HBK's first steps

I have been indeed a busy bee and again, I’ve been away from this blog longer than I wanted to be. I am hoping to have some sort of a cycle and write at least once a week – let’s hope life doesn’t have other plans to throw me off!
I catered my first event for a friend who recently launched her career as a lawyer with a graduation party. On the menu for her graduation party was The Jumoke ~ Snails sautéed in a fiery sauce of tomatoes, peppers and onions, and The Danielle ~ Beef Suya Sliders.
I have to say it was an interesting experience cleaning snails well into the wee hours of the morning; especially thirty-five snails. They are laborious but anyone who enjoys eating them will understand that it is well worth it. On the morning of the event, I got the usual bout of nerves. It’s always nerve wracking knowing that you have to cook for others, especially when you are very particular about food. Before I knew it, the morning whizzed right past and it was time to get my show on the road and drive to Manhattan. I can say with confidence that driving to Manhattan, through Manhattan and around Manhattan is more challenging than cleaning a ton of snails. I’ll take the snails any day! However, until I can employ a chauffeur, it looks like I will be doing both.
Thankfully, I along with the food arrived in Manhattan safely and after a long day, it was time to get busy and deliver on my promise. Everyone seemed very curious about what I was doing with the plates for the snails. I had a distraction for them … The Danielle. The suya sliders were doing a great job of keeping people occupied. Once the Jumoke was ready to serve, everyone dug right in and they all seemed very happy. I was also happy for many reasons, seeing someone move a step closer to their dream always warms me up with joy and seeing HBK take its first baby steps gave me a feeling I really can’t describe. Here are some pictures from the event. Enjoy!

Re-introducing the Danielle

What's not to love about these little bites of deliciousness?

Our brand new lawyer enjoying The Danielle

With everyone busy with the slider, I go to work on plating The Jumoke

The HoneyBee brings her kitchen to you

The garnish continues taking shape, all that's left now is the star, the snails

So many plates but almost ready

A friend who moonlighted as HBK's apprentice for the day

The snails appear and so does "The Jumoke"

A close up of the beautiful and feisty dish, The Jumoke

P.S. If you’re having a small intimate event and you would like to have gourmet African cuisine featured, send me an email or visit my website. Links are on the side bar of the blog.

Time to get back into the Kitchen

It's been a while since I have posted anything on here. It's not that I forgot, or did not want to, but as they say, sometimes life just gets in the way. I have had the most tumultuous these past two weeks, but here I am immersed in all things food. I've spent a considerable amount of time building the website for HBK (if you don't know what this is, please see the "A Dream is Born" post), and believe it or not, hunting for an African store. Not just any African store, an African grocery store that carries snails. Now one would think it would not be that hard to find an African store in these parts, but after making multiple trips on two consecutive weekends, I'm not sure what was more challenging; building a website (and I really detest coding) or finding the African grocery.
Now I did find a grocery with all my beloved African foods, well almost all. I could have fainted when I saw snails. Now before you turn up your nose, forget what you know or think you know about snails as a meal. Many people are familiar with the french style of cooking escargots, but what I was planning is not that... Not even close. The closest dining experience I've had to the snails I grew up eating was when I went to Chinatown in Toronto with my college friend a.k.a. my soulmate, Hong about six years ago. While the snails were no giants, more or less the size of the escargots you'd get in a french restaurant, they were quite delicious! Cooked in a spicy and savory sauce that I just couldn't get enough of, and the snails were succulent. They were however challenging to eat as the shells were left on - not like challenges have ever stopped me from eating what I want.
Back to the present, I had now found snails just like those from home... Welcome to Africa where the snails are giants and we take the shells off, so all you have to do is eat, eat, eat! I will tell you this; before you can eat them, snails require a good amount of cleaning and prepping. Poorly cleaned snails are not my idea of fun and probably not yours either, so I will share my tips on cleaning snails. Once snails are cleaned, they can be cooked in any fashion you like. Fried, braised in sauces, stews or sautéed with spices, onions, peppers or whatever other vegetable you fancy.

The Art of Cleaning Snails
Please note that I am going off of the assumption that the shells have been removed for you. The technique for shelling snails would have to be a post for another day.

Ingredients

Giant snails

Alum (white stones used in cleaning snails; they can be found in African groceries)

2- 3 Limes

Directions

Start by rinsing the snails in cold water at least three times to remove as much of the slime as possible.

Set up a bowl of water, take one snail at a time and rub the alum stone over it as though you were lathering with a bar of soap. Be sure to get into every nook and crevice as you work over the snail. Place the cleaned snail in the bowl of water, and continue with the other snails.

Once you've cleaned all the snails with the alum, rinse them thoroughly at least two to three times and then let them drain in a colander

Cut the limes in half. Take the exposed flesh of the lime and use that to rub over the surface of the snail. Do this while squeezing the lime, so the lime juice gets to work on the snail. Again, do this for each snail.

Rinse the snail at least two more times. It is important to use fresh water to rinse the snails each time. It is also a good idea to let the snails sit in water for a few minutes (maybe 5-10 minutes) and carefully remove the snails and place in a different bowl. You'll notice that some sediment will have collected at the bottom of the water.

You will know the snails are clean when you can no longer feel any sliminess on the surface of the snail, and the water they are rinsed in, is free of sediment or color.

After cleaning, your snails are ready to be cooked. Like I said earlier you can fry them, boil them,  sauté them - basically cook them the way you like them.

Alum stones for cleaning snails

Limes are excellent for cleaning snails, slice in halves and rub away

Snails after cleaning with alum and limes

Snails are ready for cooking after final rinse and being allowed to drain

As daunting as the process of preparing snails may seem, it is really not that bad. I actually quite had fun with it. Then again it could have been the fact that I had music playing in background while I worked. At any rate, all my fellow snail lovers, please do share your snail tales and hopefully my above mentioned steps will help a snail lover in need of some help in the kitchen. What are bees for after all?

What on God's green earth is Starch?

It's been hectic week since the HBK launch. I have worked long hours at the office and at home. As I came home every night, I've been running around in circles trying to figure how to build a website, find a supplier for African food, keep food warm when moving from my kitchen to event venues, and even new additions to the HBK menu. It's been quite intense to say the least.  I have resolved the issue of keeping food warm relatively quickly. The two things haunting my dreams now are the website and finding a supplier. I found one African store and there were a good number of things there. However, I'm still not sold on their yams and their snails. The snails looked like they had been there for an eternity. Some of the yams were black and blue on some parts of the surface. The effect of poor aeration I suppose. Nevertheless, I dug in there and found a good, happy looking yam. I made a beeline for my basket and snagged that yam like it was a nugget of gold! I also got a few non perishables from there. Exeter corned beef (the sight of the red paper wrapped can is so nostalgic for me), Heinz Salad Cream, Pounded yam flour and Fufu flour. Next weekend I will embark on another search, this time with someone who knows a ton of African stores in the area, to find some beautiful snails.

I had another unanswered question that came to mind while trying to build new dishes to add to my existing menu. "What exactly is starch made of?" Nigerians will know that 'starch' is a staple fondly enjoyed with a myriad of soups. However as many people do love it, very few know what exactly it is. The best answer anyone gave me so far was that it's made from cassava. Well, that's a good start I suppose, except that many other things are made from cassava also - garri, fufu, tapioca, just to name a few. Then I got really curious, and started to research. I found out after about half a day's research that Nigerians left out a descriptive part of the food's name by calling it 'starch'. Starch is nothing more than a food item I've seen so many times but never gave a second thought, tapioca starch. I saw this in a Filipino grocery store about two weeks ago and thought, what on earth do they do with a powdered form of tapioca? I had assumed it was used by Filipinos for desserts much like the lumpy form of tapioca. I quite like my tapioca with some texture, and I couldn't imagine anyone enjoying a pudding made from the powder. Little did I know, that tapioca starch was a lot closer to home than I'd imagined.

Funny that I'd make this discovery at the time that I did because my next 'Iron Chef' battle will be featuring soups that usually accompany starch; Banga soup and Edikaikong soup. It is a battle because I really have never seen either of these soups made, and I've tasted them only once! That should give me a good challenge and force me right out of my comfort zone. I love the idea of taking a tour around the world through food so it looks likes this Honeybee is heading to the east of Nigeria soon. I welcome all tips, pointers and funny tales associated with these soups from those of you who grew up eating them. You never know I just may name the gourmet rendition of these dishes after your story or even after you. Be rest assured that I shall have funny tales to follow after I make these soups.
In the meantime I've found a website that allows me to make a slideshow of pictures. I put together a collection of pictures from the HBK launch (pictures were taken by Dayo Adefulu), because embedding pictures in a blog format is incredibly annoying. I shall make more slideshows in the future. Just you wait!

HBK Launch: http://slideroll.com/?s=nxm1w1vh

A Dream is Born

April 17th, 2010. My baby was born. For years I’d wondered when this would come to pass, if it would come to pass. I had been carrying this dream for a long time and I finally kicked it into existence and had a little gathering to welcome it. It didn’t take very long to give it a nickname, HBK. HBK which stands for Honeybee’s Kitchen, is the medium through which I plan on bringing my dream of showcasing African food especially Nigerian food in the most creative and delicious way. Gourmet and African are not always two words that people necessarily put together. I don’t know of many people who think it’s possible to make Nigerian dishes “fancy”, probably because they don’t think anyone will go for it. Personally I believe that all African countries have wonderful foods with amazing colors, textures and flavors just waiting to be introduced to the world. I don’t think of what I do as 'trying to make it fancy' but more as dressing it up and bringing it to the forefront; so that someone, anyone who might have any misgivings about trying it out, would strongly reconsider. Also, I think there are many Africans who would love to see a marriage of the different cuisines, cultures and flavors of Africa; and see it presented in the most beautiful form and of course, eat it too.

I called on some people to come over to my place and give me feedback on some of the recipes I’d been toying with in my head. I really wondered if anyone would find the things I’d dreamed up appealing, and I was dying for an opportunity to find out. So I embarked on creating a five course meal and a cocktail that highlighted some of my favorite Nigerian meals and memories.

This was the menu I eventually came up with:

Cocktail: Sweetcheeks - Grapefruit juice and Vodka cocktail

First Course: The Danielle – Suya Sliders

Second Course: Modupe’s Moin-Moin – A rendition of a classic named after my mother

Third Course: Olumo Rock – A rendition of a popular dish of pounded yam and Efo-riro

Fourth Course: Eko Bangkok – A fusion of two cultures, Nigerian and Thai. Pan-seared chicken in fried stew with Basil Fried Rice

Fifth Course: The Nneka – A dessert of tapioca served over brandy infused tropical fruits

As excited as I was to put this meal together, I couldn’t help but think to myself, "you are ABSOLUTELY crazy for trying to do all of this in one day in your home kitchen". However thanks to the support of some wonderful people, I was able to make all the courses. I also found that I made a lot of people happy by bringing a fun mix of personalities together over a meal of surprises.

I’m sharing some pictures from the dinner. This served as a kick-off event for a small venture I’m launching to take on small gourmet catering venture, that will focus mainly on African cuisine and taking it to the next level. I will share my contact details shortly for people interested in getting their small events catered by Honeybee’s Kitchen.

Enjoy!

Humble beginnings

Welcome to Honeybee's Kitchen

Take a card or two

Setting up the living room for the launch

Ladies chatting it up as we wait for everyone to arrive

The making of Sweetcheeks by Sweetcheeks

The Sweetcheeks cocktail

 Dinner gets underway... 

The Danielle

The Second Course named after my momma

A deconstructed classic

The third course: A tribute to Olumo Rock

The fourth course: Eko Bangkok

 East by way of Thailand meets West, Western Nigeria that is...

Fifth Course: Dessert named 'The Nneka'

Sweetness that packs a punch

 Lade aka Sweetcheeks ~ The inspiration behind 'Sweetcheeks'

Danielle ~ The inspiration behind 'The Danielle'

Nneka ~ The inspiration behind 'The Nneka'

Salmon Says

I love, love, love salmon. While salmon may not be the king or queen of fish, it's my little princess and I treat it as such. On a Saturday night, I could be painting the town pink, salmon pink that is, instead I'm thinking of enjoying my Easter Sunday with a trusty favorite: Salmon sautéed with Peppers and White wine.
I love to eat this with potatoes or with rice. When I want to dress up this salmon dish, I seek out red potatoes. I love those little potatoes, they are so cute. I know it sounds like I'm not talking about food using terms like "dress up" or "cute" but that is entirely a matter of opinion.. Ha!
I digress... After scrubbing the potatoes in warm water and rinsing off. I prepare the my browning them with garlic and butter in a pan for about 10 minutes. Then I cast them away into a baking pan or better a cast iron skillet and add rosemary, and 2 cups of red wine (yes cooking with wine is my thing, I'd say more but that's a conversation for another day). A pinch of salt and black pepper sprinkled evenly over every last red, round potato. I leave that for 35-40 minutes in a preheated oven (about 400°F).
Now I suppose you're wondering what about the salmon? Where the heck is the salmon recipe? Very well, I shall let you have it. It is hard to rush a little princess, or share them - yet share it I will...

Ingredients

*Quantities are based on 1 whole fillet of salmon, assuming a whole salmon was halved*

Salmon Fillets (skinned) – Canned (3 cans) or Fresh (1 cleaned fillet)

2 Red Peppers

2 Green Peppers

½ Red Onion

1 tbsp Tomato sauce (blended tomatoes)

6-8 tbsp White cooking wine (optional but I love it)

3 tbsp Vegetable Oil (I use Canola oil - healthier)

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Thyme

1 ½ - 2 tbsp Chili Pepper Flakes (you can use more depending on how spicy you want your food, but don't use too much b/c it'll drown out other flavors)

2 tbsp Minced Garlic

1 tsp Pureed Ginger/ finely chopped ginger

½ tsp Salt

Marinade

1.5 tbsp Adobo

In case this isn’t available: it is a blend of salt, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, turmeric (in equal parts)

Directions

With fresh salmon, after slicing the fillet into serving-size pieces, rub in the marinade at least 2 hours before preparation. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator. With canned salmon, do nothing, it will be added last to the other ingredients as it’s already cooked.

Clean the peppers, and remove stalks, then cut peppers in half, length-wise. Remove seeds and pith of the peppers. Slice the peppers in thin strips about ¼ of an inch. Slice onions as thinly as possible in thin strips as well.

Heat oil in the sauté pan on the highest heat setting, and once oil is hot (after about 1 minute), add the onions, ginger, and thyme, and chili pepper flakes.

Once the onions starts to get a little translucent add the peppers and sauté for about 1 minute, and then add in the white wine. Stir briefly and allow to rest for another minute on medium heat.

Add the tomato sauce and stir in oregano.

Add the fresh salmon and cover the pan, and leave for 3 minutes. The turn the fillets over, and cover the pan for another 2-3 minutes.

With the canned salmon, just add it in at step 6 and allow it to simmer for 4 minutes, no more than 6 minutes so it doesn’t start to disintegrate. With canned salmon, don’t add any salt to the dish. It is most likely loaded with sodium already.

The red potatoes with Rosemary waiting to be browned

Red and Green Peppers cleaned and sliced

Slice the red onions thinly

Add white wine into peppers and salmon to finish the dish

Apparently Bees love Pepper Soup

Pepper soup

There are many variations of this dish based on whether prepared with meat, chicken or fish. Traditionally this soup is prepared with fish or with goat meat or unusual cuts of meats (e.g. cow feet, tripe, etc). It is very spicy and not for the faint-hearted; it’s not called pepper soup for nothing. I had been fighting a flu for over a week and I decided to make some pepper soup to give my cold the boot! However, I don't need an excuse to break out some pepper soup, it can be quite addictive...

Ingredients

1 - 1 1/2 lb Choice of meat (This recipe uses beef. Tripe is optional)

1/2 tsp White Pepper

1/8 tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp Ground Thyme

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

Salt to taste

1 Beef Bouillon cube (For chicken pepper soup use chicken cubes, and for fish use seafood/chicken cubes)

1 tsp Vegetable Oil (I use Canola)

1/4 Red Onion

2 -3 tsp Pepper soup dried spice mixture (more can be added depending on desired heat level)

Directions

Wash and clean the meat thoroughly and allow excess water to drain in a colander.

If using tripe, try this trick to remove the strong smell it has when raw. Soak in a mix of lemon juice and vinegar in equal parts for at least 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly, at least 3 times and drain.

Cut beef into small pieces to allow quick cooking and remove the need for cutting the meat while eating.

Marinate the beef in the mix of the following spices: White pepper, turmeric, Ground Thyme, Garlic Powder, a pinch of salt. Allow the beef to marinate for at least 15-30 minutes.

Take about a quarter of a red onion, peel and chop into pieces (mind your eyes), for creating the beef broth.

Put a generous amount of water in a deep pot, at least about half-way full of water. Bring the water to boil and then add the onions, bouillon cubes and tripe. Do the same in a different pot for the tripe.

Allow the beef to cook for about 15 minutes and remove the beef with a slotted spoon and set aside. The broth will serve as the soup base.

Tripe takes longer to cook and be soft, so boil the tripe separately for about 20-30 minutes.

Once the tripe is done, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside. Toss out the broth from the tripe. It is very important that you don’t use the broth from the tripe for the soup.

Return the beef broth to boil and add a teaspoon of oil and the pepper soup spices in a teaspoon at a time. Add more according to your tolerance for heat. Be very careful with this spice, a little can go a very long way.

Once the broth has reached the level of spiciness you want, put in the beef and the tripe and whatever other meats you want to the broth. Allow this to simmer on low heat for another 15 minutes.

Add a pinch of salt as needed only, and stir in. Turn off the heat, and serve the pepper soup. Mind your tongue and keep tissues handy!

Note: With fish/ or seafood pepper soup, do not boil the fish/seafood in water to create a broth. If you can, get seafood broth at the grocery store and use a little (about 1/2 a cup for taste); then fill the pot half-way with just water, otherwise just use water. Add chicken/seafood bouillon cubes, the pepper soup spice, and oil. Once you have the desired heat level you want, then add the marinated fish/seafood. Generally for this recipe, fish doesn’t really need any marinating. Fish and other seafood absorb all the flavor of the soup fairly quickly. Add salt to taste. To prevent the fish from breaking up, cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Tip: Don’t drink water in between sips of the soup, it only makes each subsequent sip even more intense than the last. Take time in between sips to allow your tongue to cool off on its own. When you’re finished with your soup, and then have all the water you want.

Also some people do enjoy pepper soup with boiled yam. It also helps balance out the heat from the soup.

 Marinating allow flavors to infuse the meat

Drain the tripe after cleaning and rinsing thorougly

Season the tripe and allow to marinate as with the beef

Chop onion to boil with meats

Remove boiled beef from the broth and set aside

Tripe boiling with onions

Retain beef broth and add water to fill the pot half-way to the top

Add the pepper soup spice to the broth

Add the beef and tripe to the broth and allow to simmer for a few minutes until it is ready to eat

Serve and enjoy! Mind your mouth...