Aqua's Kitchen: July 2013

I know I haven't blogged in a long time... that's because I haven't really cooked anything. It's a very weird period in my life right now, but in due time everything will be fine :) .

So anyway, I've been missing my grandma a lot lately and craving everything she used to make for me as a kid. My grandma raised me and pretty much cooked all of my meals when I was growing up. One of my all time childhood favorites is called Apiti (sp?). She made it for me all the time, it literally is a piece of heaven. It's pretty much steamed plantain pudding made from a mixture of very ripe plantains, cornmeal, onions, peppers and other spices. Unfortunately, I never wrote down the recipe and my mom doesn't know how to make it either, so I decided to make it completely from memory. To my delightful surprise, the apiti turned out almost exactly like my grandma's, I think the only thing that was missing was my grandma's love. Hope you love this recipe as much as I do. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

6 very ripe plantains (The skin should be black - but not moldy -and the flesh should be soft/mushy to
the touch. You may need to keep it for a few more days after you buy it)
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (I like the grainy texture of stone ground cornmeal)
1/2 red bell pepper
8 scotch bonnet pepper (use more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
1 medium red onion
1/4 cup of dried ground crayfish
1/4 cup of heated palm oil
2 bouillon cubes (I use African knorr cubes)
Dash of salt
Foil paper/mini foil trays

DIRECTIONS

Peel the plantain.

In a large bowl, mash the plantain with a masher or a wooden spoon. It should be really easy to do because the plantain should be very soft and super mushy. ...dont use a blender/food processor for the plantain because it turns into a runny paste. you want a little bit of chunk in it.

Add the crushed bouillon cubes to the mashed plantain

Using a blender/food processor, grind bell pepper, scotch bonnet pepper, onion, crayfish.

Add blended mixture to the plantain and mash/stir

Add 3/4 cup of yellow cornmeal to the mixture and stir/mash

Heat the palm oil on the stove for about 4mins. Pour the heated palm oil into the plantain mixture. As you pour, you should hear it sizzle. Add a dash of salt, stir it all together.

Allow the mixture to rest for about 10-15 minutes. Then pour into individual foil pouches. You can also use mini foil trays. Fill the pouch about a 3rd of the way. (instructions on how to make a foil pouch are at the bottom of the page).

Seal the pouch and place in a pot filled a tenth filled with water.The water is the source of the steam. I place a steam tray at the bottom of the pot to make sure water doesn't touch the foil pouches.

Allow to steam for about 45minutes. Keep an eye on it, because you may need to add more water to the pot.

You know it's done when the content of the pouch is firm to the touch. Remove from heat and allow to rest for about 10 minutes. unwrap the package and transfer the deliciousness :) to a plate/dish.