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I'll be the first to admit that this might be cultural appropriation at its finest, as I'm not African-American, but I just like making recipes based on holidays from various cultures. This is just a stew inspired by the holiday Kwanzaa. Stew isn't typically served on this holiday, though all the ingredients in this particular recipe are, save for the peanut butter, but I only added that in because many African recipes use it. Also, the red, Jade pearl(green), and black rices only represent the Pan-African colors. Kwanzaa is a holiday celebrated by many African-Americans that it's seven days long and today is day 5. Each day has a principle(a Swahili word) like cooperative economics and collective work & responsibility. To me, collard greens smell like broccoli, though they don't taste that way. They have a spinach-like texture to it. This stew has a kick to it thanks to the cayenne pepper, the moderately spicy Hoppin' John, and the ginger beer. The rices were indistinguishable from one another in terms of taste. All I know was that I was putting rice in my mouth. Nonalcoholic ginger beer is surprisingly cheap, it only cost 99 cents a bottle. The stew was pretty spicy and that's part of the reason why my dad didn't try it. HELPFUL LINKS: Black rice: shop.lotusfoods.com/Organic-Forbidden-Rice/p/LOT-10260&c=LotusFoods@Organic Jade Pearl rice: shop.lotusfoods.com/Organic-Jade-Pearl-Rice/p/LOT-00360&c=LotusFoods@Organic Red rice: shop.lotusfoods.com/Organic-Red-Rice/p/LOT-001609&c=LotusFoods@Organic You will need: For the cooking equipment: A large saucepot with lid For the stew: 12 oz. nonalcoholic ginger beer 14 oz. stew or broth(I used bison broth) 3/4 cup cooked black rice(see HELPFUL LINKS) 3/4 cup cooked Jade pearl rice(see HELPFUL LINKS) 3/4 cup cooked red rice(see HELPFUL LINKS) 3/4 cup canned yams 3/4 cup canned collard greens 1/4 cup canned Hoppin' John(a mixture of tomatoes, black eyed peas, onions, and jalapeños) 1 tbsp. peanut butter Pinch of black pepper Pinch of cayenne pepper Serve with garlic bread or wonton strips(optional) 1. Put the first 5 ingredients into the large saucepot. Drain the canned yams and collard greens before putting them into the saucepot. 2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the large saucepot and mix all the ingredients up. 3. Bring the stew to a boil on the stove. Once the stew is boiling, put the cover on it and reduce the heat to a simmer. 4. Let the stew simmer for 45 minutes. Serve with garlic bread or wonton strips(optional).
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Last April, Starbucks had a limited edition Frappuccino called the Unicorn Frappuccino. We all know unicorns are mythical creatures but there is one real-life creature that's the closest thing you can get to a real-life unicorn: the eland, an antelope with two horns that look like a unicorn's horn(straight and at an angle) found in Africa. So I made a unicorn meatloaf using eland. Don't be fooled by this item on Amazon called "Unicorn Meat"- it's just a gag item. You can find eland testicles, liver, kidneys, stew meat, sausage, and steaks online but not ground eland. However, there is a way of turning meat into something that can be crumbled up to make a meatloaf- by slow cooking it for 8-10 hours on low. This is the first time I ever used a slow cooker, though I remember my mom having one of those when I was a kid. This meatloaf has all the components of a Unicorn Frappuccino and the closest thing to a real-life unicorn, the eland! So what does eland taste like? It tastes like slightly dry, slightly sweet beef, pretty much. The components of a Unicorn Frappuccino are sweet and sour(not to be confused with sweet and sour sauce). This meatloaf tasted sour, sweet, and savory- a very interesting combination indeed. My dad doesn't trust meat that comes from outside the US, so he didn't try this meatloaf. Plus he was repulsed by the idea of eating a unicorn, even if it's just an African antelope with two horns. HELPFUL LINKS: Eland Stew Meat: www.exoticmeatmarkets.com/Eland-Stew-Meat-1-Lb-p/elandstewmeat16oz.htm Pink Pearl Dust: www.amazon.com/Wilton-Orchid-Supplies-Pink-Pearl/dp/B000PWKL52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514229419&sr=8-1& Blue Pearl Dust: www.amazon.com/Wilton-Pearl-Sapphire-Blue-0-05-Ounce/dp/B00170ZKJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514229432&sr=8-1& You will need: For the cooking equipment: A large bowl A frying pan Spatula A crockpot A slotted spoon A large plate 2 small bowls A lasagna pan Nonstick cooking spray For slow-cooking the unicorn(eland) meat: 1 lb. eland stew meat(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour Olive oil for searing the meat Any vegetables(i used baby carrots) 1/2 tbsp. minced garlic Enough water to fill a crockpot halfway(I used 5-6 cups) Pinch of salt Pinch of black pepper Pinch of onion powder Pinch of coriander Pinch of paprika Pinch of dill weed For the blue syrup: 1/2 tbsp. hot water 1/2 tsp. blue raspberry lemonade Kool-Aid powder 1/4 cup white chocolate candy melts For the meatloaf: 2/3 tbsp. onion powder 2 beaten and whisked eggs The blue syrup 1 packet pink lemonade powder 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tbsp. grenadine syrup 1 tbsp. mango juice or mango syrup(I used the former of the two) 1 cup's worth of crumbled Unicorn Popcorn Bread(see this post for recipe) The slow-cooked eland meat 1/4 tsp. pink pearl dust(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1/4 tsp. blue pearl dust(see HELPFUL LINKS) To slow-cook the unicorn(eland) meat: 1. In a large bowl, coat the stew meat with the flour. 2. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and spread it throughout the pan. Heat the oil up. 3. Once the oil is heated up, put the floured meat into the pan and sear the meat by browning the outside of it(doesn't have to be fully cooked at this point). It helps to use a spatula to move the stew meat throughout the pan to ensure all of it is seared. 4. Put the seared meat and the rest of the ingredients needed to slow-cook the meat into a crockpot. Mix all the ingredients up. 5. Put the lid on the crockpot, set it on low, and slow cook everything for 8-10 hours. 6. After 8-10 hours, turn the crockpot off, retrieve the meat with a slotted spoon, and place the meat onto a large plate. Discard the rest of the crockpot ingredients. To make the syrup: 1. In a small bowl, mix the blue raspberry lemonade powder and hot water until the powder has dissolved into the water. In a second small bowl, place the candy melts and melt the chocolate in the microwave for 40 seconds, or until fully melted. 2. Pour the blue raspberry lemonade mixture into the melted and chocolate and mix thoroughly until you get a light blue mixture. To make the meatloaf: 1. Put the first 8 meatloaf ingredients into a large bowl. 2. Crumble the slow-cooked meat into a pulled pork consistency using 2 forks. Place the crumbled meat into the large bowl. 3. Mix all the ingredients up until you get a firm meatloaf mixture. 4. Spray a lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray. Form 2 loaves from the meatloaf mixture. 5. Bake the meatloaves in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20-30 minutes. 6. Take the pan out of the oven. Sprinkle pink pearl dust on one meatloaf and blue pearl dust on the other. The only reason I made this bread was because unicorn cereal doesn't arrive in US stores until March and I needed a binder to hold my unicorn meatloaf for an upcoming video together. You see, popcorn is a terrible binder and I haven't tried using just ground popcorn, so I don't know how that would turn out. So I turned the popcorn into a bread, which always makes for a great meatloaf binder. When I searched for unicorn bread recipes, I only found yeast-based ones, which take hours. However, when I searched for popcorn bread recipes, I found this one and I omitted the cheese part of it. This bread tasted like cornbread, with a hint of blue specks, marshmallows, and the taste of Lucky Charms cereal and you can't go wrong with that! My dad loved this bread. He said it was damn good. Now that's a seal of approval! HELPFUL LINK: Unicorn Popcorn: www.amazon.com/Damn-Good-Popcorns-Popcorn-Marshmallows/dp/B0763DM2PN/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1514060035&sr=8-3& Just copy and paste that link because Weebly is being a bitch to me when I link it from this page! You will need: For the cooking equipment: A blender or food processor A large bowl A small bowl A 9 x 13 inch loaf pan Nonstick cooking spray A baking tray For the bread: 4 cups unicorn popcorn(see HELPFUL LINK) 1 cup yellow cornmeal 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tbsp. granulated sugar 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 egg 1 cup milk 1/4 cup olive oil 1. Put the popcorn into a blender or food processor and grind it until it's finely ground. Pour the finely ground popcorn into a large bowl, along with the next 4 ingredients. Combine all these dry ingredients. 2. Beat and whisk 1 egg in a small bowl and combine with the milk and oil. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and stir until you get a batter. 3. Spray the interior of a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and pour the batter into the loaf pan. 4. Put a baking tray in the oven. Then put the loaf pan on top of the tray. Bake in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the center of the loaf is fully cooked. Over the past year, whenever I was bored, I searched through the vast majority of the food entries on Wikipedia and came up with either meatloaf recipes or some other type of recipe based on that food item. I stumbled upon this food article that talked about the 12-Dish Christmas Eve Supper, which is the inspiration for this recipe. Now granted, some of the ingredients are merely parts of some of the dishes served like poppy seeds, which are usually turned into poppy seed milk. Personally, I don't like poppy seeds, so the best substitute is caraway seeds. Wheat berry cereal itself isn't traditionally served(they're in this traditional dessert known as kutia) but I couldn't find wheat berries other than in cereal form on Amazon. Bread of some sort is also served so the breadcrumbs represent the bread served. Other ingredients in this meatloaf I had to improvise, like the fish sticks. Fish sticks itself aren't traditionally served but the fish inside them is. I couldn't find any carp where I was, nor similar fish like pike, but I figured that it's technically possible to make carp fish sticks, hence the use of the fish sticks. Plus I had to take into account that eggs, milk, or meat aren't allowed in this type of supper because of the Nativity Fast, hence the use of applesauce in lieu of eggs and only using the cabbage in the cabbage rolls and not the beef inside. Of course, I forgot to take into account that cream sauce is technically dairy but other than that oversight, this meatloaf is like these 12 dishes in one meatloaf, kind of. You're going to love this meatloaf if you love herring, cabbage, and onions because that's pretty much what were the predominant flavors in this meatloaf, which looked like chopped liver or even cat food(!). My dad liked the meatloaf and this was his first time trying herring. That's pretty much all he had to say about that. HELPFUL LINKS: Cabbage rolls: www.amazon.com/Meal-Mart-Amazing-Stuffed-Cabbage/dp/B008M9ZFKG/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1513451078&sr=8-1& Fig compote: www.amazon.com/Mussini-Balsamic-Vinegar-Compote-Ounces/dp/B00BKLDDOI/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1513450682&sr=8-1& Wheat berry cereal: www.amazon.com/Uncle-Sam-Cereal-Original-Flaxseed/dp/B0078DQMH2/ref=sr_1_7_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1513450659&sr=8-7& You will need: For the cooking equipment: A large bowl Nonstick cooking spray A lasagna pan For the meatloaf: 2/3 tbsp. onion powder 2/3 cups unsweetened applesauce(in lieu of eggs) 4 oz. drained, canned Portabella mushrooms(dish #1) 3 cooked pierogies(dish #2) The cabbage from 2 cabbage rolls(dish #3)(see HELPFUL LINKS) 8 fish sticks(dish #4) 1/2 cup sauerkraut(dish #5) 1/4 cup fig compote(dish #6)(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1/4 cup borscht(dish #7) Pinch of poppy or caraway seeds(dish #8) Pinch of salt Pinch of black pepper 8 gingerbread men(dish #9) 1 cup wheat berry cereal(dish #10)(see HELPFUL LINKS) 16 oz. herring in cream sauce(dish #11) Plain breadcrumbs to hold the meatloaf together(dish #12) 1. Put the onion powder, applesauce, and mushrooms into a large bowl. Break apart the pierogies, cabbage from the cabbage rolls, and fish sticks into pieces and put the pieces into the bowl. 2. Add the sauerkraut, fig compote, borscht, poppy or caraway seeds, salt, and black pepper to the bowl. Crumble up the gingerbread men and put that into the bowl as well. 3. Put the wheat berry cereal into a Ziploc bag or food processor and crush up the cereal before putting it into the bowl, along with the herring. 4. Mix all the ingredients up until you get a firm meatloaf. You're going to need to add the breadcrumbs to the meatloaf mixture to get a loaf shape so add that to the mixture too. Mix again until you get a firm meatloaf mixture. 5. Spray a lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray. Form 2 loaves from the meatloaf mixture. 6. Bake the meatloaves in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes. My co-worker at my day job went on vacation in Florida and knowing I love eating insects, got me Crick-ettes and Larvets, which are seasoned crickets and worms, respectively that are found at tourist attractions for the sheer gross factor of eating bugs. But yes, these bugs are edible but most people try them just as a dare or to brag that they've eaten insects, not because they taste good. Well I think they taste good- as long as they're dipped in Korean BBQ sauce. At the time, I had an extra canned oven-bake tarantula, which is a thing, and i saw this video of these two guys eating disgusting fruitcake variations and I decided to make my own bug fruitcakes this Christmas. This recipe is perfect if you want to give this to someone you really, really don't like since, you know, fruitcakes are given to people that are hated by the gift giver, not because they taste good(side note: I love eating fruitcake). Why did I make mini bug fruitcakes? Well, for one, edible insects don't come cheap like more conventional protein sources do since no physical, IRL store carries them at the moment(save for those tourist traps that sell Larvets and Crick-ettes) and second, certain bugs don't stand well in the heat oven very well, like the big bugs(beetle, tarantula, and waterbug). The smaller bugs really shouldn't be baking for a long time either since they burn faster then other protein sources when cooked. Mini baked goods cook faster than regular-sized ones. But nevertheless, two of these bug fruitcakes are enough for a meal. These bug fruitcakes reminded me of a corn muffin or cornbread in the texture and consistency of it, with the extreme crunchiness and grass-like flavor from the bugs, which even I find a little off-putting. However, Korean BBQ sauce hides the grass-like flavor and pairs well with insects. The thing about the bigger edible insects is that they need to be consumed within a day of opening them, otherwise they'll go stale, as I learned when I ate the beetle two days after baking the bug fruitcakes. No, these bug fruitcakes won't last 100 years, maybe 4 days at the most and that's really pushing it. My dad kind of felt horrified watching me eat these insects, so it's no surprise he didn't try this recipe. Warning: These bugs I used have been cleaned, boiled and dehydrated and then seasoned with salt, so don't pick up any ordinary insects and use them in this recipe! HELPFUL LINKS: Larvets: hotlix.com/candy/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=97 Crick-ettes: hotlix.com/candy/index.php?route=product/product&path=96&product_id=103 Mixed bugs: www.bizarrefood.com/mixed-edible-insects-bugs Beetle and waterbug: www.bizarrefood.com/edible-insect-jungle-trial-mix?search=trial Tarantula: www.bizarrefood.com/canned-edible-tarantula-spider Makes 7 bug fruitcakes You will need: For the cooking equipment: A large bowl A 12-hole muffin tin 7 Muffin liners Nonstick cooking spray For the bug fruitcakes: 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup slivered almonds 5 oz. sweetened condensed milk 1 beaten and whisked egg 1/3 tsp. baking soda 2/3 cup crushed corn flakes 1.9 grams Larvets(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1 gram Crick-ettes(see HELPFUL LINKS) 15 grams mixed bugs (see HELPFUL LINKS) 4 prunes 1 oven-baked tarantula(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1 waterbug(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1 beetle(see HELPFUL LINKS) Korean BBQ sauce for dipping(highly recommended) 1. Mix the first 9 ingredients together in a large bowl until you get a batter. 2. Line the muffin tin with muffin liners and spray the liners with nonstick cooking spray. 3. Pour the batter 2/3 of the way in each liner. Top 4 of the 7 fruitcakes with a prune. 4. Bake the bug fruitcakes in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20-25 minutes. 5. Top one fruitcake with a tarantula, a second with a waterbug, and the last one with a beetle. Serve with Korean BBQ sauce(highly recommended). My birthday was 8 days ago so to celebrate, I made a stir-fry using the last of my 12-pack of birthday cake soda, with the protein source being cake batter-flavored egg whites. It's basically combining Chinese take-out and a birthday celebration, literally! This recipe has a lot of components, what with the rice, the sauce, the egg whites, and the veggies. But trust me, the effort will be all worth it in the end. The interesting thing is is that you don't taste any birthday-cake flavor in this stir-fry at all, save for the party cake bites on top. I chose jade rice for this recipe because it has a hint of vanilla flavor and a traditional birthday cake definitely has vanilla somewhere on it or in it. The rice is green when raw(hence the name Jade rice) but it looks like fried rice when cooked, which I found very intriguing. The party cake bites looked a lot like dumplings. Listen, dumplings take a lot of work to make from scratch and sure you can the frozen types at a supermarket, but using party cake bites is faster and it provides a sweetness to the stir-fry dumplings just can't match! On the same vein, you probably could use brownie bites in place of beef stew meat too... When it comes to stir-fry vegetables, there's one veggie I will never put in it nor place in my mouth and that's the bell peppers. They just taste bitter to me for some reason and when I see that ingredient listed for a frozen TV dinner I want to buy, I just won't buy it. However, if the dinner has jalapenos or some other sort of pepper, I'm game. My dad didn't know what to think of this stir-fry when he tried it. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing though. HELPFUL LINKS: Jade Rice: shop.lotusfoods.com/Organic-Jade-Pearl-Rice/p/LOT-00360&c=LotusFoods@Organic Birthday Cake Soda: www.jonessoda.com/collections/cane-sugar-soda/products/limited-edition-birthday-cake-soda-12-pk Cake Batter Egg Whites: www.muscleegg.com/products/liquid-egg-whites/cake-batter/9-single-serve-bottles-cake-batter/ You will need: For the cooking equipment: A large saucepot A medium saucepot A frying pan A spatula A medium bowl A large bowl For the rice: 1/2 cup raw Jade rice(see HELPFUL LINKS) 1/2 cup melted butter 3/4 cup birthday cake soda(see HELPFUL LINKS) 2 cups stock(I used turkey stock) Pinch of parsley or thyme Pinch of onion powder For the sauce: 3/4 cup birthday cake soda 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce 1/2 cup honey Pinch of garlic powder For everything else: Olive oil 6 oz. Cake batter egg whites(see HELPFUL LINKS) 15 oz. frozen stir-fry vegetables(I used sugar snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, and water chestnuts) Entemann's Party cake bites for garnish For the rice: 1. Put all the rice ingredients into a large saucepot and mix all the ingredients up. Bring the rice to a boil. 2. Once the rice is boiling, put a lid on the pot and make sure the steam valve is closed! Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the rice cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the liquid has dissolved. 3. Once all the liquid has dissolved, turn the stove off and move the pot to a cool burner with the lid on for 5 minutes to make sure the rice is fluffy. For the sauce: 1. Put all the sauce ingredients into a medium saucepot and mix all the ingredients up. Put the pot on the stove and put the flame on medium heat. Stir the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. 2. Once it's coated, turn the stove off and move the pot to a cool burner to let it cool. For everything else: 1. Pour olive oil into a frying pan, spread the oil around the pan, and heat the oil up on the stove. 2. Once the oil is heated up, pour the egg whites into the pan and scramble the egg whites until they're firm, stringy, and no longer liquidy. If you don't like stringy egg whites, then you can always bulk it up with some riced vegetables(ex. cauliflower). 3. Place the scrambled egg whites into a medium bowl. 4. Pour sesame seed oil into a clean frying pan, spread the oil around the pan, and heat the oil up. 5. Once the oil is heated up, put the frozen vegetables into the frying pan, in 3 batches. In each batch, stir-fry the veggies for 2-4 minutes until they're cooked. Place the cooked vegetables into a large bowl. 6. Top the vegetables with rice, then sauce, and then egg whites. Mix all the ingredients up. Top with party cake bites. I discovered the joys of potato milk by accident at my day job when a customer asked for a milk alternative that was grain-free, soy-free, and nut-free. I then thought to myself that it would be cool if you could make other types of potato milk like sweet potato milk or even purple potato milk. Sweet potato milk tastes starchy but it's creamy and only needs as much sweeteners as you'd like. It looks like orange juice though, which I found fascinating. Sweet potato pies are hard to come by where I'm from since they're more of a Southern dessert around the holiday season and I've never actually tried an actual one before. But that dessert in ice cream form with the milk being completely made from a sweet potato just makes it all extra, save for the fact you need a lot of elbow grease to scoop the ice cream out. That's a pain in the butt but at least the ice cream was delicious. Eat it quickly since it melts fast. My dad thought the ice cream tasted sour for some reason. But to be fair, by the time I recorded him trying it, his bit of ice cream was nearly melted. You will need: For the cooking equipment: A vegetable peeler A medium saucepot A measuring cup Blender Strainer A medium bowl A large bowl Aluminum foil Ice Cream Maker Ice cream tub For the sweet potato milk: 1 large sweet potato 3 cups of water(to start with) Pinch of salt Enough cold water to get 4 cups of water in total 1/4 cup slivered almonds(for calcium) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 tbsp. honey For the ice cream Sweet potato milk(see above) 4-5 ripe bananas 2 tbsp. granulated sugar Pumpkin or apple pie spice 1/4 cup graham cracker pieces Additional graham cracker pieces To make the milk: 1. Peel the sweet potato completely using a vegetable peeler. 2. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepot and then place the peeled sweet potato and salt into the boiling water. Cover the sweet potato with enough water to submerge it. This will stop the water from boiling so wait until it starts to boil again. Let the sweet potato boil for 20-30 minutes. It will be done when you can poke it easily with a fork. Lower the flame if the water starts to overflow! 3. Reserve the water the sweet potato has been boiling in and retrieve the sweet potato from the saucepot and into a large bowl. Rinse it off with cold water to cool it down. You can drain that water off. 4. Cut the sweet potato into pieces and discard any brown pieces. Rinse the pieces under cold water. 5. Pour the reserved water into a measuring cup and place the measuring cup in the fridge for 20 minutes to let it cool off. 6. Pour the reserved water into a blender and add enough cold water to get 4 cups' worth in the blender. Put the sweet potato pieces, slivered almonds, vanilla extract, and honey into the blender. Blend the mixture until all the of the sweet potato has been blended. 7. Strain the mixture in the blender through a strainer and into a large bowl. Now you got dairy-free milk made from 1 sweet potato! To make the ice cream: 1. Place the sweet potato milk into the blender. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas up with either your hands or a potato masher. 2. Place the mashed bananas into the blender, along with the sugar and pie spice. 3. Blend everything until you get nothing chunky left in the blender. 4. Pour that mixture into a large bowl and cover it with aluminum foil. Place it in the fridge overnight to let it chill. 5. Turn your ice cream maker on and only pour enough of the ice cream mixture to fill 80% of the churning bowl. You can drink the remaining liquid like a smoothie. 6. Churn the ice cream for 11 minutes. Then put in the graham cracker pieces. Let the ice cream churn an additional 3 minutes. 7. Turn the ice cream maker off and put half of the ice cream into an ice cream tub. Top that ice cream with additional graham cracker pieces and top those pieces with the remaining ice cream. 8. Put the lid on the cover and let the ice cream freeze overnight. |
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