I am not much of an alcoholic drink drinker. But one of the things I enjoy doing is cooking with some alchohol. During the coking process, much of the alcohol burns off and the food remains with just the taste and depth of that particular drink. I have seen time and time again people making their beef stews with beer and I was slightly taken aback as to why it was so popular. This was until I tried it myself. And all I can say is, the beer+beef combination is a match made in heaven. This author agrees too! I am always for trying out new things and pushing myself beyond what I am used to. And this really paid off. This beer beef stew is the perfect comfort food. I really cannot put in words how good this is. You just have to try it for your self.
Tag: Kenyan Food Blog
I could hear the rumble of thunder from a distance, and I knew that particular weekend would be a cold, rainy one. The house grew dark & cold, so I went upstairs to grab myself a pair of socks. No sooner had I come back down than the rain began aggressively beating on the roof. Huge, angry drops of May Nairobi Rain. A bright flash of lightning lit the entire sky and with it, power was gone. Typical! Since I could not go anywhere outside, nor watch anything I decided to retreat to my favorite place: the Kitchen. That day, I decided to prepare some soup to warm myself up as I waited for electricity to return and keep myself busy.
This butternut soup is so beautiful I literally stared at it for so long. I took so many pics of it and it is one of my most visually appealing dishes yet. It is so filling, very nutritious and very warming. While it is currently not as rainy in Nairobi right now as it was a week ago, it is still rather cold especially in the evenings (22° C / 72F qualifies as cold in this equatorial country). This is the best soup for you to have. Whether as a the perfect prelude to a magnificent meal or just to warm you up, this butternut soup will still make you happy!
I just feel like I must begin by reassuring you not to be intimidated by the name of this dish. LOL! Remember when we did this dish with a very different name, but it turned out very simple (and most popular for that month)? This farfalle stir fry is one of those dishes with long name but so simple to make. I promise! This is simply a stir fry made using a type of pasta called farfalle, which in my opinion are the prettiest pasta on the face of the earth. They resemble little bows and the girly girl in me almost automatically gravitated to them.
This stir fry was suggested to me by my friend, Vidhi, who loves cooking just as much as I do. Her recipe used cardamom seeds and white sauce. I put my own twist to it and used the ingredients I have available. Because this type of pasta is already inherently beautiful, this shaves off a lot of time trying to make the dish look pretty. Do read through and discover how easy this farfalle strir fry is to make:
My late aunty, Aunty Kavetsa, one of those people you could never shake off or forget even if you met her for just one minute. One word that could summarize her personality is fire. She was fiercely loving, fiercely protective, very resolute and downright honest (sometimes, a bit too honest :D) Some of the many firsts I have experienced was through or with her; my first plane ride, my first Mombasa visit, my first encyclopedia, my first knowledge of the constellations and my first sampling of Chinese food. I remember she once took us for dinner to China Plate in Nairobi and ever since, I have always been fascinated by oriental Chinese flavors. This backdrop of nostalgia inspired today’s dish. It is easy to make. My sisters enjoyed it and I hope you do too 🙂
In other news, I have been featured in Healthy Woman Magazine, May Issue, and this vegetable fried rice is the recipe I made while their team came over to interview me. It has already hit the shelves and costs only 350 shillings. Do grab yourself a copy :).
I am the kind of person who is very analytical before I get into something. A few weeks before I started this blog, I used to post some pics of what I make at home on my personal Face Book page. I did that to see how the reception would be and how the public warmed up to them. To my surprise, people loved them and requested for the recipes. I was then sure the best platform to share the recipes would be via a blog.
One of the pictures I shared were those of this banana split. I made it first for my sisters and it was a hit. I initially made it with just ground nuts but this time I tweaked it a little bit and added some raisins for some extra sweetness. This is one of those very simple desserts that are just as healthy as they are breathtaking. The flavors of the chocolate, robustness of the raisins, softness of the vanilla yoghurt and texture of the nuts came together in perfect harmony in this banana split.
As I posted on Instagram, for the month of May, I shall focus on very simple recipes that bring out high profile flavors. Today, feast your eyes (and tongue) on this 🙂