Breakfast: Cinnamon Yogurt Bread

There’s nothing like a warm baked bread, muffin or coffee cake with a cup of coffee to start your morning.  Here is a super simple, and cozy, coffee cake recipe.

Note: We have a very small cake pan, so this recipe makes the equivalent of one loaf, if you have a real oven and two loaf pans, feel free to double and share with a friend or neighbor.

Ingredients:
2 TBSP Oil
½ Cup Sugar
1 Egg
½ Cup Yogurt (50-60mL)
1 Cup Flour
¼ TSP Salt
1 TSP Cinnamon
¼ Cup Sugar

Directions:
Combine all but the final two ingredients (cinnamon and ¼ cup sugar) in a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly until smooth.
Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Place half of the dough into a greased Bundt-type pan or loaf pan.
Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top, add the rest of the dough.
Sprinkle the remainder of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top, run a knife through dough to make sugar swirls.
Bake, on 350F (180C) if you have a real oven for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
If you don’t have a real oven, we use our largest Dutch oven, and raise the cake pan up a few inches off the bottom of the pan by using small tomato paste cans, a tuna can would also work, or you can use sand.  Cook with lid on (creating an oven-type affect) for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Meatless Monday: Tofu “Chicken” Nuggets with Honey Mustard

Finding ourselves wanting American comfort food with freshly delivered tofu in our kitchen, we decided to venture in making tofu “chicken” nuggets.

Ingredients:
Enough tofu for 2 people, varies based on appetite
1 Cup Milk (regualr or soy)
1 Cup Cornmeal
1/2 Cup Flour
1 TSP Cayenne
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Oil, for frying

1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Mustard

Directions:
Cut the tofu into ‘nugget’ sized pieces.
Add the milk to a shallow bowl.
In another bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, cayenne, salt and pepper.
Drench the tofu in milk, then dredge through the flour mixture.  Repeat until all pieces of tofu are covered.
Heat oil for frying, while you are preparing the tofu.
Fry each ‘nugget’ on each side until golden brown.
To make the honey mustard, mix equal parts of honey and mustard in a small bowl.

Serve immediately, and enjoy, pretending like you are in America!

Election Party Appetizers: Egg Rolls

Another great finger food that we all love are egg rolls!  They are easier than you may think to make at home, and even if you have an Asian restaurant to get them from, you will definitely be deemed the ‘hostess with the mostess’ once people know you made these from scratch!

Ingredients: (Makes 8 larger eggrolls)
Dough:
2 Cups Flour
1 Egg
½ TSP Salt
¼ to ½ Cup Water
Filling:
1 Small Zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 Carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 Small Eggplant, cut into matchsticks
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Soy Sauce (or Maggi Sauce if you don’t have the real thing…)
2 TBSP Oil + Oil for Frying
Dipping Sauce: (If you don’t have hot Chinese Mustard Available)
½ Cup Mustard
2 TBSP Hot Sauce (like Sriracha)

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together egg, salt and a dash of water.
In a mixing bowl, add the flour and make a well in the center, pour the egg mixture into well, slowly mixing and adding a teaspoon of water a time until a dough forms.
Knead for 5-8 minutes and set aside while you prepare the filling (needs to rest for at least 25 minutes).
In a skillet, add oil, soy sauce and garlic, let sauté for a minute.
Add veggies and sauté until veggies are soft, remove from heat.
Once dough has rested, divide into 2, roll out each section into a thin large rectangle, and cut into 4.  This will make your 8 egg roll shells.
In a small bowl of mug, mix together some flour and water to make a paste.
Take the shell and fill with 1/8 of the veggie mixture, fold closed like an envelope, sealing edges shut with the flour and water paste.  Continue until all eggrolls are made.*
In a deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil for frying.  While oil is heating, mix together your mustard and hot sauce for the dipping sauce, set aside.
Once oil is hot, add eggrolls and fry until all sides are crispy.  Remove from oil and set on a paper towel for a minute to try.
*If you are serving these for a party, you can stop at this stage and set them on a plate, covered, for up to an hour so that they can be served hot when guests arrive.

Serve, with hot dipping sauce on the side, and eat while (hopefully) your political party is ahead in the polls.

Election Party Appetizers: Bruschetta

With the election less than a week away, we know people are getting ready to have result watching parties with friends.  We are too!  We are excited to be hosting a group of fellow volunteers to watch the election results roll in.  We thought we’d spend the week sharing some of our favorite appetizer or party foods, that can be made almost anywhere in the world.
We love bruschetta, a bit size treat that is easy to prepare, especially ahead of time.

Ingredients:  (For about 12 bruschetta servings)
1 Baguette-type loaf of bread, sliced into 12 round pieces
4 Tomatoes, diced
1 Small Onion, diced
5 Cloves of Garlic, diced and about 1 clove worth set aside
1 Bunch of Basil, thinly sliced
Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese Grated, if available

Directions:
In a skillet, heat about 2 TBSP oil and 1 clove of garlic, minced.  When it starts to sizzle, add slices of bread, and cover.  After a few minutes, turn over and cover again.  Once bread begins to get crispy, take off heat and set aside.
In a bowl, add tomatoes, remaining garlic, onion, basil, a dash of oil and salt and pepper.  Mix well and let sit for at least ½ hour to let flavors mix.
If adding mozzarella, sprinkle mozzarella on tops of each piece of bread and add back into your skillet/pan to melt cheese.  *Note: Do this step directly before serving; everything else can be done ahead of time.
Immediately before serving, arrange bread slices on plate and top with tomato mixture.
Serve with napkins, and enjoy the election!

Fried Rice

After living in China for the good part of a year, we can’t go for more than a few days at a time without eating rice.  We are addicted and crave it.  Fried rice turns out better when the rice is older, and therefore drier.  It is perfect to use leftover steamed rice, or, if making rice solely for the purpose of fried rice, make ahead of time and let it steam out all of the excess water.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
½ cup diced ham, or any canned ham that is available in your region of the world
½ cup peas
1 carrot, diced
¼ cup green onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 TBSP Soy Sauce or any other soy sauce imitator
1 hot pepper, minced (optional)*
2 eggs, beaten (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil for sautéing

Heat oil in your wok or a large skillet.  Add onion, carrot, garlic, hot pepper and soy sauce.  Sauté for a few minutes until carrots begin to soften.
Add rice, ham and peas, add more oil if rice is sticking to the bottom and sides of your pan.
Continue to cook, stirring often, until carrots are soft and ham and rice are heated through.
If adding eggs, make a well in the center of your pan, pour the pre-beaten eggs into well.  Once eggs are soft set, mix into the rest of the rice.
Continue to cook until eggs are fully cooked and rice is hot.

Serve, best eaten with chopsticks!

*An Asian type pepper is ideal, by sight they are usually longer and skinnier than your usual jalapeño.  However, that type is not available in your area, any hot pepper will do.

Breakfast Burritos!

Breakfast burritos are our favorite breakfast, by far, and possibly, our favorite meal.  We could eat them daily, but that would mean that we would also need to eat tacos for dinner daily too.  They are a great use of any leftovers, especially Mexican leftovers.
To make, heat your leftover tortillas, and taco filling.
Dice a tomato, onion and hot pepper.  Sauté in a little oil with some salt and pepper.
Add beaten eggs to pan (approx. 2 eggs per person) and scramble.
When eggs are set, add into the assembly line for tacos.
Top with hot sauce, sour cream if you are lucky enough to have it, or any other leftover taco toppings from the night before.
A delicious, and protein filled, way to start the day!

Spaghetti Omelets: Cameroonian Cuisine

Spaghetti omelets are the national breakfast of choice for Cameroon.  While they sound weird, and have enough carbs to prepare you to run a marathon, they are delicious!  When you find you have leftover spaghetti from dinner, feel free to give this favorite of ours a try for breakfast and experience a little bit of Cameroon from your home!

Ingredients (for 2):
1 cup spaghetti, cooked and drained
½ small onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
Salt and Pepper
4 eggs, scrambled
Oil
1 baguette-style loaf of bread
margarine of mayonnaise

Directions:
Heat a decent amount of oil in the skillet.  The ingredients above are for 2 servings, you can either do it all together to make one large omelet, and then split it, or divide the ingredients and do it in two different batches.  The end result will be the same either way.
Add the spaghetti, onion, tomato, green bell pepper and salt and pepper to the heating oil.
When the vegetables have become soft and the spaghetti is slightly crispy and hot, pour the egg over the top.
Once the egg has set a little, flip (carefully!) to cook the other side.
When egg is fully cooked, serve immediately.

Cameroonians will eat their omelets with about half a loaf of bread, making an omelet type sandwich.  They will either put mayonnaise or butter on their bread first and then add their omelet. It sounds weird, we thought it was super bizarre the first time we heard of it, but, try it – it is delicious!   Bon appétit!

Meatless Monday: Eggplant Schnitzel

We are on a big eggplant kick right now!  We love it, and thankfully, it can be used in so many different dishes.  While it may not have the same protein value as meat or tofu, it provides a denser texture than most vegetables, which allows it to easily substitute meat, like in eggplant parmesan or eggplant lasagna.  We used it as the base for a great eggplant schnitzel dish.  Schnitzel is lightly breaded and fried, and originates from Eastern Europe, and, it goes great with favorite side dish of mashed potatoes.  I am jealous of the Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Eastern Europe who probably eat this on a regular basis!

Ingredients (for 2 people):
1 medium sized eggplant, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1” thick wedges
1 cup milk (ours is always made from milk powder and works fine)
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs*
Oil, for frying

Directions:
Once the eggplant is peeled and sliced, you will want to arrange 4 bowls in a line.  The first bowl will have milk, the next flour, followed by the egg, and lastly the breadcrumbs.
Heat a decent amount of oil in a skillet.
While it is heating, prepare the first eggplant slice; place it in the milk, making sure it is wet and covered, then put it into the bowl with the flour.
Once the eggplant is coated thoroughly with flour, put it in the bowl with the egg.
Once it is wet again with the egg, add it to the breadcrumbs, coating it well.
From here, it can either go directly into the hot oil, or can rest on a dry plate until there is space in your skillet (aka, you can prepare all of your eggplant before frying).
Repeat until all of the eggplant slices are breaded.
Fry each eggplant slice for about 2 minutes on each side, until soft in the middle but crispy on the outside.
Serve immediately and enjoy.

*To make your own breadcrumbs, take bread and grate it with your cheese grater.  It will be slightly larger pieces than if you had store-bought breadcrumbs, but in our case, it is the only option available!

Meatless Monday: Zucchini and Tomato Pasta

 

Keeping with the Meatless Monday tradition, here is another recipe for you to choose from.  A quick, easy, and satisfying pasta with fresh leek, tomato, zucchini, and of course, garlic.

 

 

 

Ingredients:
1/2 Pound (250g) pasta, any short noodle will do…Penne, Macaroni, Ziti, etc.
Olive oil, approx. 4 TBSP or enough to just coat your skillet
4 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Pinches of salt
2 Leeks, thinly sliced
1 TBPS Red Chili Flakes*
2 Tomatoes, diced
1 Medium zucchini, diced
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, option and to taste, depending on your dietary preferences
Directions:
Add water to cook noodles to heat to bring to boil.
While waiting on water, dice garlic, leeks, tomatoes, and zucchini.
When water is about to boil, heat olive oil, garlic, salt, leeks and red chili flakes.
Allow to simmer.  Add pasta to boiling water.
Once pasta is added to boiling water, add the tomatoes and zucchini to the oil mixture.
When noodles are done, drain and return to pot over low heat.
Pour oil and veggie mixture over noodles, heat for 1-2 minutes.
Serve immediately with salt and fresh ground pepper, adding Parmesan cheese if desired.

*If your region of the world does not offer dried red chili flakes, here are a few replacements:
Asia – Add a dried spicy pepper to the oil while cooking all of the veggies.  Remove before pouring the oil/veggie mixture over pasta.  While sauteing, it will flavor the oil and leave a hint of spice.
South America/America – Use a hot pepper of your preference, jalapeno for less hot, serrano for more heat.  It won’t taste as “Italian” as the red chili flakes would, but if you want a small kick to your dish, dice it up and add at the same stage you would have done for the chili flakes.
West Africa – dice up a piemont of any color, and add when sauteing the leeks and garlic.

Enjoy your Meatless Monday dinner, you deserve it after making through another Monday!

Meatless Monday: Indian Lentils and Rice

A trend we have noticed, while not being vegetarians or vegans, is Meatless Monday.  Many food blogs, publications, and magazines, (and I believe Oprah) recommend going meatless one day a week.  Well, we go meatless, and eat vegan, far more often than Shaun would like.  We have issues getting protein into our diet, but, all of that aside, we have hopped onto the Meatless Monday bandwagon.  Here is our contribution, and to those carnivores out there like Shaun, you can make some great dishes, sans meat!

Indian Lentils and Rice

1 cup dried green lentils
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
Garlic, as much or as little as you would like
1 piemont pepper, or for those not living in West Africa, an Asian hot pepper, or whatever spicy, small, pepper that grows in your region of the world
2 TBSP curry powder
3-4 TBSP oil
2 cups rice

Put cup of dried lentils in a smaller sauce pan.  Add 2.25 cups of water, and bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Start cooking rice while lentils boil.  Lentils will be finished when all of the water has been absorbed and lentils are soft.

Start cooking rice using rice to water ratios given on the package of the type of rice you buy.  It ranges anywhere from 1 cup of rice up to 2 cups of water.  We use 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, when boiling, reduce heat to a simmer.  Leave the lid of the pot, or marmite as they are called here, on the whole time.

While the rice is cooking, prepare all of your veggies.  We only have a 2 burner stove, so, when either the rice or the lentils are done cooking, remove from heat.  If both are finished, the rice will stay plenty warm resting in the pot with the lid on. Set aside until the lentils are ready.
In a skillet, heat oil.  Add onion, carrot, tomatoes, garlic, piemont, and curry powder.  Saute until carrots are tender.  Remove from heat and add to pot with finished lentils.  Simmer on low for a few minutes until all ingredients are mixed together thoroughly and the oil has coated the lentils.

Serve with hot steamed rice, add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy your Meatless Monday meal!