Arabian-Spiced Middle Eastern Casserole

  Stuck on what to cook for dinner? Here's a simple casserole that'll get you licking out the dishes because it's just so damn delish! You get juicy and tender pieces of chicken floating in a thin flavorful vegetable broth.   

This dish and well, Middle eastern food in general is great for picky eaters because the spices are subtle yet packed with the chili and oumame flavor that Nigerians love. This would be a great dish for having guests over! Just marinate the chicken overnight and bake an hour before serving. 

This recipe will serve 3-4 adults.   Here's what you need  Ingredients  

• 6 pieces of Chicken, thawed (I used two laps of a 1.4kg chicken, so approximately 750g)
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 inch cube of ginger
• 3-4 scotch bonnet pepper, crushed
• 1/3 cup yoghurt 
• 3 seasoning cubes (maggi)
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder or seeds
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp Lemon juice or white vinegar 
• 4 cloves (optional)
• 2 green cardamom pods (optional)
• 1 small onion
• 4 potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 2 tbsps oil
• Salt to taste

Here's what you do

1. Place the chicken in a large bowl and add garlic, ginger, chili paste and yoghurt and mix well. 
   

   

   Yoghurt

2. Season with maggi cubes, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and salt to combine. 
   
3. Let it sit for at least 1-2 hours or overnight in the fridge
4. Cut the carrots and potatoes into chunky pieces and slice the onions
5. Preheat oven to the 220 degrees
6. Heat oil in a frying pan and place the chicken skin side up to brown and seal the marinade 

   

   Sealing...

7. When chicken is browned, remove from heat and set aside
   
8. Add carrots, potatoes and onions (cloves and cardamom too, but they're optional) to the same frying pan and let them wear in the juices from the chicken
   
9. Pour any excess or leftover marinade over them and let them cook for 5 minutes
   
10. Transfer the veggies into a casserole dish and pour beef stock (alternative: seasoning cube + salt in 1 cup of water)
    
    
11. Place the browned chicken pieces over the veggies.
    
12. Cover the casserole dish with the lid or aluminum foil.
    
13. Bake until potatoes are tender, then remove the lid to dry out the chicken. 
14. Cool for 15 minutes, then serve with rice, Lebanese bread, fries, steamed veggies or couscous.

That's it guys!

I do hope you try it out! It's easy and so yummy!

Do you like chicken?

Do you have a recipe you want me try out?

Let me know in the comments below!

Lots of spicy love,

Ummi!

Weekend Diary: Cry Baby Shopping

Hey there!

 

Ramadan Kareem! Hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine was pretty busy, but Alhamdulillah, it was quite funehfcvgfcrfdd.

 

Saturday

 

My cousin is getting married in about 4 weeks! And she still doesn't have some essential furniture so we took her to a furniture showroom Alfemo in Gwarinpa.

They've got some really impressive pieces there, mostly modern European style living room and bedroom sets. I always feel tempted To buy when I visit but then I remind myself that My living room is clustered enough as it is!

Baby R was mad at me cos she was sleeping comfortably in the car and I accidentally woke her. She kept crying and sulking the whole time, I had to do something I had never done since she was born: I had to Piggyback back her in public! With a wrapper and everything and climb up four flights of stairs! Phew! I was exhausted by the time we were done!

After an hour on mummy's back and several reps of Old McDonalds farm, she calmed down and seemed ready to forgive.

By the time we got to Malabis Lingerie, she had dozed off again.

 

See the scars on her face? I get so worried about them! The one on her nose is from her nails being sharp at the edges and I'm sure will fade away.

 

The big gash on her forehead was horrible! She was running towards me and couldn't stop herself so she hit the edge of a pillar and had a concussion. It took two days for the swelling to go down and a week for the wound to heal but now I worry the scar might persist for life. Oh well, there's always concealer...when she's old enough, that is.

 

Anyways, glad she dozed off cos that gave me time to do what I went to do there: shop for custom made nightwear and bottoms. Unfortunately they were all sold out, thanks to the shopping frenzy at fusion. Sigh. Ended up with only four bottoms and no nightwear. They promised to make new stock in Two weeks so I'll be back!

Got home at 5:55pm and still had to prepare Iftar! Sigh. Luckily I had diluted and filtered my peanut paste earlier and popped it in the freezer before I went out. So when I got back, I took it out and placed it on the fire, added some rice after 30 minutes and voila! Kunun Gyada!

Guess what this beauty is...

The cheesy crust on my potato au gratin!

We had it with beef goulash

Beef, carrots, mushrooms, onions, in a tomato paprika sauce. Yum!

 

Sunday:

 

Had to run errands on Sunday. Finally got to do our Ramadan shopping at the new Sahad stores in central area. It's finally opened!

If you're an Abuja resident you'll understand my joy! I have used to have a longstanding love hate relationship with Sahad for as long as I can remember.

First, it's super crowded and disorganized. You have to elbow and shoulder and punch people outta your way.

Then, there are no price tags! You find out prices at the check out with the guy yelling "kai, Mallam nawa wan An?"

Then there's no guarantee. If you see something you like at Sahad, you'd better buy it cos when you come back tomorrow, it'll be gone and will never be stocked again!

But what can we do? Sahad is still one of the best places to shop for pantry items in Abuja due to their low prices, bulk stock and often, pleasant locally made gems. So we put up with the stress.

But all that has changed! The new Sahad is a breath of fresh air!

 

What's this? Ample parking? At Sahad? Unbelievable!

 

Huh? No junk on the floor? No precariously placed boxes of eggs? Clear aisles? I can actually push my cart without tearing someone's Achilles? Wonderful!

 

Even Baby R was impressed!

 

Or maybe she was just licking off her boogers. Eew.

 

That's the front entrance.

 

Two of many ATMs.

 

Very helpful staff member. I was impressed.

The view from the undercroft parking lot. I'm guessing there are vacant store spaces for lease.

 

The Way out. On the left there's a warehouse and car parks and on the right is the actual store. I'm reallyimpressed with their new look. I love it when businesses take criticism and move forward with their client. Keep up the good work!

I shall return.

That was my weekend in a nutshell, what did you do this last weekend?

 

Let me know down below.

 

Love, Ummi.

 

 

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Pepperoni Egg Muffins

Pepperoni Egg Muffins

I'm a big fan of the weekend brunch. Lazy mornings, getting up whenever and then scavenging the fridge trying to figure out what to placate our growling tummies with.

I'm a huge lover of the quiche. In fact, from 2010 to 2011 I had a mushroom or spinach quiche almost every weekday morning on my way to work. What? You can't blame me! The bakery at the Perth train station had a sinfully irresistible smell of freshly baked goods at 7 and since the pharmacy I worked at was in Midland, 1:15mins away, I always had breakfast on the platform as I wait for the Midland train. Mushroom quiche and peach flavoured Nestea was my undoing.

On this Sunday morning however, we had run out of bread and I wanted something more filling than just baked eggs. So I went with my staple egg muffin recipe and took it up a notch with chives, pepperoni and grated cheese. It was nice and moist on the inside with the flour settled around the bottom and edges to form a browned outer shell.

If you're fit fam you can always substitute the pepperoni with a low fat sausage or thin turkey slices or beef ham.

This is an easy crowd pleaser if you're looking to entertain guests. From start to finish this took about 30 minutes. It'll make six large muffins.

Here's what you need

2 large Eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup of milk

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup of pepperoni, sliced and diced.

1/2 cup cheese, grated

4 tablespoon chives

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

1 cube Maggi seasoning,

Here's what you do

Preheat your oven to medium-high (about 200*C)

Add the the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper and Maggi seasoning seasoning then whist until uniform.

In a separate bowl, whisk the milk and eggs together. Slowly incorporate the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until no clumps are visible.

Save some pepperoni slices and half the cheese for the toppings, the dice the remaining.

Add the pepperoni, chives, oregano and half the cheese into the batter and mix

Pour into a greased muffin tray and bake for 12 - 15 minutes.

Take the muffins out of the oven.

Top with cheese and pepperoni slices

Return to the oven but turn off the bake feature (lower burner) and turn on the grill feature (top burner) for 5 minutes or until the pepperoni is crisp and curled around the edges. If you don't have a top burner, you can use the bottom oven feature set on low heat.

That's it!

Serve with a tomato based sauce for maximum flavour. I used some of my secret recipe Italian pasta sauce that I had left over and it was glorious.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Let me know in the comment box.

Lotsa Eggy love,

Ummi.

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