Macon Magazine

50 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 African Street Bites Puff Puff Recipe Prep Time: 10 minutes Rising Time: 1hour Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 1.5 hours Ingredients for a serving of about 20 balls 1 cup warm milk ½ tsp. nutmeg ¼ cup granulated sugar 2½ tsp. instant dry yeast 1 cup warm water ½ tsp. salt Clear cooking oil of choice Instructions 1. Pour water and milk into a large mixing bowl, add sugar and yeast, and mix well using a spatula until it dissolves. Leave to sit for 5 minutes. 2. Add flour, salt, and nutmeg, and mix together very well until the mixture becomes soft and stretchy. Cover with a plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel, and leave unbothered for 1 hour until the dough rises and doubles in volume. 3. Pour clear cooking oil into a large pot and allow to heat up over medium heat. Drop a little batter in the oil. If it takes a little time to get to golden brown in color, this means the oil temperature is just right for frying. 4. Continue to drop golf-ball sized batter into the hot oil and cook until golden brown. Leave enough room between balls to fry without getting stuck together, and keep turning them over during frying. Ensure frying oil is at least 3-4 inches deep so dough can float easily and form beautiful round shapes. Also, turn down/off heat each time you are frying new batch and turn back on when new batch comes in so it cooks evenly. 5. When puff puff is ready and at desired shade of brown, remove from oil and transfer to a prepared plate lined with a paper towel for excess oil to be absorbed. 6. Serve warm with a sprinkle of granulated sugar as garnishment. On August 18, 2024, Restored Roots is hosting an educational event called "The Jubilee" at Emerson at Plum and Fall Line Brewing Co. Through cooking demos, tastings, and a visual art exhibition, the event aims to share the stories, techniques, and ancestral ingredients that underpin authentic African, Caribbean, Afro-Cuban, Gullah-Geechee, and more African American traditions like Southern soul food. With an eye toward food justice, there will be nutrition workshops and an outdoor market featuring the produce of local growers. Tickets will be available later this spring. Email rodney.mason@ vitalfoodexchange.com for details. How to make Igbo/Naija bitter leaf/ olugbu soup By Lizzie Ndubuisi Ingredients: Assorted meats, dried fish, crawfish, kpomo or dried cow skin, stock-fish Salt Peppers, Maggie, or knorr Egusi/melon seed Achi or thickener Cut bitter leaf or any vegetable of your choice. Preparation 1. Steam together assorted meats and fish, stock fish, and other fish together in a pot with a little salt and pepper, plus spices, until soft. 2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of red palm oil to a skillet; warm the oil on a medium flame for 3 minutes; add ground egusi/melon seed to the oil and simmer for 8 minutes. 3. Add the steamed assorted meats to the skillet/ pot. Add other ingredients/flavor of your choice: peppers, Maggie, and the olugbu leaf to simmer for 5 minutes on a medium flame. You may consume the soup with farina, yam or potatoes. BELOW Okro soup. Photo courtesy of African Street Bites.

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