Smoky and Zesty Cameroonian (Central African) Beef Kabobs/ Brochettes a la camerounaises

I love Cameroonian food!  I love the deep, smoky, spunky flavor of the grilled meats with the sweet plantains, the everything!  The blend of ginger, garlic, onion along with tomatoes and hot peppers give Cameroonian food its unforgettable punch.  I have loved it and I have dreamed of recreating the delectable Central African flavors at home from the time I tried this lovely cuisine at the old Roger Miller restaurant that was once in Silver Spring, MD.  I was finally able to get my hands on some great recipes.  Although I searched for good recipes before, to no avail, I never thought to search in French.  Hello!  I had much better luck this time.

Below is one of the first Cameroonian recipes that I tried at home.  It is super easy to make and you can do it with things that you likely already have in your kitchen.  The flavor is deep, smoky, not-too-spicy, and has the perfect bite from the vinegar.  You'd never recognize the cayenne.  The blend of spices creates a delicious flavor that you and your family won't forget!

Cameroonian Beef Kabobs/ Brochettes a la camerounaises
1 lb beef (cut into bite-sized pieces) (use a cut that is good for kabobs)
1 white or vidalia onion
1 TB fresh ginger
5 cloves of garlic
2 chopped tomatoes or 1/2 can tomatoes in tomato sauce
1/4c apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 TB oil

1. Blend all marinade ingredients into a homogeneous paste with a mortar and pestle or in the blender.  You do not want any chunks.

2. Pour marinade over meat and allow to marinate under refrigeration for a minimum of three hours, but ideally overnight.

3. Grill along with chopped onion and bell peppers on skewers that have been soaked in water for at least an hour (prevents burning).  Don't forget to brush your veggies with oil so that they cook nicely.  Enjoy :).

References:
http://www.mmmmmmmmdouceurs-maison.com/article-poulet-braise-a-la-camerounaise-69300932.html
http://www.sportingparties.com/Recipes/Africa/Cameroon-1.htm
http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Brochettes_a_la_Camerounaise
http://fr.recidemia.com/wiki/Brochettes_un_la_Camerounaise

Grilled Mediterranean-Inspired Herb Tofu

As promised, I have more recipes from my vegetarian series.  This one is a wonderfully delicious Mediterranean-inspired marinated grilled tofu recipe.  This fresh and flavorful dish is perfect for summer or any time at all.  I have grilled mine in my toaster oven and on my Foreman grill.  I think the Foreman is my preferred method, but either way, it is super delish!  

The smashing of all of the ingredients brings out their flavor and creates a smoother marinade that will keep the herbs from burning and integrate the flavors better.  Smashing the peppercorns gives you a nice spiciness that you don't normally associate with peppercorns.

The fresh Mediterranean salad is a wonderful, nutritious accompaniment to this dish.  This dish is bursting with flavor and is great for both your taste buds and your waistline.  Try this easy yet flavorful recipe yourself and show your the meat eaters in your life just how tasty tofu can be.  Enjoy!

This recipe was inspired by the following recipe: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/grilled_tofu_with_a_mediterranean_chopped_salad.html

MARINATED TOFU

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 large basil leaf

¼-1/2   tsp oregano

Handful peppercorns (15)

Juice of one lime (you can also use lemon, but lime is much more easily accessible and more affordable in Miami)

1 tsp salt

1 TB olive oil

1 pack extra firm tofu (rinsed, patted dry, and sliced longways into four)

Salad:

Cucumber, diced

Tomato, diced

olives, diced

white vinegar

1 mortar and pestle (easily found at any SE Asian market ($9-$15 for the mid sized one). The stone Thai versions are idea for creating smooth pastes--be sure it's deep enough to not splash when you are pounding the ingredients. Also, the sides should be thick to prevent breakage. Don't fall for the thinner, more shallow American versions)

Procedure:

Smash all garlic, herbs, salt, and peppercorns. together in a mortar and pestle until you form a homogeneous paste.

Gently blend in the olive oil and lime juice.

Marinate tofu ½ hr – 8 hrs. 

Grill to crispiness.

Serve with salad of diced tomato, olive (I used black), and seedless cucumber with a few splashes of white vinegar. 

Smoky and Garlicky Marinated Roasted Chicken with Cabbage Apple Slaw

Hi everyone

So, I already posted about my newly-found love for Nicaraguan food. Well, for the little time left in Miami, I will mostly be trying new Nicaraguan recipes and taking advantage of the easy access to the ingredients as well as taste-testing other people's versions of a given dish. Well, there are a number of Nicaraguan meats that come in this deliciously flavorful red, adobo-based marinade--chancho con yuca (pork rind (with the meat still attached, not just fat)with cassava), costillas asadas (grilled ribs), and pollo asado (grilled chicken). I have loved every dish I've had with this marinade, but I couldn't figure out what on earth was in it or how it was made. The problem was, I had no idea if the marinade had a set name, so I couldn't Google a recipe as I usually would.

Well, today I just searched "pollo asado." I was thinking I wouldn't really get anything because Nicaraguans don't seem too crazy about chicken unless it's in soups. They prefer to make braised and grilled meats with pork and beef, and at the fritangas, everyone wants carne asada (grilled steak, flank, I think) or cerdo asado (roast pork). In fact, he quintessential fritanga meal is carne asada with gallo pinto (mixed rice and beans),  plantains and a side of ensalada (pickled cabbage slaw). So anywho, I did find a recipe and a dang good one. The lady included a recipe for a good stock of that magic marinade I'd been trying to figure out for so long.  For those who have never had this marinade, it is smoky, garlicky, and that nice tang that all Nicaraguan food has.  It really is delicious!  This marinade is called achiote, which is also the name of the red powder that is part of its ingredients.  So, confusion resolved--there is a homemade achiote seasoning blend and an achiote powder from annatto seed.  Some of those times I saw achiote in a Nicaraguan recipe, they were talking about this marinade, not the regular spice in powder or seed form.  Traditionally, meats with this marinade are char-grilled, but I used a Foreman.  It was yummy and juicy, but, man, it would've been super delish with the flavor from a charcoal grill.  Mmmm, mmm!

I was just trying for something simple and fast today since I've been super busy and I really wasn't expecting much. As simple as it was, my dinner was delicious! I would even say it was "wow!". What made it wow was that instead of accompanying my dish with the traditional ensalada that I had, I had been itching to try my own recipe using apples, so I had that instead. As incredibly simple as it is, my pickled cabbage and apple slaw was divine! When the flavors of the cabbage, apple, and lime juice mixed, the result was a totally different flavor. It had a slightly sweet tang that was just what I wanted. The radish gave a little zip to it all and, oh my, deliciousness!

Here's the recipe! Enjoy!

Hugs,
DF


*This recipe was adapted from Cocina del Mundo http://cocinadelmundo.com/receta-Pollo-asado-a-la-Matagalpa

Marinade
1 head of garlic
4 oz achiote (annatto powder)
1 oz cumin
1/2 oz black pepper
white vinegar (add until you get a smooth paste)

Smash the garlic in a mortar and pestle until you achieve a homogeneous paste.  Once you have a paste, smash in the cumin achiote, and black pepper and blend.  Once  you have a homogeneous mixture again, add in white vinegar and smash in, blending and adding enough vinegar to achieve a uniform, creamy paste.

*Just as a fair warning, be very careful with achiote.  It does stain--countertops, clothing, floors, whatever.  If it gets on something, try cleaning it immediately with baking soda and vinegar.

Chicken Preparation:
Rinse the chicken well.  Wash it with bitter orange juice (rub the meat with bitter orange) and let it sit.  After maybe 10 minutes, pour off the excess bitter orange, but do not rinse it.

Salt the meat and rub with the seasoning paste you made.  Let the meat marinade for at least an hour, but I would recommend 4 hours - overnight.  The flavor is much more intense if you marinate longer.  Go ahead and prepare this in the morning before work or school.  It takes no time to salt some meat and coat it with a pre-made marinade.

Cabbage Apple Slaw
1/4 large cabbage (finely shredded ?? (cut into shreds with a knife)
1 radish (very thinly sliced)
1/2 fuji apple
juice of one lime
a splash of some sort of vegetable oil (preferably one that has a little  flavor, such as corn or olive oil)
Splash of vinegar (you don't want a ton of liquid, just the minimum to soften the vegetables)
a very small pinch of oregano (optional)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Chop the veggies and put them into a container with a top.  Mix tall of he liquids together with the spices and season to taste.  Pour over the veggies and let sit for at an hour before serving.  This salad is best the same day, but it's still preserved and tastes fine afterwards, too; it just loses a bit of its zip.

**Tip: Be sure to squeeze the lime juice first and set it aside so that you can pour it over the shredded apple immediately or while in the process so that it does not oxidize and turn a yucky brown.

Serve everything with either gallo pinto or the Nicaraguan white rice recipe from my original Nicaraguan food post.

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp - Celebrating Charcoal Grillin and Summertime!

So everyone loves some a good grilled meal, but this one is quick, easy, and super tasty! But before I begin, I have to start a short rant--can anyone please tell me why you think a gas grill is better than charcoal. If you're grilling on a gas grill, why not just cook inside? You miss out on the nice, smokey charcoal flavor and literally 3 minutes, you can get sooo much more out of your meal. I've heard the argument "a gas grill is just so much easier," but seriously, people. I had never started a grill myself until 3 days ago and the first time I tried, it took me 3 minutes at the very most. All you do is pile your charcoal, pour on the lighter fluid, and ignite...easy as pie! Just let the coals turn mostly gray and let the flame calm down and you're ready to grill. So tell me your thoughts on the gas vs. charcoal summer battle. I'm curious.

So here's my recipe for bacon-wrapped bbq shrimp. It was adapted from a recipe by Sunny Anderson of the Food Network show Cooking for Real. The difference is that I did a homemade BBQ sauce that was totally different from what she had and, of course, the fact that I grilled mine on the charcoal grill as opposed to indoors.

Ingredients:

hickory flavored bacon

extra jumbo shrimp

bamboo skewers (soaked in water for a couple hours to avoid burning and sticking)

homemade BBQ sauce

Preparation:

Remove shell from shrimp and devein. No need to salt or flavor in any way; the bacon and bbq covers that. Puncture the shrimp through the thicker end with the pointed end of a skewer and slide skewer through while straightening the natural bend of the shrimp. Once on the skewer, the shrimp should be straight. Place two shrimp to each skewer and wrap each one in half a slice of bacon. Slather with bbq and place on a hot grill over punctured foil to allow heat through. Let cook about 10 minutes on one side or until bacon is crispy (the shrimp will not be rubbery at this point, despite what you might think). Slather both sides with more BBQ and let cook 10 more minutes or until bacon is crispy on other side. ENJOY!