Grilled Corn on the Cob
Whether you like to eat grilled corn, still on the cob or you like to cut off the grilled kernels and add them to soup or salads, these little niblets are sweet, tender and have a roasted and richer corn flavor. My favorite part is how each bite forces the kernels to burst a life of juicy goodness in your mouth.
Serving size: 1-2 people
Vegan
Ingredients:
2-4 corn husks
Instructions
Peel your corn and thoroughly remove the husk from the corn. Wash and pat dry the corn. If time allows, drain the corn on a drying rack and allow it to naturally dry out.
Turn your exhaust on and the burner on low-medium. When you have a full continuous blue flame, place the corn directly on the burner. Depending on the size of the burner do not cook more than two corn cobs at a time.
Cook the corn for 8-10 minutes, rotating the cob every 2 minutes or so with tongs. You will hear sizzling and popping but that is a good thing!
As you turn the cob, you will begin to see the dark markings made by the fire. This is the whole point of this madness, the aesthetic makes your brain think of summer barbecues well at least it does for me.
Let it cool and enjoy!
Alternative option: Feel free to individually wrap each corn cob in foil and twist the ends. Then follow steps 2-5.
Win's Famous French Toast
a beautiful rendition of how two seemingly different people bond over breakfast
My first trip home after moving to Los Angeles in 2017, was overwhelmingly busy. Before I knew it a week in the city had passed, I was heading back to Los Angeles the next morning and hadn’t made time to see my godmother, Win. Win is a family friend to everyone in my family. She met my maternal grandmother, Freda in the 70’s and they still remain friends today. When my parents moved to New York, Win became a friend to them as well. She advised them through entrepreneurial endeavors as my father started his cleaning business and encouraged my mother to seek out scholarly opportunities to advance her career ambitions. Upon my arrival, she was asked to be my godmother and that is how she knows me :)
Win & I enjoying lunch in Central Park, July 2021
It was the night before I was leaving New York and Win and I had been going back and forth throughout the week via email to figure out when we could meet up. I had suggested that we meet before my mid-afternoon flight since we are both morning people-her more than me- and she liked the idea. Win invited me to her home for a coffee and a French Toast Breakfast and here is how the tradition began.
For this recipe I like to use a French Baguette mainly because I like how the crust is so thick but the inside is so chewy! I find that this helps keep the structure of the bread and prevents it from getting soggy. You will also need 4 eggs, some butter, ground cinnamon, regular sugar and confectioners sugar, nutmeg, vanilla extract, some maple syrup and blueberries if you're fancy!
Slice the baguette into 8 equal pieces. Depending on the size of the baguette you purchased you can cut it into bigger or smaller pieces.
The key to any great meal is its marinade. In this case, it is all about the batter. It is very likely you have all these ingredients in your kitchen already, so break your eggs into a medium sized and combine them with the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and vanilla extract & start mixing them together. Dip and soak the bread on each side for a few minutes.
I used to cook at Win’s house for years. She could tell you many, many stories about it. They are so lovely to hear now that I am older and exploring a deeper passion for cooking. These stories show that I have always loved being in the kitchen and enjoyed learning about new foods and recipes. Win and I have continued this tradition of breakfast before the flights still today. It’s really cute how these breakfasts happen. From the minute the door opens there are lots of hugs and kisses. Talking from the moment I walk through the door till the moment I leave. Telling stories, catching up on life updates and ultimately being in the kitchen together. I help Win set up the table. This table is filled with plates & cups that tell stories, table cloths from all the world and view of Central Park in the background. This table has so many memories. In between conversation Win would ask, “Cranberry or Orange Juice,” or “blueberries, raspberries, both or none.” Options. I love options.
Win is a big believer in eating while things are hot and fresh and I can’t argue with that. Because most pans aren’t that big and we do not want to over crowd the food while it’s cooking, we cook in batches. Over a medium heated skillet, add butter. Once the butter has melted and begun to foam add 3-4 pieces of bread. Cook until golden brown.
Once your French Toast is cooked, transfer the toast onto your plate and add your optional garnish. Win and I love to add blueberries and maple syrup to ours. And if you are extra fancy like me, sprinkle some confectioners sugar on it. It will look Insta perfect and taste even better. Enjoy & if you use this recipe please tag me, or message me and let me know your thoughts. Here, we eat together.
French Toast
Serving Size: 1-2 people
Vegetarian
Ingredients:
1 French baguette
4 eggs
4 tbsp of butter
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 ½ tbsp of sugar
1 teaspoon of group nutmeg
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
¼ cup of maple syrup, warmed
Blueberries, for garnish , optional
Confectioners sugar, for garnish, optional
Instructions:
Slice the baguette into 8 equal pieces and set aside.
Break your eggs into a medium size bowl and combine them with the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and vanilla extract. Using a fork or whisk, beat the eggs briskly for 30-60 seconds.
Pour mixture into a shallow bowl. Dip bread in egg mixture.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Fry slices of bread until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side.
Serve with warmed syrup, sprinkled confectioners sugar and blueberries, optional. Enjoy
Spicy Sausage Lentil Soup
Spicy Sausage Lentil Soup
Serves 1-2 people
Ingredients:
2 spicy Italian sausages
3 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
1 small red onion
2 carrots, diced
⅓ cup of scallions
⅓ cup of oil
1 cup of plum tomatoes
1 bunch of fresh spinach
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of dried parsley
2 beef cubes
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 cup of lentil beans
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Instructions:
Remove the casing from the sausages and form small meatballs with the sausage meat.
Using a dutch oven pot or a deep pot, add the oil, oregano, parsley, smoked paprika, onions, garlic, beef cubes and shallots. Sauté together for 3-5 minutes on medium-low heat.
Add sausage balls to the pot. Cook until all sides are browned for ~5 minutes. Once browned, remove the sausage balls from heat and set aside in a bowl for later.
Into the pot with the onions and seasonings, add 1 cup of water, carrots, lentil beans, scallions, plum tomatoes and a bay leaf and begin to stir. Then stir in 2 more cups of water.
Allow the soup to cook for about 10 minutes before adding in the spinach.
Add 2 more cups of water, the sausage balls, and cayenne pepper to the soup.
Allow the soup to cook for 20-30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf before serving. Enjoy :)
Ndizi na Nyama
translates directly to Bananas and Meat
Ndizi na Nyama
Serves 2-4 people
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of the Greenest Ripe Bananas, peeled and sliced in long halves
1 lb of oxtail, optional*
1 can of full fat coconut milk
1 bunch of Cilantro
1 red pepper, sliced thick
1 green pepper, sliced thick
1 red onion, diced
1 long, green jalapeno pepper, scotch bonnet peppers or habanero pepper
1 can of stewed tomatoes
2 maggi beef cubes or vegetable cubes
3 cups of beef, from oxtail or for vegan alternative vegetable broth
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of ginger, peeled and minced
½ tsp of turmeric powder
2 tbsp of oil
Salt
Pepper
Instructions:
To prepare your oxtail: Trim the fat from the oxtail and toss them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Next, grab a large deep pot or skillet and heat your pan over medium high heat. Start adding oxtail into a hot pot/ skillet, and brown them. Once the oxtails are brown, add 1 tbsp of ginger, 1 tsp of garlic and ½ cup of diced red onions.Cook for an additional 3 minutes and then add 5 cups of water. Reduce the heat to low-medium and let the oxtail boil until tender, approximately 1.5 hours. Save the broth!
Assuming you have already prepared your oxtail in a separate pot we will begin making our bananas and meat. At this time, your bananas should be peeled, your peppers and onions should be sliced and your garlic & ginger should be minced.
Put the pot on medium heat and add 1 cup of broth to the hot pan. Then add 1 flat layer of the bananas, add a layer of oxtail, and sprinkle a handful of stewed tomatoes. Continue this until the bananas and oxtail are complete. Pour remaining broth on the top.
Once the broth, banana, oxtail tomato layering is complete, add your sliced onions & peppers. Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, beef cubes, pepper, I used scotch bonnet and cilantro. Pour coconut milk over everything. DO NOT MIX. Cover pot and lower heat to medium low heat.
This is where your senses kick in. Allow the food to slowly cook for about 20 minutes or until you begin to smell and hear the food cooking. Open the pot and do 3 big stirs from the bottom to allow the juices from the broth and coconut to continue to penetrate to the bottom. Fork test your bananas to see if they are soft for eating. Use a clean spoon to salt check your meal. Turn off heat if fork and spoon check, check out!
Karibu Chakula!
Pulled Pork Breakfast Hash
Serving Size: 1-2 people
Vegan Option: Substitute pulled pork for jackfruit & remove the egg. You can also remove the pulled meaty option all together and add additional vegetables like bell peppers and mushrooms.
Ingredients:
1 Idaho Potato, peeled & diced
1 cup of pulled pork
1 cup of collard greens
1 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
2 eggs
1 tbsp of coconut oil
Scallions and parsley for garnishing, optional
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat.
Add the dice potatoes and cook until tender, ~5 minutes, and flip. Once both sides are browned and inside is soft, add the pulled pork and stir to heat the pork thoroughly. (if you notice that the potatoes are browning but the inside are still too tough, (1) your fire may be too high or, (2) add a bit of water-one tbsp at a time- and cover the pan so that the potatoes quickly steam).
Reduce to medium low heat. Add collard greens, salt, smoked paprika and stir.
Make 2 wells in the pan for the eggs then, break the eggs into the wells. Sprinkle red pepper flakes into the eggs. Cover the skillet and cook on medium-low heat for ~3 minutes or until the egg is at desired preference. It is important to lower your heat because the potatoes at the bottom are still cooking and you want them to be crispy-not burnt.
Uncover and take the skillet off the heat immediately to stop the eggs from overcooking.
Garnish with scallions and parsley and serve immediately.
Enjoy :)
Chapati
Chapati is a round unleveled flatbread. It has a soft and layered inside with a thin and flaky outer layer that distinguishes itself from other commonly know flatbreads.
East Africa especially in places like Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Kenya, and Burundi to name a few, consider chapati to be a staple dish. Chapati can be eaten alone or paired; day or night. As a breakfast, chapati is set as a side to tea or, soup but can also be used as a tortilla to roll an egg omelet. For lunch or dinner it is commonly pairs with protein or vegetables. My favorite way to eat chapati is with chicken in a tomato based sauce, served with spinach or cabbage.
Chapati is light, flaky and requires only 4 ingredients: flour, salt, oil, and water. With such little ingredients your senses play the most critical part. It’s important to feel the dish, see the dish, smell the dish, hear the dish but especially taste the dish!
I have been watching the family’s dadas prepare Chapati for years. I was never officially taught how to make chapati. I watched as some would use warm water vs. boiled water or hot oil vs. room temperature oil; all sharing their wisdom on why they felt their way was the best way. After years of trial and error and long conversations with my also chef cousin I have finally nailed it. My Mama did not make chapati at home when I was growing up and since I didn’t eat it regularly in the house, I have always seen chapati as delicacy—you knew it was a nice party when chapati was on the menu and I would look forward to these family functions. I remember taking home so many doggy bag plates filled with chapati and not only me, Mama did too!
I like to start with a clean surface. I wipe everything down thoroughly because the countertop is my cutting board. I pull out a large mixing bowl, King Arthur Flour(when my aunt would come visit us from Boston she would often cook the things Mama didn’t. On her list of ingredient needed she always said, “make sure its King Arthur Flour unbleached” so, thats what I did, and that is what I still do), salt, hot vegetable oil and 1.25 cups of room temperature water. I also keep a little extra water and flour on the side just in case my dough is too wet or too dry. In my mixing bowl I add three cups of flour and one teaspoon of salt. I like to quickly mix that together before adding three tablespoons of hot oil. Then again, I mix everything together—with my hands. You will begin to see some of the dough knot up because of the oil and its important to thin out those knots before adding in the water, it will make the kneading process easier.
I am traditional and when making a small portion like this prefer to use my hands to knead the dough as opposed to a. mixer. Add the one and half cups of water to the flour mixture and with a floured hand, begin kneading the dough in the bowl until everything is into a big ball shape. I, then flour the counter top, remove the dough from the bowl and begin kneading on the counter. I feel like I have more control this way. Continue kneading until the dough is soft which can take approximately 10-15 minutes but, the best way to tell if the dough is ready is by the touch. Poke the dough and if it slowly springs back, your dough is ready. You can also make the dough using a KitchenAid and it’s dough attachment hook for 5-8 minutes.
Divide your dough into 8-12 pieces and form each piece into balls using your hands and the lightly dusted countertop. Cover them with a kitchen towel and let the balls rest for 10-20 minutes.
Taking one ball at a time on a lightly floured surface, begin rolling out the dough into a circle 6“-7” in diameter. Once the chapati is rolled out, pour about 1 cup of room temperature oil into a bowl. Using a spoon, drizzle a teaspoon of oil onto the rolled out dough and spread the oil until it is fully coated. Then on a flour surface, roll the chapati starting at one end and ending at the other. Finish up by forming a coil-shaped circle.
rolled out chapati
This process ensures that your chapati will have layers and will be flaky!
Allow your chapati to rest for another 15-20 minutes covered under a damp towel. During this time I like to prepare myself for the multitasking that is to come next. Everyone I have ever seen make chapati is always multi tasking: they are rolling out the coiled dough, cooking and monitoring the chapati and prepping for the next one like clockwork.
While my chapati is resting I prep. Prep includes filling up my bowls with vegetable oil and flour, grabbing a frying pan, setting up my rolling, cooking and resting stations and refilling my beverage.
Bring your pan to a medium heat. Using one chapati at a time, roll out your coiled dough into 6-7” in diameter. Once the pan is heated place your rolled out dough onto the pan without any oil. Cook the chapati on that side until bubbles appear on the upper side and then flip. Using a teaspoon pour a little oil on the cooked side of the chapati while the uncooked side is cooking. Once the cooked marks appear on the other side, flip and oil again the un-oiled side. At this point both sides should be oiled and your chapati should be partially cooked. Cook for another 30 seconds or until both sides have light brown spots.
These are the light spots you are trying to get before you add oil to your chapati
This is very important… between each chapati use a paper towel to wipe down your pan. In effort to save the environment, I like to use a clean kitchen towel. Continue to steps above until all your chapati is completely cooked. Karibu Chakula, enjoy your food!
Ingredients
3 cups of flour, if dough is too wet during kneading you may add more flour 1tbsp at a time
2 cup of flour, for flouring surface during kneading and rolling
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tbsp of hot oil
1.5 cup of vegetable oil, for cooking and rolling
1.25 cups of room temperature water, if dough is too dry during kneading you may add more add 1 tbsp at a time
Instructions
Add the flour, salt and hot oil to a large mixing bowl. Mix together with your hands or spoon until all oil clumps are thinned out.
Using a half a cup at a time, begin adding water and begin to knead the dough. Once the dough is starting to come together, flour your counter and transfer the dough mixture onto the counter. Use your hands and the counter to knead the dough—this way is the traditional and simplest way to knead dough.
Once the dough is fully kneaded, allow it to sit for 20 minutes.
Tip: the best way to tell if the dough is ready is by your touch. Poke the dough and if it slowly springs back, your dough is ready. If it get stuck, keep kneading because you are almost there & are doing great.
Split the dough into 10-12 equal balls using your hands the floured kitchen surface.
One at a time and with a rolling pin, begin rolling out each chapati into 6”-7” diameter circles.
Once rolled out, using a spoon or brush, oil the dough and coil or fan fold your chapati. This helps form the flakes. Repeat with remaining pieces and let them sit for another 10-15 minutes.
Using a frying pan, bring your pan to medium heat.
While your pan is heating up, one at a time roll out the chapati into 6”-7” diameter circles. Place your rolled out chapati onto the hot pan without oil.
Cook the chapati on that side until bubbles appear on the upper side and then flip.
Using a teaspoon pour a little oil on the cooked side of the chapati while the uncooked side is cooking. Once the cooked marks appear on the other side, flip and oil again the un-oiled side. At this point both sides should be oiled and your chapati should be partially cooked. Cook for another 30 seconds or until both sides have light brown spots.
While your chapati is cooking (approx. 3-5 per chapati depending on size and heat temperature) roll out the dough that is coiled and begin creating an assembly line. Once your chapati is done cooking place onto a plate and cook the remaining. Be sure you wipe down the pan down with paper towel or a kitchen towel in between each chapati to avoid frying the dough.
Karibu Chakula!
Cauliflower Steak
Serving size: 1-2 people
Vegan
Ingredients:
½ head of cauliflower
½ tbsp of smoked paprika
½ tbsp of garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of olive oil
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Remove the outer green leaves from the head of the cauliflower and trim the stem. Using a large knife cut the cauliflower in half lengthwise through the center. (if you are cooking for more than just you and another person use the entire cauliflower. If you are not, save the other half of the cauliflower for another delicious recipe).
Cut 1 ½ inch thick steaks. There should be about 4 pieces of cauliflower.
In a small bowl mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika.
Drizzle olive oil onto both sides of the cauliflower steaks and then evenly sprinkle the seasoning mixture on both sides.
Using a baking grill (help avoid any moisture but, you can also use a baking sheet) place your cauliflower steaks on the baking grill and bake for 5 -7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. When flipping the cauliflower steak, be gentle.
Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy :)