Camarones-Diablos-Devil Shrimp

Recipe by: Dick McCabes "This dish is very spicy, somewhere between the sweating brow and teary eyes! 

Sometimes you just have to wake up your taste buds. Serve over brown rice cooked in chicken broth and butter that is reminiscent of risotto. I have made the rice with water and bouillon instead of broth, with very little change in the flavor or texture. Like so many dishes, this one is better the next day. I adapted this recipe from the chipotle shrimp recipe on this site."

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2 1/4 cups chicken broth,1 cup brown rice, 1 tablespoon butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed 1 onion, sliced 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup dry red wine

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1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 (7 ounces), can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 per lb.), peeled and deveined.

Combine chicken broth, brown rice, 1 tablespoon butter, and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and the broth is absorbed for about 45 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion and jalapeno peppers in the hot butter and oil until onion is slightly softened, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Pour red wine and Worcestershire sauce into onion mixture; mix in chipotle peppers. 

Cook and stir mixture until liquid is slightly evaporated about 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until opaque, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced about 15 minutes. Serve shrimp mixture over cooked rice.

"Shake, Shake, Shake"-COCKTAIL PARTY'S AWAYS A TIME TO SOCIALIZE

Alan Emerson Hicks, mixologist for the house bar with house specialties, and BYOB drinks. (Trisa Williams quilt hangs over the bar "Waterfall".)

 "Shake, Shake, Shake"- Cocktail parties are always away to invite friends over for conversation, to thank them for friendships, and to talk about projects they are working on in a nonformal setting. Make sure your list is balanced with artists, collectors, gallery owners, board members, and a few new friends from outside the normal circle, for the cocktail party to be a social engagement to bring new patrons into the gallery.

Yvonne Watson, and Letha from Holy Angels Church

I like to make something special, there is an art to mixing drinks, and it is to making food. I'm busy flipping cheese quesadillas. I provided a condiments bar. (jalapeno peppers, avocado, sour cream, salsa, onions, cilantro, and my own mixed salsa with extra garlic and spicy peppers). This was a winner!

BAL residents Bruce Gage, is the owner of  Mario UOMO, and Dinita is a writer. Jackie Moses plus one is Margret Lanterman watching Alan mix drinks.

Rick Baldwin

Mixing a little business with pleasure, a time to introduce new artwork and broker deals. Rick Baldwin, a collector purchased one of Alan's pieces the one in the background, right upper corner of the room.  Yvonne Watson, William Hill (gallery owner).

Alpha Bruton host of the Quesadilla Bar the trick is to make guest fill part of the experience.

Black Eyed Peas Keeping Tradition 2016

AKARA-Black Eyed Peas

Akara, also known as Bean Cakes, Bean Balls, Bean Fritas, or Acarajé in Portuguese, is a Nigerian breakfast recipe made with beans. Yes, I put on the traditional food for luck: Black-eyed peas with a ham bone, mixed collard greens with spinach, chicken wings with Caribbean dipping sauce, and buttery corn kernels. I started a corn beef brisket for Saturday with potatoes. Let's have a Happy New Year.

HOME COOK RECIPE: 

Black Eyed Peas

Here is your shopping list:

Ingredients
1 Pkg Dried Black Eyed Peas (or field peas, or cowpeas) - package size doesn't matter
Pork for seasoning: ham hocks, ham bone, or a large piece of ham
1 T salt (will need more)
1 T pepper
1 T cooking oil
1 T Sugar

Instructions
First, sort through the beans to ensure there are no stones. Place the sorted beans in a large mixing bowl or pot, and cover them completely with water, adding a few extra inches above the beans. Soak the beans overnight. 

In the morning, drain the soaking water and transfer the beans to the pot where you will cook them. Add pork for seasoning, then cover the beans with fresh water, ensuring there's an additional few inches above the beans to prevent them from boiling dry. 

Stir in all other seasonings, bringing the mixture to a boil before reducing the heat. Simmer the beans uncovered for several hours. After some time, remove the pork, shred it, and return it to the pot. Continue cooking until the beans are tender. The total cooking time will take at least three to four hours.

globalfoodbook.com

Making Akara- The Nigerian Way

Before frying Akara, remove the skins from the beans. For guidance on this process, refer to how to remove bean skins. It's important to avoid letting salt touch the beans until you are ready to fry them. 

Salt is believed to destroy the leavening properties of beans, which prevents the batter from spattering during frying. To prepare the beans, soak them in water for 2 hours to ensure they become soft enough for your blender. If you’re using the heavy-duty grinders found in Nigerian markets, you won’t need to soak the beans for as long.

 

Cut the peppers and onions into your desired sizes.

 

When grinding the beans with your blender, use as little water as possible—just enough to allow the blades to move. Operators of heavy-duty grinders in Nigerian markets typically do not add any water when grinding beans for Akara. The less water you use during grinding, the more the batter will hold together while frying, which reduces spattering. 

 

Additionally, do not add any other ingredients when grinding the beans for Akara. It is believed that adding other ingredients too early can decrease the ability of the ground bean particles to stick together.

globalfoodbook.com

Set some vegetable oil in the cooker to heat up. The oil should be at least 3 inches deep.

Put some of the ground beans into a mortar. This should be the quantity you can fry in one go.

Stir the bean puree with the pestle in a continuous circular motion. You need to apply some pressure so that you can energize the particles of the bean puree.

This stirring technique releases the gas that will act as a leavening agent to the bean particles, making them rise and somehow stick together. This will be like the yeast making the dough rise in Puff Puff, or what folding does to cake batter.

Keep stirring till the ground beans appear whiter and you can perceive their peculiar aroma.
Add some water till you get the consistency shown in the video below.
Check to make sure the oil is hot. The oil should be hot enough to sizzle but not too hot. If too hot, the Akara will spatter as soon as the bean batter hits the oil.

Once the oil is hot, add the onions and pepper to the bean puree in the mortar. Stir well.
Add salt to your taste and stir again. Salt should always be added just before scooping the bean mixture into the oil. If salt stays in the mixture for extended periods of time, it will destroy the leavening property of the beans. This property is what makes the Akara float in the oil and prevents splatter during frying.

To fry the Akara, scoop the mixture with a tablespoon and slowly pour it into the oil. Dipping the spoon a little bit into the oil helps reduce spatter. Fry the underside till brown and flip to fry the top side too. When the Akara balls are brown all over, remove and place in a sieve lined with paper towels.

Important points to note when making Akara

Follow these, and your Akara will turn out great.

Use freshly peeled beans.
Use a very small quantity of water when grinding.
Smooth the mix with a mortar and pestle before frying.
Add salt just before frying.

Serve Akara with Akamu, Custard, Agidi, or Bread. The best bread to eat in Akara is oven-fresh, hot, and stretchy bread-like Agege Bread. lol!

Making Akara may seem like rocket science, but with practice, you will perfect this recipe. If you do not get it right the first time, try again. Everybody has the same first-time experience with making Akara.