The Kitchen Chronicles is A Year Old!

A little over a year ago, sometime in late November, I decided to start a cooking blog. Now that I think about it, I'm not too sure what prompted that decision, but I do know I thought it would be cool to have a blog documenting my cooking along with recipes and pictures as sort of a family heirloom or something like that.

Technically, I created the blog in November, but I didn't open it up till December 8, 2008 with this post (I cringe looking at that pic, but hey, it does taste good!) In the beginning I just took pictures of food in a pot or on a plate when it was getting ready to be eaten, I didn't really concern myself with photography at the time. I just wanted to take a picture, upload and post.

Along the line, I became more interested in taking better pictures even if it meant taking numerous shots of the food item and picking the one I thought looked best. I've learned a bit of coding and got interested in web design which I hope to take further eventually and I also learned how to write better recipes along with a little story and helpful tips. ;~)

The Kitchen Chronicles has been a learning experience for me. It's been a lesson in finding an interest in things I never thought I would be interested in and also stepping outside my comfort zone in terms of cooking. Prior to starting this blog, I was a rice and stew girl, I mean I could eat rice everyday and not even get tired of it, but now with the blog, I always want to try something new so I can share it with you.

Now, my biggest dilemma in the kitchen is baking things like pastries and while I don't have a sweet tooth, I do love bread, so going forward I'll be challenging myself with that and more pastry type recipes, so you can expect to lots of those. I also know I've been slacking in terms of beverages and I'll try to rectify that as well. It's just that I drink a lot of tea, water and diluted juice and who wants to see recipes for that, definitely not me! So, I'll be playing around with recipes for beverages as well!

Most importantly though, I hope that the blog's existence has helped someone out there in one way or another, be it a recipe or an idea for something cooking related, I just hope that its been useful and also made you step outside your comfort zone in terms of cooking. There's a lot of recipes out there and even if you try and don't get it right, at least you tried, cooking is all about trial and error as far as I'm concerned.

I made a little collage of some of the recipes I've featured in the past and I didn't include links to each recipe pictured, but they are here on the blog, I've tried to make the labels section as user friendly as possible. Some of the recipes are recent, while some are a bit older.

As my blog's birthday gift, I upgraded it to a dot com and gave it a more professional looking layout. Eventually, I'll host it elsewhere with yet another layout, but for now, I think this is alright. I'm excited for the future of the blog and will continue posting recipes (and tips) after all I still have to eat!

So far, the blog has been heavily concentrating on Nigerian recipes and I know not everyone who reads is Nigerian, much less African, so going forward, I'm going to make it a 50-50 deal. That just means that it'll be 50% Nigerian recipes and 50% of world dishes (by world, I mean it could Asian, American, Italian, Mexican etc.)

I hope you've enjoyed the blog as much as I have enjoyed adding content. I hope to make it even bigger and better so a humongous THANK YOU to everyone who's ever left a comment (even those that post anonymously!) or sent me an email and even to those who simply lurk (I see u with my stats!). Anyways, I greatly appreciate it and again...............

How to make Fried Plantains (Step by Step Picture Tutorial)

I'll be starting a series of posts that are geared mainly to the beginner. Whether this is your first time cooking or your second attempt after a failed try, these posts will help you learn the very basics of cooking.

There's nothing to be ashamed of if you can't fry plantains or cook rice or make eba/garri. The first thing started off learning when I started cooking was how to boil rice. It sounds easy now, but back then, it was trial and error. As are a lot of things with cooking, sometimes you'll make something and it just turns out awful, no harm done, it's simply a lesson learned and I'm sure the next time you make it, it'll be better than the first.

That said, the first post of the series would be on how to fry plantains. Plantains are very similar to bananas, only that they're usually bigger and are only eaten cooked. You can either fry, boil or roast them. I'll feature those in upcoming posts.

To make fried plantains, here's what you'll need:

1 or 2 ripe plantains (in this case, I used one)
Deep fryer
5 cups Canola oil
Pinch of salt

Pre-heat oil in deep fryer
Wash your plantain
Cut off the tips at both ends
Using a knife, slice down the back of the plantain (where it curves is the inside part)
Peel off the skin of the plantain
Start slicing diagonally (the plantain in your left hand, knife if your right and slice or vice versa if you're left handed)
Finish slicing plantain
Sprinkle salt over plantain
Add 1/2 tsp water (I simply rinse my hands & whatever is left on my hands I drizzle onto plantains)
Toss sliced plantains so they're coated
Add sliced plantains to hot oil
Let fry till golden brown
Voila!
*When removing from pan, put some paper towel on a plate to drain excess oil*

Serve hot/warm alone or with jollof rice, beans etc or serve with eggs for breakfast. They are usually served as a side dish, but I love eating them alone with some meat stew or chicken stew or even egusi soup.

If you choose not to deep fry, you can also shallow pan fry it, just add enough oil to cover most of the plantains. You also don't have to cut it in the same manner, to make it go further, you can divide the plantain into two (cut down the center) and you get twice the amount or you can also dice it if you wish (this works moreso for medium to large parties)

The plantain used in this demonstration just ripened. I usually prefer mine like this, but you can also wait for them to ripen up a bit more.

If you have unripe plantains and can't wait for them to ripen, simply wrap them up in an old cloth, tie it up in a plastic bag and store it somewhere dark for a couple of days, checking every other day or so, to see if it's ripe, some might ripen before others.

You can also get creative and slice the plantains as you wish, totally up to you and your knife!

Enjoy...

My Measuring Guides for Cooking

I thought it wise to do a post on the measuring guides that I use in my cooking. I'm simply a home cook and not a trained chef (don't intend to become one either!), so a lot of times while I do just eyeball my measurements, the items in the above pic are really the only guides I use.

Granted, I don't use the spoons all the time, but I'm usually able to accurately gauge what a spoonful and teaspoonful of spices look like. The measuring cups I typically only use when baking and using flour or something of the sort.

So, if for instance, in a post, you see 1/2 a teaspoon (tsp), I simply mean half of a regular eating teaspoon. You know, the kind that comes when you buy a set of eating utensils/cutlery. Same thing applies for 1/2 a tablespoon (tbsp).

The above measuring guides (2nd pic) are part of a set and in all honesty, I've never used them before, if you can tell, they're a bit dusty from storage.

Whenever I read recipes, I don't like seeing complicated (for me at least) measurements. For instance, you might read a recipe and it calls for 1/8th of a cup or some odd number. It literally turns me off and I just forget the recipe or if the dish looks like one I really like, I'll just remember the spices used and then eyeball how much needed myself.

That's why most, if not all of my recipes have easy to use measurements, nothing overly complicated and something everyone can use or create at home themselves without getting confused.

You can usually find these measuring cups at grocery stores. I got mine from Walmart a while ago, but they usually have these and it can be found in their cooking aisle.

Hope this helps someone out there!

Nigerian Suya! Or is it?..............

I almost hate that I'm posting this and that's only because if you're not Nigerian, you might not get the point of this post. So, let me apologize right away: I'm sorry! I don't mean to leave you out! (Suya is very similar to beef kebabs, but the meat is flattened and thinner, it's served in newspapers much like fish and chips and served with dried hot pepper, sliced onions and sometimes tomatoes)

That said, doesn't that newspaper wrapping remind you of...........wait for it............SUYA! It sure does for me! Alas, it isn't. It would've been awesome if it was some genuine suya from those mallams by the roadside, especially the ones at Agboju near Festac Town in Lagos. I haven't had real suya in forever, the ones some Nigerian restaurants carry are mere imitations, not the real thing at all. Very disheartening, walahi!

Even then if I actually go to one of them, I'd probably be hesitant to eat it after wondering where they got the meat from, where they washed their hands and thoughts of that nature. But I can dream of times I didn't worry about such and ate with abandon, can't I?!

I also miss kilishi (dried suya). If only I could have my very own personal mallam/aboki just at my beck and call to make suya, now that would be awesome and I'd so capitalize on that with caterings and the like.

Anyway, ruminations aside, actually hold on, can you just imagine the real deal, in a wrapper like that above with sliced onions, maybe tomatoes and then nice slices of meat, kidney, maybe even shaki/tripe, omo, e don tey!

Anyway sha, I just thought I'd share for all to salivate with me! ;~)

Cooking Tips & Tricks #001

I thought I'd start a section sharing the tips and tricks I use in the kitchen. Some of these will help you spend less time in the kitchen, some you might already know and use and some might be novel to you.

These will start off weekly, but might eventually become daily:

#001: Always pre-heat your stove or oven at least 5 mins before intended use.

In most if not all of my posts, I always have the 'pre-heat stove/oven' line and this is really important as it helps you become a more efficient cook in the kitchen. While you're prepping your meat/chicken/fish/rice or whatever the case may be, pre-heating enables the pot/pan to get hot enough so that once you're done prepping, you don't have to wait around for the stove/oven to get hot.

Sometimes, especially when cooking a lot of dishes, time is of the essence.

Hope this helps!

My Other Ingredients for Good Cooking

This post follows this one, just so you're not wondering. Oh, and Bay leaves should not be in the picture, so please just ignore that. Thanks!

These are the ingredients that I usually add in dishes that don't call for too much seasoning, like baked sweet potatoes, pasta, rice, fish etc.

In order of appearance from left to right (minus bay leaves)

Dried Basil:
Basil, to me, has a mild sweet taste and I use it mainly for the aroma, For instance in this dish, the aroma was fantastic. I mainly use it with relatively bland dishes in addition to other seasonings.

Goya Adobo w/ Saffron:
I love all Goya Adobo seasonings and this is no exception. I use this mainly for fish fillets, even though it goes with meat, chicken or fish. Saffron usually adds a yellow coloring to dishes, but since this is infused with other ingredients, that coloring is really subdued.

Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy & Southwest Chipotle:
I have a habit of perusing the aisles with ingredients at grocery stores and I usually end up picking up odd ends and bits. Mrs. Dash would fall into that category for me. Both are not overwhelming, matter of fact, I can barely detect them in the dishes I use them in, but since I have them, they are a welcome addition. Those used to eating hot spicy dishes know that 'spicy' overseas usually equals something akin to the heat of Tabasco sauce and these are no different. Even though it says extra spicy, I wouldn't use this as my main source of heat, unless you don't like it hot.

Kosher Salt:
I like this mainly for its coarse texture. It goes well with extra bland food items like potatoes and presentation wise, the texture shows up moreso than regular table salt.

Table Salt:
Not pictured, but I have this on hand mainly for frying eggs, plantain, rice, pasta etc. I don't use it in cooking soups or stews.

Curry Powder:
Not pictured. I really only use this when I'm cooking fried rice as it gives it that yellow color. It's a must for fried rice for me, but otherwise, if I don't have it, no big deal.

I hope this helps. Please refer to the first post on my ingredients. As usual, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me: yetunde@avartsycooking.com

Please Update your Url

I've finally purchased my own domain name, http://www.avartsycooking.com. You'll be re-directed automatically from avartsycooking.blogspot.com to the new domain eventually so not to worry about losing any old links or bookmarks.

I just did it early this morning, it seems to be working fine though but the blogspot home page still seems to work, but in due time I'm sure you'll be directed to the proper link.

The long and short of it, is the new domain is still in transition, so it will take a couple of days, 3 at the most.

Thanks!