HEY MOM WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

As you may know many great dishes are the one made by non-Americans. Don’t get me wrong American’s have some tasty dishes as well, but if you travel different countries your taste buds get a rude awakening. I mean if you go out of country the first thing you want to do is eat. So you look for a restaurant that will fill your belly and entice your taste buds.

Grab your passports, visas and suitcases we are about to take off! Today I will take you the countries of Ghana, Nigeria, and Jordan. Nigeria and Ghana as you know are African countries and pretty much share the same foods and herbs. One of my favourite dishes is known as Jollof Rice. Umm yummy! I will share this recipe with you shortly. The next recipe is a Jordanian dish but also eaten in many of the Arab countries. It is called Falafel.

I have made both of these dishes as I take a course at the university where before the semester is over we have international food day. I enjoyed making and tasting them so much that I made for my family. Jollof Rice I made for my family. It turned out well but it’s a process and if you are trying to do a quickie meal this is not one to include. The preparation time itself is 20-30 minutes with a cook time of one hour.

Let’s get to the recipe….

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 large onion, sliced

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes

• ½ (6 ounce) can tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

• 2 cups water

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

• 1 cup uncooked white rice

• 1 cup diced carrots

• ½ pound fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped into 1-to-2-inch pieces

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Of course you will need a blender to combine all the ingredients except the rice of course. You may choose to add shredded chicken to your dish as well. Some recipes call for a scotch bonnet pepper. Unless you like your food mouth burning spicy hot don’t use this pepper your dish will be just a tasty without it. I know some Cajuns here in Louisiana that can’t tolerate this pepper and as you know they are known for their spicy dishes. Now that you have gathered all your ingredients let’s start the preparation.

Step 1 Pour oil into large saucepan. Cook onion in oil over medium-low heat until translucent.

Step 2 Stir in stewed tomatoes and tomato paste, and season with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce and rosemary. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, stir in water, and add chicken pieces. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 3 Stir in rice, carrots, and green beans, and season with nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover, and simmer until the chicken is fork-tender and the rice is cooked about 25-30 minutes.

Stir to fluff serve and enjoy. Not only is this dish tasty but the aroma it will give your house from the herbs while cooking is better than any candle.

Now for the Arabian dish of Falafel. Another dish that is very good but may be an acquired taste. This dish is made of chickpeas and sesame seeds. No I haven’t lost my mind if really good especially when you add the balls to a pita with lettuce and tomato and drizzle it with the homemade sauce you have created.

1 lb. dry chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) - you must start with dry, do NOT substitute canned, they will not work!

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 small onion, roughly chopped

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 3-5 cloves garlic (I prefer roasted garlic cloves)

• 1 1/2 tbsp flour or chickpea flour

• 1 3/4 tsp salt

• 2 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• Pinch of ground cardamom

• 1 tsp baking powder (optional - makes the falafel fluffier)

• Vegetable oil for frying - grapeseed, sunflower, avocado, canola, and peanut oils all work well.

So you have all you ingredients staring you in your face and you ask yourself what I do next. But I will tell you in just a second. I just want to mention that the recipe and the directions are the actual recipe that I used to make these dishes. As mentioned above there are many recipes that can be used, and you just have to choose the one you feel is right for you. Now on to the directions.

One day ahead: Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches of cold water. Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda to the water and stir; this will help soften the chickpeas. Cover the bowl and let them soak overnight in a cool, dark place or in the refrigerator. The chickpeas should soak at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours, until tender (change soaking water for fresh water after 12 hours). They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of beans after soaking.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour, or chickpea flour (use chickpea flour to make gluten free), salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cardamom. Note: if you have a smaller food processor, you will want to divide the ingredients in half and process the mixture one batch at a time.

Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. A blender works just as well if you don't have a blender. Process until the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that... but don't over-process, you don't want it turning into hummus!

Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, pour it out into a bowl and use a fork to stir; this will make the texture more even throughout. Remove any large chickpea chunks that the processor missed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches. I prefer to use cooking oil with a high smoke point, like grapeseed. Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. The ideal temperature to fry falafel is between 360- and 375-degrees F; the best way to monitor the temperature is to use a deep fry or candy thermometer. After making these a few times, you will start to get a feel for when the oil temperature is "right."

Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls or slider-shaped patties using wet hands or a falafel scoop. I usually use about 2 tbsp of mixture per falafel. You can make them smaller or larger depending on your personal preference. The balls will stick together loosely at first but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.

You want to be sure your oil is hot enough before dropping the ball into it. I use my deep fryer for frying it was quicker. Now you make you sauce. The sauce is called Tahani. This is used to either pour over your falafel or to dip your pita sandwich in. the sauce as well as the falafel mixture can be made the day ahead is you choose just depends on how much time you have before you serve. Falafel makes a great dish to take to office parties, as does Jollof rice.

So there you have it my two of several favourite recipes to eat and make. May I suggest you try Nigerian/Ghanaian beef stew for a real mouth-watering treat!

BON APPETITE’