PEANUT BUTTER SMOOTHIE

How to make PEANUT BUTTER SMOOTHIE

           Milkshake lovers, here is a great replacement that works at any time of the day. This gluten-free smoothie is perfect for breakfast on-the-go, afternoon snack and if you like your desserts in the evening, this will help cut down your calorie intake.

                   INGREDIENTS

*4 tbsp peanut butter

*1 cup coconut milk

*1 cup low fat yoghurt

*1 pc banana

                  DIRECTIONS

Peel the banana and put in a blender. Add the coconut milk, yoghurt and peanut butter to the blender and blend until smooth.

Serve in a glass or put in a refrigerator and allow it to chill before serving.

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GROUNDNUT MILK (PEANUT MILK)

How to make Groundnut Milk (Peanut Milk)

            Anybody else bored with the flat taste of fresh cow milk? I only like cow milk for chocolate drinks, cereals and oatmeals and of course for baking. But drinking only fresh cow milk? Not me. I am not allergic to cow milk but I find it tasteless so I always look to Soy Milk, Rice Milk and Groundnut (Peanut Milk) when I want to drink just milk. All these have a special nutty or grain flavour that I love. Not so boring like plain cow milk. If you are vegetarian or lactose intolerant then Groundnut Milk will be great news for you too.

             Groundnuts (Peanuts) are rich in protein and should be a great feature in our daily diet. For me, Groundnut Milk is the best way to get the nutritional benefits of groundnuts without chewing. I usually go for foods that I can drink or swallow much more that the foods I have to chew.

                         INGREDIENTS

*Raw Peanuts (Groundnuts)

*Cool water

Optional flavours:

*Vanilla extract

*Sugar

Notes on the ingredients

1. I only keep this milk for 48 hours maximum in the fridge so I usually make the quantity I can finish within that period. If I do not boil it, I just make the quantity I can finish in one day. I get 600mls of Groundnut Milk with 300g of raw groundnuts.

2. I always buy peeled raw groundnuts (peanuts) but if you can only buy unpeeled ones, see step 1 in the directions for how to remove the skin.

3. When blending the soaked peanuts (see step 2 in the directions below), just add enough water to help the blades of your blender move. You will add more water later when rinsing the chaff.

4. If you will use the flavours, add them when blending the groundnuts. I prefer the unadulterated natural delicious taste of Groundnut Milk.

5. Raw groundnuts, corn, cassava and many other food items may contain aflatoxins which are said to be produced if the food item is contaminated with a certain kind of mould. To eliminate the risk of these aflatoxins which can affect human health, boil the Groundnut Milk before drinking. It is OK to drink it raw because the amount of aflatoxins in food is said to be negligible.

Tools

*To blend it, you'll need a kitchen blender. My blender has 600W power and it did a great job of blending the soaked groundnuts.

*To strain it you'll need a bowl and a chiffon cloth or ladies stocking/tights (pantyhose without the panty).

*To boil it you'll need a pot, a stove and a spatula.

                       DIRECTIONS

1. Rinse and soak the groundnuts in a generous quantity of cool water for 3 hours.

If you are using unpeeled groundnuts:

Pour warm to hot water on the peanuts and leave for a few minutes or till you notice the skin become baggy.

            *Pour out the hot water and replace with cool water.

           *Rub the groundnuts between your palms and watch the skin come off.

           *Once they have all come off, decant the skin in the same manner of

decanting beans peels when peeling beans.

           *Pour cool water into the bowl of peeled groundnuts and leave to soak for 3 hours.

2. After 3 hours, blend with as little water as possible till smooth.

3. Sieve with a cheese cloth or any chiffon material that does not allow the chaff to pass through.

4. Pour the milk into a pot and cook over medium heat till it boils. Stir often so that lumps do not form.

5. Once it boils, leave to cool down completely, remove the milk skin and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Serve Groundnut Milk with Akara , Puff Puff or any other Nigerian Snack . I store the boiled one for up to 48 hours in the fridge and the raw one, I drink up immediately. Enjoy!

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NIGERIAN CHAPMAN DRINK

How to Make Nigerian Chapman Drink

            Nigerian Chapman is an easy cocktail drink with a nice blend of fruity flavours. Sometime ago, on my Facebook fan page, a fan asked me for the Nigerian Chapman drink recipe. That question took me down memory lane, to the first time I had a chapman at a Chinese restaurant in the Coal City of Enugu. I remember I loved it so much. So I thought, hang on my lovely, we are going to make that chapman together!

Ingredients for Nigerian Chapman drink

          The following are what I used for 2 classic dimpled mugs of chapman: one for me, one for hubby ;-)

*½ cup Grenadine Syrup

*A few dashes of Angostura Aromatic Bitters™

*35 cl Fanta Orange

*35 cl Sprite

*½ an Orange

*½ a lemon

*Ice cubes

Optional Ingredient:

*Ribena™ Blackcurrant

To garnish:

Feel free to add any citrus and other fruits of your choice: cucumber, strawberry, orange, lemon, lime, even bananas. I used the following:

*½ an orange

*½ a lemon

*½ a cucumber

Notes on the Ingredients and alternatives

1. Grenadine Syrup gives the drink its classic red colour. You can buy this at your local supermarket or on Amazon websites as listed below. If you can't find Grenadine Syrup, you can use red currant (extract the juice) or pomegranate but these don't give the drink the same taste.

2. Ribena concentrated blackcurrant adds to the red colour and gives the drink a sweetened taste but it is optional. Concentrated Ribena blackcurrant is easily available in Nigeria and your local supermarkets anywhere in the world.

3. You can make your ice cubes with a mixture of the Fanta and the Sprite. This is so that your drink does not go flat as is the case when the ice cubes are made with water.

4. Even though the Nigerian chapman contains a very small quantity of alcohol, I know there are those who will like to make a version that does not contain any trace of alcohol. If you want to make that, you can skip the Angostura Bitters but I warn you, the Nigerian Chapman will not be the same without Angostura Bitters. :)

5. Wondering other recipes you can use the remaining Angostura Bitters for? You can use it in cookies, cakes, ice cream, salads and other cocktail drinks. Or you can just keep it and use for Chapman, it does not expire in a hurry.

6. You can buy Angostura Bitters from all big food and beverages shops in Nigeria, in your local super markets and on Amazon websites.

Where to buy the "special" ingredients and the mug:

*Angostura Bitters: Buy it in USA | in UK

*Grenadine Syrup: Buy it in USA | in UK

*Classic Dimple Mugs Buy it in USA | in UK

Before you make the Chapman

1. Make the ice cubes either with water or a mixture of the fanta and the sprite.

2. Make sure the Grenadine Syrup, Fanta and Sprite are chilling in the fridge.

3. Cut the orange and the lemon into two equal parts each then cut one half of each into thin quarters. Reserve the other halves for squeezing into the drink.

Directions for making the Chapman

1. Put a few ice cubes in the mugs.

2. Add half a cup of the Grenadine Syrup, this should be about one third of the dimpled mug.

3. Add a few dashes of Angostura Bitters (to your taste).

4. Add a squeeze of orange and lemon each.

5. Share the Fanta equally between the two mugs, do the same for the Sprite. Remember to leave some space because the garnishings will take up their own volume.

6. Add your sliced garnishings: cucumber, orange and lemons. This list goes on and on, some people even add bananas to theirs :)

7. Top off with Ribena blackcurrant if you have it.

8. Stir with the straws and it is ready for drinking!

Enjoy it on a warm sunny day or on any special occassion with any Nigerian snack.

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STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE

How to Make STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE

         A milkshake is a heavy creamy drink that is often used as a dessert. Once you blend any fruit or vegetable with whole milk, it becomes a milkshake. Milkshakes are the perfect drink for a hot day.

Ingredients for making Strawberry Milkshake

You can blend the following in any proportions and come up with a delicious strawberry milkshake.

*Strawberries (very ripe ones)

*Whole milk

*Vanilla ice cream (optional)

*Greek-style yoghurt (optional)

 

Notes on the ingredients

1. I listed vanilla ice cream and Greek-style yoghurt as optional because all you need to make a strawberry milkshake are the strawberries and the whole milk. But these other 2 ingredients make the milkshake thicker and more delicious. I either use vanilla ice cream or the Greek yoghurt, I never add the 2 at the same time. But you can if you wish.

2. Please note that the milk used here is whole milk and not evaporated milk. You can buy whole milk from any big supermarket anywhere in the world. Some poeple use skimmed and semi skimmed milk but those do not make creamy milkshakes.

3. Strawberries when in season, are available in Nigeria (in Shoprite, SPAR) and supermarkets all over the world.

4. Greek-style yoghurt is also available in major supermarkets all over the world.

Important kitchen equipment you need:

*To blend it, you'll need a kitchen blender. Any blender with a minimum of 500W can do a good job of this.

Directions for making Strawberry Milkshake

1. Wash, trim and cut the strawberries into small pieces and place in your blender.

2. Scoop some vanilla ice cream or Greek-style yoghurt (if you are using any of these) into the blender.

3. Turn on the blender and start pouring the whole milk through the peep hole of the blender cover till you are happy with the thickness of your milkshake.

Serve on its own, with cookies or with whole strawberries.

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SOYA MILK

           How to make SOYA MILK
           Soya Milk is a refreshing rich drink. Drink a glass every morning to start your day on a good note. Use it to wash down your meals, when eating snacks: cookies, Nigerian Puff Puff and many more.
           It is plant protein (milk from a plant) hence a great alternative to cow milk for those have lactose intolerance.

                    INGREDIENTS

To make soya milk, you need just 4 ingredients:

*1 De Rica cup soya beans (650g or 1.4 lbs)

*4 litres (1 gallon) cold water

*15 dates (dabino, dátil, datte)

*1 vanilla pod or 1 cap vanilla flavour. 

Notes on the ingredients: 

1. Soya beans are sold in Nigerian markets by those who sell other staple food like rice, beans etc. Vanilla pod or vanilla flavour is sold in bakery ingredients shops.

2. The quantity of water listed above is what gives me the consistency of soya milk that I like. You can add more or less water if you wish.

3. Dates (known as dabino in Hausa, dátil in Spanish and datte in French) is a natural sweetener for the soy milk. If you do not have it, add sugar to your taste. You can buy dates from any supermarket in the world. In Nigeria, Mallams that see coconut and tiger nuts (aki awusa, ofio, aya) sell dates. Just ask them for dabino.

4. Vanilla give the soya milk its unique flavour. If you want your soya milk to taste like the one sold in 30cl glass bottles in Nigeria, vanilla flavour is essential. If you do not have natural vanilla pods like I used in the video below, use 1 cap of vanilla flavour for the quantity of soya beans stated above.

5. There are other flavours and ingredients you can add when making soya milk: milk flavour, powdered milk etc but I prefer mine basic and tasting like pure soya milk.

Tools: 

*To blend it, you'll need a kitchen blender. My blender has 600W power and it does a great job of blending soaked soya beans.

*To strain it you'll need a sieve and a chiffon cloth or ladies stocking/tights (pantyhose without the panty).

*You'll also need bowls and pots.

                      DIRECTIONS

1. Rinse and soak the soya beans overnight or for at least 10 hours. Use a generous amount of water. Do not soak it for longer that this time because it will start having a fermented smell and taste.

2. After almost 10 hours, rinse and remove the seeds from the dates. Then cut into pieces.

3. Cut the vanilla along the pod and set aside. Cutting the pod exposes the vanilla beans where all the flavour is.

4. After 10 hours, you will notice that the soya beans are swollen, softer and the skin comes off easily.

5. Rub the soaked soya beans between your palms to separate the skin from the beans.

6. Pour more water and watch the skin come to the surface.

7. Decant the skin using the method of decanting the skin when peeling beans for Nigerian Moi Moi .

8. When there is no more skin, blend the soya beans and dates in a blender till smooth. To do this, put some beans in the blender, add some dates and pour water to cover the beans then blend.

9. Strain the blend using a sieve.

10. Pour the resulting soya milk into a big pot and start cooking on medium heat. Stir it often so it does not stick to the bottom of the pot.

11. When it is about to boil, scoop out the foam so it does not over-flow.

12. Add the vanilla pods. Keep stirring and keep cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring all the time.

13. Turn off the heat and leave to cool down completely.

14. Then strain again using a chiffon cloth, cheese cloth or lady's stocking to remove the finest particles.

15. Pour into a bottle, cover and keep in your fridge. Drink within 2 or 3 days. If you want to keep it for much longer, keep it in the freezer.

Enjoy soya milk with cookies, Nigerian Puff Puff or any other pastry .

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