Showing posts sorted by date for query strawberry. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query strawberry. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Ugali - Savory Maize Meal Porridge

A staple and traditional dish from Kenya, ugali is a savory maize meal porridge cooked as one would grits but served quite firm and cut into portions. 

Food Lust People Love: A staple and traditional dish from Kenya, ugali is a savory maize meal porridge cooked as one would grits but served quite firm and cut into portions.

I’ve been researching recipes that start with the letter U for pretty much the whole last year and came up with a few, including ugali. I wasn’t sure I’d ever find maize meal to make it though, until I remembered the one stall at the market in town which carries an impressive number of items – dry goods AND even fresh vegetables - imported from various African nations. 

Sure enough! The maize meal was up high on a top shelf and I just had to ask for it by name after searching on my own for a while with no success. The stall proprietor quickly handed over a two-kilo bag and I left so happy! This just proves how multicultural the island of Jersey has gotten in the last few years. 


It wasn’t very long back when I had to import my favorite Asian ingredients as well and, now, we have at least three shops that specialize in those items! My suitcases leaving Houston are a whole lot lighter these days.

When I think of porridge, it usually means a soft oatmeal dish that can be eaten with a spoon. For ugali, the maize meal is cooked longer until it pulls away from the side of the pot. Once firm, it can be turned out onto a plate and cut into wedges. 

Traditionally, it is most often accompanied by collard greens cooked with onions and tomatoes but sometimes it’s served with meaty stews or grilled meat and a fresh tomato and onion salad called kachumbari. 

Ugali - Savory Maize Meal Porridge

Since only my husband and I were at home to enjoy this dish, I made a quarter of the original recipe, but with a little extra ghee. If you are feeding more people, you can reliably double or quadruple the recipe, using 1 tablespoon of butter or ghee for double and 2 tablespoons for quadruple. I adapted mine from a recipe on Serious Eats.

Ingredients
1 cup or 240 ml water
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon butter or ghee
1/2 cup or 86g maize meal or sub fine white cornmeal

Method
In a medium pot, bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the butter or ghee until melted.


While continuously whisking to prevent lumps from forming, gradually pour in the maize meal. 


Once all the maize meal is added, keep whisking until it's too thick to whisk. 


At this point, switch to a wooden spoon or silicone spatula and stir the ugali, using the utensil to break up any lumps against the side of the pot as needed. I didn’t have any lumps because, despite quick pauses to take photos, I did whisk prodigiously! 


Continue to cook until the ugali forms a film along the bottom and sides of the pan and is firm enough to hold its shape, 4 to 5 minutes. The texture should be much thicker than polenta or grits and the ugali should hold its shape when pressed with the spoon. 


Use the spoon to smooth it into an even layer and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and run a small silicone spatula or butter knife along the sides of the pot to loosen the ugali. 


Hold a plate flush to the pot, then invert the ugali onto the plate. The ugali should easily release from the pot onto the plate. If it doesn’t easily release, return it to the stove top and continue to cook for another minute or so. 


Once flipped out, keep it covered with the pot or a bowl until ready to serve, up to 20 minutes.


Cut the ugali into wedges.


I didn’t have any grilled meat but I did have a lovely heirloom tomato, onion and some fresh cilantro, so we ate our ugali with the traditional salad I mentioned above.

Food Lust People Love: A staple and traditional dish from Kenya, ugali is a savory maize meal porridge cooked as one would grits but served quite firm and cut into portions.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 21st edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter U. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the U recipes below:

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.



Pin this Ugali – Savory Maize Meal Porridge!Food Lust People Love: A staple and traditional dish from Kenya, ugali is a savory maize meal porridge cooked as one would grits but served quite firm and cut into portions.


.
Posted by at 3:00:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Scallop Roe Bottarga

Scallop roe bottarga is a condiment made with fresh roe, lots of salt and time. It’s wonderful grated on almost anything, adding a lovely briny flavor.

Food Lust People Love: Scallop roe bottarga is a condiment made with fresh roe, lots of salt and time. It’s wonderful grated on almost anything, adding a lovely briny flavor.

I’ve got to admit that while I love fresh scallops and we buy them from time to time when we are here in the Channel Islands, I’m not really a fan of the roe. I’ve tried cooking it with the scallops but even a bunch of garlic can’t help me get over the texture. They’re just kinda spongy. 

So every time I take them off and discard them, I feel bad. The ones here are so plump and pretty - such a vibrant orange! - that it seems a shame to waste them. A couple of years ago, I was in Phoenicia supermarket in Houston with its great deli counter and stacked shelves of tasty imported goods when I came across bottarga. I had never heard of it before. 

I looked it up when I got home. Bottarga is the salted, cured, dried pouch of fish roe, most commonly from the grey mullet or bluefin tuna. According to my search, it’s an ancient delicacy dating back to Phoenician and Egyptian times, and it remains a staple in Mediterranean cooking, especially in Italy, Sardinia, and Greece.

Well, the small piece of bottarga in the deli section of Phoenicia was quite expensive for something I’d just like to try, so I left it behind but, when faced with throwing out yet more scallop roe, I remembered and it occurred to me that roe is roe, after all, and maybe I could make my own bottarga. 

Turns out I’m not the first person to have this idea because I came across a few recipes/instructions for salting and curing scallop roe and I decided to give it a try. Took me two attempts to get the timings right but I was very pleased with the end result. 

Scallop Roe Bottarga

Avoid cooking or heating bottarga directly, instead, add it as a finishing touch to hot dishes. My recipe is adapted from one on Peckham Kitchen. 

Ingredients
Trimmed scallop roe
Sea salt
Time
Patience!

Method
Soak the roe for 24 hours in a 10% salt solution, i.e. 10g salt for every 100ml cold water, in the refrigerator. 


The next day, remove the roe from the salt water, drain and pat dry with paper towels. 


On a deep plate or shallow bowl where the roe will fit in a single layer, pour sea salt flakes to create a flat, even bed for the roe. Place the roe on top in one layer. Cover the roe with more salt. Place the plate in the refrigerator.


After 24 hours, remove the roe from the salt. Gently brush away any salt that has stuck to it. Mine was completely wet and the salt dissolved both times I made this. I tipped the bowl for this photos so you can see the liquid pooled on the side, if you squint just right. 


Pat the roe dry. Rinse the plate, discarding the salt and any liquid that has collected. 

Wash and dry the plate and cover it with fresh salt. Add the roe and cover it with salt as well. Return the plate to the refrigerator.  


Repeat this process for several days after which time the roes should have firmed up. The first time I made scallop roe bottarga, I did this for four days and determined that a whole week would result in firmer roe. So that’s what I did the second time. 

The traditional method to dry the roe further so it can be grated, is to place it in a single layer of cheesecloth and hang in a cool dry place for 10 to 15 days. This would no doubt work if you have a cool, dry place. Summertime on an island was not ideal. 

I chose a more modern method which is what I recommend if you have access to a dehydrator. Dehydrate the roe, covered in whatever salt is still stuck to them, at 122°F or 50°C for 48 hours. The first batch, with its shorter salting time, needed longer to dry out.

I store mine, still covered in its light layer of salt, in a glass container in the refrigerator, brushing off all of the salt well when I want to grate some. It keeps for ages like that. 

Using a sharp grater, like a microplane, you can sprinkle bottarga on anything that needs a little saltiness – where you might add Parmesan, perhaps - with the added bonus of a delightful briny, marine flavor. It’s magical on buttered pasta! Or scrambled eggs. Or risotto.

Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: Scallop roe bottarga is a condiment made with fresh roe, lots of salt and time. It’s wonderful grated on almost anything, adding a lovely briny flavor.

I grated the one I'd rubbed free of salt for these photos. Isn't the color marvelous! Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 19th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter S. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the S recipes below:




Pin this Scallop Roe Bottarga!

Food Lust People Love: Scallop roe bottarga is a condiment made with fresh roe, lots of salt and time. It’s wonderful grated on almost anything, adding a lovely briny flavor.

.
Posted by at 12:00:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Roasted Stuffed Chicken Parcels

These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy. 

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

A couple of years back, I popped into my nearby Island butcher just to see what was fresh and on special. I ended up buying a few of his lovely meaty pork sausages but something else in the display case caught my eye.

I had to lean in for a closer look and to read the price label because I had never seen anything quite like it before. Turned out to be stuffed chicken parcels, looking pretty much like the ones I’ve made here. No idea what their stuffing was like because I didn’t buy any but they were so cute that I knew I had to give them a try myself. 

Roasted Stuffed Chicken Parcels

I stuffed mine with half of my classic buttery bread dressing recipe, which I’ve shared the method for again here. If you need photos of the process, you can find those by clicking here. Use the ingredient amounts given below though which are perfect for stuffing about five chicken thighs. 

Ingredients
For the stuffing:
1/2 loaf quality sandwich bread with soft crusts (about 10 oz or 280g)
1/4 cup or 57g butter
1 onion, diced
2 slim stalks celery, de-stringed and diced finely
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup or 120ml chicken stock (made from stock cube is fine!)
1 tablespoon salt-free poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the chicken: 
5 chicken thighs, deboned, skin on
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, optional
trussing string

Olive oil for the roasting pan

Method
For photos of the stuffing method, click here.
Cube the bread and put it in a large mixing bowl.

Put the butter in a large pan with the chopped onion and celery.

Melt the butter over medium heat and cook until the onions and celery are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add a good pinch of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, along with the cayenne and poultry seasoning.

Pour the buttery celery and onions over the bread cubes in the mixing bowl. Use two spoons like salad tongs to toss and combine.

Sprinkle on the parsley. Add the stock and toss again to combine.

Check for seasoning and stir in more salt and pepper as needed. Depending on the saltiness of your stock, you might not need much (or any) salt.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Note: I found it impossible to find boneless chicken thighs with the skin still on here so I had to debone them myself. If you find yourself in the same position, you need a sharp knife, but it’s easy. Click here to find deboning thigh instructions on Serious Eats. Do not remove the skin! 

Lay the chicken thighs out skin side down. Season them with a sprinkling of salt, black pepper and cayenne, if using. Divide the stuffing between the thighs.


Fold the chicken thigh meat and skin over to enclose the stuffing. Turn the parcels over and secure with trussing string. 


Drizzle a little olive oil in your roasting pan and tuck the parcels in. Season the outside with a sprinkle of salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Add a sprinkle of cayenne, if desired. 


Roast in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the skin is a lovely golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. 

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

Remove the trussing string and serve hot. 

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

Welcome to the 18th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter R. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the R recipes below:


To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.



Pin these Roasted Stuffed Chicken Parcels!

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

.

Posted by at 12:00:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies

These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed. 

Food Lust People Love: These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed.

Growing up in Houston, the only sugar we would ever buy was refined from pure cane syrup about 10 miles from my childhood home in a little town called, appropriately, Sugar Land. (The two-word name is one way we separate Texas transplants from locals, as newcomers tend to want to write it, Sugarland. It’s an amusing test.) 

Starting with a single sugar mill back in 1843 and then incorporated in 1905, Imperial Sugar is still my sugar of choice for all the varieties but nowadays it’s no longer a family enterprise. It is run as a subsidiary of United States Sugar Corporation. Thankfully, quality remains high though.

Over the years, Imperial Sugar produced many cookbooks, often in collaboration with the Parent-Teacher Association of Sugar Land as fundraisers. The 48-page promotional cookbook - A Bag Full of Recipes, 1930 edition - this recipe was adapted from was one of those, featuring classic household recipes and baking tips. 

Icebox cookies were a homemaker's ace-in-the-hole for unexpected guests! Kept chilled, they could be baked at a moment's notice. These days, we can freeze the dough and keep it fresh even longer. 

All of the Imperial Sugar vintage cookbooks are available for download on the Imperial Sugar website here: https://imperialsugar.com/vintage-cookbooks/ Such a motherload of vintage recipes! 

Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies

It is essential that you roll, wrap and chill this dough for at least three hours before slicing to bake the cookies, because they will spread out. The dough can be frozen, well-wrapped, for a couple of months. This makes about 3-4 dozen 2-inch cookies, depending on your slicing. 

Ingredients
½ cup or 60g chopped pecans 
½ cup or 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature 
¾ cup, tightly packed, or 150g dark brown sugar 
1 large egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 ¼ cups or 156g flour 
½ teaspoon fine sea salt 
¼ teaspoon baking soda 

Optional for decoration: pecan halves

For wrapping the dough:
Baking parchment or waxed paper

Method
Place the chopped pecans in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. 


Add the butter and brown sugar and pulse to combine. 


Add the egg and vanilla and pulse until combined. 


In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda. 


Turn the flour mixture into the food processor and pulse until smooth. 


Tear off a sheet of waxed or parchment paper about 15 inches long. Spoon the dough onto the paper and roll into a log about 15 inches or 38cm long. 


Wrap the dough up and chill for at least three hours or preferably overnight. (You can also store the log in the freezer in a zipper-top bag for up to 3 months.) 


When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375ºF or 190°C, with a rack in the middle. 

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it back and forth on the counter until it is about 1½ inches in diameter. Mine was a challenge to roll into a neat round tube. Is my fridge too cold? Who knows! I just wish I had rolled it more round before chilling! You should. 

Slice the dough roll into circles just under 1cm or ½ inch thick.


Arrange them on a silicone- or parchment-lined baking pan, at least 1 inch or 2cm apart.


If desired, press a pecan half into each round. I like to do this because 1. If someone has a nut allergy, it’s an immediate red flag that says: Do NOT eat, and 2. They are prettier with a pecan on top! 


Bake, one pan at a time, until the cookies are golden brown and crispy around the edges, about 8 minutes. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 


Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the pans between batches. Alternatively, as mentioned above, it can be frozen, well-wrapped, for a few months. Slice and bake at will! 

Store the cookies for up to a week in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed.

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing cookie recipes, just ‘cause we want to. Because who doesn’t want more cookie recipes? Exactly no one. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below. 

 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.



Pin these Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies!

Food Lust People Love: These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed.

 .
Posted by at 12:00:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Marinated Apéro Olives

A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.

Food Lust People Love: A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.

If you read my post from last Sunday, you saw the inspiration for this recipe in the photo of our shopping when we were in France last month. My husband chose some mixed marinated olives at a local market because when you are in France, you have to have l’apéro, short for l'apéritif - an aperitif, a drink that is meant to spark the appetite - in the evening. 

L'apéro is a daily tradition there and includes getting together for drinks and nibbles with friends and family to unwind at the end of each day, usually taking place between 5-7 p.m. The supermarkets all have generous sections devoted to l’apéro, with cold cuts, sausages, crackers, cheese cubes, olives, pickles and other snacky food. One of my favorite areas of some of the best supermarkets in the world.

Marinated Apéro Olives

I’ve given the amounts of olives I used for this below but you can certainly mix and match more than one type of green and black olives. Use your favorites. My one strong recommendation is to use unpitted olives. They always taste better than already pitted ones. Simply set out a small bowl for the discarded pits when serving.

Ingredients 
1 lb or 450g good quality unpitted green olives 
8 oz or 225g good quality unpitted black olives
2-3 small chili peppers
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lemon
1 large chili pepper
½ cup or 120ml good quality extra virgin olive oil


Method
Mince the garlic and the small chili peppers and put them in a bowl that will be large enough for all of the olives.


With a sharp knife, pare the zest off of the lemon, taking care to leave the white pith behind as best you can.


Add it to the bowl. Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze the juice from lemon halves into the bowl.


Strip the leaves off of the rosemary and thyme. Chop them roughly.


Slice the large chili pepper and add it to the bowl along with the herbs. Give it all a good stir.


Gently warm the olive oil to about 100°F or 38°C. Pour it in the bowl and leave to infuse and cool for a few minutes. 


Add in the olives and give the whole thing a good stir. 

Leave to marinate for an hour or two unrefrigerated, then store in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 weeks. I put mine in a container and tossed it around to mix again the next couple of days, when I thought about it. 

Food Lust People Love: A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.

Best served at room temperature with drinks of your choice! L'apéro at home! 

Food Lust People Love: A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 15th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter O. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the O recipes below:


To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.




Pin these Marinated Apéro Olives!Food Lust People Love: A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.


.
Posted by at 12:00:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )