FOODY FRIDAY- NKETIYE WOO NU - PEANUT SOUP

I thought I'd introduce another aspect to our blog, something that's very close to our hearts, well our stomachs (",) drum roll please....... Greek and Ghanaian food (and maybe some other dishes too just because we all like to eat different things and I like to cook everything from scratch and I may run out of Greek and Ghanaian recipes lol). I thought I would start of by telling you a little problem that I had when I first met my fiance which still has not been resolved. As I'm Greek I love dessert, most dessert and not just Greek desserts. I'm used to eating it everyday after dinner, and love learning different recipes especially from different cultures. I blame this on my mum she carries a little note book with her and when she goes to family or friends she always asks them for different recipes. Now that I have a family I've got the bug and like to do the same (",) (ok this is totally off the point I'm getting at but I thought I'd share this tip. My mum gets these recipes, bakes them and most of the time they end up tasting better than the person who gave her the recipe. I can only put this down to my mum following every instruction to the letter, every measurement to the last oz and timing to the second. Also common sense for tweaking. What I'm trying to say is that if someone gives you a recipe, buy the correct ingredients measure them well, and if timings are given follow them but if what you are doing doesn't look right use your common sense like, leave your cake or meat in longer if they don't look cooked, beat your egg whites longer if they are not stiff and forming peaks (if you want a good meringue), if your dough is too sticky add more flour or if its too dry add more water or if the sauce you are going to make requires ingredients you, your family or guests don't like substitute with ones that you do like. If you try any of my recipes follow the instructions but also accommodate it to your needs and do what works best for you). Anyway back to my problem! One day in the early stages of our relationship my fiance cooked me a Ghanaian meal and I excitedly asked him "what's for desert?" He brought out these two beautifully presented homemade pancakes with strawberries and cream (extra points to him for choosing my favourite). Whilst we were eating I asked him "why didn't you make a Ghanaian desert?" He said they didn't have any. I said "What! What do you mean you don't have any. Every country has a traditional desert". He told me that they were probably fried plantain, fruit or his mums ochomor biscuits. I wasn't having it so the next time we saw his mum and sister I asked them and they both said they didn't have a traditional dessert, and that plantain was probably it. I was shocked, being brought up in a culture that has hundreds well lots of traditional deserts was hard to get my head around but soon accepted. That has not discouraged me though I still asks for Ghanaian savoury recipes and keep my dessert addiction satisfied with ones from other countries. If anyone out there does know of any traditional Ghanaian deserts my fiance and I would love to know plus I can then prove him wrong and my quest for every dessert from around the world would be complete(",)
I thought I would blog about my favourite Ghanaian dish first, chicken in a peanut and tomato sauce served on a bed of rice. I knew I was going to like this dish before I even tried it because of the ingredients it had. Its called nketiye woo nu, peanut soup. Imagine my delight when I heard chicken with peanut butter at 6 months pregnant when on holiday in Scotland visiting my fiances family. Well my excitement didn't last long about 10 seconds when I remembered you are not supposed to eat peanut butter whist pregnant to prevent nut allergies to the baby. So my soon to be mother in law cooked me my own special dish I don't remember what it was like but it was that tasty that I didn't have any cravings for the soup. I didn't actually try the peanut soup until 2 years ago because I was breastfeeding my daughter and didn't want to pass on the the peanut to her until I knew she wasn't allergic to it. I was very cautious about this because my sister has a nut allergy. But when we found out she wasn't allergic, the first meal my fiance made was peanut soup.. My fiance uses his eye judgement and doesn't follow an exact recipe so I have learned to improvise my measurements depending on the amount of chicken I am using. This has not been a problem before as it always seems to turn out tasting the same

NKETIYE WOO NU (PEANUT SOUP) RECIPE

You Will Need: 

• Chicken cut in to pieces (as much to serve the amount of people you are cooking for)
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste 
• Garlic chopped preference
• Chilli Flakes preference
• Peanut Butter (depending on the amount of chicken pieces I use about 2 tablespoons for every 5 pieces of chicken)
• Chopped tomatoes (I use a 500g tin for every 5 pieces of chicken)
• 1 or 2 chicken stocks depending on the amount chicken
• Potatoes diced optional
• Yam diced optional
• Rice (enough to feed everyone)

Method: 

• If you have a whole chicken cut it into pieces. If using chicken fillets cut them in to cubes and if you are using chicken pieces move on to the next step
• Wash chicken thoroughly
• Brown chicken. I prefer to grill than fry because it is healthier but you can do what you like best.

Grilled Chicken

• If you want to grill your chicken coat your chicken pieces with a little olive oil and grill until they are lightly browned
• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan with some chopped garlic salt and pepper
• Add your chicken and chopped tomatoes and boil.
• Once your tomatoes start boiling add your chicken stock and peanut butter and stir in until dissolved.
• Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
• If your sauce seems a bit thick add a little bit of water to get the consistancy you want. (gg and I do not like really saucy things so we have our sauce quite thick, more like a stew than a soup but the traditional way is having it quite wet sort of soup like)
• If you want to have potato or yam in your stew now is the time to add it to your pan
• Bring to the boil
• Once it has reached boiling point cover with a lid and leave it to cook on the lowest heat for 45~60 minutes or when your chicken is cooked through all the way and your potatoes or yam are soft.
• Cook your rice
• Serve nketiye woonu on a bed of rice.

Fried Chicken

• If you want to fry your chicken heat some olive oil in a pan with some chopped garlic salt and pepper and fry your chicken pieces untill they are all lightly browned
• Add your chopped tomatoes and boil.
• Once your tomatoes start boiling add your chicken stock and peanut butter and stir in until dissolved.
• Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
• If your sauce seems a bit thick add a little bit of water to get the consistancy you want. (gg and I do not like really saucy things so we have our sauce quite thick but the traditional qay is having it quite wet sort of soup like)
• If you want to have can potato or yam in your stew now is the time to add it to your pan
• Bring to the boil
• When boiling cover with a lid and leave it to cook on the lowest heat for 45~60 minutes or when your chicken is cooked through all the way and your potatoes or yam are soft.
• Cook your rice
• Serve nketiye woonu on a bed of rice.




NKETIYE WOO NU - PEANUT SOUP



sssshhhhhhh... It's a secret

I'll let you in on a trick we have done on gg. One day gg had a stomach bug and vomited, an hour later she asked me to give her some peanut butter and then she wanted an egg. Soon after she ate them she vomited again and this time her vomit smelt of peanut butter and egg. When she got better she asked me to make her an egg but as soon as she smelt it she nearly vomited again. This was understandable because when I was little I remember not being able to stand orange lollies after I vomited one up. I wondered if she would also be put off of peanut butter too, and sure thing she was. I was upset because peanut butter and eggs have so many nutritional benefits so thought I'd try giving her the peanut soup because the peanut butter is not very intense. Well she loves it, we just don't tell her there is peanut butter in it, we tell her it is Ghana chicken (",) I didn't bother with the egg and thought she would get her egg nutrition from sauces and cakes I make. But one day I made Ghana salad and gg ate it all plus seconds and do you know what one of the ingredients is? EGGS! I'll post about that recipe soon (",)

Lesson Learned: If your child doesn't like a certain food try serving it up differently, you will never know until you try, and they may just end up liking it.