mswanawana wrote on Instagram:
‘Its official. You are obsessed with limes. Get on with the lime and lemon grass cordial’
Limes.
Zip. Zing. Zest.
Great with sweet – mangoes, ripe plantains, pawpaw, perfect with spice, like cardamom; herbs like mint and tang, like yogurt.
Pushed and prodded by Miss Wana Wana on Instagram, I decided to share my favourite ways to make them bed and mouth fellow.
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!I love stewed beans.
Or Jollof beans as we would call it in Nigeria.
Beans cooked in a tomato sauce. Except my sauce is more onions and peppers than tomatoes. But it still ends up with the Jollof ‘hue’, a cross between deep orange and red.
Today, I share my beloved recipe for ‘stewed’ beans: Brown beans pre-cooked, then finished in an oniony sauce, reddened with palm oil.
This bean dish can be cooked with white or brown beans. I prefer brown beans especially a variety known by the Yorubas as ‘Oloyin’, meaning honey. Of sweetness.
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!Connectedness. The thing that fascinates me the most in life. If I had to narrow down the things I find fascinating. This would be one of them.
Connectedness - of people, places and things. Brazil. Nigeria. Connected. By slavery and freedom.
Frejon, with Garri Ijebu & Flaked Croaker in a pepper sauce
In culture and cuisine. Like Carnivals. Connected, with thick tropical rainforests and love for football. Connected in cuisine. Some of which I’ve explored before, from Bean Fritters to Plantain salads.
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!This was the point of the lime marmalade…but it was TOO bitter. Even to feature, not less star in the dish. Thankfully, I had some great, store-bought orange marmalade which took its rightful place at the table.
This is another recipe from Zina. This time though, she cooked. Baked it. For us. Read more…
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!To juice a lime…with ease, you’ll need the greenest, smoothest-skinned, most fragrant limes. Ever. Well…..even yellowing, gnarled limes would work.
Moving on. You’ll need a sharp knife and thus your wits about you. And a beautiful handheld citrus press, or you could be here all night.
Don’t forget you’ll need a cup too, a receptacle to catch the juice. For isn’t that the very point of this tutorial? The juice.
Which once done is set aside for a lime marmalade and a recipe that will follow.
But first, how to juice a lime. Read more…
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!Salsa, of a rhythmic Latin American dance. And of a sauce. A condiment with names, types, characters varied.
From Roja, of red to verde, of green.
With sweetcorn, onions, carrots, pineapples and mangoes – each starring as the main ingredient. Even with citrus too.
This salsa I present to you is of mangoes.
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!As much as I love lemons, they have nothing on limes. Even Meyers. I’m sorry. So sorry.
Limes transport me to a place. Sharp. Vibrant. Fragrant. All at once. Yes, harsh but with the feeling and willingness to be tempered.
I think one of the most sacred combinations of fruit and citrus lies in Mangoes and lime. Zest. Juice. Et al.
‘Fresh lime squeezed on ripe mango is one of the worlds greatest food pairings. They’re both pugnacious flavours, although lime’s slightly harsh, medicinal qualities are offset by the floral notes it shares with mango’; The Flavour Thesaurus, Niki Segnit
And as it is still mango season, and we’re discovering new ways to enjoy it….this recipe is the happy medium for breakfast. And dessert. And in-betweens.
Its simply diced mangoes, tossed in lemon zest and juice, served with spiced natural yogurt. Read more…
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!It’s the transformation that gets me. The beautiful change of colour in the purple onions to almost magenta.
A table full of toppings
It’s the acid in the fresh limes that result in this. That creates this thing of beauty.
The bite of the onion is tempered, and the texture is slightly softened. The acid in the lime juice sets the colour and creates this vibrant pickle in a matter of minutes
We know the effect of citric acid on fruit and vegetables – think of how acidulated water slows down browning in bananas and artichokes and most other fruits. It maintains and sets the colour and brightens it.
Great in salads – both fresh and cooked, On wraps, as a garnish, as a condiment/side. As…….
Chicken & Avocado Tortilla wrap with pickled onions
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!I never think of mangoes and think sweet recipes or bakes. Rarely do I even think of cooking with them. My bad, perhaps. It’s that the few times I’ve tried to….have been ‘just-there’ experiences. No earth-shattering moments, nothing.
Mangoes, the fruit of a tropical evergreen tree, generally taste sweet and have fruity, creamy and floral flavours, often with a hint of resin; The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit.
My thoughts always hover around eating them out-of-hand, or having them savoury. Making a salad, some herbed Asian-influenced salad that brings herbs and chilies into the mix.
This salad is one of the better, if not best things I’ve concocted with mangoes, not to mention simple. Take fresh, sliced mangoes, toss them in a green, herbed paste that is sweet, spicy and sour, salty and herby to boot. Live happily ever after.
Food52 Review: Kitchen Butterfly’s Mango Slaw was simply delicious! The yin and yang of the sweet mango and mint, paired with the spicy green chili and garlic, ‘popped’ in your mouth with every bite. This slaw is great on its own or served alongside grilled meats and fish.
This green paste is the mother of all green pastes, the recipe bequeathed to me by my late friend, Renu.
Passionate, creative home-cook & amateur food photographer sharing life stories to encourage and inspire men & women the world over.
Currently on a mission to create awareness about Nigerian cuisine - its flavours, history, culture and similarities with other world cuisines!
