Suya ~West African Shish Kabobs~

First off I do apologise for the lousy photos. Really no excuse for that other that I was in a hurry and was lucky to catch any shots of the food at all. I am back at work and I'm getting back into the work schedule. It's hard not blogging or catching up as often as I would like to. Maranda and the kids at my school start back on Monday! I will try to squeeze a post in when I can.

I first saw these when Ozoz posted it on her blog Kitchen Butterfly now over there you'll always see stunning photos! I love her site, she puts such care and love into everything she makes. As you know I love trying foods from different regions and this was one from her home of Nigeria. I was excited to try it when I found some nice sliced sirloin, so this made it super easy, if you slice your own she had a great suggestion to putting the meat in the freezer a bit for easier slicing.

It seems the suya spice uses shelled and de-skinned (groundnuts) peanuts and is ground to a powder careful not to grind it into a paste. They even go to the point of removing as much oil as you can and spices a added to this, such as paprika, cayenne, ginger, garlic, onion. I had some fresh made natural peanut butter (I usually make my own but I found this one cheaper at my health food store). I t was fairly oily a lot oilier than my is so i thought I would use it in the marinade, since you add oil to it. I added a little macadamia nut oil to make it a thick cream consistency, actually I made it a little thicker.


Ingredients:
3 T or fresh-ground roast peanuts, or naturally ground peanut butter
1 tsp cayenne or chili pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 T fresh lime juice
1 lb meat (beef, chicken, lamb etc) cut into slices.
Of course the seasoning is adjustable to your taste, and you can use fresh ginger and garlic if you prefer. I love onion powder with my beef so I always stick with that, you can't go wrong there.

Mix all ingredients, add the meat, and coat well with the mixture, it easiest to just dig in and use your hands, marinate for at least 30 minutes, but try to go longer.

Thread the meat on skewers, place on a hot grill and cook until done.

It was raining and when Wade gets home later for dinner it's hard to time something out on the grill... So again I took the easy way out and just baked it in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Yeah I know...but you get the idea right? By the time I remembered to take a photo it was already in the oven so I opened the oven door to snap a click, I was afraid the lens was going to steam up! That's some cauliflower that I threw in the mix to roast along side it.

These West African shish kebabs are popular all over Nigeria, and are often served with red onions and tomatoes.

I had caramelized parsnips, roasted cauliflower and a salad with mine.
Maranda didn't think it sounded very good with peanut butter in it, but she did try it and loved it. The peanut taste didn't overpower it at all. I even added some ground peanuts to give it a little more chunks...I guess it would be like "chunky" peanut butter. It was really good. I just wish I made more so I could use some leftovers for lunch! I will definitely be making this again, but on the grill!