Lemon Raisins Yogurt Cake

In my family house at the village we have these two lemon trees, that grows huge balls of lemon. Though for the amount of juice it produces per lemon it is best to call it 'big for nothing'. Why do I call them that - the lemons have so much pith but they redeem themselves by providing enormous quantities of rind per lemon.

 Recently my dad travelled and brought some back with him. Then I went over to his place to visit I saw the lemons where just  sitting in the sack he brought them back with and I knew I had to rescue them. 'Yes" I had to or they would have just stayed in the sack and go to waste.

Anyways I got greedy and took almost all of them home because like I said  'I wanted to rescue them'. The first day I made Yellow Lemon curry, and I decided to make Lemon cakes to go with my lemon themed meal. Moist cake of any kind is the love of my life ( now don't tell DH i wrote that)any cake with oil or any form of liquid- milk, yogurt or fruit drink gets me in my comfort zone. So for my cake I used yogurt since I had some raisins as tenants in my fridge I decided to include them.



List of characters

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 tsp lemon rind

1 cup raisins

1 tsp flour


Lemon Syrup

3 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp sugar


Method

• Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt set aside. Grease and flour the baking tin.In another bowl whisk the eggs, yogurt, oil, lemon rind, vanilla extract and sugar.

• Slowly whisk in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. 

• Sprinkle the 1tablespoon of flour into the raisins rub it in, add the raisins to the batter and mix in

• Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes, Remove and cool. I always wrap my cake up in cling film or nylon bag this help to trap in heat and helps to create a more softer cake.

Making the lemon syrup

• Mix the lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of sugar bring to a boil remove from heat. Remove the cake from the cake pan.Using a cocktail stick pierce holes into the cake on top and slowly pour the lemon syrup over the cake allow to sit for a few minutes before cutting into it.

Paw Paw Cream caramel Flan

Two days ago I bought 4 pawpaws for 300 Naira. In other parts of the country this might not be news worthy but in Lagos this was a real bargain! There were two large ones and two small ones and it was very delicious. 

The deal with bargains or discounted deals such as with my pawpaws ("with my pawpaws" did I just type that:)) is that you end up buying want you don't really need. I just wanted to buy pawpaws that we would eat later in the day, but two days later I still had two more overripe pawpaws.

 So I decided to cook with them or rather bake with them. I made flans with the pawpaws and it turned out a beautiful shade of pinkish orange the photos couldn't capture the vibrant colour. Another interesting and welcomed effect of the pawpaws was that it helped to eliminate the 'eggy' taste and smell which is so synonymous with flans. This recipe is a keeper for me!

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

250 g of pawpaw, peeled

1 can condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

• Pour the sugar into a heavy bottom pan set atop a very low heat and allow to slowly dissolve. 

• It can take between 10 to 15 minutes for it to turn a nice golden brown colour. 

• Once dissolved quickly pour into ramekins or moi moi plates(I don't have ramekins). 

•  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes

• Set aside 4 cubes of the pawpaw pour the rest into a blender add the condensed and evaporated milk, followed by the vanilla extract and blend. Next add the eggs one by one into the blender and mix all in. Once they are all mixed in well put the pawpaw that was set aside. I decided to do because I want visible bits of the pawpaw in the caramel.(pardon me I forgot to take a photo of this stage)

• Pour the egg and milk blend into the moi moi plates, set on a baking tray add boiling water and bake in a 350 degrees oven for about forty minutes.

• After 40 minutes the center will wriggle a bit if you touch it, Set aside to cool then turn over on your serving platter.

• Garnish with paw paw slices.

Okro and Ogbono Soup with Carrot Semolina

The plating and styling of Nigerian food has gone through dramatic changes in recent times. There is more consciousness in healthy eating and living, hence the need to reinvent old time comfort food to a more appealing and appetizing experience.

I love incorporating veggies in my meals because it adds bulk and reduces the caloric content of the food. So for my semolina I would be making it with steamed and pureed carrots. I have seen some make garri with ugu or cabbage but I love it with carrot. The carrot lends its sweetness to the semolina and changes it to a vibrant orange colour.

Ingredients
500g beef
2 cups Okro, sliced 2 cups Ugu, shredded
1 cup Ogbono, milled
1/2 cup Crayfish, milled
1 cup or small pack flaked stock fish
1/2 teaspoon Cameroon pepper, milled
5 fresh pepper, atarodo, finely sliced
3/4 cups Palm oil
2 teaspoon Salt
4 cube seasoning
1 onion, medium sized

1. Put the beef in a pot add half of the onion, 2 cubes seasoning, Cameroon pepper and a light sprinkle of salt about 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
   
2. Bring the beef to a roaring boil. Add the washed flaked stock fish, reduce heat allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.In a small sauce pan heat the palm oil until very hot. Add the milled ogbono and stir quickly, it will form up( don't worry its an expected reaction). It's been said that this method of frying the ogbono makes for a tasty soup. I don't know about that or rather I don't agree. The only thing I noticed about frying the ogbono is that it makes the ogbono dissolve better in the soup. Hence there are no lumps and bits of the ogbono in the soup. Also because it quickly dissolves in the oil it reduces the cooking time.
   
3. Add the palm oil and ogbono mixture in the pot of beef, put in the remaining onions increase the heat from low to high.  Allow to boil for 5 minutes add the opeyi, crayfish, cube seasonings and salt cook for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove the pot lid at this point do not cover the pot again until after the soup is cooked and served except the soup is to be eaten at a later time. Leaving the pot uncovered will help to reduce the continued cooking of
   
   the veggies so that the okro and ugu still retains it colour and brightness.
5. Add the sliced peppers and ugu cook for a minute, in goes the okro with the rest of its relative in the pot. I allow it to cook for a minute because I would be serving it immediately. If I was to serve it later I turn off the heat immediately. Okro cook very fast so to retain its texture and colour DON'T OVER COOK!

Carrot semolina

5 carrots
1 cup semolina
water

Cut up the carrots into small sizes put in a pot add enough water to cover, cook until

tender. Puree the carrots in a blender use the water for boiling the carrots to puree it. Pour into a pot if the water is too small to make the semolina add more. Bring the carrot water to a boil stir in the semolina and make as directed by the manufacturer. (I forgot to get pictures when i was making the semolina but i hope my description helps:)

Serve with the soup above.