Pan seared steak dinner

            

 2weeks ago i made my first official steak dinner.  I wanted to do something nice for my beau so I decided on steak. What man doesn't love steak right?  So I made steak with a baked potato and corn.  I didn't have steak seasoning so I improvised with what I had in my pantry and everything turned out great.  I was very proud of myself.  However, I wanted my pan seared steak to look... Well Pan seared  but it didn't. It looked steamed. So I vowed that the next time I made steak it would look pan seared with the crust on the outside and all.  So last night was the day I would redeem myself.  This time I got New York strip steaks. 

The Breakfast struggle.

     They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and they're right.  What they don't tell you is that, it's also the most difficult meal of the day to get in, on account of everyone is  always being on the go early mornings.   Its important to have breakfast because it gives you a boost to start your day well and it's great for maintaining a healthy diet.  There's also so many choices of breakfast foods like cereal, fruits, hot beverages, oats, toasts, pancakes, omelette, frittatas, smoothies, the list is endless.  However, many people don't eat breakfast on a daily basis. 

     I for one can confess to never eating breakfast.  I'm not proud of it, but I am aware of it.   Having breakfast is so rare for me; I can say I have a proper breakfast twice a month.   I've just gotten into the bad habit of late nights and very early mornings over the years that breakfast no matter how much I intend to have it, just doesn't make it into my daily routine.   If ever I eat a proper breakfast though, it's on a day off and even that's a struggle because when I'm off  I like to sleep in, so by the time I'm fully awake its lunch time.   For this reason, breakfast becomes a special event for me.  All aspects must be right.  My mood, the time, hunger level and cravings.  Well I was off the other day and decided I would spend half the day relaxing which meant I was going to definitely have some breakfast. 

     Here I had a spinach omelette,  black tea with lemon and some fruits.  I decided to have breakfast in bed so I had my book and remote to keep me company (a special event it was).  A basic breakfast for me consist of tea and some kind of an omelette.  Those are must haves, fruits and a yogurt if I have it.  So that's it for this post guys,  if your like me, try to fit breakfast into your mornings more often. 

Pantry clean out

     Hi guys.  So I haven't cooked in a while and thats because... 1.  I've been busy with work and stuff.  2.  I need to go grocery shopping and 3. Because my pantry is a mess guys.  I mean a hot mess.  It's been bugging me that my pantry isn't organized. And I've been meaning to get it organized for almost two weeks now.  I'm an organized cook;  I like for everything to be in it's place and everything lined up as I need it and I can easily put then back when I'm done.  So when  my pantry, where I keep most of my cooking necessities is out of whack, whats a girl to do? I mean look at this mess.

     It's a crying shame isn't it?  Well yesterday I was determined to clean it once and for all.  The funny thing is, it took me all of 10 minutes to clean and organize everything so it's a shame that it took almost two weeks for me to clean it out.  But anyhow, I did it and now I'm happy :-).  Here  is my pantry after cleaning it out.  Hmm... Now I can see I'm missing so many things.  Next thing I have to do is grocery shopping. 

    For some reason it still looks unorganized to me but I can live with it.  Heres how I organize my pantry.

Shelf 1. Sugar

Shelf 2. Seasonings

Shelf 3. Liquids

Shelf 4. Starches

     Something you don't know about me is that I love pantries.  I really do because it's the walk in closet for food.   I always look at peoples pantries when I go to visit.  I  just love them; it's a big part of why I took my apartment.   My pantry isn't so big but I'm a single girl so that was fine for me.  So that was my pantry guys.

Shrimp Fried rice

I've made shrimp fried rice (my version) countless times and never once thought to blog the process. Mostly because I usually make it in a whim with what ever I have in my fridge, just free styling .  But I've been asked to share my receipe so I'm going to attempt to do so. I say attempt because although its the easiest thing to make, there's too many ways I've made it.  So I'm going to use a combination of pictures I have of the process. So here we go.

Ingredients: 

1. Cold cooked Jasmine rice

2. Shrimp 

3. Peas and carrot 

4. Oil

5. Soy sauce

6. Eggs

7. Onions

8. Shrimp seasoning

9. Peppers(optional)

PREP:

 Veggies- thaw the frozen peas and carrots in water. Then drain and set aside.  

Shrimp- steam or fry lightly seasoned shrimp and set aside. 

Egg- fry eggs until almost done but still a a little runny in the middle (do not flip the egg).  Chop up the fried eggs and set aside

To make the rice spicy- I blend a little bit of onions a 3 hot peppers with oil together.

METHOD:

(You can make fried rice in a any pan but it's best to use a wok pan)

-In a wide heated pan, add a little bit of oil then some chopped onions. 

-Sauté onions until fragrant.

-Then add rice and stir to break apart and warm up a little.

-Add some soy sauce and stir some more.

-Then add more onions, peas, carrots and shrimp. Mix well together

-Mix in pepper blend and shrimp seasoning.

-Taste, then add more soy sauce if needed (your rice should no longer be white)

- Add chopped eggs. Stir altogether. 

- Spread rice evenly in pan and let cook for 2 minutes and your done.  

 

Plate your fried rice and enjoy. 

Attièke with fish.

     

     Hello everyone, so this is going to be a semi long post.  I've recently added a dish to the list of things I can make best and I'd like to share it with you.  Attieke is a couscous like starch made from cassava. Usually eaten by french speaking west africans like ivorians and  senegalese people, but loved by many.     

    Abrief story about my experience with attieke.  Many years ago, one of my friends used to constantly talk about how good attieke was, and how much she loved it.  So one day she bought it and  asked me try some, so I did because she made such a big deal of it.  Well, I didn't like it at all. It had no taste but I do remember there being oil.  I remember being upset in my mind because she raved about it so much hahaha.  After that unsettling experience I never ever tried Attieke again or had the desire to. Fast forward 5years later after seeing it at an African restaurant I was inspired to try it again. I now love Attieke but, I've only come to love it by making it myself.          

     The thing is, attieke is just the starch. But the whole meal is what makes it worth any praises it gets. You can have Attieke with fish, chicken or what ever meat you prefer. And you can have it fried grilled or baked. But this receipe is going to be for attieke with baked talapia. Mmmh my mouth is watering already.

Ingredients:

Box of uncooked attieke/ cooked bag 

Whole talapia 

Onion 

Bell Pepper

Hot pepper

Firm tomato 

Oil 

Vinegar 

Maggie/chicken seasoning 

Salt

Water

Sweet Plantain (optional)

Method: 

Step 1- Make the fish

Clean/gut talapia well.

Make 2 slanted cuts on both sides. 

Season fish (I make a special blend)

Place in preheated oven to bake . 

STEP 2- Make the Attieke

Measure 1 cup of dry attieke 

Measure 1 cup of water 

Bring water, oil, and salt in a saucepan to a boil.

Remove from heat, then add dry attieke starring with a fork mix well, cover and let sit. 

STEP 3- Make the sauce/dressing. 

Chop/dice your tomato, Onion and bell pepper. 

Place in a bowl and

 Add a teaspoon of vinegar and seasoning and your dressing is done. It will taste great. However, I go a step further. 

(Here's what I do different) 

I sauté by veggies in a little oil with the same blend that I season my fish with. And that's what makes my Attieke with baked fish different. I'm assuming. 

 So basically once your fish Is done all you have to do is plate your food and enjoy. 

[#Cooking] Spicy Curry Shrimp

My coworker (who is West Indian) and I had been talking about making a curry dish, mostly because we were hungry and fantasizing about food. She had previously brought curry chicken to a pot lock we had at work which we all loved. she was thinking of what kind of curry she could make then, I mentioned how much I loved curry and that I made awesome curry shrimp. Which some how  initiated a "cook off" lol.  So after work I bought my shrimp because that was the only thing I was missing to make some curry shrimp then I headed home.

    So the interesting thing about this recipe is that it all kind of came together as I was cooking it. You'll see the picture below and the ingredients list differ a bit.  Like with the garlic, I was thinking "garlic makes things taste good so maybe I should add some".  Same with the lemon. So here's my spicy curry shrimp which I have to say was just perfection.  

Ingredients:

Curry powder

shrimp 

coconut milk 

Garlic 

oil 

onion 

tomato 

pepper 

ginger  

lemon 

black pepper

shrimp seasoning.

Directions. 

Before you start: chop and dice Onions and tomatoes, put aside. Also marinate shrimp with curry and fresh lemon juice and set aside.

1. Blend garlic ginger and pepper together to a paste

2.Heat oil, sauté chopped onions.

 Add your garlic ginger pepper paste Cook for a 2mins.

 

3. Add curry, and cook for a minute.

Then add diced tomatoes. cook for a few minutes mins.

4. Add marinated shrimp and black pepper. 

Mix then add coconut milk.  

5. Let it cook until shrimp is fully cooked. If your sauce is runny, turn up your heat and soon enough it will get thicker. 

[#Cooking] Serious Fufu

     I was at work yesterday thinking to myself, "what am I going to eat for dinner tonight?"  Then I suddenly got a craving for fufu with light soup.  So I started thinking of what I had in my fridge to make some light soup. I thought to myself, I don't wanna have any ole fufu, this fufu has to be serious. So I remember I had some meats left over from the last time I cooked and it was a done deal I got excited and was determine to have my "serious fufu".  Now you might be thinking... What exactly is serious fufu? Well my friends,  it's all in the soup.  I wanted my light soup to be rich and irresistible. The meats I had at home were... Cowfeet, goat meat, tripe and fish so it was going to be a big deal. 

     As soon as I reached home I immediately took out all my ingredients and started to thaw my meats.  Cow feet  takes a while to cook so that was the first thing I did. Then I made the soup and this is what it looked like. 

I was hungry from fasting all day so my intent was less on blogging the whole process and more on eating my serious fufu.  So I will be posting the recipe and process at a later date.  However, the first picture above was the final result. And boy was it delicious. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. 

[#Cooking] How to make non-sticky rice.

It has come to my realization that there is a soggy rice cooking epidemic.  Apparently many people just simply can't get rice correctly.   People tell me...."It's a struggle to get that rice to come out like the Chinese restaurant"  and "I only use a rice cooker to make my rice" and "I use the rice that comes in the box".  I've heard so many horror stories about cooking rice.  I even know some people who has just given up on rice because they just can't make it right.  So I've been thinking to myself hmm.. Well I don't have that problem, perhaps I should share my tips. 

      The problem with rice is, it's either soggy and mushy or it's undercooked.  Now, If you're lucky enough to be a Ghanaian then you know to turn your mushy rice into "rice balls" and call it a day.  And if you're lucky enough to be like me, you can turn your undercooked rice into some delicious fried rice.

Here's some things to consider about cooking rice. 

1.  Steam cooks rice.

2.  Never use more water than rice

3.  Rice doesn't take more than 15 mins to cook.  Consider your heat level and cooking time. 

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't always get my rice perfect.  No one is born making perfect rice;  it takes a few tries.  But once you get it, you got it.  So don't fret your not alone.   Im going to show you my fool proof way of making non-sticky rice.  Now lets cook some rice. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups  Jasmine Rice

2 cups water

1 tbs Oil

1/4 ts salt 

Small sauce pan

Wooden spoon. 

Directions:

Turn your stove on medium heat. 

1. Place your sauce pan on the stove and add oil. 

2. Add your rice and salt. mix till its well coated with oil. 

3. Fry your rice(that's right, FRY) for about 5 minutes till you start to see some white opaque grains. 

4. Add your water and cover to boil. 

5. Once most of the water has evaporated turn your heat to low cover cover again and let steam for 5-10mins. 

This should be your rice after 5mins.  But u can leave it on low for up to 10 mins for your desired firmness. 

Plate and eat with your stew, gravey or soup.

Adiza's Shrimp and broccoli pasta Alfredo.

                      

One of my favorite dishes to eat is pasta Alfredo. It's creamy, it's cheesy, simple to make and just darn right delicious.  There's several ways to make pasta Alfredo it all depends on what you like.  I myself have five variations of making it but, my favorite way is how I make my shrimp and broccoli pasta Alfredo.  It's simplest way. 

     

 WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

                    

• Classic Alfredo sauce.

• Shrimp {peeled and deveined}

• Broccoli 

• Pasta {I always use fettuccine, linguine or rotelle}

• Salt/Seasoning

WHAT TO DO: 

{Before you start, you can steam your broccoli and lightly seasoned shrimp in separate bowls for 2 minutes each in the microwave.}

1. Start to Cook your pasta according to package directions.

2. Then Place a wide pan or wok on stove top.  

Pour in your Alfredo sauce then turn your stove to medium low. 

3. Add broccoli to sauce and stir gently but frequent.

4. Cook broccoli in sauce for a few minutes until sauce is hot. Then add your shrimp.

{Make sure to accidentally drip some shrimp broth in your sauce. This is where my unique flavor comes from.}

5.Mix for a minute or two. 

Then scoop out half of your shrimp and broccoli sauce into a bowl. 

Then add pasta to your sauce 

6. Mix altogether with the rest of sauce mixture and you're done. 

7. Plate your pasta and garnish with more shrimp and Parmesan cheese and viola!

This dish also goes great with some nicely toasted garlic bread. Mmmh yum!

Change is coming..

          HEY GUYS, SO IM TURNING "RELATIVELY AFRICAN" INTO A FOOD BLOG.

 As much as I want to dedicate time to this I've obviously failed at coming up with enough content.   For a long time now I've wanted to turn my love for cooking into a food blog.  I figure I'll have more time to blog about food because I love cooking and I'm always going to cook so I will always have content. So far I've only come up with two names for the blog.  "Love from the stove top" and "I cook, you eat". I'm not sure which one it'll be; It could be neither but whatever it is, I plan to dedicate more time to it than I did for "Relatively African". Sooo wish me luck guys. I hope you'll love all the yumminess to come. :-)

Mr. & Mrs. Carter on tour

                            Beyoncé and Jay-Z lovers Rejoice!!
     Unless you have been living under a rock on another planet, you've already heard the news.  Beyoncé and Her husband Jay-Z are finally going on tour together.  Yes you've read correctly.  I can't tell you how long I've dreamt about the possibility of this happening.  Now, just I case you don't get what a major deal this is; let me remind you that I'm talking about Queen Bee and Hovah, Mr. And Mrs. Carter if you will.  A movement on their own, and a force to be reckoned with together.

           Certainly this isn't their first collaboration Jay-Z and Beyoncé  first partnered up 12 years ago for "'03 Bonnie & Clyde", and other major hits  and have since been married with a daughter. So it's only right they join forces on tour.  They're calling it the "On the Run Tour"

Here are the tour dates.....

6/25 — Miami, FL @ Sun Life Stadium
6/28 — Cincinnati, OH @ Great American Ball Park
7/01 — Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium
7/05 — Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park
7/07 — Baltimore, MD @ M and T Bank Stadium
7/09 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
7/11 — East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
7/15 — Atlanta, GA @ Georgia Dome
7/18 — Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park
7/20 — New Orleans, LA @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome
7/22 — Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium
7/24 — Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
7/27 — Winnipeg, MB @ Investors Group Field
7/30 — Seattle, WA @ Safeco Field
8/02 — Pasadena, CA @ Rose Bowl
8/05 — San Francisco, CA @ AT&T Park

If you notice New york city isn't listed and that's because that date is To Be Announced.  But I'm certain this tour has to end in Mine and Jay-Z's home town NYC.

Lupita the beautiful.

                                                The Most Beautifullest Girl.

     Last week People magazine named Lupita Nyong'o the most beautiful person on their "50 most beautiful people" list.  Wow congratulations to her.  I've heard only raves about the magazine's decision, and I've got to say, she deserves it.  I mean look at her, she really is beautiful.

•       I'm pretty sure People had their reasons to put Lupita at the top of their list.  However I appreciate seeing Lupita on People's most beautiful list because the world is currently in a heated debate about what beauty should look like.  I think it helps not just young girls see different examples of beauty,  but also young adults such as myself who have been almost brainwashed into thinking there's only one kind of beautiful.  A lot can be said about this topic of beauty but for now I'm just happy for Lupita Nyong'o.  Kudos to People's magazine for choosing her.

Worst ways to breakup.

They say  "breaking up is hard to do", well…sure no duh!  There's a lot of feelings that comes with a breakup but, some of most important ones are Agony, betrayal, confusion, inferiority, embarrassment and disrespect.  Whether you're getting dumped or doing the dumping, breaking up is never fun. You might have thought your ex telling you “it's over” was brutal. Well I've come up with the worst ways to breakup that will have you thanking you're ex.  It was hard deciding which was worse, but I think you'll agree with these five. Read it and weep.

( Hopefully it hasn't happened to you.)

5. Digital Breakup.
 Via phone,text message,voice mail or e-mail.
A digital breakup is bad because you always feel like the person couldn't face you.  I mean you were in a relationship with this person, someone you probably loved and they choose to breakup with you digitally. It's ill mannered and disrespectful.  A breakup is something that should always be done in person. Of course with the exception of "special circumstances" i.e.. If the person you're breaking up with is a known violent person.  

4. Special Day.
Valentine's day, Birthdays, Anniversaries and Holidays. It almost doesn't matter how it's done but, being broken up with on those "Special days" we all look forward to spending with loved ones has to be incredibly painful. It may even feel like a betrayal due to the mere fact that you were dumped on a "special day".  I mean how heartless can a person be to not let you have that One day?

3. Public Breakup.
Whether it's in front of a group of people at school, the mall or at a party, public breakups are super harsh.  Posting on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram for the whole world to see takes it to an whole new low. Public breakups are extremely embarrassing, and social media is the worst kind of public.

2. Human Messenger.
As if its not bad enough getting dumped, its even worse having to hear it from someone else. Making your friend,  family member or even your new squeeze do your dirty work of breaking the news is just a cruel and an  obviously cowardly way of breaking up with a person. Talk about "Insult upon injury" ouch!

1. Cut Off.
 Not telling someone that you've broken up with them by just cutting off all tides.
There's nothing worse than NOT KNOWING! Oh my God!  Just imagine thinking you're in a relationship and then suddenly, you don't see them anymore, you don't hear from them, when you call there's no answer, just nothing.  This just goes on for a while.  So you're worried and your mind is going a mile a minute trying to figure things out.  But all the while this person is alive and well and you know this from his/her social media postings.  It's time to know that you've been dumped by way of "cut off" all tides. This may just be the absolute WORST way to breakup.

So next time you're unhappy in your relationship and want to breakup.  Consider the list above. Remember that breakups are inevitable but you can control how it happens.  The idea is to get out without burning too many bridges.