Recipe #65: Caramel Custard

 Recipe #65: Caramel Custard

This custard recipe makes a lovely, impressive dessert. The distinctive contribution of the Ghanaian version is that it is lighter and less sweet than recipes from the Americas. As I began to prepare it today, I noticed that in Ghana we used a small can (called "tin" in Ghana) of evaporated milk, but it seemed that the can from our local supermarket in Pennsylvania was smaller. With a little sleuthing, I discovered that can sizes do change, and thus today's can in the U.S. is only 5 oz, not the 6 oz size we used in Ghana, so if you want to make this dessert buy a large can of evaporated milk!

Also, in Ghana we used empty evaporated milk cans for our molds. I was hoping to do that, too, but since the cans I have are smaller, decided to go ahead and use standard custard cups.

Caramel custard requires only 5  handy ingredients: water, sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla, and nutmeg.  It is prepared in two steps: first, the caramel that coats the bottom of the mold is prepared on the stove top, then the custard itself is made and baked in an oven.

To make the caramel topping (which actually goes in the bottom of the cups and will be inverted when serving), you need:

• 4 oz of sugar (a slightly rounded 1/2 cup)

• 3/4 cup of water (a U.S. cup, or 6 oz)

Put the sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium high heat without stirring. Allow it to cook about 10-15 minutes (depending on your pan and how hot your stove is), just until it begins to turn golden. Immediately remove it from the heat and stir 2 teaspoons of water, one at a time, watching out for splatters. Pour the syrup immediately into the bottom of 4 molds or custard cups, or a large single mold that can go in the oven, and allow it to cool while you prepare the custard.

  2.   To make the custard, you need:

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring (not imitation)
• 3/4 cup of evaporated milk (6 oz), plus enough water to make 2 1/2 cups

Shake the can of evaporated milk before opening it. Beat the 4 eggs and 1/4 cup sugar together in a bowl (I used a wire whisk), then add the nutmeg, vanilla and milk and water. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another container to make the mixture smoother,  and pour the custard into the individual cups or mold. To make a bain marie (water bath), fill a pan half full of water and place the custard cups in the water. Bake them in a medium oven (350 degrees F) for about an hour or until a knife put in it comes out clean. By the way, I put my knife all the way through to the bottom of the custard, which was a mistake because it gave me a knife mark on the top (hidden by the mint sprig in the picture). In Ghana, while the custards were cooling, we replaced the warm water in the pan with cool water. I'm not sure that's necessary where a refrigerator is available. I'd just cover it with saran wrap or something similar, and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Serve the custard warm or cool. Just before serving, go gently around the very top of the custard with a knife or spatula to loosen it, then shake it gently and turn it upside down onto a serving dish. Or, simply put a plate on top and turn it over. Also, I kind of gouged my custard when I was loosening the sides, so they did not come out as smoothly as they could have.

When Flair Catering serves this, they make often make  it in a large mold, and lend it a Ghanaian touch by serving it surrounded by fresh slices of tropical fruit such as papaya (pawpaw), pineapple, mango, banana, watermelon, and oranges, and garnish it with a spring of mint. I've just removed mine from the oven, cooled it slightly, then placed it in the refrigerator to cool. I do have mint, but only have some orange, watermelon and bananas, so let me slice some of these up and then turn out the custard . . .

Gosh, that tastes good. And it looks extraordinary, though it's not hard to make. Even without any fruit garnishing.

Incidentally, when I cut this recipe in half I still had enough extra to make the one additional serving above (though I did have to make some more of the caramel topping. Here are a couple of hints: be sure to run hot water into the pan you use for the syrup: the caramel hardens quickly and it makes for an easier cleanup; also, you'll need plenty of hot water to get the dregs out of the custard cups once you unmold them and want to wash them.

Recipe #63: Basic tomato gravy and #64: Ayikple (coconut, bean, and corn one-pot)

You who follow me probably noticed that the past week I posted recipes daily. That's because I  have declared 5 weeks of a "cookbook writer's retreat"--well, the first week is over, so it's 4 more weeks. I'm going to post only  Ghanaian recipes during this time. I will be in the kitchen and at the computer all day every day, with a break for reflection on Sundays. I want to finish this cookbook and the only way to do that seems to be to block out everything else and focus. (It helps that my husband is in Nigeria for the next month.) Still, it takes discipline, so please know that I find your feedback (nice word!) encouraging and helpful: try some recipes, react to them, correct mistakes, make comments . . .

When I was staying with Barbara Baeta at Flair Catering a few years ago, one day we cooked up a lovely Ewe coconut and bean stew one-pot meal that was memorable. I had a coconut left over from the posts on making coconut milk and cream last week (NOTE: whenever I'm making coconut milk I buy 2 coconuts, or at least a can of coconut milk as a backup, just in case one is spoiled when I crack it open) so I decided to celebrate the first week of successfully working hard on the cookbook by making ayikple for dinner. This is a quite rich recipe, and since I'm the only one in the house to eat it, I cut the recipe in half (it serves four), so some of the photos might look like I'm using smaller amounts of ingredients than listed below. (As an aside, I'm cutting most of the recipes down in these posts  unless I can freeze them.)

One of the building blocks of Ghanaian cooking is a basic tomato sauce, called a "gravy" in Ghana. Since ayikple requires some, let me first explain how to make it.

Recipe #63: Basic Ghanaian Tomato Gravy (sauce)

When my nephews from Ghana first came to live with me, I found myself sometimes making this sauce in quantity to have on hand when making stews for the boys. It can take only 10 minutes to prepare the simplest sauce, or a little more for a more complicated version. In the post  "Recipe #24: Sardine Stew in a Flash" I explained the basics of using sliced onion, vegetable oil, dried ground red pepper, and canned sardines to make tomato gravy That recipe can be adjusted by making it without the canned sardines and simply using a small can of tomato sauce, sliced fresh tomato, or a few tablespoons of tomato paste plus a little water.

For a basic tomato gravy for the coconut stew, you can use:

• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil (I used canola; some Ghanaians might use 2 or 3 or even 4 times that, but it isn't necessary) 
•  about 8 tomatoes, seeded and grated or blended (if grated, discard the peeling), enough tomato and juice to make about 2 cups
• a few tablespoons of tomato paste (optional)
• a large onion, grated or chopped
• salt to taste (maybe 1/2 to a teaspoon)

If I'd been using this gravy in a separate stew, I would likely have added some form of chili pepper (dried ground red pepper, possibly a habanero with seeds and membranes removed (and taken out after the sauce had simmered), chopped hot peppers, maybe a little minced or crushed fresh garlic or fresh grated ginger added in before the tomatoes. People sometimes add curry powder to the sauce as well (and many Ghanaians regularly use seasoning cubes). If you think the sauce is too thick, add a little water or stock. Canned peeled tomatoes or canned tomato sauce can replace all or some of the fresh tomatoes.

To make the gravy:

1. Wash and cut the tomatoes in half horizontally with the stem end facing the top. Put a strainer over a bowl and squeeze out the seeds into the strainer, catching any juice in the bowl. Grate the tomatoes on a grater, discarding the peelings (or, if you prefer, blend the tomatoes in a blender). Put the juice and grated tomato in a bowl. If you like, pour about a half cup of water over the seeds and press against them to remove additional juice, and add to the bowl of grated tomatoes. Discard seeds.
2. Peel and grate or chop the onion.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan on medium heat, then add the chopped/grated onion and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add the tomatoes and continue stirring.
5. Add the salt to taste (if you want it spicier, add some dried ground red pepper) 
6. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Ghanaians are very fond of tomato paste, so feel free to stir in a few tablespoons of tomato paste if you like. It will give a richer color and a slightly sweeter taste to the final gravy. Set the gravy aside until you need it. (If you are making a meat, poultry, fish or vegetable stew, the directions are slightly different. E.g., you may add meat or fish or mushrooms in before the tomatoes, and will need to simmer most vegetables along with the tomatoes.

Recipe #64: (Ayikple) Coconut, Adzuki Bean and Corn One-Pot

NOTE: This recipe requires some special ingredients: dried pounded herrings and crayfish, ablemanu (toasted cornflour), and coconut milk. You can make the coconut milk from a fresh coconut, or substitute canned. The ablemanu is more difficult, but there are 2 options: iif you have popcorn, patience, and  a spice or coffee grinder, you can make your own. I used yellow popcorn because that's what was handy and a  blender with a small attachment yesterday because I was too impatient, to grind a little at a time in my coffee grinder, repeatedly sift and regrind it, and the result was while that the stew had the correct wonderful flavor, it was not as smooth as it should have been. I'd recommend using option #2: sacrificing a little of the "correct" flavor and using instead some yellow stone-ground corn flour, using the same technique as described in Recipe #11: Beef Stew with Browned Flour. Please do not substitute corn meal, which is too coarse and "gritty" for this dish. I just browned a little of Bob's Red Mill corn flour (the toasted is onthe left) and will definitely substitute this next time I prepare ayikple if I cannot obtain any Ghanaian-prepared toasted corn flour. I'll also use it for aprapransa, another forthcoming recipe.

 

Directions:

Assemble ingredients:

• Coconut milk and cream from 1 coconut or 1 can coconut milk plus 2 cups water 
• 1 cup of  adzuki beans (8 oz) 
• 1/3 c smoked herring, ground or pounded
• 1/4 c. dried ground (or pounded) crayfish
• 1 teaspoon salt or seasoning salt (or to taste), or salt and no-salt seasong
• 2 teaspoons fresh peeled, grated/ground ginger
•  Fresh sliced hot peppers to taste (I used about 1/4 c sliced green jalapeno peppers; 6 sliced kpakpo shito would be my preference)
• 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cup tomato gravy (Ghana style)
• Up to 2 cups of toasted corn flour (ablemanu)

 

1. Either rinse, pick through and pre-soak the beans overnight, or cover them with water, boil them for a few minutes, and let it sit covered for an hour, 
2. When ready to begin cooking, drain the beans and add  8-10 cups of fresh water.  Simmer them, covered, for about an hour, until they are cooked.*See caution note below.
3. While the beans are cooking,  make the gravy (see directions above, Recipe #63)
4. Prepare the ginger.
5. When the beans are cooked, add the coconut milk/cream and enough additional water to make 4 cups to them.
6. Add the gravy, ginger, peppers, herrings, crayfish, and salt to the pot. Simmer on medium for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend, making sure the mixture does not scorch.
7. The only tricky part is right at the end, when adding the toasted, ground corn flour. Sprinkle half of the flour in fairly quickly, stirring like crazy to make sure it doesn't get lumpy. Repeat with most of the remaining flour (you may have about 1/4 cup left over) until you have a nice thick porridge.

Serving: This porridge is best eaten immediately after it is prepared. Barbara insists it's no good once it cools, and unlike many dishes, isn't as good reheated. This recipe makes 4 generous servings.  Ayikple has an amazing flavor and texture. Even though the one I made with blender-prepared toasted corn flour was not as smooth and creamy as it should have been, the amazing  flavors of thecrayfish and herring provided the same  magical umami flavor. The delicate but rich coconut milk reminds me of Bahian cooking of Brazil. I garnished mine with a couple of left-over grilled tiger shrimp and paired mine with a California cabernet sauvignon, and it went very well together. At Flair, we ate the meal with a hearty red Slavic wine. Ghanaians do not always have the same ideas about which wines "go" with which foods as North Americans. More on wine pairings to come later.
Finally, in Ghana we ate the stew with shito, but I used up the last of the fresh pepper sauces I made earlier, and rounded out the meal with some fresh watermelon (in Ghana we finished off our meal with papaya and pineapple).

*One slight word of caution. I believe I may have used less water than my original recipe called for.  When the cup of beans beans were cooked, I had only about 3 or 4 cups of water left in the pot. If you find your bean, coconut mixture is very watery, you may need to cook it down a little before adding the cornflour.

Recipes #61 Fish Cakes and #62 Fish Balls

 Are you hungry for a delicious snack or looking for some great, elegant (but easy-to-make) party appetizers? Or something different to make for a breakfast or brunch? Consider whipping up some Ghana-style fish balls or  fish cakes.

Recipe #61 Fish Cakes

To make about 16 fish cakes (8 servings), you'll need 

• about 1 1/2 pounds of fresh fish, such as red snapper, grouper, halibut, or any fleshy fish, to yield about 2 cups of flaked cooked fish. Any leftover cooked fish will work (I used part of the grilled tilapia I cooked the day before, and some perch fillets). In a pinch, canned tuna would work.
• 1/4 cup (preferably white) bread crumbs, or cooked mashed African yam
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground dried red pepper or to taste
  
• 1 teaspoon fish spice (I used an Indian fish masala)
• 1/4 cup of finely grated or minced onion (optional, I omitted this)
  
• 1/4 cup of water
• vegetable oil for frying (like canola), not palm oil
• waxed paper (optional)

1. Wash the fish, season it if desired  and bake it in a moderate oven ( 350º F) for half an hour or until it flakes easily. Make sure to grease the bottom of the pan lightly to keep it from sticking. Remove and allow it to cool enough to handle it.

2. Remove the skin and carefully remove all the bones and discard them. Put the fish into a bowl and flake and mash it with a fork or your fingers or a wire whisk until it looks like bread crumbs.

3. Prepare the starch that will serve as a binder: if bread crumbs, put a couple of pieces of preferably slightly stale bread in a blender and pulse briefly. If you are using African yam (please, NOT sweet potatoes), peel and chop it and cook in boiling salted water, drain, and mash). I had the ends of some lovely San Francisco sour dough French bread that I used.

4. Add the pepper, fish spice, salt, water, and egg (if you are using it) and mix thoroughly.

5. I put a piece of waxed paper onto my work surface, and put on it about  2 T of the mixture (use more or less, according to the size you wish). Then, using a table knife, flatten it into a patty about a half an inch thick, and use the blade of the knife to shape the 4 sides of the patty.

6. While these can be deep-fried, I prefer to use a large heavy frying pan to shallow fry them in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of oil at a medium high temperature, frying one side until brown, then gently turning them over with a slotted spoon or turner, and draining them on paper towels. If you prefer deep-frying, heat several cups of oil in a deep fryer or deep pan on the stove to about 375º F. Make sure never to fill the oil over half full since it could bubble over when adding the fish.

7. Serving suggestions: Serve with hot pepper sauce or shito or even ketchup. These patties can also be made larger and served as a main dish with sautéed onion rings and eaten with yam, rice and Ghana-style gravy, or even as a first course with cucumber, tomato, onion, lettuce and vinaigrette dressing.

Recipe #62  Fish Balls

This  recipe is very similar to #61. The ingredients require a couple of additional things:

• about 1 1/2 pounds of fresh fish, such as red snapper, grouper, halibut, or any fleshy fish, to yield about 2 cups of flaked cooked fish. Any leftover cooked fish will work,  including canned tuna
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• for 1 cup of white cream sauce

             1 cup milk

             1 Tablespoon corn starch

             2 Tablespoons margarine or butter

             salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon red or black pepper)

• vegetable oil for frying (like canola), not palm oil
• waxed paper (optional)

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 as for Recipe #61.
2. Prepare bread crumbs as in Recipe #61. Put them in a small shallow bowl.
3. Break the egg into a small bowl and mix it with a fork.
4. Prepare the cream sauce: Mix together the milk and corn starch in a small pan, stir it until smooth and add the salt, pepper, and butter or margarine. Heat on the stove top over  medium heat, stirring constantly. When it comes to a simmer, simmer for 1 minute to thicken it, then remove it from the stove and add  it to the fish. Note: I found that I needed to add a little extra fish for mine to hold together, so you might want to begin with 3/4 cup of white sauce and then add the rest if you determine it will not make the balls too soft to hold their shape.
5. Put a sheet of waxed paper on you work surface.
6. Shape about 2 Tablespoons of the fish mixture into a ball in you hands, dip it into the beaten egg, and roll it in the bread crumbs. Continue until all of the mixture is used up. 
7.  These balls are best deep-fried as explained in recipe #61 ("heat several cups of oil in a deep fryer or deep pan on the stove to about 375º F. Make sure never to fill the oil over half full since it could bubble over when adding the fish."). Drain them on paper towels after cooking.

Serving suggestions:  These balls have a milder, moister flavor than the cakes, and make delicious appetizers. They can be served the same way as fish cakes. At Flair catering, they are sometimes served in gravies, with or without curry powder, and gently set into the pot just before serving and shaken to coat them.

NOTE: While I prefer these freshly prepared (I feasted on them yesterday with some of the fresh pepper sauces!), they can also be kept warm in an oven, or reheated quickly in a microwave or oven just before serving.

.

Recipe #60: Fresh pepper sauces

Previous posts have described how to make Ghanaian  shito, or "black pepper." Today the focus is fresh pepper sauce. It is summertime here in Pennsylvania, and tomatoes are beginning to ripen. As they say in Ghana, "The good soup comes from the good earth." That holds for good pepper sauces, too. Truly fresh ingredients are the secret to good cooking, and today I'll explain how to prepare the Ghanaian answer to salsa. 

Give almost any homesick Ghanaian one of these simple-to-make sauces (requiring only 4 ingredients), along with a can of sardines or  Exeter corned beef, and some gari  or a ball of  kenkey, and he or she will likely be very happy. Fresh pepper sauces also go especially well with  Ghana-style grilled tilapia  or with eggs or  fried fish (kenan or kyenam, another recipe to come).

The "proper" (and easiest) way to make the sauces is to use an asanka

and the wooden mashing tool (called tapoli? apotowaiwa? could someone held me out?). That's what I used today, but you could also be creative and grate some of the tomatoes, onion, and pepper, briefly pulsing part of it in a processor or blender and combining them in the end. You definitely do not want to end up with a watery, bland, uninteresting mess, however. Remember, texture is very important in Ghanaian cuisine! (If you plan to do much Ghanaian cooking, I recommending  investing in an asanka.) It's also good to scald the asanka with boiling water before and after use. Barbara Baeta cleans hers using a little lemon juice as well).

Recipe #60 Fresh pepper sauces (red and green)

The "red" sauce uses red peppers, the "green" sauce green peppers. As I have mentioned before Ghana's kpakpo shito would be my first preference for the green sauce, but you can use any green pepper, with any degree of hotness that you like. Today I used a green  jalapeno for the green and a red Fresno chile for the red sauce. (Plus, I only made a half version to illustrate the technique).

Ingredients (Remember ,the proportions are quite flexible. After you make it once, you can adjust according to your tastes):

• salt (about 1 teaspoon or to taste)
• 1 large onion, any type, chopped
• Plum or other tomatoes (I used Campari because they taste more like real tomatoes), a little over 8 oz, or about 1 1/2 cups when chopped
• red or green chili peppers, about 2 Tablespoons (adjust to taste), minced

1. Wash the peppers (and remove the seeds and membranes if you wish) and carefully chop them (remember they are hot peppers!) Helpful hint: the finer you chop any of the ingredients, the easier it is to grind them in the asanka).
2. Peel and chop the onions.
3. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half and remove the seeds, then chop them.


Put the chopped ingredients in the asanka with the salt. Using a rocking motion, crush a little of the ingredients, and continue working your way around the bowl until everything is well mashed, but small pieces of pepper, tomato and onion still exist. This takes a lot of energy, and about 10 or 15 minutes. (If you have a Ghanaian friend/spouse around, they can probably help you with this. Once again, it's not as easy as it looks.)

The sauce can now be eaten, but Barbara Baeta suggests adding another step to make it less watery and raw tasting: simmering it over low heat for about 20-30 minutes. 

That's all there is to it! The one on the left (using green peppers) has been simmered and the one on the right is uncooked. If not eaten immediately, refrigerate and use within a day or so.

Great Grilling: Recipes #58 (Grilled Tilipia) and #59 (Grilled Prawns/Shrimp), and a plea to African entrepreneurs

Grilling over wood or charcoal is a basic cooking technique in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Ghana is no exception.  Today's recipes features 2 favorites.

But first, an aside for all of you African culinary entrepreneurs, including farmers in or out-side of the U.S. seeking ideas for the next big thing: I spent a good part of yesterday trying unsuccessfully to locate several ingredients that are not available locally, and that stimulated me to offer some more ideas for new products ( I'd be happy to serve as a consultant):

1. A bottled dry spice mixture for authentic kelewele (just add fresh grated ginger and onion).

2. A frozen version of the complete kelewele spice mixture that could be defrosted and used directly with ripe plantains.

3. Kpakpo shito seeds: I've already had several offers from local organic farmers to grow them for me if I can find any that have been legally exported). Kpakpo shito refers to the small green roundish peppers located in the center of the photo to the left, which features peppers common in Ghana. This pepper's spicy yet sweet flavor is impossible to duplicate with the chiles readily available in the U.S. There is one online company that markets and lists these as a variety of capsicum chinense, but I'd rather trust a Ghanaian to know a proper kpakpo shito. BTW, this is the Ga name. I've also seen it called a "scented" or "krona pepper," or a variation of mako ("mako" means pepper in Twi and Fanti: opapomako or makohuam, or ghatadi in Ewe) Also, I'm looking for a traditional one that is not a hybrid. Please let me know how I can buy some to grow in the U.S. (and not just sneak possibly contaminated seeds into the U.S. without declaring them!)

4. Same thing for agushi (egusi) melon seeds. I substitute pumpkin seeds in North America when I cannot get to an African market, but wish we could grow our own.  As I've mentioned before, the book on the so-called Lost Crops of Africa, Volume II, has a wonderful section on  egusi/agushi (pp. 154-171). Also, see the most recent issue of John Hopkins Magazine for an update of the books and their impact.

5. Same thing for bambara beans (pp. 52-73).


Okay, now for the recipes:

Recipe #58: Ghana-style Grilled Tilapia

As I explained in "We Eat First With Our Eyes: On Ghanaian Cuisine," the most common fresh-water fish in Ghana is tilapia, and Ghanaians have also practiced small-scale fish farming for many decades, harvesting  fish from streams, rivers, lagoons and fish farms. Tilapia consumption has also been growing in popularity in the U.S.

Perhaps the favored way to eat grilled tilapia in Ghana is with banku (for more information and recipes, see 1 and 2), shito, and fresh pepper sauce (I'll post some recipes as soon as I recover from my grief at not having any kpakpo shito), as in this photo I snapped at the African Village restaurant at La Palm in Ghana. You'll notice that the head and tail are both left on the fish. As Barbara Baeta explains: "Ghanaians feel cheated if you don't leave the head on. . . We eat all bones--fish bones, chicken bones, meat bones. Maybe that's why we have such healthy teeth."



For 4 medium-sized tilapia

equipment you'll need:

• a grill and charcoal, obviously
• a fine grater [or grinding stone ;-)]
• a sharp knife
• a brush for basting
• a cutting board or plate
• a blender,  food processor,or grinding bowl (asanka) 
• a fish basket for turning the fish, if you have one (optional)

ingredients you'll need:

To season 4 medium tilapia (about half a pound each, or about 2 pounds total), mix together in a bowl:

• 2 Tablespoons grated shallots or onion
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, like canola (plus you will need several more Tablespoons for basting)
• ~a teaspoon of salt (Note: people in Ghana will often use a crushed shrimp-flavored seasoning cube as in the photo on the left, but I omit this. I use a little extra seasoning salt and spice mixtur
  e (e.g., some dried ground crayfish and/or garlic, no-salt seasoning mixes).
• 1/2 teaspoon hot ground cayenne pepper or to taste
• about 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) of fresh chili pepper (kpakpo shito if available), ground. To reduce hotness, use a mild chili.
• ~ 1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger

Either before you make the seasoning, or while you are preparing and seasoning the fish, light the charcoal (about 2 pounds) and allow it to burn down for about half an hour, fanning it if necessary.
To prepare the fish:

•  Clean and wash the fish, and descale it if necessary. Leave on the heads, but remove the gill covering and hard fins. Please note that this, like pounding fufu, is not as easy as many Ghanaian women make it look. It requires a very sharp knife, patience, and care. Even so, I often end up defacing (can you deface a fish?) the fish head and removing the gills, fin, and numerous bones while I'm preparing an already scaled and gutted fish. Not to worry. It will still taste great.
• Cut 2 diagonal slits of each side of each of the fish.
• If you have "strong" hands, use them to stuff and rub the seasoning mixture all over the fish, rubbing it into the slits and also inside the fish. Otherwise, you may need to use a spoon or gloves. Do not discard the dregs left in the bowl.
• Leave the marinade on the fish for at least 5 to 15 minutes (5 minutes only for a milder flavor)
• Brush the grill with oil, and place it almost directly on top of the coals (about an inch above them). Baste the fish with a little oil to keep it soft and moist. After 3-5 minutes, turn over the fish and baste this side with a little oil as well.
• Add a couple of tablespoons of oil into the bowl that held the seasoning mixture. Using your hands or the brush, shake the oil over the fish (don not try to brush it on, however) until all the seasoning mixture is used, as you continue to turn the fish every few minutes. Depending on the thickness of the fish and the heat of the fire, it should cook in about 10 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn the tail of the fish (a little foil on it near the end of the grilling might be in order).

Voila! Ghana-style grilled fish.  Enjoy. In the interests of full disclosure, and because I think we can learn from our mistakes, let me confess that I was breaking in a new grill today and failed to properly oil it, so the skin on my tilapia stuck to the grill and burned (that's it next to the grilled fish on the plate below). Also, please notice that these recipes are quite flexible, as is much Ghanaian cooking: I could only find one large tilapia, weighing about 1.5 pounds, so I substituted that for 4 small ones, so I made 3 slits in it instead of only 2. Also, it had already lost most of its tail to the butcher.

Recipe #59: Ghana-style Grilled Prawns/Shrimp     

Many delicious crustaceans are found along West Africa's coast and in its rivers, including Ghana's. And grilling is a favored way of preparing them, as in this recipe which is reminiscent of southern Africa's peri-peri (or piri piri) prawns or shrimp.
One tends to see a lot of grilled prawns being sold along the roadside near the coast in Ghana. They may also be served in buffets with other dishes, or, as an upscale party appetizer.
The photo above was taken in Ghana, where fresh prawns  are abundant, but today I've had to substitute frozen tiger shrimp. In Ghana, one leaves the head and tail on, but unfortunately the only large shrimp I could find in State College have all been beheaded. This detracts from the fabulous presentation, but, as my husband is fond of saying "such is life."
Allow 2- 3 of these shrimp per serving (I'm cooking  6 today). As with the recipe above, remember to start the charcoal ahead of time (about  30-45 minutes before you need it) so it will be ready by the time you have the prawns/shrimp prepared for the grill. Also, if you are using wooden skewers, put them in water to soak for an hour or so before you use them on the grill.
  
To prepare about 2 pounds (or a kilo, which is 2.25 pounds) of large shrimp or prawns in a bowl prepare a mixture similar to the one used with the tilapia above, but with garlic and fish spice:
• 1/4 cup grated shallots or onion
• 1 heaping teaspoon fresh ground or grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon fresh garlic ground/grated/crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt or seasoning salt (or more to taste)
• 2 teaspoons of dried ground red pepper (more or less to taste)
• 1 heaping teaspoon fish spice (may include salt, pepper, celery, thyme, sage, etc.) {I like to use  a fish masala}
• 4 Tablespoons white vegetable oil (canola or similar) 

Prepare the shrimp by deveining them (that means make a cut along the back and remove the thick vein. I find I sometimes I need to devein the underside as well.) You may need to rinse them as you go along).  Leave the head on (if you can get shrimp or prawns with them still attached) and the tail.  Leave the last piece of shell next to the tail so that it stays attached. If the head falls off while grilling, it can simply be slipped back on. (Another way to prepare them is to butterfly some or all of them, which increases the surface coated by the spicy seasonings.)
You also need
• a lemon or two

Rinse, then cut the lemon(s) in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl (I use an asanka), straining out the seeds with your hands or a strainer. Add about 3 cups of water to the bowl. Put the shrimp/prawns into the water, mixing them well to coat all parts of them. Set them aside to drain (I use a paper towel.) Stir the marinade, then gently add the shrimp/prawns to it, making sure all parts of them are well coated. Leave them in the marinade about 10 minutes. Remove and place them on skewers, beginning at the tail and working up to the head (if there is one). This prevents the shrimp/prawns from curling up as they cook. Brush the grill well with oil and have it close to the coals. Drizzle a little oil over each skewer, turning it over so both sides are coated. Turn the skewers every couple of minutes so they do not burn. Add more oil if necessary.

They should cook in about 5-8 minutes, depending on the size of the prawns.

These grilled shrimp/prawns can be eaten with plain boiled (or coconut) rice, a standard tomato gravy (a basic staple of Ghanaian cuisine), vegetables, yakayake (another recipe to post later), yam, abolo (yet another recipe coming) or served as an appetizer.
Here are the shrimp I grilled today:

Now it's time to eat.

Recipe #56: Coconut Rice (3 ways) and #57 Coconut Smoothie

Yesterday I explained how to make your own coconut water/milk/cream. The convenient alternative, of course, is to substitute a canned (unsweetened, of course) version. Here are a few recipes using that coconut milk and/or cream. If you keep reading to the end, you'll find a contemporary recipe using coconut milk and cream (aka cream of coconut) and some fresh things I have handy in the house (pineapple and banana and some vanilla bean).

Rice seems to be an increasingly popular choice in Sub-Saharan Africa. I've posted rice recipes before (e.g., jollof rice or ricewater or tatale made with rice flour), but today's easy recipe enriched by coconut milk/cream  is a standby when I do presentations. Here are 3 versions: a small quantity cooked in a microwave for my dinner, an intermediate version cooked in a rice cooker, and a special quantity version prepared in the oven.

Recipe #56: 3 versions of Coconut Rice

1 cup in the Microwave: It's really almost embarrassingly easy: simply substitute part coconut milk for the water when cooking the rice, and a little coconut cream if you want it even richer. Or, it's easiest to just stir the cream into the coconut  water and use that for part of the liquid in the recipe.

Here's how to cook a cup of white rice in the microwave (this is officially 4 servings):

I prefer basmati or jasmine or any other long-grain rice  (actually, Asian rices are largely replacing traditional rices in much of West Africa), and a tablespoon of the coconut cream  mixed with enough coconut milk to replace 1/2 cup of the water. As I said, you can just mix together the cream and milk and use 1/2 cup of this rich coconut milk with a cup to 1 1/2 cup  of water. I cook my rice without salt, but you can add a little if you wish. (NOTE: After living in Japan, I always rinse my rice at least twice before cooking it.) In my Nordic Ware microwave rice cooker, I need to cook the cup of  rice at 50% (medium)  for about 15-20 minutes, covered, with the vent holes in the lid open, then remove it from the microwave, close the vent holes, and let it sit for another 5 minutes or so to steam before fluffing it with a fork. You may have to play with your microwave a bit to get the timing right. If your rice is not soft enough, you may also want to add more water. While fluffing the rice, stir any of the coconut residue back into the rice. Enjoy with any stew.

3 cups in the rice cooker (or on stove top): The rice cooker is my preferred every day way to cook rice, especially when family or guests are around. For 3 cups I  use 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk (and a few tablespoons of the cream if making a rich version, along with 3.5 to  4 cups of water (Use a little more if cooking on the stove top). If I want to dress it up a little, I increase the proportion of coconut milk and/or add a little turmeric (about 1/2 to a teaspoon) or a few strands of saffron to give it a lovely golden color. I used 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) to give this rice its pale yellow 

tint and delicate flavor.

 

16 cups  cooked in the oven  

(for ~ 60 people: 1/4 cup rice=1 serving=1/2 cup cooked rice):

NOTE: I have a large oven that will fit 2 large roasting pans with covers in it. Recipe can easily be halved:

16 cups of rice (already washed)

2 cans  of coconut milk with cream (or milk and cream from 2 coconuts)

salt (1/4 teaspoon for each cup of rice, or ~1 1/2 Tablespoons)

~30 cups of water

Prepare coconut milk and cream (or open cans)

Bring 32 cups of water to a boil on the stove top in one or 2 large pots. Add the salt and coconut milk/cream to the water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Put half of the rice in each of 2 large roasting pans. (8 cups in each). Open the preheated oven, pull out the racks and place the pans on them. Put  half (14-15 cups of the hot water/coconut/salt mixture in each pan. You can always add a little more water later if the rice is too dry). Stir. Cover immediately with lids and gently push in the racks and close the oven. After about 30 minutes open the oven, carefully tilt and  lift the lids (avoiding the steam) and stir. Reheat the water still in the pan and add more if necessary. Replace the lid and allow the rice to finish cooking. It may take 45 minutes to an hour. As with the version in the rice cooker, you can add a teaspoon or more of turmeric to each pan and stir it to blend if you wish to color it. If the rice seems too wet, simply remove the lid near the end of the cooking. This is the only way I can make large quantities of rice without having them go mushy on me the way they do when I cook on top of the stove.

Recipe #56: Coconut-pineapple-banana-vanilla smoothie

The last few times I've been in Ghana and have prepared fruit smoothies, I have found my friends and family  wildly enthusiastic about them, and frequently am asked for directions on preparing them. This is just another example of the creativity and openess to experimentation of many Ghanaians. Once again, smoothies are more a concept than a recipe, but since I've been in the kitchen this morning writing and preparing coconut rice, I'm taking a break to cool off. Yesterday I noticed that some fresh pineapple was starting to look slightly tired and in need of freezing to prevent it going bad, so I popped it in the freezer, along with a banana. Since I was making coconut milk and cream yesterday, it's a natural to combine them with a few ice cubes (or ice blocks, as they tend to say in Ghana), and a little bit of Madagascar vanilla bean I picked up at Pete's coffee shop in Berkeley a few weeks ago (I'm sure vanilla extract would work, too). Let me go combine them 

1 cup of frozen pineapple chunks, 

1 frozen banana cut into chunks, 

4 or 5 ice cubes,

an inch of vanilla bean (or 1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 cup of rich coconut milk. 

I never peel my bananas before I freeze them, so if you follow my lead, be prepared for cold hands while you peel frozen bananas (I always use a knife). Also,  break up the pieces of frozen pineapple as you put them into the blender. Finally, if you have a sweet tooth, add a couple of teaspoons of some kind of sweetener like honey, sugar, or syrup.) Let me go and blend this together and let you know how it comes out. My daughter Masi called from Nigeria yesterday and when I mentioned that I was going to make this, said "Oh, it sounds just like a pina colada without the rum." She's right.Unfortunately I cannot locate any fresh sugar cane locally today to make swizzle sticks to make the drink more playful. (I'll post some sugar cane recipes when I can locate some.) Oh well, use your imagination today!

Oh, yum!!!! This really makes enough for 2 people, but since I'm alone today it's all mine. A perfect way to end my time in the kitchen. I was in a hurry to drink it so I grabbed some pineapple mint and spearmint from the garden and set it right down outside the door to photograph it. BTW, I happen to love frosty cold drinks, but you could also blend unfrozen pineapple and banana with a few ice cubes to make a "milder" version. . . And you know, I'll bet it wouldn't be bad with a little rum, either. . .