Day 92 & 93: Cape Verde & Mauritania

Lamb for the Mechoui

Tristan and Inigo were anxious to cook another dish for their African challenge. “We are too slow, we´ll never finish Africa!” complained Inigo. “Let´s do two simple dishes!” proposed Tristan. With a little help from the Atlas and a cookbook, Epicurious Kids chose Mechoui from Mauritania, a grilled lamb dish and Canja de Gahlinha from Cape Verde.

Chicken

Trimming the bird

Inigo prepped the Canja de Gahlinha by trimming the fat and skin off the chicken thighs while Tristan cut the tomatoes and green beans for the sauce. “Let me do the onions too,” Tristan proposed bravely. Normally Inigo´s task, he didn´t mind handing over the teary job of onion chopping.

The Mechoui on the other hand only required some seasoning and easy prep of studding the lamb loin with garlic and rubbing the meat with spices. Then it was basically over 2 hrs of slow cooking in the oven. Once both dishes were ready, the Epicurious Kids were eager to savour their dishes. Being a school day, they needed to jump back to homework duties after a nice warming meal of Mechoui and Canja de Gahlinha.

Canja de Gahlinha

Mechoui from Mauritania

Day 83 & 84: Liberia & Nigeria

Africa calling from Norway

 The Epicurious Kids were committed to continuing their cooking challenge during their summer break. “Africa is such a large continent, if we don’t continue, we’ll never succeed.” stated Tristan. Fortunately Inigo was in complete agreement.

Marinating the Suya chicken from Nigeria

Exotic ingredients were few and far in between in the one store in the small Norwegian village. “We’re gonna have a hard time…” predicted Inigo. Finding a recipe that was Norwegian friendly was slightly complicated. Liberia and Nigeria seemed to be the easy fit for this cooking challenge.

Turning up the heat up north!

Mixing in some Norwegian goodies: elg steak!

Suya from Nigeria was an easy choice, chicken marinated and grilled was a no-brainer. For Liberia, the first liberated African country proved to be more challenging. Palava was a meat based dish that required some red chilies, tomatoes, stock, spinach, ginger and onions.

Adding in some spice of life

Cous cous galore

The Palava simmered for close to an hour to allow the chilies to soften into the dish.  Epicurious Kids were excited to host their distant cousins for an African meal in their Norwegian summer house. Magnus and Andreas were coming over to fish and play, and perhaps Epicurious Kids could tempt them to try their Palava and Suya dishes.

All smiles for Nigerian Suya

Feasting with friends

Dinner guests were expected soon, Anders, Kjetil, Torkil and Siren were all coming to partake of the African feast. Success! Who knew one could whip up Liberian dishes with Norwegian ingredients?!

Palava from Liberia

Liberian & Nigerian table in Norway

Day 71: Israel

Dag Bitanoor

Epicurious Kids´culinary trip to Israel was going to be a quick dish. The week was filled with sports activities, homework and various errands. Tristan found an easy, healthy dish to complement their hectic schedule. Dag Bitanoor was a simple dish of grilled white fish, whole with onions, lemons and tomatoes to complement the fresh fish.

Prepping fish dish

Mini Iron Chef Inigo

Both Inigo and Tristan were quick in splitting up kitchen duties. Tristan volunteered for  fish clean-up and prepping while Inigo deftly began slicing and dicing the veggies: onions and tomatoes. The fish salted and peppered was placed in the grill and voilà, after 15 minutes on the grill, the meal was done! Be’te-avon

Day 66: Spain

Toasting with Tapas!

Tapas was a unanimous choice for Spain. The main course was not too easy. Between Tristan and Inigo, the choices ranged from Paella, Callos Madrilena and Cazuela.

Garlic and Onion Boys

Beef and potatoes

After the decision was made to make Cazuela with cod and clams, Epicurious Kids jumped right into prepping their tapas. They wanted to make a Gambas al Ajillo, Salpicao and Setas con Ajo y Vino Blanco.

Peeling prawns with pride

Spicing up the beef

Tristan started marinating the pieces of beef cut against the grain. Inigo kept reminding Tristan to cut the meat on a bias against the grain to keep it tender. Of course, he know this already. In between snappy remarks, the mini chefs focused on the three tapas dishes that needed different preparations and required different cooking time.

Onions for the Cazuela

Gambas Ajillo a la Inigo

The Gambas took the least amount of time, while the beef salpicao needed to marinate for as long as possible before cooking. Garlic was everywhere, and the delicious smell of the sizzling bulb was wafting through the kitchen. Right after the tapas were served, the cod and clams Cazuela was an easy feat. Inigo added some spinach to the recipe of potatoes and green peas to add more oomph to the dish. And it was delish!

Tasty tapas

Cazuela

Side Trips: Adobo Adventures with Uncle Andrew

It all begins with one slice…

The Epicurious Kids were excited beyond belief when they found out that their Uncle Andrew was going to Brussels to help them cook-up a couple of dishes and episodes.  Adobo was on the menu and Tristan and Inigo were up for the challenge.  Adobo was a Filipino iconic dish with many variations.

Uncle Andrew´s recipe has a modern twist Epi Kidz were excited to showcase.

A quick chicken shower ensures food safety...

Swiss precision —learning from the master

Ingredients sourced, chicken washed, Team Adobo was ready for the chopping board.  Two whole chickens were chosen and ready to be quartered. “How are we going to make many pieces of chicken with that?” asked Inigo. After a few deft moves maneouvering the bird, both Inigo and Tristan got the gist of the art of quartering chicken.

Monkey see, monkey do

Practice makes perfect

The more challenging part of the adobo prep opened with dicing red onions.  Inigo, always up for a challenge said “I will do the onions, Uncle Andrew, I am not afraid to cry!”  Tristan opted for the safer garlic duty.  Their Uncle Andrew kept a careful watch on dicing and slicing techniques while the boys kept busy with their individual tasks.

Gingerly cutting ginger

Big boys don´t cry

To each his own stations

Team adobo hard at work!

Ahhh...the salty, vinegary goodness of a good adobo base!

The next step in the adobo adventure was the measurement of salty and acidic.  Tristan started to measure soy sauce in a cup while Inigo took a bottle of apple cider and poured it onto another measuring cup.  “Won´t this be too vinegary, Uncle Andrew?” Inigo asked skeptically. “Not at all,”their uncle explained, “once we add the coconut milk, everything will soften up and the adobo will mellow out.”

Is this how I do it?

Mixing in some love

Team adobo on the home stretch!

Kitchen Stadium was not free of some food scuffle.  Epi Kidz were arguing over who would stir the pot. In the end, peace prevailed in Kitchen Stadium under the watchful eye of Uncle Andrew. Coconut milk was poured into the bubbling mixture and Inigo and Tristan took turns mixing the chicken into the brown, velvety sauce. “The ideal is to have the adobo cook slowly for about an hour to get the chicken falling off the bone…” Andrew explained to the boys as they licked their lips in anticipation.

Sharing the glory...

Adobo Glory

A side of greens was quickly sauteed together, broccoli and green beans to balance the meal. And for the final touch, succulent morsels of perfectly tender chicken was grilled in the oven for that extra crunch.  “Uncle Andrew, that looks and smells delicious!” exclaimed a hungry cook, Tristan. Inigo was elbowing his way to the Adobo platter, “serve me first, please, I can judge the adobo if it is good or not!”  

Adobo adventures has come to a yummy conclusion. Epicurious Kids were happy to have this wonderful opportunity to share with their Uncle Andrew.  “Food always taste better when shared,” observed Tristan.

Check out the recipe: Secret Ingredients

Nothing taste better than a home cooked meal— with loved ones!