International Cuisine - Nigeria

Good morning, readers! I have been neglecting you. I've been eating and cooking plenty, just nothing particularly interesting or difficult. Last week Nate went to Cancun for an Engineering conference (poor guy, right?) and I was kicking myself all week for not tagging along - and drowning my sorrows in veggie hot dogs and vegetable wraps. But he's home now and we're equally miserable we're not at the beach!


A few months ago Nate and I decided we wanted to explore new cuisines and take turns cooking for each other. In order to make this venture more fun, we chose to use a random-country-generator to select the country we'd be cooking from. Nate bit the bullet and chose first - Uruguay. He made gnocchi, which (fun fact) is Uruguayan! My randomly selected country was Nigeria and the following is the delicious menu I created and promptly devoured last night. These recipes I adapted from The Vegan Nigerian, her recipes are classic and vegan - both right up my alley for this meal.


International Cuisine - Nigeria

Meat(less) Pies

4 C flour
1 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, frozen and cubed
3 Tbsp vegetable shortening, frozen and cubed
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 C ice water, plus more if needed
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp water


2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 small Russet potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 lb Soy Crumbles (I used Quorn brand)
3 Tbsp frozen peas
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 Tsp curry powder
1 C water
2 Tbsp melted butter


Begin by making the dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, butter and vegetable shortening using a pastry cutter. Cut the fat into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in oil and ice water and mix until the dough forms a ball and sticks together. Form into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.


Next make filling. In a deep skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the onions and potatoes for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and crisp. Add in the veggie meat, carrots and peas. Saute the mixture for 10 minutes or until the carrots are vibrant and everything is heated through.


Season with salt, pepper, curry powder and vegetable bouillon cube. Toss in the water and cover to steam. Allow the mixture to steam for 5 minutes and uncover for 5 additional minutes to allow some of the water to evaporate. Make sure the bouillon cube is fully dissolved and evenly distributed.


Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and set aside.


After your dough has refrigerated for 30 minutes, cut the disc into 4 equal pieces and roll into circular shapes about 1/8 inch thick.


Spoon about 1/2 C filling onto half of the dough and fold over. I didn't always follow this step, making some of my pies more misshapen than others. Crimp the edge of your dough pieces with a fork to ensure they stick together.


Beat together egg with 1 Tbsp water and brush over the top of the pies. Bake pies for 15 minutes and brush tops with melted butter (I didn't do this, but I definitely should've! Mmmm butter...). Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.


The meat pie is a traditional Nigerian street food, while the original influence comes from the British, the flavors are all West African.


Plantain Fried Rice

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 plantain, diced
2 C cooked white rice (I used the boil-in-bag variety)
3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil


In a deep skillet (I used the same one I made the filling in), heat canola oil over medium-high eat. Toss in the onions and plantains and allow to crisp up and brown. I let mine go for about 15 minutes before I even tossed them for maximum caramelizing.


Add in cooked rice and season with soy sauce and sesame oil. Do a taste check for salt level (VERY IMPORTANT).


The Champman

2 C Sprite
2 C orange Fanta
2-4 dashes Angostura bitters
2 Tbsp grenadine
2 oz blood orange vodka (optional)


Fill 2 pint glasses with ice. Pour 1 oz blood orange vodka (if you're making this for the 21+ crowd) in the bottom of each pint glass and top with 1 C Sprite and 1 C orange Fanta in each glass. Add in 1-2 dashes of Angostura bitters in each glass and stir to combine. Using the back of a spoon positioned at the top of the glass, slowly pour in 1 Tbsp grenadine in each glass. The grenadine will slowly flow to the bottom, making a beautiful layered cocktail!


The story is this cocktail was invented by some bartender in Nigeria when a guy said "make whatever you want" but this refreshing punch is enjoyed at festivals and family gatherings alike!


This food was delicious and decadent! I cannot wait until our next culinary adventure to Japan (Nate's pick).


Happy eating!