Cooking with Music

Simple sandwiches I made for tea time.

With white bread, cornbread for the ham, salmon, goat cheese salami sandwiches
and hard buns for the steak sandwiches.

Fillings (Random)

*Butterfried chicken fillets
*Spiced & grilled steak
*ham
*salami
*pancetta
*bacon
* fresh salmon slices
*goatcheese
*cumin cheese
*cheese spread
*philladelphia spread
* fresh pesto
*cherry tomatoes
* cucumber
*baby bell peppers
* advocado
*onionrings
*rucola salad
* fresh dille (for seasoning and decoration)
* fresh green olives
* green pickles
* low fat mayo
*mustard
* heinz ketchup

Think thats about it ......

Plus I made some american cupcakes with a ready made makes (TIP: to get that american fluffiness replace the butter with sunflower oil), are not as pretty as I usually have them but thought I would still share :-)

cute sandwichy cupcakey songs to go with it ;-)

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A typical ghanaian dish. best thing ever!!!
Added a some leaves of bitawieri, a typical surinamese leaf vegetable hence the sranan twist.

WHAT YOU NEED

For the stew
*Okro
*Bitawieri
*cuts of goatmeat
*cuts of pork parts (with skin)
*3 large tomatoes
*half of a madam jeanette pepper
*2 cloves of garlic
*4 large onions
*red palm oil
*6 maggie cubes
*4 bay leaves
* celery

Banku

*banku powder
*non stick pot
*wooden spoon


STEP 1

First wash the cuts of pork and the cuts of goat very well. Put the pork and the goat in seperate pots , fill them each with water so the cuts just about stick out.

Add to each pot 3 maggie cubes, 2 bay leaves, diced clove of garlic and a large onion(diced), some cut celery add half a (small) madam jeanette to each pot (NO SEEDS). If you have a large madam jeanette peper only put a quarter of it_to each pot.

IS NOT SHOWN ON THE PICTURE BUT COVER THE POTS WITH LIDS!!!

Leave this all to boil until tender ( took me about 1 hour for the pork and goat to be tenderized). keep adding water if it vaporates in the meantime. at the end there should be only a little liquid left in the pot (see last picture)

STEP 2


Whilst your meat is cooking, wash and clean your okro cutting the tips off , then cut your okro up as on the picture. Put in a container and store in the fridge until ready to use.


STEP 3

Once the meat is cooked put the fire off and scoop the goat and pork meat out. Drain and scoop into a bowl. MAKE SURE NOT TO THROW THE STOCK AWAY LEAV IN THE PAN.
Throw away the bay leaves from the pots and the madam jeanette peppers.


Then heat a a large pan (make sure is large enough , because eventually it will have to hold all your meat and okro.

Pour approximately 4 table spoons of Palm oil in the pan and when hot add the drained meatcuts. and let them fry shortly for about 4 minutes on medium heat.


STEP 4

Once the meat is browned add 2 diced onions and fry with it until they are light golden brown


Dice 3 tomatoes and add to the mixture and fry along



Add a small tin of tomato paste and stir fry with the rest



STEP 5


Now add the the liquid from the meat and let it simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.
Season the sauce with maggi cube, salt, cajun powder, paprika powder or pepper.
The sauce is the most important part, making a tasty sauce it essential to a good okro stew.





STEP 6


Add the okro now and let it simmer on slow heat for about 15 to 20 minutes to soften the okro. if necessary add a bit of water (REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD MORE WATER AND NEVER REMOVE WATER ONCE ADDED!!)



STEP 7

Cut up the bitawieri ( surniamese vegetable) and add to the stew for the last 5 minutes with the rest.







BANKU

Now I explain how to prepare your banku


STEP 1

Add 2 parts of banku powder to water. So 2 cups of banku powder to 1 cup of water.
DONT PUT ON THE HEAT YET!!!
stir with wooden laddle until a smooth mixture




STEP 2

This is the hard part ( the arm auch part ;-)

Stir the mixture on a low heat until it thickens keep stirrin add bits of water and a pinch of salt (NOT TOO MUCH WATER)
All this takes about 15 to 20 minutes until the colour of the paste turns glazy. As the banku gets thicker it gets harder to stir
, put more effort into it and continue stirring as it lumps if you leave it unstirred for a while.

make sure there are no lums in your banku keep it smooth.


STEP 3

Watch out you dont butn your fingers. Switch of the heat and take a small clean plastic bag and scoop in a handful of banku (as in picture) . then dip the bag in ice water for 15 seconds and mould the banku into round balls.

Make as man balls as you can with the banku.




AND NOW ENJOY!!!
NOT NECESSARY BUT YOU CAN ADD SOME SHITO TO SPICE IT UP, I ALWAYS ADD SOME KETCHUP ON THE SIDE AS WELL. :-)

THE OKROSTEW ALSO TASTES GREAT WITH SOME BOILED RICE AND BANKU CAN BE COMBINED WITH ANY SAUCE OR SARDINE, CORNED BEEF ETC.



LEAVING YOU WITH SOME AFRICAN TUNES TO EAT YOUR BANKU AND OKRO WITH

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One of my favourite dishes and a must at all surinamese parties and major get-2gethas. An oven dish with major ingredient a mashed root known as "pomtayer".

WHAT YOU NEED

* 1 pak of pomtayer (preferably brand lufo)
* 2 or 3 large pieces of boneless chicken
* small pack of salted beef "zoutvlees"
* 2 large onions
* 2 lemons
* 1 madam jeanette
* 3 large tomatoes
* 2 small tins of tomato paste
* couple of branches of celery
* small piece of ginger
* large table spoon of picallily
* teaspoon of paprika powder
* 3 cubes of maggi blocks
* 2 large bay leaves

STEP 1


Put the frozen pomtayer in a container with a little bit of water to defrost, be careful not to throw the water that collects in the bowl you will need it later

Cut the chicken into chunks.Marinade the chicken. You can buy a ready made marinade as you see here. makes life much easier.
If you dont have it mix a bit of soya, ginger paste, madam jeanette, onions and garlic together in a blender and use that as a marinade. keep it in the fridge for at least 3 to 5 hours.



After 3 to 5 hours once the chicken is marinated and the pomtayer is defrosted. boil the salted beef in a large pan filled with water and add a bay leaf. Boil throw the water out and boil again with fresh water do this 3 times to cook the water out.

Take the salted beef out and let it cool. then dice it into cubes.



STEP 2


Pour some sunflower oil in a large pan and fry the salted beef till dark brown and crispy.
Take out the salted beef and use the same oil to fry the marinated chicken on a medium high fire untill the outside is brown. (keep in mind that it will cook further in the oven later on).

Take out the chicken and put in some foil or on a separate plate.




STEP 3


Step 3 is the sauce. The most important part of the pom. That's where the secret lies , if your sauce is amazing your pom is 90% perfect! Another tip make sure you make enough sauce, better to have too much than too little.

In the same oil you used for the chicken and salted beef( oil should still be reasonably clear)
Put in 2 large diced onions. Or buy them readily diced (makes life easier).



Fry onions until golden brown and add two tins of tomato paste. Stir through well.

Blend together 3 large tomatoes,piece of ginger, 1 madam jeanette and a 4 or 5 branches of fresh celery.



Add the blended mixture to the pan and stir well.
Add a bit of water and a bailey leaf to it and lit it simmer on a low fire season with paprika powder, 3 small cubes of maggi cube and a bay leaf or two

STEP 4


Switch off the sauce and now move to your defrosted pom.
pour the pomtayer into the bowl it was in. DO NOT POUR OT THE DEFROST WATER!
Squeeze out two lemons, make sure no lemon seeds fall into it.

Add a large table spoon of picalily and add some grounded black pepper. MIX WELL!



Pour half of the sauce in your pomtayer and mix well.MAKE SURE TO REMOVE THE BAY LEAVES!!


STEP 5


First of all pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees.
Grease an oven dish with butter. I use fluid butter for this.

Pour a layer of pom in the oven dish so it covers the bottom.

Then arrange your chicken and salted beef on top of the layer.
Pour the remaining sauce over this layer making sure to leave maybe a teaspoon of sauce so you can use it to coat your pom.

pour the remaining pom over the sauce and coat it with the little bit of pom you have left.

Put the dish in the 200 degree preheated oven for 60 minutes.
If you notice that the top is not cooking properly cover it with aluminium wrap and let it cook for another 30 minutes.

You can check with a toothpick. If its dark yellow color its done.




STEP 6


Let the pom cool-off for a while before you eat it.

Pom is nice to eat with boiled rice or in a sandwich with some mixed chinese pickles on the side (see picture).







And ofcourse a nice vibe to leave you with .......sranan style ofcourse :-)

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