THE FOOD DISCIPLE

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are having a great week so far! So today’s recipe is my slow cooker beef stew. First thing first ‘Everyone should have a CROCK POT’ Guys I mean it, this is very necessary and I cannot imagine my life without my sweet sweet Crock pot😊. At first I was so reluctant to get this because I would say to myself, “I do not have a lot of coins to buy something I can do on my stove and pot” Guys it took for my instructor to go to Walmart’s website and literally pulling up a crock pot on sale for me to get one; guys the best money I have ever spent💁💰. The beauty about crock pot is that you can literally slow cook anything and it is ready when you are, you can cook without having to run back into the kitchen to check how your food is going; everything is done in one pot. Crock pot is perfect for meals that usually take a long time to soften but you can still cook pretty much anything. You want to achieve succulent fall off the bone meat, your crock pot got you. I use mine mostly to make my stocks or broth, sauces and stews; I want to try using this to make Jollof Rice or my local Nigerian soup, still working on that and I will definitely let you know how this goes😊. So guys my slow cooker beef stew is one for the books and I you just have to try this and see for yourself that I was not just saying. I served this stew with mashed potatoes and lawddd this is good!🙆. I just found a new love for mashed potatoes, it was never my thing but lately I have found a new love for  making mashed potatoes and this stew is just the perfect pairing. You can serve stew with rice as well and it will do amazingly well with pasta. I will love to hear your feedback about this recipe. I will attach a link to the crock pot I purchased.

www.walmart.ca/en/ip/crock-pot-smart-pot-digital-slow-cooker-black/6000194058647

Now let’s get to it.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew served on Mashed Potatoes

September 13, 2017

Servings: 4

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 6 hr 20 min

Total: 6 hr 35 min

Difficulty: Easy

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By: admin

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of beef (cut into chunks)
• 2 Medium sized Carrot
• 4 Stalks of Celery
• 1 Large Onion
• 2 Cups of Beef stock (chicken stock as substitute)
• 4 Cloves of Garlic (chopped)
• 2 tbsp of Tomato Paste
• 1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning/ 4 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
• 1 tbsp of Paprika
• 1 tsp of Black Pepper
• 3-4 drops of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp of Olive oil
• 2 tbsp of Butter
• ¼ Cup of Flour
• Salt
• Parsley Leaves (For Garnish)
• Mashed Potatoes:
• 4-5 small White Potatoes
• 4 tbsp of Butter
• ⅓ cup of Milk/Heavy Cream

Directions

• Step 1 To prepare beef stew: season beef with salt and black pepper. Toss beef in flour.
• Step 2 Heat up oil in a pan and when it is hot, add 1 tbsp of butter and when butter is completely melted, add your beef and brown on both sides for 4-5 minutes. Remove beef and place into a plate. Add 1 tbsp of oil, onion and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add paprika, tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes, add carrot and celery and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes.
• Step 3 Add your meat stock, beef, black pepper, salt, Italian seasoning/ thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil and then transfer into your slow cooker and cook for at least 6 hours. Before your 6 hours mark is up, taste for seasoning and adjust with salt if needed, add 1 tbsp of butter, stir, cover and leave to complete cooking time.
• Step 4 To make mashed potatoes: peel and cut potatoes into small chunks. Bring to a boil and cook until soft and potatoes starts to break or fall apart. Drain and put potatoes back into the same pot and put on low heat. Mash potatoes for a little bit to let some steam escape, this gives the potatoes some texture. Then add your butter and milk or heavy cream and mash until properly incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper and then mash until all ingredients are properly combined.
• Step 5 Your food is ready!!! Serve mashed potatoes with beef stew and garnish with parsley.

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to September! We are already getting to the end of what has been a beautiful and eventful year so far. I am honestly looking forward to Christmas! I think I am ready to see what 2018 holds for me😊. Today’s recipe is one that is so dear to my heart, this is literally my childhood😍💖. I had this for breakfast almost every other Saturday in my home with Freshly baked Agege Bread (local bread). Agege bread is super delicious and verrrryyy soft, and it is definitely not healthy for your waist line; this is one of the many reasons why I was a chubby child growing up (I say chubby to be nice to myself 😀). When I say every other Saturday is because my Mom made it her mission to incorporate beans into my diet once every week, and this fell on Saturdays. So I and my brother were forced to have beans porridge instead of Akara some Saturdays. The beauty of this Akara starts with taking a long 15-20 minutes walk to the Akara seller (she was the best Akara seller I have ever had) down my street and purchasing Akara for the entire family and then stopping by the bakery on my way back home to purchase freshly baked Agege bread; literally the bread is usually still piping hot because I purchased it as it gets out of the oven. We enjoyed this with hot chocolate ☕(shout out to Bournvita tea) and some of my family members will also enjoy the Akara with custard (Pap) (I do not like custard at all); oh the memories☺ Akara is very delicious, soft and fluffy and definitely worth the effort. You can serve for breakfast with bread or as an appetizer with sweet chili sauce, literally whatever your heart desires.

PS: I advise getting step 1 and 2 done the day before or more. Beans can last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Now let’s get to it.

Enjoy!

Akara (Bean Fritters)

September 5, 2017

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 15 min

Total: 35 min

Difficulty: Easy

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By: admin

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of Beans (brown beans preferable)
• 1 Bell Pepper or Red Sheppard Pepper
• 1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper
• 1 small Red Onion
• 1 Seasoning Cube
• Salt
• ¼ Cup of Water
• 2-3 Cups of Vegetable Oil for Deep Frying
• Equipment:
• Blender
• Stand Mixer/ Hand Mixer
• Ice cream Scoop
• Spatula

Directions

• Step 1 To get your beans ready, soak beans in cold water for 6 mins, and then drain water.
• Step 2 In a blender, add 2 cooking spoons of beans and water enough to cover beans. Hit the pulse button only about 3-5 times so the skins can pull off the beans. Do not over do this step so you do not completely crush the beans, be very careful and us your eyes so you do not pulse more than needed. Also do not press the pulse button at a go, press the button for 2 seconds at a time.
• Step 3 Transfer beans in blender to the other bowl and repeat the same process with the rest of the beans. When you are done with the pulsing, rub beans between your palms to get the skins off the beans that did not get off in the blender. Pour the skins into a sieve so you do not block your drain. Repeat this process until you have clean skinless beans. I recommend using actual beans instead of bean flour because it tastes so much better and it has a better texture.
• Step 4 Add half of your cleaned skinless beans in your blender, add half of ¼ cup of water. Blend with your pulse button and then switch to smooth because you want your batter as smooth as possible. Add the other half of your beans and repeat process. The whole purpose of this batter is blending all ingredients with as little water as possible. Now this is where you use your eyes and sort of gauge what is going on in the blending. After adding your second half of the beans, if you are not able to get it all moving in the blender, add the second half cup of water as slowly as possible to make sure your beans blends freely and smoothly. You want to achieve a thick slightly loose batter.
• Step 5 Now add your onion, scotch bonnet and red bell pepper/red sheppard, seasoning cube and salt. Add salt according to preference and blend until you have a smooth batter. Transfer batter to your stand mixer and whisk for 5-7 minutes. Whisk continuously using a mixer or wooden spoon if you do not have any. Whisking your batter incorporates air which will make your batter fluffy and light.
• Step 6 Heat oil in your pan on medium heat until it is hot and ready for deep frying. To know when your oil is ready, use your ice cream scoop and add a little batter in your oil. If your batter shoots to the top immediately and it bubbles all around it, making the frying sound we all know and love, your batter is ready.
• Step 7 Scoop your batter into your oil and fry your Akara. You do not want your oil too hot as it will cook the outside faster than the inside. Fry for 5-7 minutes on both sides or until all sides are golden brown and properly cooked on the inside.
• Step 8 Your food is ready!!
• Step 9 Enjoy with Oats, Bread etc. or serve on its own as an appetizer.