No. 43 - Congo (again) - Killing Two Congo's with Two Quail (Twice)

You can tell that Sesame Street were responsible for my alphabet skills.  I still need to learn which letter comes after which without, at the age of twenty four, having to sing my ABC's. Next time won't you sing with me, for real. 

                               

This must be why (and I know I'm only on C) I've gone and (spatch)cocked it up and cooked Congo twice! I suppose that means I've subsequently cheated twice by combining the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo to make less work for myself.  Now I'm unsure if I've half cooked four countries (the two Congo's twice) or just cooked two countries adequately (the two Congo's once). 

I am willing to conveniently accept the latter - in this case two wrongs do make a right. Either way, I need to get a move on... 

Congo Spatchcocked Quail with Fried Potato, Chickpeas and Spinach                         8/10                                                     

(The Quail represents the Democratic Republic of and the potato dish the Republic of Congo)

I'm glad I didn't google what quails look like, not like chickens, like little birdies...

Before four ended up dead, plucked, with their insides still inside them and consequently their blood on my hands (and everywhere else) ...

Despite the gore, I had never tasted quail before so I was really looking forward to it. They're really good, like giant chicken wings but much better (you absolutely have to pick them up). The potato dish was also really good, better than I thought and much better than just a 'side' dish. I'll definitely cook it again. It was like a Spanish tapas dish.

For the Quail

4 quail
3 cloves of garlic
2 chillies
knob of ginger
1 tablespoon of oil
1/2 a red onion

Spatchcock your quail by putting it breast side down on your chopping board and cutting out its backbone with a scissors. I shouldn't be too difficult at all. If there are any internal organs pull (like me) or cut them out too. Rinse under a cold tap and carefully dab dry.

In a pestle and mortar, combine the garlic, chili, ginger, onion and oil. Toss the quail in the marinade the leave for an hour or as long as possible.

Grill or barbecue on a medium hot heat until cooked through. I put mine on for nearly half an hour but my grill is temperamental and likes to set off the fire alarm. Let them rest for a few minutes before serving.

For the potato dish

4 large potatoes, cooked and cooled.
1 red and green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tin of chickpeas, drained

a couple of big handfuls of spinach

oil for frying

Peel and cube your potatoes, fry in hot oil until crispy and golden. Soften the onion and pepper in a pan, add the chickpeas and spinach and stir until the spinach is wilted. Stir in the crispy fried potatoes and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Serve with your hot birds.

No. 27 - Botswana lick the plate!

Botswana, another country that’s fun to say in a Sligo accent.

Another day, another stew. This time potjiekos, which is a Botswanian stew, cooked on a three-legged cast iron pot over an outdoor fire. Literally translated ‘pojiekos’ means ‘pot food’ and is pronounced poy-key-cos. Luckily enough, there happened to be one of these pots lying around the house that my Granny P. picked up somewhere. It’s rarely used and so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back to our African roots, light a fire and cook some good old-fashioned ‘pot food’.

I can imagine the women in Botswana, hunched and sweating over their potjiekos, the sun blazing down on their backs. Being in Ireland, it was of course raining. Being Irish, we didn’t let a little rain stop us and got a little turf fire lit (not very African) and the potjiekos on the go. The African Gods were obviously impressed by our potjiekos making perseverance because the rain stopped, and low and behold - the perfect African sunset.

Groundnut Potjiekos

I’m getting the feeling they have a thing for peanuts in Africa, which is fine by me because I love peanut butter. This stew quite obviously tastes of peanuts if you know they’re in there. If not, you might not be able to put your finger on it or wouldn’t know unless someone told you - and then after you’d be kicking yourself for not figuring it out.

The first mutterings over the dinner table were proclamations that it was “unusual”, which we all know is generally a bad sign. However everyone agreed that it improved with every mouthful and in the end it was so incredibly moreish, it was difficult to stop and we nearly licked the plates.

Serves 4 – 6

6 chicken legs

a little oil for frying

1 red pepper, diced

3 cups of water

2/3 jar of peanut butter

a piece of ginger, grated

2 tbsp brown sugar

120g tomato puree

1 tsp cayenne pepper

(Get a fire started outside. Anything will do, coal, wood, turf, whatever)

Prepare the sauce first. Whisk together the peanut butter, tomato puree, ginger, brown sugar, cayenne pepper and the water. Set aside.

 

Put your pot above the fire, heat your oil and fry the peppers and onion for a few minutes. Then add the chicken and brown on all sides. Cover with the peanut sauce and let simmer for roughly an hour. Serve with rice balls and some hot sauce (this time hot sauce is legitimate because the particular one we used was from South Africa (not that we ever need an excuse). Rice balls are just mashed rice rolled into balls. Careful not to burn your hands, although I can’t really see any way around it.

No. 18 - Holy Mackerel it's Barbados!

 “Thou shall have a fishy, on a little dishy,

Thou shall have a fishy, when the boat comes in.” 

I’m not the keenest of fishermen, but as I have never been a keen hunter either (I’m more gatherer, if that), fishing is the only way I can catch dinner that has a head and a heartbeat. I don’t consider mussels and razor clams etc. to have neither head nor heartbeat. But what better way to capture the sun, shores and seafood of Barbados, than by trawling off the west coast of Ireland in search of some fresh, flapping fish of our own. Ok, so it’s not exactly comparable, but we do our best.  And sure enough, four hours later we returned with fifteen once lively mackerel, and one whopper fellow (caught by Luke) big enough to make a trout blush. 

Lazing about on a boat all day, wiggling a bit of line and eating a cheese and tomato sandwich also makes fishing a close contender for my favorite sport. The only sport that unfortunately leads to weight gain as opposed to weight loss. Also I hear that it is a sport where women hold a lot of the world records, so we were optimistic that I’d be the star fisherman and catch at least a couple - and that I did. Although I caught two or three mackerel (here fishy fishy fishy fishy didn't seem to work), my finest catch was Luke and Leo (whose line got tangled up with mine numerous times). Two very fine specimens, even if I do say so myself! However don’t worry ladies, there’s plenty more fish in the sea.

Grilled Mackerel

Needless to say the mackerel needs little to nothing done to it. Get your friends and loved ones to gut as many mackerel as you can catch, heads on. About two per person should do it depending on there size. Do nothing else but throw them on the barbeque until nice and blackened. Squirt with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Don’t forget to taste the eyes, although they taste like fish they break apart like dust in your mouth, not too appetizing.

Barbados Curried Sweet Potatoes                 

This is just a little something to accompany the mackerel. This also delivered my ever-increasing desire for a hit of heat (extra hot sauce included), whilst the sweetness of the potatoes goes well with the oily fish. I did a simple green bean and potato salad too. The recipe’s doesn’t feature hear because its just potatoes and beans dressed in lemon, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and mustard, lots of mustard.

Serves 6

5 sweet potatoes

the juice of 1 large orange

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp ginger powder

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp chili powder

Wrap the potatoes in foil and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees. While they’re baking combine all of the other ingredients in a bowl.

Cut the potatoes into thick rounds and line an oiled baking dish. Pour over the sauce, cover in foil and bake for a further 20 minutes. Remove the foil continue baking until the top is nice and browned and the flesh of the potato is squidgy.

No. 16 - Bahrain and the Night of the Chicken Machboos!

Another home-house rendition of Culinisation. This time Bahrain brought together my family and the so-called WAG’s, who made the journey to Sligo last weekend for Buckfest 2011. On the night of the Chicken Machboos, the wine was certainly flowing. There was wine, emergency wine and then, emergency wine and beer for the emergency wine. Somewhere into the emergency wine for the emergency wine, as we sat huddled under blankets outside my house, we spotted a UFO (an unidentified fixed object). It was down by the water and it glowed with a grey/whitish light that suddenly went out. After some squeals and hand grasping, we noticed that the silhouette could still be seen, jutting up into the horizon. It’s difficult to say how much time passed before we plucked up the courage to, armed with our t-light lanterns, take a closer look.

I managed, against the girl’s better judgment, to wade through the sand, sludge and stones to discover what was, of course, a tree. This still doesn’t explain the light though. Da troot is still out there.

Chicken Machboos

Chicken Machboos (chicken and rice) has all the ingredients of a curry (every spice under the sun and some), yet its flavors are far more subtle. You can taste all of the spices because there is little or no heat to overpower them. I shouldn’t even call it a curry of course. If it’s a curry that you want, this is not it. If you crave fire, extinguished with an ice-cold beer, wait couple of days until Bangladesh. If you are sick of ordering curry’s that make you sweat buckets, eyes water and you can’t understand why anyone would ever endure such a burning pain for every mouthful, go with the Machboos.

Machboos is really simple to make and is essentially a heatless curry that has rice cooked in it, kind of like a biryani. Like with all of these eastern countries, you need a stocked spice rack, but if you don’t already have one, I would recommend going out and buy one of everything. You may think, what is the point in buying a certain spice when a recipe only requires a tiny amount? Trust me, if you buy them, you’ll use them for everything. Another perk is you’ll be able to make a variety of dishes in the future without having to buy many ingredients. All I needed to buy for this was chicken and some coriander. Not bad. You’ve got to love a one pot wonder too.

Another ingredient this recipe requires is buharat spice mix, which is unique to Bahrain. Turns out I went through the mix, and the ingredients in a buharat spice mix are spice for spice the exact same as your good old curry powder. This is one spice I wouldn’t bother buying especially for this dish.

Serves 5

5 chicken legs, cut into drumsticks and thighs

3 onions, finely chopped

enough curry powder to marinade the chicken

1 chilli, deseeded and chopped

a chunk of ginger, chopped

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. cinnamon

2 cardamon pods, whole

1 ½ tsp. turmeric

2 ½  cups of long grain rice

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

salt

5 cups of water or chicken stock. (I just threw in a stock cube)

juice of ½ lemon

oil for frying

lemon wedges to serve

coriander leaves to serve

In a large bowl, cover the chicken pieces with curry powder. Fry the chicken in a deep saucepan until browned on all sides and set aside. Fry the onion, ginger and chili in the remaining oil with all of the additional spices for a couple of minutes. Return the chicken to the pan with a tin of chopped tomatoes and a cup of the chicken stock or water. Simmer for 45 minutes over a low heat until the chicken is cooked.

Add the rice and remaining chicken stock or water to the pan and simmer until the rice is cooked. Stir in the juice of half a lemon. Serve with coriander, lemon wedges and chutney. Yum.