Now for something a little more...creamy

Chicken satay!  The first of the appetizers I am creating for a small get-together I'm hostessing tomorrow.

2 tbsp peanut butter (in the comments section it suggests a couple of extra tbsp in order to get a more "authentic" taste)
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c lemon or lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves- cubed

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, curry powder, garlic, and hot pepper sauce in a mixing bowl.

Healthy pasta? Sure, why not?

I eat a LOT of pasta.  I love Mediterraneo and frequently walk around the corner to Osteria for some pasta, but is there such thing as healthy pasta?  Probably, but I don't know it.  Since I'm on this health kick, I thought I'd try to whip up something with a lot less calories than my cream based love, Alfredo sauce.  I found a marinara sauce recipe online and figured I'd give it a shot and will hopefully have something fabulous and healthy to take for lunch tomorrow. I actually found multiple recipes online but this looked the simplest and took the least amount of time.  Again, I'm eyeballing the figures; it worked the last time....

And the adventure continues...in cooking that is

It's really less so an adventure and a need to not eat ugali and stew once again.  It's not the healthiest of options and while I love some Kenyan foods ugali is definitely not their claim to fame; it's a mixture of flour and water and bland. 

Today I scavenged through the pantry and decided to make a tuna salad.  There were some chopped peppers and a few slices of cucumbers left over and so I tossed those in with some chopped tomato, onion, garlic, and coriander.  Hopefully it will suffice for lunch tomorrow.  Save me from myself and give me some suggestions for more exciting *healthy* meal options!

And if you have some ideas for easy to make appetizers, do tell.  I am hosting a small home party for one of my favorite non-profits here in Nairobi in a few weeks and would like to serve some homemade bitings with drinks.

Diet cooking is for the birds

In an attempt to lose some of the weight that I've put on traveling over the last 6-8 months I'm back to my standby Scarsdale Diet since apparently having regular bouts of Harvey (my imaginary intestinal worm) hasn't kept off the weight.  While I was hopeful the weight gain and other symptoms could be explained away by a potential thyroid problem I was depressed to learn that, in fact, my thyroid is working perfectly.  Therefore, evidently my weight gain is just a symptom of being in my 30s.

So, back to Scarsdale I go.  Yes, there are some off the wall remarks in the book that one should ignore about women and PMS; keep in mind it WAS written in the '70s.  However, as the overall diet is healthy and simple to stick to in theory, I am going to start the 2 week trial once again since my daily diet of home cooked Indian food is thickening under my belt. I even contemplated buying a cute new apron at Amani ya Juu yesterday to begin the quest.

Today I figured I would start with something simple, like a fresh garden salad.  With no dressing in the house and just me and my clumsy fingers for chopping, I think it's going to be more difficult than it sounds.

Easy Schmeasy...Cooking for the Clinically Insane

Since my initial cooking attempt of Tex Mex went off without a hitch I decided I would spend my first day of R&R cooking dinner for a few friends.  Fortunately it was not at my house as I do not have a oven or even a very functional stove.  (I did just procure a slightly used microwave though...oh the possibilities!)

Disclaimer: I am typing this as I cook.  Therefore there will be frequent updates and perhaps a random fire or two.

The menu: pulled chicken wraps with broccoli pasta alfredo and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  I decided to also throw in a guacamole starter since that takes me approximately 10 minutes to make including chopping and taste testing plus I figured it would keep the boys occupied as I attempt to finish the rest of dinner. 

Around 2pm: I returned from grocery shopping and started chopping and cleaning vegetables.  I threw 4 small avocados, some chopped onion and red pepper, and a jalapeno in the blender until mixed.  I added lemon juice and a little salt to taste.  There was an unfortunate incident where I put the spoon in to test the consistency a few seconds before the blender actually came to a complete stop.  Happily it  didn't break or kill the blender or take out my eye for that matter when it came flying out of the blender at me. 

Since I am incapable of chopping broccoli I asked the housegirl to chop that for me so I didn't come off as a complete imbecile when there were huge chunks of uncut broccoli in the pasta later.  She did an amazing job and puts my chopping skills to shame.

Around 4pm:  I took the chicken that was quasi defrosted (hopefully it's ok to continue on it's defrostation while in the oven?)  and sprinkled Hidden Valley ranch seasoning on it and drizzled some barbecue sauce on it.  I set the oven on as high as it can go because I know it takes longer to cook and you have to put things on higher temperatures since we're at a higher altitude.  Unfortunately, I don't actually know what that equates to in cooking terms but hopefully 300 degrees Celsius is adequate to get the job done. 

Live blogging commences.  Continue on here:

Cooking for Dummies

Aaand by dummies, I mean me.  So, as you've probably figured out, I am going to give you a cooking blog today.  This one is for Anonymous Carly (yet again) who commented on my Request Line post. (You too can make the monkey jump.  Just comment here, there, or anywhere about what you'd like to read about and this monkey is happy to oblige.)  So back to Carly, she asked that I write about cooking a meal (because she's mean and knows that my cooking experience is nil) with all Kenyan ingredients and explain the preparation (i.e. the shopping, cooking, and results).

So, let's begin by lowering your expectations just a bit.  When I say "cooking", I really mean "attempting not to burn down the kitchen while recreating simple recipes".  And by "simple recipes" I actually mean food that a child should be able to make, but under my watch are still not usually successful.  (Think gas stove, open flame, and throw in some underdeveloped cooking skills due to many years of throwing frozen dinners into the microwave.  And sadly, I no longer have access to a microwave.  Oh, the travesty of it all.) 

So, what you are about to encounter won't be delicious or fabulous, if you want to read about *good* food, hit up the baking and food posts over on my friend's page.  Otherwise, this will have to suffice.

The Africa Diet

And people wonder why I eat out so often.  If it weren't for cheap Ethiopian food and samosas I would be left to my own devices and sustain myself solely on knock off Pringles and canned beans.

Captain Awesome learns to cook (chapati that is)

Saturday night Esther (T) and Purity (B) came over for dinner and taught me, yes that's the awesomest Captain Awesome (for those of you doubting the veracity of my claim, you know who you are) below, how to make chapatis.

Chapti chefs extraordinaire:

The ingredients:
flour, (garlic) salt, hot water, wooden spoon (I still cringe when I see one of those...thanks, Mom), vegetable oil, a rolling pin, and someone who knows what they're doing.  For a certain price I'm sure Esther and Purity will hire out their chapati making talents for those of you doubting your ability to read and follow along.

Step 1: 
Add dry ingredients together (easy enough...can't screw that up)...well, they didn't measure, so technically, you can screw up if you guess wrong.  But it's flour.  And salt.  You put too much flour then you get leftover chapatis, no harm, no foul.  And there's no such thing as too much salt.

Step 2: 
Stir in (hot) water with a wooden spoon (apparently hot water makes the texture smoother).

Step 3:
Mash the goop using your hands.

Step 4:
Add oil, vegetable that is, for all of you neophytes trying this at home.

Step 5:
Knead the goop.  Yes, that is the technical term.  How dare you question Captain Awesome?!

Step 6:
It should now look like this.  If it doesn't you screwed up; add some more oil, or water, or better yet, just start over it's probably beyond repair anyway.  It's for the best, I promise.

Step 7:
Cut the dough into strips.

Step 8:
Wrap the slices into rolls, like cinnabons.

Step 9:

No, we're still not done.  Remember this is Africa, we're cooking from scratch here, it takes a bit longer.  Patience is a virtue.  Pull out your rolling pin, or if you're Captain Awesome and don't need one, your glass Coca Cola bottle, and get to flattening those chapatis.  

You can attempt to match Captain Awesome's perfect flattening skills but it's doubtful you will succeed.  Just do your best and remember, size doesn't matter but shape does.  We're going for round here folks, not oblong, not oval, and definitely not misshapen.

Step 10:

Place, don't toss, the chapati onto the hot pan.  

Step 11:

Do not, I repeat, do not, put oil in the pan first.  Why, you ask?  I have no idea.  But I'm told the correct browning method is to hold the oil in a container in one hand and then spoon it over the chapati before flipping.  

The real deal:

Don't expect to match Captain Awesome's perfect chapati on your first try.  It takes minutes upon minutes to master this stunning technique.

The final product:

Fajitas masterpiece African style!  Both Esther and Purity were fajitas virgins but they loved them, I mean who wouldn't?  Esther declared it was "a little bit of heaven in your mouth."