African Themed Dinner
I enjoyed the treat of having my friend Sierra visit a few weeks ago. Since she had just finished volunteering with Mercy Ships in Guinea, Africa, it was a perfect opportunity to find some African recipes and try them out.
I've made variations of this West African Peanut Stew several times and it always receives rave reviews.
I found several recipes for Jollof Rice, and settled on modifying and adapting one. Sierra told me that jollof rice would be something you would order at a restaurant for a special occasion, not just have as an everyday meal.
As we started heating up the spices in the frying pan, she confirmed that we were hitting the target fragrance and flavors.
I almost always substitute leek for onion in recipes and often tone down spicy hot ingredients (due to my tasting audience being accustomed to more subdued cuisine), but that can of course be modified according to your tolerance and desire.
Serving these together is probably not the most authentic way, but the flavours dancing around in my mouth confirmed that it was a very viable option for us in Slovakia. It was truly a joy to sit around the table hearing stories of Sierra's time in Africa while inserting bites of these flavourful dishes into our mouths.
If you feel intimidated by all the ingredients for the Jollof rice, just take a deep breath and enjoy the process. It's not hard to do, it just takes some time. I definitely suggest getting all the ingredients out on the counter before you start trying to implement the recipe.
West African Peanut Stew
SERVES 4
Ingredients:
6 cups broth
2 in piece of leek, chopped
2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 bunch greens roughly chopped (I used spinach because that was available, kale or collard would be more durable and add more texture to the end result)
3/4 cup unsalted peanut butter
1/2 cup tomato paste
sriracha
1/4 cup roughly chopped peanuts for garnish
*In the past I have made this with diced sweet potatoes, which was also very delicious
Serve over/with green salad or cooked brown rice
Instructions:
Bring broth to a boil, add leek, ginger, garlic and salt and cook over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. (If using sweet potatoes, add them here as well).
In a medium heat-safe bowl, combine peanut butter and tomato past with 1-2 cups of the (very hot) broth. Whisk until smooth - very carefully!!
Return mixture to pot and add greens. Adding greens should be done shortly before serving, so they are not too wilted. The hardier the green, the longer you'll want to allow them to cook. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Season soup with sriracha (or allow each person to season individually) and serve with chopped peanuts for garnish.
Recipe adapted from Cookie + Kate
Jollof Rice with Chicken
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken
//marinade
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
2-3 inches of leek, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
fresh thyme leaves
//jollof purée
400g passata
2-3 inches of leek, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp chili flakes
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper
//jollof rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 bay leaf
400ml vegetable stock
2 tsp salt
300g rice
Instructions:
I've made variations of this West African Peanut Stew several times and it always receives rave reviews.
I found several recipes for Jollof Rice, and settled on modifying and adapting one. Sierra told me that jollof rice would be something you would order at a restaurant for a special occasion, not just have as an everyday meal.
As we started heating up the spices in the frying pan, she confirmed that we were hitting the target fragrance and flavors.
I almost always substitute leek for onion in recipes and often tone down spicy hot ingredients (due to my tasting audience being accustomed to more subdued cuisine), but that can of course be modified according to your tolerance and desire.
Serving these together is probably not the most authentic way, but the flavours dancing around in my mouth confirmed that it was a very viable option for us in Slovakia. It was truly a joy to sit around the table hearing stories of Sierra's time in Africa while inserting bites of these flavourful dishes into our mouths.
If you feel intimidated by all the ingredients for the Jollof rice, just take a deep breath and enjoy the process. It's not hard to do, it just takes some time. I definitely suggest getting all the ingredients out on the counter before you start trying to implement the recipe.
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| We had so much fun preparing the food, we forgot to take pictures of the actual food! |
West African Peanut Stew
SERVES 4
Ingredients:
6 cups broth
2 in piece of leek, chopped
2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 bunch greens roughly chopped (I used spinach because that was available, kale or collard would be more durable and add more texture to the end result)
3/4 cup unsalted peanut butter
1/2 cup tomato paste
sriracha
1/4 cup roughly chopped peanuts for garnish
*In the past I have made this with diced sweet potatoes, which was also very delicious
Serve over/with green salad or cooked brown rice
Instructions:
Bring broth to a boil, add leek, ginger, garlic and salt and cook over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. (If using sweet potatoes, add them here as well).
In a medium heat-safe bowl, combine peanut butter and tomato past with 1-2 cups of the (very hot) broth. Whisk until smooth - very carefully!!
Return mixture to pot and add greens. Adding greens should be done shortly before serving, so they are not too wilted. The hardier the green, the longer you'll want to allow them to cook. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Season soup with sriracha (or allow each person to season individually) and serve with chopped peanuts for garnish.
Recipe adapted from Cookie + Kate
Jollof Rice with Chicken
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken
//marinade
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
2-3 inches of leek, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
fresh thyme leaves
//jollof purée
400g passata
2-3 inches of leek, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp chili flakes
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper
//jollof rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 bay leaf
400ml vegetable stock
2 tsp salt
300g rice
Instructions:
- Prepare the ingredients for the marinade, cut your chicken into bite-size pieces and then mix with the marinade and set aside.
- Blend all the ingredients for the purée and then transfer to a frying pan. Add all dry ingredients from the jollof rice section and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Add rice, stock and bay leaf. Stir the rice well and make sure there is enough water to submerge the rice. Bring to a boil, then cover, reducing heat to low.
- Periodically check the rice, pushing down stray grains of rice from the sides but not stirring. Jollof rice apparently should be cooked slowly and with lots of steam, but shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to cook.
- Put chicken on baking tray covered with parchment paper and bake in over for about 30 minutes.
- Fluff the rice with a fork and serve with chicken on top. Add a few thyme leaves for added aesthetic value.
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