Pumpkin Stew #divinetreat

Pumpkin Stew

Hello Readers! In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to make pumpkin stew. Now Pumpkin is not something I get excited about however, after preparing this dish my whole stance has changed. I experienced one of those “don’t knock it until you try it moments”. As with all my dishes, this is dish is simple to prepare and perfect as a main course for lunch or dinner.

I used pork to compliment the sweet flavour of the pumpkin however; any meat of your liking can be used as a substitute. The vibrant colours of this dish not only makes it pretty but its tastes exceptionally divine as well. I hope you enjoy reading and hopefully try out the recipe. 

Aprons on!!!

Ingredients

Ingredients 

1. Pumpkin ( quarter kg)
2. 4 strips of pork belly
3. 3 medium sized onions
4. 2 Red bell peppers
5. 2 scotch peppers
6. Spring onions
7. 2 large carrots
8. Seasoning
9. 350ml olive oil
10. Tomato purée

Serving for four

Cooking Instructions

1.      Wash, dice and season pork.

2.      Peel and chop pumpkin and carrots into chunky cubes. Bring to boil for 5 minutes and let it cool in cold water to let the cooking stop.

3.      Chop onions, bell peppers and spring onions.

4.      Blend one onion with 2 scotch peppers

5.      Pour oil into hot sauce pan and heat to cooking temperature.

Chopped Chunky Carrots and Pumpkin

1.      Once oil is heated, add in pork chopped onions, peppers, spring onions and let it fry for 5 minutes.

2.      Add bits of blended pepper and onions into the stew whilst the above is cooking.

3.      Add seasoning and salt for flavour and tea spoon full of tomato purée to give the stew colour.

4.      Add boiled pumpkin and carrots to the pot with fried stew. Mix the pot and turn the heat low.

5.      Leave stew to cook for a further 5 minutes or until all the water from the stew has evaporated.

Voilà! Dish is done! 

Pumpkin Stew

            

Cassava Leaves and Rice

Cassava Leaves and Rice

Happy Independence Day mama Sierra Leone! What better day to make the nation’s favourite dish (in my opinion). Cassava Leaves is the leaf of the root vegetable cassava most commonly used as a staple food across West Africa. It is prepared as a sauce to be served with rice. 

 Almost every Sierra Leonean will say Cassava leaves is their favourite dish. There is a debate in Sierra Leone about which tribe cooks the best cassava leaves. In my opinion, the draw is between The Mendes and The Fullahs. The best I’ve had was when I first visited Kambia district during the Christmas holidays in 2007. The dish was inexplicably delicious. I still remember to this day how much I enjoyed it. Yum, yum yum!

Ingredients

Follow the simple steps below and bring a party to your taste buds. Aprons on!

 

Ingredients

1.      A pack of grounded Cassava Leaves

2.      300ml of Palm oil

3.      Pack of Ogiri

4.      4 table spoons Peanut butter (smooth)

5.      Meat or chicken

6.      smoked fish

7.      Scotch bonnet pepper (to your taste)

8.      3 Onions

9.      Maggie season

10.   Salt (to your taste)

11.  Tola (This a powdered condiment that has a slimy effect when add to sauces) or okra

Pot of Cassava Leaves

Directions

1.      Blend onions and scotch pepper with ogiri. This should look like a thick smooth paste.

2.      Add the above mixture and your meat in a pot then and add 2 pints of water.

3.      Boil for 20 minutes or until the meat is soft.

4.      Meanwhile mix the peanut better with 50ml of water so it is slightly watery.

5.      Add cassava leaves, peanut butter a cup of water and leave to boil for 20-30min or until the leaves have a slight brown colour and you cannot smell the rawness of the leaves.

6.      Add the palm oil, maggie season, and salt to taste then, leave pot to boil for a further 15min.

7.      Finally add okra or tola whichever is at your disposal and let the sauce cook for a further 5-10 min or until the palm oil is floating.

Voila! Dish is done! 

Cassava Leaves and Rice