Category: Main (Page 29 of 37)

Potato Salad

June 23, 2015 / Kaluhi / 8 Comments

Among the shows I am always glued to are cooking shows. Recently I have been watching Pioneer Woman which is quite new on food network. It is one of my favorites these days. The host, Ree Drummond, makes her recipes so easy and do-able and I guess that is why I gravitated towards her since it is the same thing Ii try to achieve with my blog. I liked her warm aura too and her show immediately from the very first episode. Plus she lives a life that I hope to mirror one day: She is family oriented, she loves to cook and does it damn well, she lives on a ranch (I want to live on a ranch too :)), and she is so graceful.

Todays recipe was inspired by her. She made this pea salad and I decided to put my own twist to her recipe using ingredients I have at hand and ended up with a potato salad. And it was fantastic! Thank you Ree Drummond 🙂

While we enjoy some sunshine before the July iciness, this you have to try this out guys!

Spicy Beer Beef Stew

June 16, 2015 / Kaluhi / 24 Comments

I am not much of an alcoholic drink drinker. But one of the things I enjoy doing is cooking with some alchohol. During the coking process, much of the alcohol burns off and the food remains with just the taste and depth of that particular drink. I have seen time and time again people making their beef stews with beer and I was slightly taken aback as to why it was so popular. This was until I tried it myself. And all I can say is, the beer+beef combination is a match made in heaven. This author agrees too! I am always for trying out new things and pushing myself beyond what I am used to. And this really paid off. This beer beef stew is the perfect comfort food. I really cannot put in words how good this is. You just have to try it for your self.

Chili and Ginger Githeri

June 9, 2015 / Kaluhi / 19 Comments

I am one of those people who can never EVER miss githeri when it is cooked. It’s almost an obsession. Ask my sisters, I absolutely love githeri. When I tell this to people, I get that look as though I just said I love eating kittens, live ones, in a graveyard, while chanting sacrilegious hymns of an extinct tribe . This may be because majority are yet to have that deliciously celestial githeri-eating experience. But I will give you one..

One of my earliest recipes on this blog was that of githeri, where I prepared it with coconut cream and curry which brought our its softer elements. You can get that recipe here. This time, I am using stronger flavors of chilli and ginger which brings out its more savory side. There is more than one way of preparing anything. And that is what makes cooking very exciting and a constant adventure. Do not allow your self to cook one meal the exact same way for all the days of your life. You will be missing out!

To warm you up as days get colder: Chilli and Ginger Githeri

Cayenne and Red Onion Nyama Choma Dry-fry

June 2, 2015 / Kaluhi / 9 Comments

In my country it is almost an abomination to throw away left overs of any meal. In the Kenyan spirit of resourcefulness, all meals that are left over from the current meal are set aside to be eaten as part of or for the next meal. Wastefulness is totally discouraged in our culture. And I believe that is a totally fantastic thing.

But lets be honest, at times having left-overs over and over can sometimes be monotonous. Hence it is always advisable to change things up and add new flavors to and transform an already awesome meal. Following the Madaraka day celebrations, we had some left over nyama-choma. To make this richer and tastier, we usually turn this into a dry fry. The process of frying it tenderizes the meat further but it still retains that smokey flavor. The onions and the chilli enhance the flavor of the nyama choma meat so well. It is soo good, just typing this made me salivate.

Grilled Cheese Chicken Sandwich

May 29, 2015 / Kaluhi / 6 Comments

Have you ever tried out a new recipe with so much excitement but it turned out way below average? That happens to me too sometimes. I was so excited to make some crunchy drumsticks sometime back but they were not as good as I anticipated. My first and most honest critics, my family ,thought they really could have tasted better. And I agreed. Even though they looked really good, they were grossly under-seasoned. I could not bring myself to post a recipe that I myself don’t stand confidently by. Quality of content trumps quantity of content any day.

So the next day, I decided to use the left overs from the remaining drumsticks and make something else. I decided to make grilled cheese chicken sandwich which was so indulgent and so so sooo perfect. This brought back my confidence after that no-so-good drumstick kitchen experience. And this was one of the tastiest recreation of left overs I have made to date!

I encourage you too to try new things. You will fail…numerous times, just as I do. But do not run away from the kitchen forever. Take it as a learning experience and up your game each time. You will become even better as a result 🙂

Peppery Carrot and Garlic Ndengu

May 26, 2015 / Kaluhi / 28 Comments

You know those times when you are just chilling at home then guest come knocking? I know all Kenyans can relate to this since in our culture, it is quite normal to show up/visit unannounced. While it is a good thing as it preserves the sense of community, ~~most of the time~~ sometimes , you really are not prepared for them. And it is considered rude not to serve guests something small to eat while they are in your home. So we resolve to offering whatever is there to make them feel at home.

We once received unexpected guests some Sunday ago. We had nothing flamboyant to prepare, so we gave them exactly what we were having for lunch that afternoon- Coconut Rice and this Peppery Carrot and Garlic Ndengu. While this is a very normal meal to us, the guests were so impressed with what we served them that they could have sworn we knew they were coming :D. This is not to show off, but to encourage you too to strive to make each meal a memorable banquet. So much so that eating fantastic food becomes part of your everyday life. After all, life is too short to wait for only special occasions to eat great tasting food. Have nice food as often as you can.

So for today: Peppery Carrot and Garlic Ndengu. Hope you try this out

Pork sausage, Beef and Cheddar Meatballs

May 19, 2015 / Kaluhi / 13 Comments

“That was fantastic, D!” I always know a meal is good mum ends her dinner with that comment: And my sisters and when my daddy gobble it down really fast. I have been trying a lot of new recipes and techniques lately and I was over the moon when this turned out better than I could have anticipated. My first meatball recipe is significantly different from this one. You can try both and see which one you personally like best. But judging form how fast these meatballs were cleared, this recipe is a winner!

They were cooked in two phases. They have two types of meat: pork sausage and minced beef which come together in the most beautiful flavor bomb. The cheese adds a lot of moisture and flavor. The juicy, rich sauce that coats them will make your tongue lick your brain.