Kezia Eniang

BBQ season is finally here and there’s no better way to kickstart the season than with juicy homemade burgers! For this recipe, I’m using suya (yaji spice) to season the burger mince along with a few herbs and spices. Incase you’re wondering what Suya (yaji) spice is, it’s a peanut based rub from Nigeria used to season all kinds of meat particularly beef , chicken, ram which is widely known as suya.

For this recipe, I’m using suya spice purchased from our local supermarket, the flavour is unbelievable and I use it on pretty much any kind of meat especially, grilled chicken, beef, wings, ribs and now burgers!

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For a total of 4 burger patties:

650g mince beef
4 teaspoons of suya spice (store bought or homemade)
1 tablespoon dried crushed onions (or 1 teaspoon of onion powder)
1 tablespoon panko dried breadcrumbs (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried herbs
*Disclaimer* Suya spice contains nuts, so if you have nut allergies then please avoid consuming!

Other ingredients:
4 burger buns
4 bbq skewers (to keep burger in place)
4 romaine lettuce leaves
2 beef steak tomatoes, sliced into rounds ( look out for ones that are quite big in size and quite firm)
1 large onion, cut into rings (caramelized if you like)
Cheese slices (optional)
*Feel free to add any toppings of your choice, avocado, pickles, grilled mushrooms!

Quick & easy burger sauce:
3 tablespoons mayonaise
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon suya spice

How to make the burger:

1. Place your mince beef in a bowl and season with all the dried ingredients (seasonings). Add the egg and breadcrumbs and bind together.

2. Wrap the beef in cling film, you can coat the cling film with a little oil prior to stop the meat from sticking to the clingfilm.

3.The beef should marinate in the fridge for several hours, over night is even better.

4. I like to leave the burger to get down to room temp when I take it out of the fridge prior to cooking so 10-15 minutes beforehand should be fine.

5. Roll out the mince very gently, with rolling pin or wine bottle (make sure its cleaned beforehand 😉 ) & simply cut out a round shape using a cup or small bowl to get identical circular shapes or even better like i did flatten cut beef into equal sections, roll gently into a ball and flatten with your hands.

4. Once you have your burger patties cut out. Fry each beef in veg oil. Use a frying pan or cast iron dish, even better grill on the bbq. Cook for 3 minutes on each side. total of 6 minutes. If you like it well done cook for an extra 2 minutes.

5. Place the cooked burger beef on your burger buns, add lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions & any topping of your choice and burger sauce.

6. Serve with ketchup, mayo & a side of homemade (or store bought fries).

Couldn’t get enough of this and would certainly be recreating it again this week! Would you be trying this? Let me know! xx

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Slow cooked oxtails with rice & peas has to be one of my favourite Jamaican dishes & one I can’t get enough of. For this recipe I tried to make it as authentic as I could with a few twists of my own! Once I had decided I was going to make this I made a list and headed to my local afro-Caribbean store to buy to ingriedients.

Oxtail Recipe:

1.5kg oxtails
2 onions, chopped
2 scotch bonnets, green and red, chopped (remove seeds to lessen heat).
1 maggi or knorr seasoning cube
2 tablespoons browning
3-4 spring onions, chopped
Sprigs of fresh thyme

1litre beef stock

1 tablepoon garlic & ginger paste (can be found in afro-carribbean store)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon River Dun’s Jerk Paste
1 can butter beans
Salt & black pepper
Bicarbonate soda [I know, but this is a cheat way for tenderising the meat if you do not have a slow or pressure cooker]

2 plantains – extra soft 😉

A little story: A day prior I’d decided to defrost some oxtails I found in the freezer to add to the new batch I was going to cook so it didn’t waste. Once the meat had defrosted I cooked it in some water with bay leaves and just brown sugar. Without realising how time went the fire alarm began to go off. The meat had cooked down, the water evaporated and the oxtails began to burn at the bottom. I was gutted as I thought I had wasted them and scarily enough (even though I was present in the kitchen at the time) I was too engrossed in washing and cleaning to turn the oxtails off as it cooked down. The oxtails has burnt with charred bits at the bottom of the pot. I decided to keep these semi-burnt oxtails in a bag in the fridge until I figured out what to do with them. When I cooked this new batch of oxtails I added about 3 pieces to the oxtail sauce and was amazed at how it gave the sauce an amazing smoky flavour!!!

I did take it out though as I feared it would make the sauce bitter but leaving it to simmer in the sauce for a few minutes gave my sauce a completely different dimension. So I’m not recommending burning oxtails to get this (ok maybe I am) maybe on a bbq but as it really worked & goes to show sometimes little mistakes when cooking can actually lead to something! But that being said It’s very important to please pay attention & not like me at the time as it’s dangerous if food is left unattended.

But yes, here is how to make the oxtails:

I start by washing my oxtails, then pat dry with a tea towel. I began prepping them when I returned from the store so they were already at room temperature which is important as cold meat doesn’t cook evenly compared to when it’s at room temperature ! Once my oxtails where cleaned I began to season ever so generously with the following:

Salt, black pepper, brown sugar, garlic & ginger paste, Maggi cube, Dunn’s jerk paste (feel like this adds a nice dimension to the sauce) scotch bonnets, thyme, browning, onions & spring onions.

Note: I usually add onions last as I want the seasoning to get to the meat first. Often times I add onions first but sometimes the seasonings just lay on them without actually getting to the meat.

Scotch bonnets add a floral note to the dish along with the heat, but the hot sauce adds another dimension I think, but this too is optional.

Once I’ve seasoned my oxtails I tend to marinate overnight or for several hours before cooking just so those flavours can really penetrate.

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

I don’t have a pressure or slow cooker so I usually cook my oxtails in a cast iron pot or my trustee ceramic pot which is great for slow cooking! the trick is to add about a 1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda to the oxtail to start the tenderising process when it’s cooking. I recently tried this and it worked!

• In a hot pan I shallow fry my oxtails on both sides for several minutes until they are browned/caramelised. The caramelisation is also helped with the use of brown sugar. I then proceed to pour the remaining seasoning from the bowl where the oxtails was marinating in, into the pot. I then add 1 litre of stock, bicarbonate soda (to tendersise the meat) and cook the oxtails on medium to low heat for over an hour.

• During the cooking process, I ensure I check on it regularly just to ensure the liquid doesn’t reduce entirely and if it does I just add more stock! I also like to taste along the way adjusting the seasoning to see what it needs whether it’s salt, more jerk paste, stock, browning and so forth but please do feel free to adjust to your preference. What you’re looking for is a balance of flavours and tender oxtails. Within the last 15 minutes I then add my butter beans, I do this so they do not overcook with the oxtails.

• Once your oxtails have cooked until tender for over an hour you can begin your plantains and rice. I have a recipe here for my sweet plantains which go down a hit everytime. As for the rice and peas I’m using basmati rice which I wash and soak for about 20minutes before cooking.

Rice & peas:

2 cups of basmati rice
1 can of coconut milk
250ml water
1 can red kidney beans
1 spring onion / scallion
1 whole scotch bonnet
2-3 sprigs of thyme
Salt & white pepper

*Foil or Cling film is needed to cook rice

Simmer coconut milk for a few minutes, add pinch of salt, white pepper, thyme, spring onions, 1 whole scotch bonnet and then your washed rice. Cook on high heat for about 3-4 minutes then turn down and cook for remaining 5 add 1 can of red kidney beans (drain a little bit of a the liquid not all prior to adding to the pot), stir lightly with a fork and cover with cling film or foil and simmer until the liquid has soaked evaporated. Stir lightly with a fork and serve with plantains and oxtail.

There you have it my loves!

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When I was approached to collaborate with Bacardi on this project during the festive period, I was elated! I’m a huge fan of the brand & of-course their rum and even though Christmas is well and truly over – January too, I have solid plans on making this Bacardi rum cake again!

What’s to love about the Bacardi Rum cake?

It’s has the perfect balance of sweetness with hints of vanilla & the [8 Year Old] Bacardi Reserva Ocho rum that thankfully doesn’t overpower the cake.

It’s moist thanks to the sweet rum syrup is drizzled ever so delicately over the cake a few minutes after it’s been out of the oven. It soaks right in not only amplifying the taste but also the texture.

Watch my recipe video on my IGTV here:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B6bfaFXnlbQ/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Recipe for the cake:

225g unsalted Butter, Softened
225g muscovado Sugar
4 medium eggs
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch of fine sea salt
50ml whole milk
30ml BACARDI Reserva Ocho Rum

Rum Syrup (for drizzling over the rum cake :))

100g demerara sugar
50ml water
100ml BACARDI Reserva Ocho Rum
Juice and zest of 1 lime

Icing/Decoration:

200g icing sugar
20ml lime juice
10ml boiling water
1 medium pineapple (alternatively I used a pack of dehydrated pineapple slices which can be bought from the supermarket).

Extra butter for the tin
1 x 22cm non-stick bundt tin

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Being both Nigerian & Ghanaian I can never say which Jollof rice is better ( as I don’t want trouble! Lol) but honestly, I believe each of them have their own strengths and whenever I make Jollof I usually draw inspo from both sides. What I would say is that this particular jollof recipe is inspired by the ones I ate when I was in Nigeria. As you may or may not know, Jollof rice is a one-pot dish and is simply rice cooked in a delicious aromatic tomato stew! It’s eaten in almost every part of West Africa from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Sierra Leone (the list goes on) and traditionally it’s cooked in a cast iron pot over an open flame of coals and firewood. This method imparts a unique yet, delicious smoky flavour & I tried recreating my own at home which I will be sharing with you! Hopefully you find this useful X

Utensils:

• Stainless steel pot
• Stock pot
• Chopping board
• Blender / food processor 
• Knife
• Tin opener 
• Cling film or foil 
• Wooden cooking spoon

Fried Beef:

750g diced beef

1 Maggi cube

1 scotch bonnet, deseeded & chopped 

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper

¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

1 small onion, shopped 

1 cup of water (to steam) 

2 cups of oil (to fry)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

Jollof:

3 cups of long grain rice 

2 cans plum peeled tomatoes 

2 mediun onions, sliced

2 tablespoons del Rica tomato onion & tomato pureé (normal tomato puree should do).

1 tablespoon garlic & ginger paste (alternatively 2 garlic cloves)

500ml beef stock 

50g butter

Oil 

Spices:

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon thyme 

½ teaspoon sugar (for tomatoe sauce)

¼ teaspoon white pepper 

Salt 

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750g mutton ( I like mine with some bone on the meat)
250g baby potatoes
500g cherry tomatoes, crushed
2 cooking spoons of vegetable oil
2 shallots (or onions)
2 spring onions
2 chillies (or scotch bonnet pepper, depending on how hot you like it)
1 tablespoon tomatoes paste 
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 of each – Red, green & yellow bell peppers
1 – 3 bay leaves

Spices:
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon all spice 
1/4 teaspoon thyme/herbs
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon (2-3 cardamon pods)
2 star anise
2 jumbo stock (maggie) cubes
1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
Salt

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Drizzled in warm chocolate & cinnamon sauce. It’s the sweet comfort you need for a fancy breakfast or a sweet treat. 

Serving: 4 

Time 20 Minutes

What you’ll need:

A mixing bowl (for dry ingredients)
A measuring jug or large cup
Spatula
Whisk
Frying Pan

Ingredients:
– 175g Self raising flour
– 50g brown caster sugar
– 25g cocoa powder
– 25g milk chocolate buttons (optional)
– 1/2 vanilla extract 
– 1/4 teaspoon basking powder
-1/4 nutmeg
– 350ml almond milk (because of consistency I needed more, however, if using normal full fat milk 275ml will do
– Unsalted butter (for frying)
– pinch of salt

Chocolate Sauce…

100g Dark chocolate 
50g milk chocolate
100ml almond milk or double cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinammon powder
25g unsalted butter
pinch of salt

Method:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, cocoa powder & salt in mixing bowl
2. In a separate jug whisk milk, egg & vanilla and pour into flour mixture.
3. Whisk all the ingredients together and pour back into jug.
4. Add a knob of butter to heated frying pan (make sure pan on medium-low heat).
5. Pour about 10cm (CD disk size) into the pan, cook pancake on each side foe 2-3minutes (can keep warm in preheated oven) whilst you cook the remaining batch.

For the chocolate sauce, add a knob of butter, sugar, chocolate, milk and cinnamon whisk slowly over low medium to low heat, add a pinch of salt and if the chocolate remains thick as 2-3 table spoons of milk or hot water. Once ll has melted and you get the glossy melted chocolate you desire, drizzle over warm pancakes.

Serve with fresh strawberries and there you have it 🙂 

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I’m hoping to make this more of a segment on my channel and blog – a chilled Sunday cooking whilst having a conversation with you guys. This week I had a few friends round for some pasta & wine and as I sat down to eat (and film my outro for the video) I thought I’d answer a few of your questions in a candid Q&A.

One of the most asked questions was based my career, love life and surprisingly more popular undergarments (bras) and whilst I have a few tips and tricks of my own I was never sure if it would be suitable to share on my blog or my channel but as I inundated with questions regarding this subject of course I had to answer.

That will lead me onto a more detailed video and may have inspired a new topic on my channel, so in regards to that stay tuned for my Q&A video where I will be answering your questions in my next video, in the meantime let ‘s get to the recipe for this seafood pasta dish.

First things first….

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti – 175g (half the pack, I like to use (De Cecco Spaghetti & supermarket own brands) 
• Cooked Scottish Mussels, 300g (For this I used, Rope-Grown Scottish Mussels with Garlic & shallot sauce).
• Raw jumbo prawns, 1 pack
•  Extra virgin olive oil, 4 tablespoons 
• Any dry white wine, 200ml ( I used Gallo white Chardonnay, as it’s most affordable) 
• Butter, 1 tablespoon
• Tomato Puree, 2 tablespoons or 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• Garlic paste, 1 teaspoon ( I love using Gia Garlic Puree) 
• Shallot, 1 
• Bunch of Flat leaf parsley
• Red Chillies, 2 
• Salt & Freshly Cracked black pepper (or aromat seasoning, my ultimate fave!).

• Pre-cook your prawns in butter for 3 minutes (alternatively 1 tablespoon oil).
• Cook the mussels for 8-10 minutes on it’s own and set aside.
• Boil the spaghetti in salted water for 8 minutes ( I like mine al-dente) and set aside when done.
• In a deep pan, saute shallots (or onions), chilli, along with garlic puree for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste,salt & black pepper & stir for a few more minutes,then add the wine stir and cookdown for a few minutes 3-5 minutes. 

Add cooked prawns, mussels to the tomato/wine sauce and stir for a few more minutes. Add cooked spaghetti and little of the spaghetti water and coat in the sauce. Roughly chop fresh parsley and drizzle on top, (this should be done right at the very end).

I like taking the pan straight to the table for everyone to help themselves, the pasta is best served with some extra chilli (more parsley if you like) & olive oil. 

Enjoy (and remember have fun with it) xoxo

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I’m typing away whilst sipping on the absolut apple & ginger ale sprtiz I made earlier… The weather has been quite good so I took the opportunity to make the very most out of  it & invited friends round for cocktails & nibbles. Which included these two spritz cocktails.

As some of you know Absolut Vodka recently released 2 new limited edition juice flavours – apple & strawberry, flavours very reminiscent of summer.

Absolute Elderflower & Strawberry Spritz

• 1 part Absolut Strawberry
• 2 parts elderflower presse
• Fresh strawberry slices
• Ice 

Absolut Apple Ginger Spritz:

• 1 Part Absolut Apple Juice 
• 1 Part Ginger ale
• 1 Part Ginger beer
• Cinnamon stick (to garnish)
• Ice

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As I was going through my phone deleting & reorganising photos, I came across my Marrakesh photos and I was instantly reminded of the bittersweet feeling I had. As some of you know, if you’ve have watched my Marrakesh experience video I shared a few experiences during the first few days of our stay & although unfortunate & deeply disturbing at the time it didn’t stop us from making the most out of our stay taking photos along the way. I also realised that I hadn’t shared a blog post about the trip so here goes…

A few friends reached out shortly after the experience and asked for some tips and advice as they were planning on visiting and this is the notes I shared:

Visit the markets in the old town called Medina (just make sure you’re wearing appropriate clothing)  they also have a secret garden which is super pretty and ysl garden.

Do a Hammam at Les Bains de Marrakech Morocco (it’s amazing)  is really relaxing and good for a skin, although a little on the pricier side but if you want to treat yourself I’d certainly recommend. You can also do Hammam for as little as £2 in the old town.

If you can depending on your hotel you can book yourself into a day resort like move pick hotel or hotel Pullman palmeria resort.

Try to spend as much time in the new town as well and make sure you book activities beforehand like quad biking and atlas mountain (if you’d like to visit the waterfall).

Use taxis if you don’t have transport organised and negotiate price.

Places we ate:

Lunch – Terrace De Spices (old town) you can smoke really nice rooftop.

L’addresse really good lunch spot (and ice cream)

Cafe del la poste – sit outside if you can really beautiful and the food is good.

Dinner –

Restaurant Azar

Dar Moha – riad but so beautiful and romantic perfect for your dinner date (tables are by the pool).

A lot of the new town has the best and modern restaurants so try and got there for dinner most times.

Club – triple 55 club  they also have a shisha rooftop bar next door by the pool and it’s really pretty

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