Foodelicious

Pan Fried Sausages

noreply@blogger.com (thehalfcastegal ) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:00:00 +0300

I still recall when one of my sisters let's call her Lucy nahhhh no biggie we'll just call her by her real name; Edna. In Africa we never like to say step or half so even though she is my stepsister, we call each other sisters. It kinda feels weird to say stepsister when we actually lived like real ones with each other.

Ok!! thats beside the story.

So where was I?;

ahuh

yes, so I still recall when Edna pan fried her first sausages and after about 2 mins, she walked to dad and asked should I sprinkle salt now", @%$^&*&^(()_

So that was the story of how Edna fried her first sausage :-))))))))

Most of us do not pan fry sausages well, Even in some take outs at shopping mall, you still find that the pan fried sausages served with your take out meal either look tortured or are under fried and still raw pink inside. So this morning soon as I sat at my desk and checked if I had any unread mails and replied whichever needed to be, I logged into Facebook and found a simplifying method posted by Pika Chakula to nicely well cooked pan fried sausages.

What you need:

A non-stick pan or a griddle on a medium heat

Ingredients:

1. Any sausages of your choice separated between the links

2. A tiny drizzle of olive or vegetable oil (remember these are pan fried not deep fried sausages so the amount of oil should be a drizzle not so much for dipping)

Method:

1. Place your non-stick frying pan over the medium heat

2. Add the drizzle of oil

3. Place in just enough sausages that can have room enough not to tap each other

3. Turn every minute or 2 for about 10 to 12 minutes or till they are nicely golden brown

4. Before serving, check with a toothpick or fork and make sure its not raw pink inside

Serve hot with Bull's eye and toast for breakfast or any way you like

Spanish Saffron

noreply@blogger.com (thehalfcastegal ) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:58:00 +0300

After a really long time of having my dinner meals at the same restaurant, last night I thought I should make myself some saffron spiced vegetable rice. In my kitchen cabinet I had Spanish saffron. As I soaked one cup of basmati rice in Luke warm water and set my pan of 2 cups of water, a drop of vegetable cooking oil and a pinch of salt, it hit me that I had almost no idea how to use saffron. I was a little girl when my aunt used to make her nicely flavored saffron spiced rice and I never went to the kitchen to see that it

was actually soaked for a while to get the flavor and color so after placing a few threads of saffron in a little water and not seeing a color change as instantly as I expected, I resorted to fried rice for my dinner.

This is when I knew I had to research about saffron.

Apart from the fact that saffron originated from Morocco and that it's a commonly used spice in Arabic, Indian and Mediterranean cooking and especially good with fish and seafood and that Saffron is only taken from these little lilac particular flowers and that the meadow saffron, which is sometimes mistaken for it, is poisonous, I learnt some other interesting uses of saffron in the past.

Today saffron is so expensive that most people wouldn't consider using it as a fragrance for their homes and baths as the Romans did in the past. During the Middle Ages, it was used to treat menstrual pain, uterine bleeding and to induce menstruation which could lead to the abortion of a fetus. For this reason, pregnant women should not consume any more than a culinary amount of saffron. It's still used by Chinese herbalists for the treatment of abdominal pain, and it continues to be considered for its capabilities to lower blood pressure.

So going back to the reason as to why I went on to research about saffron I found out that …..

……when you go ingredient shopping; powdered saffron may have other things added to it, so unless you know its 100 percent saffron, stick to the whole threads. They should have a bright red or deep orange color if they are a high quality product. Saffron is quite expensive, so if you are paying a discount price, expect that it probably isn't a very good quality.

Using Saffron to spice your meal; crush and soak the saffron threads in hot liquid for about 15 minutes, and then add the liquid to your recipe. It needs moisture to re-hydrate, release its full flavor and dispense its vibrant color.

Soaking it in stock or wine will add an extra layer of flavor to the dish you are preparing. Powdered saffron doesn't require soaking, and it's more concentrated, so use less. Add flavor and color to rice, noodles, soups and cookies. You can also obtain an egg rich color to your baked goods by adding a small amount of saffron.

Tea; I am a lover of spiced tea if I don’t have my coffee so I can make some tea by boiling 4 cups of water and adding a pinch of saffron and sugar to taste.

Saffron seasoning with almond, apple, cheese and most grain dishes It also goes well with other spices, such as cinnamon, rosemary and thyme. The main thing to consider when using saffron with other spices is that they may overpower its unique flavor. You may want to avoid using chile pepper or turmeric in the same dish with saffron for that reason

Tips & Warnings, Store your saffron in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. It's best if you use it within a year of purchase because the taste and color may begin to deteriorate and most to NOTE, saffron is not advisable for pregnant women…

Master Jayden

noreply@blogger.com (thehalfcastegal ) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:56:00 +0300

African Fried Liver

My little cute cousin, Jayden; he's is such a hunk of a kid, really I mean it, you should see the way he bites his tongue when smiling. I am begining to think he could be my son and I just don't know it(ok! am kidding about that) He has those cute bunny teeth that make him so adorable just like mine haha so anyway Jayden was once reason for family to get together. Ofcourse I can’t remember much except for the lovely cool Sunday afternoon weather and that there was lots of laughter, drinks, joking around and food that to this day I still reminisce over…all this happened more than 4 months ago.

Me and My cousine KJ

KJ is my cousin but she calls me aunt and I always remind her not to do that…well…calling me aunt kinda reminds me that am growing old of am already old and denying it J

And oh yeah I do recall promising myself rather than my cousin KJ; that I was going buy her a tee-shirt that read,

"If you think am cute, you haven’t seen my Aunt Shehnaz”.

So anyway, everything was so much fun. My aunt Cindy (Jayden’s young and still hot mama so from here on I will mention her as Cindy and skip the part where she is my aunt), she made grilled chicken with Irish potatoes, Cindy’s best friend made an English Potato Salad in mayonaise and of course I say I made the really delicious liver but honestly, I had never known that liver made the way Cindy showed me would taste that great.

Since the day Jayden brought us together, I have always made my liver as a side dish or party meal accompaniment, the way Cindy made hers.

The Ingredients she bought were;

½ kg of neatly cleaned and chopped liver (pieces tiny enough to pick up with a baby fork
1 teaspoon of pounded garlic
1 teaspoon of pounded ginger
Vegetable cooking oil just enough to sauté the onions and fry the liver
2 finely chopped medium size onions
Tomato puree from 2 large tomatoes
½ teaspoon of Turmeric powder
Chilisand salt to taste

In Preparation

To Boil

In a boiling pan, place the liver in water
Add salt to taste
2 tablespoons of vegetable cooking oil
Add ½ teaspoon of garlic and 1 tspn of ginger and bring to boil till the liver is tender
Remove from the heat and sieve the boiled liver

To fry

In a non stick frying pan, add the vegetable oil
Add the onions and sauté till golden brown
Add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, chili and salt to taste, remaining garlic and stir to make a think enough base
Add the liver and a little bit of water to avoid sticking as the liver cooks to mix together with the base
After 15 minutes of continious stirring and mixing, your african fried liver is ready to eat

We had this with potato salad, grilled chicken, bread and so many other delicacies and drinks.As Jayden was our reason to get together, he was the door to my chance to learn something new.

I love you Jayden J even though am sure you don’t know my name since mummy does not talk about me often ;-)