Satay Chicken skewer
Sometimes you get home from work and you can’t even be bothered to think let alone cook and eat. But our bodies are our bodies they need nourishment and at 8pm you start to starve and you think what would be a quick tasty meal to fix and …………….. you come up with this. Serve it with a salad and call it a night. Goodnight………. HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 2 boneless chicken breast cut into strips
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- salt and ground pepper
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
Instructions
If you’re using wooden skewers soak them in water for 30 minutes so that they don’t burn.
Mix the spices, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, oil, ½ tablespoon garlic, ¼ chilli flakes and salt and pepper. Rub this on the chicken, then thread the chicken onto the skewers
Heat a grill pan or frying pan. Cook the skewers for 4-5 minutes on each side.
To make the dip mix all the remaining ingredients, you could add some water or coconut milk if you want it to be more saucy.
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/satay-chicken-skewer/
Chinese Pork Dumplings
A few weekends ago we had an Asian Night with most of my lady colleagues where we were taught how to make a few Asian dishes. Tomoko and Sampathi were our teachers that night and we had a mighty good time (see the previous post of photos). Sampathi taught us a Sri Lankan dish and Tomoko, who is Japanese, taught us how to make this lovely Chinese dumplings.
Tomoko
My first encounter with dumplings many many years ago was not a nice one. We had a few Chinese guests and they made some dumplings. I was young and I could not for the life of me imagine why anyone would enjoy eating steamed dough with steamed meat inside…..aaargggghh. So a few years later I had fried dumplings and I really enjoyed them and then one day I tried the steamed ones and I was in love. Funny how our preferences change as we grow.
Chinese Pork Dumplings
Kenyans are funny people too, when we were cooking some of these women kept asking whether we would eat the dumplings looking raw, to them the dough just has to be browned 😉 heheh they did enjoy the end product though.
finely chop and wash cabbage
Mix cabbage with pork and all the other ingredients
roll dough up into a sausage
cut into small pieces
roll dough then cut into circular shapes using a mug
put about a teaspoon of the meat mixture in the centre of the dough
this is how the other side should look
I attempted to make one
Laura doing one as well
Jane proudly showing off her work
and now the recipe,
HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 200 grams minced pork
- 6 leaves of cabbage chopped then washed (do not dry)
- 2 tablespoons of Sake
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- 2 cups Flour
- ¾ cup hot water
- salt to taste
- Soy sauce
- Vinegar
- Chilli paste
Instructions
To make the dough, dissolve the salt in the water. Put the flour in the bowl and make a well in the center. Use a wooden spoon to stir the flour while you add 3/4 cup water slowly. Aim to evenly moisten the flour. When all the water has been added, you will have lots of lumpy bits. Knead the dough in the bowl to bring all the lumps into one mass; if the dough does not come together easily, add water by the teaspoon or flour by the spoon.
Transfer dough to a work surface; flour your work surface sparingly. Knead the dough with the heel of your hand 2 minutes. Press on the dough; it should slowly bounce back, with a light impression of your finger remaining. Wrap the dough in cling film and set aside to rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours. The dough should become soft.
Mix the pork with the cabbage. Add in all the other ingredients. Set aside
Divide the dough into 2, make a sausage and cut into small pieces roll them into balls. Roll the balls in corn flour and set a side.
Using a rolling pin roll into large circles and use a mug to cut out a clean circle. Flatten the edges of the dough with a rolling pin.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the mixture to centre the already rolled out dough. Apply some water on the edge of the circle using your finger. Fold the dough to seal it and form a pleat on the side of the dumpling using a fork.
Boil some water in a sufuria, Place a steamer on top of the boiling water and place dumplings on the steamer. Steam for 10-15 mins till a fork inserted comes out clean.
For the sauce mix all the ingredients together in whatever proportions you like, use it for dipping.
*you can substitute the Sake for shaoxing wine (not as smooth and sweet) OR vermouth (dry) OR white wine OR sherry (dry)
Substitute oyster sauce with soy sauce as it provides color and some flavor to the dish. You may also add half a teaspoon of sugar to the soy sauce. Some people add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce to the soy sauce or use fish sauce
*Please note that all substitutes give different flavours and it is best to invest in this sauces especially if you will be cooking often with them.
Bacon Bouquet
Have you joined Pinterest?? It’s soooo AMAZING you find the coolest stuff there like these beautiful and creative bacon bouquet. HOW COOL IS IT????? I mean don’t you think your man would love to get a bunch? I thought this would be a perfect surprise valentines present for your man/hubby/fiancé or even that guy you’re trying to bag hehehe.
I showed the photo to a few guys and the reaction was all the same I WOULD LOVE THIS. And the best thing about this is that you do not have to limit it to just Valentines. Use it for his birthday, father’s day, X-mas, to say thank you or I love you, or just because you’re trying to bribe him into buying you that pair of overly expensive shoes or even to move into that house/ neighborhood you want to move into or better yet get him to agree with your choice of school for the kids. CLEVER haaa!! Of course you need to add to the bag of goodies if bribing is your intention though, but if you just want to make him smile this will work. Ooh and men this is easy enough for you to make for your woman too. And best thing she will REALLY appreciate the effort that you made to make them so you definitely be getting bonus points.
I got this tutorial from Our Best Bites I followed it bit by bit. I added nothing changed nothing. Don’t think there was anything to add she did such a fantastic job. People have brilliant creative minds don’t they??? Go on over to that site she has amazing craft tutorials.
Edit 2015: I lost my data when moving from foodieinthedesert.com to africankaya.com I have therefore had to get step by step photos from Our Best bites. The 1st and last photos are mine though.
What you need
- Bacon, preferably streaky
- Toothpicks
- Plastic flowers
- Baking sheet lined with foil.
So start with a packet of bacon. I used 200gms got about 10 big flowers but I doubled them up so you can get 20.
Roll a strip of bacon up. You want to have the meaty side of the bacon on the top of the flower and the fatty side at the bottom. I rolled two strip. So I rolled one then the other on top to make a larger flower.
Using two toothpick poke through the bottom of the roll (fatty side). Try as much as you can to get very close to the end as possible. This helps the bacon hold shape and also to sit flat on the baking tray.
Put the bacon on a foiled baking dish. Pop then in the over at 200 Degrees for 25-30 mins but keep checking from 20 minutes depending in your oven
Then you end up with this beautiful babies.
As they cool, take the cheapest plastic flowers you can get. Make sure the flowers can come off and leave you with a stalk to set your bacon on. Remove the red (flower) parts and remain with the stalks.
Place the bacon on the stalks and voila you are done.
Give them to someone special and see how big the smile on their face will be
How much love and appreciation you will be shown.
