaurants from Italian and Chinese to African and the best thing they deliver straight to your door step. Check them out here.
HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 2 large tilapia fillets , about 125g
- 2 teaspoons yellow, green or red curry paste (i used red)
- 2 teaspoons coconut milk
- zest and juice 2 lemons , plus wedges to serve
- 2 tablespoons crushed garlic
- small bunch of dhania (coriander)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
- 1 red chilli , sliced
Instructions
Heat oven to 200C. Tear off 4 large pieces of foil, double them up, then place a fish fillet in the middle of each.
Spread over the juice of one lime and one tablespoon of garlic. let it sit for about 5 mins then spread over the curry paste. Divide the coconut, lime zest and juice and soy between each fillet.
Crush the dhania leaves with the remaining garlic and spread over the fillets then bring up the sides of the foil, then scrunch the edges and sides together to make 2 sealed parcels.
Put the parcels on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 mins. Serve the fish on coconut rice, drizzle over the chilli sauce and scatter with sliced chilli. Serve with veggies and lime wedges.
You can used dessicated coconut instead of coconut milk
You can also use lemon instead of the lime
