Fancy a piece of ugali cake with your tea?

I doubt there is a Kenyan family that goes a week without taking ugali, (non-Kenyans call it stiff porridge or corn cake) a favourite in many households.

Some communities take it on a daily basis, only varying the stew that accompanies it. Some of you must have had left over ugali with your morning tea, but have you tried ugali cakes yet?

It would make an interesting change to bread, which is common on our breakfast tables. Here is what you need to make these special cakes:

Ingredients

Left over ugali

Wheat flour

Bread crumbs

Eggs

Oil

Seasoning (salt is enough)

Preparation

Cut your ugali into desired shapes (round or square)

Beat the eggs until fluffy and set aside

Coat the ugali with wheat flour and dust off excess flour

Deep in beaten eggs (sprinkle a bit of salt)

Seal your ugali chunks with bread crumbs

Deep fry the cakes until golden brown

Serve with tea.

Stewed sausages

How many ways can you enjoy a sausage? Most people take it as an accompaniment during breakfast or a side serving with chips, however, sausages can be part of a main meal. For instance, you can stew them and serve with ugali, rice, spaghetti, mashed potatoes or mukimo.

Ingredients:

Sausages (This will be determined by the number of people you will be serving). If making a meal for four, four sausages are enough.

Onions

Tomatoes

Tomato paste

Garlic and ginger paste (Optional)

Water

Preparation: (15 minutes)

inely chop onions, tomatoes and crush garlic and ginger to create a paste.

Fry the onions in a heavy pan until golden brown, but not crisp.

Add chopped tomatoes and let them simmer to a paste. Add tomato paste, garlic and ginger paste and a little water.

Allow the mixture to simmer until the sauce is thick and even in consistency.

Add pre-fried sausages whole or precut and let them simmer in the sauce for at least five minutes.

Your stew is ready to serve. Include steamed vegetables of your choice.

Do you really know how to fry sausages?

It is not rare to be served with shrunk, burnt or split sausages, even in reputable hotels. The secret to frying perfect sausages is in the amount of oil you use, and heat you apply.

If the oil is too hot, the sausages will cook on the outside and remain raw in the inside. Fry them in slightly heated oil to give them time to cook thoroughly.

Do not fry them in a light pan, since they will stick at the base and crack. Use a heavy based pan instead.

Do not fry frozen sausages, since they will not cook well. Defrost first in a microwave, but if you don’t have one, immerse in hot water or leave them in the open to thaw.

Shallow fried sausages cook slower and better than deep fried ones.

Always blot out excess oil before serving

Kitchen tips

If your dustbin stinks, dip a slice of bread in white vinegar and put it in the bin. Cover the bin overnight – come morning, it will smell as fresh as when you bought it.

To keep fruit flies away, fill a cup with vinegar and seal with cling film. Perforate the cling film and leave the mixture near the fruits. All the flies will be trapped in the cup. Leave the concoction until you finish up the fruits.