Last night we did took a culinary journey to Africa. This was done because despite the Internet and Kindle and iPhones etc, we still go to the library. (We do not have iPhones or a Kindle, but I do have a disconnected cell pone that I carry as a stopwatch, flashlight and iPod, but that's not important right now).
There is nothing like finding a book at the library and embarking on the tactile journey into enlightenment. This is even better when it involves cooking. My Wife Donna found the book Passport on a Plate by Diane Simone Vezza. A Round-the-World cookbook for children. My son's love to cook, create and generally make huge messes in the kitchen, just like me.
Donna and Liam decided to chose African food last night. Three recipes in all. The first was luku (Chicken Stew) It is an Ethiopian Dish. I am not going to go into detail since Liam is going to be blogging about this himself. This is a very inexpensive dish to make and is mild tasting which gives it a great home in a cookbook for children. And yes, those are hard-boiled eggs in with the chicken. I may have thought at first that they would be out of place, but they certainly were not.
The next recipe was from Nigeria called Akara (Black-eyed Pea Balls). As you can see, they did not retain the shape of balls but were delicious nonetheless. The book stated that these are often eaten with sweet custard. I realized as we had a whole bunch of cilantro that I had not done anything with, I quickly made 2 batches of cilantro pesto and 1 batch of Avocado Cilantro Mayonnaise. These were awesome dipped in either of these. The balls consisting of beans, cayenne, onion had nice rich almost meatiness about them.
Avocado Cilantro Mayonnaise is NOT African, but it is one of those things that can work on many international dishes. It is the design of the finest Mexican chef in the universe, Rick Bayless and is a regular staple and the Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Frontera Fresco all in Chicago. It is a simple mixture of 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise and one mashed avocado. I have yet to find something that this does not taste good on!
The third recipe that Donna and Liam chose was, a Nigerian Fruit Salad. This was mixed with a nice blend of fruit and seasonings then baked in the oven to draw the sweetness of the fruit to the forefront. Everything was very good and what a nice adventure for a Wednesday night. I think I overheard that the next adventure is going to be Russia. It is a great way for your child to explore social studies by creating and tasting the food that children from other parts of the world eat. I kind of wonder if the version of this book on the other side of the world has miscellaneous chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and french fries for the American recipes. Can I please say that I am from some other country? Although Donna did have a box of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese on stand by in case the boys did not like the African food!
There is nothing like finding a book at the library and embarking on the tactile journey into enlightenment. This is even better when it involves cooking. My Wife Donna found the book Passport on a Plate by Diane Simone Vezza. A Round-the-World cookbook for children. My son's love to cook, create and generally make huge messes in the kitchen, just like me.
Donna and Liam decided to chose African food last night. Three recipes in all. The first was luku (Chicken Stew) It is an Ethiopian Dish. I am not going to go into detail since Liam is going to be blogging about this himself. This is a very inexpensive dish to make and is mild tasting which gives it a great home in a cookbook for children. And yes, those are hard-boiled eggs in with the chicken. I may have thought at first that they would be out of place, but they certainly were not.
The next recipe was from Nigeria called Akara (Black-eyed Pea Balls). As you can see, they did not retain the shape of balls but were delicious nonetheless. The book stated that these are often eaten with sweet custard. I realized as we had a whole bunch of cilantro that I had not done anything with, I quickly made 2 batches of cilantro pesto and 1 batch of Avocado Cilantro Mayonnaise. These were awesome dipped in either of these. The balls consisting of beans, cayenne, onion had nice rich almost meatiness about them.
Avocado Cilantro Mayonnaise is NOT African, but it is one of those things that can work on many international dishes. It is the design of the finest Mexican chef in the universe, Rick Bayless and is a regular staple and the Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Frontera Fresco all in Chicago. It is a simple mixture of 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise and one mashed avocado. I have yet to find something that this does not taste good on!
The third recipe that Donna and Liam chose was, a Nigerian Fruit Salad. This was mixed with a nice blend of fruit and seasonings then baked in the oven to draw the sweetness of the fruit to the forefront. Everything was very good and what a nice adventure for a Wednesday night. I think I overheard that the next adventure is going to be Russia. It is a great way for your child to explore social studies by creating and tasting the food that children from other parts of the world eat. I kind of wonder if the version of this book on the other side of the world has miscellaneous chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and french fries for the American recipes. Can I please say that I am from some other country? Although Donna did have a box of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese on stand by in case the boys did not like the African food!
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