Chad

Squash with Peanuts
I made this dish on Tuesday, August 24 for Andy and myself. I am so over African cuisine. The dish was exactly as it sounds: squash with peanuts. It wasn't gross, it was just rich and boring. Plus, it is incredibly high in calories; an about 3/4 c. serving has 368 calories. That seems true of a lot of the African cuisine; it is very calorie dense and simple. I'm just sick of it. Maybe I'm missing something, and there is some really good African cuisine out there (Algeria was good, I guess!). But, in my opinion, this Chadian dish was not worth the small amount of time and money it cost to make it.

Ingredients:

-1 T. peanut oil
-2-3 lbs. summer squash and/or zucchini
-3 c. shelled, roasted peanuts; crushed or coarsely chopped
-salt to taste (I used about a teaspoon)
-1 tsp. brown or white sugar (I used brown)

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large skillet. Cook squash until it begins to become tender, stirring often, 5-10 minutes.
2) Add peanuts, salt and sugar. Reduce heat. Simmer until squash is tender and flavors have mingled, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Central African Republic

Kanda ti Nyma
(Beef Meatballs in a Peanut and Okra Sauce)

I made this dish on Thursday, August 19. This is not the national dish of Central African Republic; their national dish is cassava, but in looking for cassava recipes, I ran into some issues... First of all, in all of the recipes I found, the first instruction was to soak the cassava in a stream for at least three days. I thought this was odd, but then figured I could just soak it in a pot. Then, upon further research, I learned that the reason why it needs to be soaked for so long is because, if prepared incorrectly, cassava is poisonous. According to this recipe, it contains a cyanide compound. Um, no thanks.

So, I decided to look through various recipes and find one that sounded tasty. I chose kanda ti nyma, and I liked the dish. I would make a couple of changes if I made it again: I used 97% lean beef in the meatballs, which made them a little dry and chewy. I'm sure meat with a higher fat content would yield different results. I would also chop the onions smaller than I did for the meatballs; they were a bit crunchy, and smaller chunks might soften more in the cooking time. Otherwise, it was good!

Kanda ti Nyma

Ingredients:
-1 lb. ground beef
-2 lg. onions, finely chopped
-2 eggs, beaten
-1 habanero, finely chopped (I seeded it to lessen the spice)
-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-2 T. peanut oil
-12 okra, sliced into rings
-1/2 c. peanut butter
-1 c. warm water



Directions:
1) Mix the beef, half an onion, habanero, garlic and eggs together. Shape into small balls and place in the refrigerator to set.
2) Fry the remaining onions in the oil until browned. Add the okra and fry for a few minutes.
3) Mix the peanut butter and water together and blend to a smooth paste.
4) Add peanut butter mixture to onion mixture and bring to a simmer.
5) Add the meatballs and cook for 25 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and okra is tender.
6) Serve with rice.

Cayman Islands

Cayman Style "Conch" Chowder

I made this dish on Thursday, August 12 for Andy and me. It was simple and fantastic! It tasted very much like clam chowder. I will most definitely make this one again. I had to make some substitutions from the original recipe because I couldn't find conch or fish stock. Also, we were out of nutmeg, so I had to leave that out. Below is the recipe as I made it.

Cayman Style Crab Chowder

Ingredients:
-2 T. butter
-1/2 leek, finely chopped
-1 carrot, finely diced
-1 onion, minced
-2 potatoes, peeled and diced
-5 cloves garlic, minced
-1 c. heavy cream
-2 c. vegetable stock (fish stock)
-2 c. water
-1/2 c. dry white wine
-1 lb. finely chopped lump crab (or conch or lobster)
-1/2 tsp. cornstarch, dissolved in a little cold water
-marjoram, cumin
-1 bay leaf
-salt, pepper(, nutmeg)
-(Tabasco)

Directions:
1) Heat butter. Sauté leeks, carrots, onion and garlic or 2-3 minutes, until softened, but not browned.
2) Add wine, cream, water and vegetable stock. Stir.
3) Add potatoes, crab and all seasonings. Stir.
4) Simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 20-30 minutes.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde - Cachupa

I made this dish on Monday, August 2. It was unlike any of the other African dishes I have made. In fact, it reminded me of Brazil's Fejioada. It is a meat (pork products and chicken), bean and vegetable stew that is served over rice. It was delicious. It was salty and savory. I really enjoyed the meat chunks. Andy loved all of the different beans. This is definitely a dish I'd recommend and would make again.

My recipe is a little modified from the original, as I couldn't find precise meat weights, and didn't want a hodgepodge of leftover meat bits.

Cachupa

Ingredients:
-2 c. white hominy
-12 oz. salt pork, diced
-1 c. dry kidney beans
-1 c. dry pinto beans
-1 c. dry small lima beans
-3 qts. chicken broth
-2 bay leaves
-2 T. olive oil
-1 whole chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
-19.5 oz. Chorizo sausages
-1 lb. pork shoulder roast, cut into chunks
-large can peeled whole tomatoes, sliced into chunks
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-2 large onions, diced
-2 T. vegetable oil
-2 small heads cabbage, cut into chunks
-salt and pepper
-1 c. cilantro, chopped
-white rice

Directions:
1) Rinse the hominy and cover with water in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil, and boil 10 minutes, skimming off foam as you go. Add 1/2 of the salt pork and simmer 4 more minutes.
2) Rinse the beans and cover with water in a saucepan. Heat to a boil, and boil 5 minutes. Add remaining salt pork. Boil 4 more minutes.
3) Combine contents of both saucepans to a large 20 quart stock pot. Add chicken broth, bay leaves and olive oil. Set to high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours.
4) Add meats to the pot.
5) Sauté tomatoes, garlic and onion in vegetable oil until softened.
6) Add vegetable mixture to the stock pot and stir. Add water or broth at this point (if needed) until the mixture is completely covered with plenty of liquid. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
7) Add cabbage to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes.
8) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 20 minutes to let flavors meld.
9) Meanwhile, follow package directions to make the rice.
10) To serve, top rice with cachupa, then garnish with cilantro.



This makes a big ass pot of food.