KWANZAA PRINCIPLES DAY-1

The Principles

1st Kwanzaa Principle: Umoja or Unity
Health Principle: Recognize the unity of your body, mind and spirit.


OXTAIL STEW

INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 cubes beef bouillon
10 cups water
6 whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup oil
3 pounds beef oxtail
1 large onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup cornstarch dissolved in ½ cup water


DIRECTIONS
1. Place celery, garlic, tomato paste, bouillon cubes, and water into a large Dutch oven; stir until the tomato paste has dissolved. Add peppercorns and bay leaves, place over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oxtail and cook until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove oxtail from hot oil and place into Dutch oven. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the skillet, reduce heat to medium, and cook the onion until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes; add to oxtail.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper, recover, and continue to cook until the oxtail is tender, but not falling off of the bone, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove oxtail pieces and place into a serving dish. Dutch oven and return to a simmer. Thicken with cornstarch dissolved in water, simmer for 1 minute until thickened and clear. Pour sauce over the oxtail.

Note
Oxtail should be ready when a knife slices easily through the meat. It should not be overcooked otherwise it will fall off the bones and go stringy - and if not cooked long enough it will not come off the bones easily enough. I normally find 4 hours cooking is just perfect.

SWEET POTATO PIE

SWEET POTATO PIE
Ingredients:
3 - Frozen Unbaked 8” Or 9” Single Crust Pie Shells
4 - Pounds Uncooked And Unpeeled Sweet Potatoes
1/2 - Cup (1 Stick) Butter
2 - Cups Sugar
3 - Large Eggs
2 - Cups *Evaporated Milk
1 - Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 - Teaspoon Salt
1/2 - Teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes until tender. When you stick a
fork in them it should go in easy but you don't
want them to fall apart. Let the potatoes cool and then peel them.
Blend your sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl with a blender to**remove strings,
repeat this three our four until you have remove just about all the strings
Next cream the softened butter with sugars. Add to the blended sweet potatoes
and continue to mix while adding the eggs one at a time. Finally, add your milk,
vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt and mix thoroughly.
Finally, pour mixture evenly into your three frozen unbaked pie shells. Bake for
1 hour and 30 minutes at 350 degrees on your center oven rake.

I double the recipe and bake  two pies at time
Tip:
* DO NOT use sweet condensed 
**Beat the potatoes with an electric mixer on "medium" for one to two minutes remove the beater blades wash off all the string  with tap water, repeat this step five to ten times until  all the  strings are gone.

NANA'S COLLARD GREENS

Collard Greens

Ingredients
1 pound smoked turkey tails
5 bunches collard greens - rinsed, trimmed and chopped (4 bags of *pre-washed greens
2-3 cups water (just to cover the meat)
5 cups chicken stock or (low sodium chicken stock in the can or cartons)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated sugar (artificial sweeteners)
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

Preparation:
In an extra large pot, bring smoked turkey tails and water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 30 hour.

Immerse greens in a sink full of water and wash well to remove sand and grit. Lift out, drain water, fill sink, and repeat the procedure approximately 3 or 4 times to ensure they are clean and free of sand, grit and insects. Cut out the thickest part of stems that runs down the center and coarsely chop the greens.

Increase the heat under the smoked turkey tails to medium-high; add about 1/3 of the greens to the pot. Cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, until wilted. Add remaining greens in two more batches, until all the greens fit into the pot.

Stir in the broth, garlic, vinegar, sugar, black pepper, and red pepper flakes; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally about 2 hour or until the greens are tender. When done taste and adjust **seasoning.
smoked turkey tails and cut meat from bones. Dice and add back to the greens. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a serving bowl. If desired, pass the juices (also known as pot liquor) for dipping cornbread.

*wash your pre-washed greens just one time, yes they need to be washed because no respectful soul sister would just dump a bag in the pot.
** If it need a little salt, this is the time to add the salt.

CORNBREAD GIBLET DRESSING

CORNBREAD GIBLET DRESSING
Directions
Saute onion, celery and bell pepper in the butter until done but not brown,
Crumble cornbread in a large bowl. Add celery,onions, bell pepper, giblets and
poultry seasoning. Add giblet juice gradually. In between adding giblet juice, add sage and salt and pepper to taste, continue adding juice until cornbread is very moist. Bake in a 9 x 13 pan at 375 degrees until top is golden brown. This recipe can be stuff into bird.

*Boil the Chicken giblet (gizzards) in a saucepan on high heat with about a quart of water, add one celery stalk cut up, one medium onion cut up, one teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until tender. Discard celery and onion, and coarsely chop giblets. Reserve 4 cups of liquid.

**If you use a corn bread mix, don'

CANDIED YAMS

Ingredients:
5 pounds yams peeled and cut to large bite-sized pieces
3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
*DO NOT ADD WATER

Directions
In a large pot over medium heat, place potatoes. Top with butter, cinnamon, vanilla,lemon juice and sugar, cover and simmer, for 35 to 45 minutes until tender. Gentle stir throughout cooking, until mixture is thick and syrupy. Mixture will thicken slightly as it cools. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Tip:
If sauce looks very liquid, removed the potatoes, as they are fully cooked, and simmered the remaining liquid with the cover removed until it caramelized and then poured it back over the potatoes.
*DO NOT ADD WATER- because Sweet Potatoes are full of water.