Angwamu ni toolo beef(Rice w/ oil & salted beef)

Heeyyyy! Look who it is AGAIN!!! Haha! Yes, I am trying to keep my word. Today I wanted to share one of the commonest rice recipes that were around growing up in Ghana. A lot of men who said they didn't know how to cook knew how to make this particular rice because after plain white rice this was the next easiest thing for them to make lol. 

Most people don't use toolo beef(salted beef) but I did because I like the flavor it gives

Ingredients

• 3 cups of rice
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 3 tablespoons oil  
• 1 chunk of salted beef(depends on how its sold in your local African market -OPTIONAL )
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tablespoon salt(that is IF you don't use the beef)

Method: 

1. Chop the onion into small chunks, if using the salted beef wash and cut that too in little chunks
2. In a cooking pot, over medium heat, add in the oil and fry the beef until it's well done, add in the chopped onion stir 
3. Once the onion becomes fragrant, add in the rice, stir until it's well coated with the oil then pour in your water
4. Cover with foil and cook rice until it's soft to touch

PS: Depending on the kind of rice you use, you may need more or less water than what is suggested in this recipe. Use your judgment when it comes to that.

The ingredients minus the water

How my rice looked once it was ready

Another angle of the rice

Chicken Stew

Hello there, I am back again; I am just as surprised as you are LOL!! Today's recipe is very simple and easy to make. Growing up in Ghana this was the next best thing after jollof(to me), I haven't had chicken stew in God knows when so today I decided to make some for my mom and I. I like to use LIVE chicken when I find some but in this recipe I used the regular chicken from the grocery stores(rolls eyes)........ NOW Let's dive right into it shall we?

Video -Fried Chicken Stew


Ingredients: 

• 1lb of chicken(chopped)
• 5 fresh tomatoes
• 2 and half onions
• 1 whole ginger
• 2 pieces of fresh garlic
• 2 scotch bonnet pepper(Jamaican hot pepper)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 tablespoons seasoning salt
• 1 tablespoon red pepper
• 1 onga or knorr cube
• 1 green bell pepper(optional)
• 1 small tin/can of tomato paste
• 2 carrots(optional)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Oil for frying

To season the chicken:

• 1-2 tablespoons seasoning salt
• 1 tablespoon red pepper
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes(optional)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Method:

1. Clean the chicken, remove the skin(optional to the skin lovers), wash the chicken very well.(I always soak my chicken in some water and vinegar and then wash it again)
2. Season chicken with spices in a medium sauce pan, on medium heat, steam the chicken until its no longer pink. 
3. In a frying pan or deep fryer, fry the chicken until its golden brown, then set aside
4. Blend the tomatoes, 2 onions, ginger, scotch bonnet peppers and garlic. Slice the remaining half of the onion and in a medium/large sauce pan add the 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in the sliced onions and stir for about a minute. 
5. Add in the blended ingredients with the tomato paste and allow the stew to cook for about 20-30mins(you can add 1 tablespoon of seasoning salt, some parsley and half of the onga or knorr cube at this step, I do that so everything cooks with it & after I add in the chicken I then add in the remaining spices to adjust the taste)
6. Chop the green pepper and carrots in medium sizes, check on the stew and once it looks almost ready(look at the picture below or in the video) add in the fried chicken, adjust spices to your taste and let it simmer for awhile
7. Add in the chopped green pepper and carrots and the chicken stew is ready to be enjoyed with some white rice, yellow rice, spag rice, boiled yam or anything of your choice. 

Ingredients: to the right is the spices to season the chicken(which is in the pot), the fresh ingredients is in the blender the sliced onion on the chopping board and the chopped green pepper and carrots in the bowl

Seasoning the chicken

Chicken all seasoned and ready to be steamed

After steaming the chicken: frying it

Blended ingredients with tomato paste, seasoning salt, parsley flakes and half of onga cube

After stew looks almost done, add in fried chicken

Adding in the green pepper and carrots

All done and ready to be enjoyed!!

Served with yellow rice and kelewele

Cabbage stew

Hmm! We use to eat this stew like once in a blue moon in Ghana. I wasn't really big on it when I was young but now I don't complain at all. Lol I just eat it like that. It is once of those stews that goes with basically any choice of meat or fish.

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes 
• 1-2 scotch bonnet pepper(depending on how hot you want it)
• 1 medium can of tomato paste
• 1 small ball of cabbage
• 2 carrots(optional)
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• Spices to taste 
• Fish or mackerel or goat meat whatever you prefer in your stew 

Ingredients

1. Cut one of the onions into 2, blend one & half onions with the tomatoes,ginger,pepper. 
2. PS: if you are using goat meat, wash it, season it, steam and fry it and then set it aside
3. In a medium sauce pan, pour in a tablespoon and half of oil, and add in the sliced onions, stir for awhile then add in your blended ingredients. 
4. While that is cooking,chop the cabbage into very medium/small sizes(look at picture below), chop carrots in medium sizes.
5. Add in your small can of tomato paste, let that cook for a while, the pour in your chopped cabbage and carrots(this takes a while to dissolve in the stew so allow it to cook own its own don't rush it oh....) 
6. 
   



Chopped cabbage and carrots



Oil and onions



Blended ingredients with tomato paste



Stew almost ready to add cabbage and carrots

Adding cabbage and carrots



This is how it looks before the cabbage dissolves and becomes softer,



This stew had more sauce than cabbage because it was a preference for who I was cooking for and they wanted sausages and fish as you can see

Beans stew(Red red)

I remember this was one of my favorite dishes growing up in Ghana. Right after Jollof, and banku & okra lol, I enjoyed it at home and the ones they sold on the streets(which was slightly different than the recipe here). So I decided why not share a recipe. Been a long time coming though lol.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups blackeyepeas 
• 3-4 tablespoons of Palm oil(canola or vegetable oil is fine if you don't have palm oil)
• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper(Jamaican hot pepper)
• 1 small can of mackerel(optional, I use it because the family love it)
• Spices to taste

Method:

1. Pour the beans in a small sauce pan, add about 4 or more cups of water to it, set on medium high, and cook until it's soft to touch. While that's cooking blend 1 and half onion,tomatoes,ginger and pepper
2. In a separate sauce pan, pour in palm oil with some sliced onions, sauté the onions for about a minute, pour in the blended ingredients, allow that to cook for about 15-20minutes
3. Add in the cooked beans, allow that to simmer for about 5mins, add in your mackerel, let it simmer for another 20mins and serve with some gari and fried plantains

This was served with kaaklo and some gari

Beans stew with gari and fried plantains

Tsofi/Chofi(Turkey tails)

Let me start off by saying if you aren't ready to do some serious cleaning on this meat then please just buy it from the African markets or restaurants  lol because this recipe calls for a lot of major cleaning and pulling lol. The end result is delicious but the process is just draining lol. So here we go. 

Ingredients 

• 1 lb turkey tails
• 1 tablespoon seasoning salt
• 1-2 tablespoons red powdered pepper(depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder(optional)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Make sure you wash the turkey tails very well, removing all sight of dirt, also removing any straw/hairy like things you might find in them(these really need to come out before anything else) and as much fat off as you can(I say this because there's a lot of fat on this part of the turkey)
2. After you are done washing it well, season with the all the spices and refrigerate for about an hour or 2 or even overnight(if you are not in a rush to make it) 
3. In a medium saucepan, pour in enough oil that will be used for deep frying the turkey tails. On medium heat, heat up the oil and fry till its golden brown.
4. After you are done frying you can enjoy it as it is with some fried yams or you can sprinkle some kebab powder on it(if you have some at hand)

This is how the turkey tail looks before cleaning and cutting into the little tiny pieces. As you can tell it needs a lot of cleaning

Seasoned over night

Top left was plain fried turkey tails, bottom left is when the kebab powder was added, the right pictures a special sauce was added to it. 

Light soup(Pepper soup)

Where the fufu lovers at? This is one soup that MOST people eat with their fufu. Mostly served with goat meat but can be made with chicken as well(but not the overly processed one that's usually too soft and tends to break in the soup so the "live" chicken is the best for light soup). But today's one I will be using goat meat.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs goat
• 3 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 scotch bonnet pepper or Jamaican hot pepper(or more,your preference)
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper 
• Ginger
• Half a clove of garlic
• Dried fish(that's if you have any available,it's optional)
• Spices to taste

You can add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste but it's optional not everyone uses tomato paste in their light soup. I was told some use it because of the bright color it gives the soup I usually don't....depends on who I am cooking for. 

Method:

1. Wash goat meat,remove any visible fat,in a big sauce pan, season with pepper,seasoning salt,and your choice of spices. On medium heat, steam goat meat for about 10-15mins or till it's no longer red/pink
2. While meat is steaming,blend the onions,tomatoes,pepper,ginger and garlic. When meat is done steaming pour in the blended ingredients on, adding about 2-3 cups(or more) of water(you are making soup not stew so it shouldn't be thick at all) I usually add a small can of tomato sauce to it if I have it at home
3. When the soup has boiled for a while, season it with your choice of spices and allow it to cook for 10-15mins. Prepare your fufu and enjoy lol. 

Ps: Will update with more pictures as time goes on. Thank you. Enjoy

1. Seasoned goat meat 2.Steamed goat meat 3.Ingredients to be blended 4. blended ingredients
5.Blended ingredients added to the steamed goat meat 6. Water that was added 

When I talk about dried fish from the african market this is what I am referring to

Kelewele (Spicy Fried Plantain)

Ahhhh!! Who remembers kelewele from Ghana. Just passing by the lady making it will make you want to stop and buy some! If you don't know by now I am a plantain addict, yes I love PLANTAINS!! lol So its safe to say this has got to be one of my favorite things too. This goes very well with some peanuts.

Video for kelewele is on my YouTube channel at - Theedee's Kelewele(Spicy fried plantain)


Ingredients:

• 2 yellow plantains
• 1 tablepoon salt
• 1 tablespoon powdered ginger or 1 fresh ginger
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of powdered red pepper (cayenne could be used if you don't have the red pepper from the African shops) or 2 or 3 fresh red pepper
• 3 ginger
• Oil for frying

Ps: You can blend ginger,scotch bonnet pepper and some powdered red pepper if you don't have the powdered ginger(that gives you the authentic kelewele after all, but to make things easier I like the powdered stuff). You can increase the amount of spices to use depending on your preference some like it really spicy, others don't. 

Method:

1. Peel plantain and wash it. Cut the plantain into small sizes (see pictures below).
2. Season plantains with salt,ginger and pepper, set it aside for about 30minutes if you want it to "marinate" very well(that's if you have time to spare)
3. If using fresh ginger,garlic and pepper blend it, pour it on the cut plantains, let it marinate(yes lol) for a while then go to number 4.
4. In a frying pan, on medium heat, heat up the oil, pour seasoned plantains in and fry till its golden brown(see after picture)

The ingredients (using the powdered pepper and ginger,which I got when I was in Ghana)

Before seasoning(I cut the plantain into 2, then into another 2, that's how I got these sizes)

Well seasoned and ready for frying

Deep frying the kelewele(so you will need enough oil for this, that's why I didn't specify how much oil you will need)

Yummy kelewele

Yummy kelewele with roasted peanuts

Corned beef stew

I don't know about you but as for me when I was little and growing up in Ghana this was one of my favorite stews to eat with white rice lol. This can also be eaten with boiled yam or boiled plantain and even spaghetti, whatever you like, as long as it tastes good, YOU ARE GOOD TO GO!! So simple and easy to make. This was by request, so here you go.

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper(depending on how hot you want it)
• 1 teaspoon ginger(or half from a whole...look below to get what I mean)
• 2 pieces of garlic(my family likes garlic so if you aren't a garlic person this can be optional)
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 can corned beef
• Oil 
• Spices to taste (seasoning salt,black pepper,curry powder,etc....whatever you use to season stew) 

Method:

1. Cut the 1 and half of the onions and slice the remaining half and set aside, then blend your onions,tomatoes,garlic,pepper and ginger
2. In a saucepan, pour the oil and sauté the sliced onions for about a minute, pour in the blended ingredients and allow it to cook for about 15minutes. Add the tomato paste stir and let it for another 15 mins. Add spices then corned beef,stir once and let it simmer for 10minutes(DONT STIR IT TOO MUCH, because you don't all the corned beef to break in the stew,if you get what I mean)

Ps: I usually use 2 cans of corned beef thats because I really do love corned beef so you can use one or two depending on your preference 

Like I said I love corned beef so I often use 2 of these. (Exeter is a bit pricey, so if you don't have this any will do)

Ingredients before blending

Step by step to the corned beef stew

Kaaklo/Tatale

Don't throw away the black,soft plantains yet. Kindly use that for some Tatale which is more flatter than that of kaaklo. Tatale is usually fried in a much flatter frying pan while kaaklo can be deep fried. This is typically eaten with Bambara beans or regular beans.

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 plantains
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 Jamaican hot pepper(or more depending on your preference)
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Oil (for frying)

Ps: You can use powdered pepper and ginger if that's your preference. 

Method:

1. Peel and wash the plantain, then in a big bowl mash it all till resembles what I have in the picture below. (Some people like to blend the plantain, but one problem with that is,if you are not careful you might end up with watery plantain)
2. Blend the pepper and ginger and mix it with the plantain. Add the flour and salt,mix until all ingredients are combined well, now you are ready to fry some kaaklo. 
3. On medium heat, heat up the oil and using a tablespoon full fry the kaaklo. I used in my hand in other for me to get the size in the picture below. Fry until golden brown

PS: The flour is to help hold the plantain together, so if you fry one and it doesn't hold together, then add some more flour to your plantain mix. I was told that in Ghana sometimes they use cornstarch instead of flour. So whatever you have available when you are ready to make this.  Also note that in the picture below, I was making kaaklo not tatale. 

Ingredients and step by step directions

This is how Tatale is usually fried

The difference between kaaklo and tatale

Kaaklo, along with some beans stew and gari(cassava flakes)

Grilled tilapia

Goes soooooo well with banku or kenkey with red pepper/black pepper(shito)

Ingredients:

• 2-4 Tilapia
• 1onion
• 1-2 whole ginger
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2-4 scotch bonnet pepper(depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 tablespoon of seasoning salt(or regular salt,like always I prefer Lawry's)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper(optional)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup of oil

Method:

1. Wash tilapia and remove any scales or fins
2. Grease a baking pan or if you are like me,line up your oven with foil 
3. Blend all ingredients with 1/3 cup of oil and season the fish, make sure all parts of the fish gets some of seasoning.(allow it to marinate overnight or 1 to 2 hours)
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) or on low broil. Grill for for 20mins then turn the other side of the tilapia and allow it to grill for 20mins. (DO NOT ALLOW IT TO BE COMPLETELY DRY OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE TOO HARD.....WE WANT SOFT YUMMY GRILLED TILAPIA :-D) 

Ps: You can use the whole tilapia or cut them into 2. Just like I have in the picture below. Cutting them too small leaves you with little to no fish when it's done grilling

Before cleaning

After washing and cleaning it well

Seasoned and ready for the fridge for marinating

All seasoned and ready for the oven or grill

Had it with kenkey,black pepper,red pepper,sardine and some chopped vegetables

Grilled using essiespice's mango chili medley, it was just as yummy, I added more pepper to this because we wanted it really spicy.

Okra stew

Okro/Okra however you like to call it, its still the same. I loveee it and it goes perfectly well with some banku or kenkey or eba(gari)  

Ingredients:

• 2 & a half  onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 1/3 teaspoon of ginger
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper (Or jamaican hot pepper)
• 1 or 2lbs of goat meat
• 1/2 cup palm oil or regular vegetable or canola oil
• 1 or 2 packs of cut okra(they are sold in almost every supermarket)
• 1/2 salted fish(koobi, this however is optional)
• Spices to taste(as always I used my lawry's seasoning salt,my black pepper and etc for this)

Method:

1. Wash goat meat,clean it very well(removing all sights of fat and all) and season it, then steam for about 20 mins(or until it's no longer pink)
2. Blend the 2 onions,tomatoes,pepper and ginger
3. By now the goat meat should be steamed, you can choose to pour your oil on the goat meat now or if you are anything like me in a separate cooking pot, slice half an onion,sauté it in the oil(add koobi if you are using some),after a minute of stirring add the goat meat and blended ingredients and allow it to cook for about 15mins
4. Add your cut okra to the stew now (if you are adding any other dried fish or salmon to the stew now is the best time to add it)and allow it to simmer for 10mins, season it and let it cook for another 15mins then your stew will be all ready

Ps: if you are going to be using fresh okra make sure you wash it well, cut the top and bottom off. Chop it into little pieces and go to step 4. 

The ingredients

Beef sauce

1 of my favorite accompaniment to go with fried rice. But it can also go well with white rice, yellow rice and even mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs beef chucks or whole
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch or flour
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 
• Spices: (lawry's,maggi,black pepper,or any seasoning of your choice)

Method:

1. If you have a whole beef, cut it into beef chunks, wash and season your beef and
2. On medium heat, add the tablespoon of oil , "fry" the beef and allow it to cook for about 30 - 40minutes(When the meat is softened and no longer reddish/pinkish looking then its ready)
3. Cut the carrots, green pepper and onions into medium chunks as shown below. 
4. Add the tablespoon spoon of flour to1 or 1/2 a cup of water(depending on how much water there was to season the beef from the start) and pour it on your beef, allow it to cook for another 15mins, then add in the oyster sauce, when the sauce begins to thicken up adjust with spices for taste and add vegetables. 

PS: Don't add the vegetables too early otherwise they would get really soft & you might not even see them in the sauce

Onions and green pepper as requested

Seasoned beef ready to steamed

Flour and water mixture

Green pepper and carrots (This person didn't want onions.)

Ready for the veggies and other ingredients

Almost ready :-) 

Ready :-D