Recipe of the day: Chicken, jollof rice and fried plantain

Make your midweek dinner meal exciting and creative by preparing this West African favourite of chicken, jollof rice and fried plantain for yourself and your loved ones.

If you are not in the mood for chicken tonight, then you can replace it with any other protein dish

Chicken, jollof rice and fried plantain

Roast chicken

Ingredients

• 8 pieces of chicken
• 3 tablespoons of butter, melted
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¾ teaspoon of salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• ½ teaspoon of dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning, or you can also use fresh ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 232˚C.
2. Remove giblets from inside of the chicken’s cavity.
3. Thoroughly dry the chicken with paper towels.
4. Place chicken, breast side UP, on a rack set over a shallow roasting pan or jelly roll pan.
5. Brush chicken with melted butter.
6. Sprinkle or rub minced garlic all over chicken.
7. In a small bowl combine salt, basil, thyme, and lemon pepper; rub onto the chicken.
8. Add some salt to the inside of the cavity and fill the cavity with lemon slices, rosemary, and garlic cloves.
9. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck the wings under the body of the chicken.
10. Roast, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 180˚C and continue to cook until done; about 1 more hour and 10 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and baste the chicken with the juices.
13. Let rest for about 15 to 20 minutes before cutting.

This recipe was found on diethood.com

Jollof rice

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup of oil
• 6 medium-sized fresh plum/Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 6 fresh, red poblano peppers, seeds discarded
• 3 medium-sized red onions (1 sliced thinly, 2 roughly chopped), divided
• ½ to 1 hot pepper, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 5 to 6 cups of stock or water, divided
• 2 teaspoons of unsalted butter, divided
• 4 cups of uncooked converted long-grain rice or golden sella basmati, rinsed
• Salt, to taste
• Black and white pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. In a blender, combine tomatoes, red poblano (or bell) peppers, chopped onions, and Scotch bonnets with 2 cups of stock, blend till smooth, about a minute or two. You should have roughly 6 cups of blended mix. Pour into a large pot/ pan and bring to the boil then turn down and let simmer, covered for 10-12 minutes
2. In a large pan, heat oil and add the sliced onions. Season with a pinch of salt, stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the bay leaves, curry powder and dried thyme and a pinch of black pepper for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Then add the tomato paste – stir for another 2 minutes. Add the reduced tomato-pepper-Scotch bonnet mixture, stir, and set on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes till reduced by half, with the lid on. This is the stew that will define the pot.
3. Add 4 cups of the stock to the cooked tomato sauce and bring it to boil for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the rinsed rice and butter, stir, cover with a double piece of foil/baking or parchment paper and put a lid on the pan – this will seal in the steam and lock in the flavour. Turn down the heat and cook on low for 30 minutes.
5. Stir rice – taste and adjust as required.
6. If you like, add sliced onions, fresh tomatoes and the second teaspoon of butter and stir through.

This recipe was found on food52.com

Plantain

Ingredients

• 2 ripe plantains
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil, for frying
• Sea salt, optional

Instructions

1. Peel plantains by cutting off both ends, and cutting a slit down the side of each plantain.
2. Remove the plantain peel by peeling it side to side rather than lengthwise. It will come off in sections. You may need to use the knife at the edge of each section to help loosen it from the flesh.
3. Cut the peeled plantains into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Diagonally is preferred because it provides a larger surface for caramelisation; it can be cut straight across into rounds.
4. Drizzle just enough oil into a nonstick skillet to coat the bottom of the pan, and place it on medium heat.
5. When the oil begins to shimmer, but not smoke, add plantains (work in batches). Fry for 1½ minutes on one side, flip and cook for 1 minute on the other side.
6. Remove plantains from the pan and drain on paper towels.
7. Continue frying in batches until all the plantains are fried.
8. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt to give a sweet and salty taste to your fried ripe plantains.
9. Serve and enjoy.

This recipe was found on thespruceeats.com