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Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food..

After Thanksgiving, each year, you can often take advantage of post-holiday turkey sales at your local grocers. Try this North African inspired recipe. Harissa is a spice often used in Moroccan foods. Basically, a hot chili sauce comprised of several varieties of peppers, spices and herbs. This kicks up the flavour immensely! You can keep any leftover rub in the fridge for a couple of weeks and enjoy it on all sorts of things. We use it on both chicken and steak. Delicious!

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes.  

INGREDIENTS

While there are quite a few ingredients, don't be discouraged. This recipe is quite easy to put together and the results are well worth it.

Harissa Spice Rub

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground caraway seed
• 1 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander

Roasted Turkey

• 12 to 14 pound turkey
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt
• black pepper (we like a rough ground pepper)
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup of Harissa plus at least a tablespoon more
• 2 red onions (quarter or chop into large pieces depending on size)
• 2 cups of sweet potatoes (cut into large cubes, about 1/2 inch or a bit bigger)
• 2 springs of fresh thyme, roughly chopped

Stuffing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 5 to 6 cups of cubed white bread (suitable for stuffing)
• 2 tablespoons of finely slivered almonds
• 3 parsnips, cut in cubes (about same size as sweet potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 shallots, diced
• 2 quinces, cubed (preferred fresh but use canned if you can find them) Note: We have substituted apples and/or pears for the quince very successfully.
• 1 tablespoon of Harissa rub
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

Instructions

Harissa Spice Rub

1. Heat up the olive oil in a small frying pan. Use about medium heat.
2. Then add the garlic and saute it until it turns a golden colour. Should take 3-4 minutes.
3. Take your frying pan off the burner and then add the caraway, coriander, chili powder, mint and salt.
4. Stir all your spices in the oil and set the mixture aside to cool off.
5. You can store any leftover rub in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

 

Turkey

1. You need to cure the turkey overnight in a brine made from stirring 1/2 cup of kosher salt into 8 cups of water. You can use a large pail or any large container with a lid that will accommodate the turkey and brine.
2. A really good suggestion from a friend of ours is to line the container with a garbage bag. It makes cleanup easy!
3. The container must be kept chilled.
4. In the morning, put the onion, garlic, sweet potatoes and thyme in a bowl with 1/2 tablespoon of the Harissa Spice Rub and toss ingredients until well coated/mixed.
5. Preheat the oven 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Rinse the turkey with cold water and pat dry.
7. Sprinkle salt and pepper both inside and outside of the turkey.
8. Place the vegetable mixture inside the turkey cavity and then use a skewer to seal up the turkey.
9. If you have extra vegetable mixture, just place around turkey in roasting pan.
10. Tie the drumsticks together with some kitchen string and afix the wings with small skewers.
11. Then place the turkey in your roasting pan. We cover the breast with some foil.
12. Roast for 20 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and pour two cups of broth into the roasting pan.
14. Stir the roasting pan to scrape up the good brown bits!
15. Place back in oven and roast again for 40 minutes.
16. Remove any "extra" vegetables from the pan and reserve.
17. Now, turn your oven down to 350 degrees F and continue roasting the turkey.
18. Baste with pan juices.
19. When the turkey reaches 170 degrees, it is done. Test with a thermometer but total roasting time is usually about 3 to 3.25 hours for us.
20. We take the foil off for the last half hour so the bird browns nicely.
21. To make gravy: Skim excess fat from pan juices. Over medium-low heat (not too hot) add 1 cup of water and stir, scraping all the caramelized bits off bottom of pan. Heat to a simmer.

Stuffing

1. Heat up 1/4 cup of oil in a big frying pan and add the bread cubes.
2. Saute the bread cubes for about 5 minutes, until they are nicely toasted.
3. Then add the finely slivered almonds and set pan aside off the heat.
4. Now, combine the rest of your oil with the parsnips and the cinnamon sticks in a "Dutch Oven" type casserole dish and saute everything for around 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Then add the quinces (or apples and/or pears), the harissa rub, shallots, and garlic and continue to saute until the garlic has softened up.
6. Once garlic is soft, you can add the stock, honey and orange juice.
7. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for around 15 minutes.
8. Now add the thyme, salt and raisins, as well as your bread cubes and almond mixture you set aside back in Step 3.
9. Cook over low heat, making sure to stir frequently. Don't let anything stick to bottom!
10. Once well heated through, you can stir in the chopped parsley.

We have given you the basic rundown of what we do. As always, our amounts are sometimes a range and our cooking times and methods are relating "how we do it". There are some Harissa Turkey recipes online that you can use as a reference as well. Ours always turns out well but, by all means, check out other versions. Again, the Harissa Rub is incredibly delicious and can be used to flavour other dishes. 

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

While Canadian Thanksgiving is past, American Thanksgiving is coming up soon! There are still lots of good buys on turkey at local supermarkets. Whether made with inexpensive turkey legs or (as we usually do) with leftover turkey, this stew is a great "warmer upper" for those nippy fall days.

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes.  Many similar recipes for this delicious stew start with turkey legs. We use leftover turkey most of the time. If you like your stew a little "juicier", reduce the amount of turkey. Play it by ear and vary this recipe and you will end up with a family favourite, we're sure!

 INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of leftover turkey, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 litre of chicken stock
• 2 orange (or yellow) bell peppers
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (we use chopped garlic in oil- comes in a jar - much easier)
• 4 hot peppers (your choice but chop them up fine and be careful handling them)
• 6-8 plum tomatoes (cut up into chunks) You can use canned plum tomatoes if you want. We do and it works just fine. We use an entire can because we like our stew with lots of juice.
• 1 sweet onion (cut into bite size chunks)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• salt (to taste)
• 1 cup of olive oil (it is okay to use vegetable oil - we just prefer using olive oil)

Instructions

1. Put your leftover turkey into a big saucepan and then pour in the chicken broth. It must cover the turkey meat.
2. Bring it to a boil slowly over medium heat and cook until the broth has been absorbed/reduced by at least half.
3. Cut your bell peppers into bite size chunks and blend them roughly along with the onions, hot peppers, garlic, tomato paste and tomatoes. We use our food processor. Don't puree them until they are a paste! Make sure some of the pepper and onion chunks are still recognizable.
4. Now heat up your olive oil in another big saucepan and pour in your vegetable mixture from the step above. Watch (and stir) carefully as you simmer the mixture in the oil. It will take about 30 minutes for this to be done. Don't let it burn.
5. Now add your turkey and simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Add salt to taste.

Now, here's the nice thing about this recipe. Sometimes we add some more chicken broth and a can of black beans. Other times, we add more chicken broth and tomatoes to make a juicier stew - adding some beans (you can use black beans, navy beans - whatever you like). Sometimes we don't puree the bell peppers. This recipe really lends itself to variations. We often serve this recipe over rice. And sometimes couscous. We often serve it with fresh, hot biscuits. This is a good basic recipe to enjoy any way you want to! It freezes fairly well so, if you find you like it, make a double batch for the next rainy fall day you need something warm in your tummy! Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make.  

Running out of ideas for using up all that leftover Turkey?

We make this fantastic Turkey & Peanut Soup, which we began making from an Emeril Lagasse recipe that is just incredibly good. Emeril uses ground turkey and, yes, at first we did too. Then, we realized that this soup would be a great way to use up leftover turkey and - VOILA! - our version came to fruition! 

If you want to make Emeril's version, here's a link to his recipe on FoodNetwork. We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. The combination of spices, peanut butter, coconut milk and sweet potatoes creates an amazing flavour. You can make some Fufu to go with this soup, but we pair it with a wide variety of things. Whether served or rice or dumplings, or with a side of salad or slaw and some lovely fresh bread or biscuits, this tummy-warming soup will become a family favourite, we're sure.

INGREDIENTS

• 2.5 tablespoons of peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon of curry powder
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 2 medium sliced onions (around 3.5 to 4 cups). If you really like onions, use 4 cups
• 1/2 cup of chunky peanut butter (Don't use smooth, you really need the chunky for texture)
• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of rough ground black pepper
• 2 large sweet potatoes (around 2 pounds) cut into largish bite-size chunks
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 large (28 ounce) can of whole plum tomatoes (we break them up with our fingers - kind of "squish" them)
• 2 cups of chicken (or vegetable) broth
• 1 pound (approximately) of leftover turkey (you can mince it, or cut it into larger chunks if you wish - your choice)

Instructions

1. Heat two tablespoons of your peanut oil in a big stockpot. Use medium/high heat only.
2. Add the curry powder and stir for one minute.
3. Add the onions and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Until onions begin to soften nicely.
4. Then add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes until everything is nicely blended.
5. Now stir in your chicken broth, tomatoes and sweet potatoes and bring your mixture up to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat a bit and simmer the soup with a cover on it for around half an hour.
7. Add your turkey (either minced/diced or cut into small bite-sized chunks). Mix the turkey in well with the other ingredients.
8. Now add your coconut milk and the salt, cayenne pepper and the peanut butter and stir well.
9. Simmer for about 15 minutes and then season with salt and pepper to taste. We like a little more pepper.

This recipe is super simple to make and lends itself well to variations. We don't hesitate to add more tomatoes or a can of beans, just making sure we increase the broth a bit to compensate. It makes a good amount of soup (over 2 quarts) so you can feed a fair number of people at once or keep some to enjoy later. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make.  

 

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

Sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar! These little "wrap-ups" are cigar shaped morsels of goodness and (as we thought everyone would be a bit sick of both turkey and holiday cooking by now) a terrific quick recipe that's sure to please. The truly ambitious cooks can make their own phyllo dough but, we can assure you, we buy the frozen dough when we make this recipe! New York Times - Cooking has a great recipe for making your own dough, including a handy video on rolling out the phyllo - something we find rather challenging.

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. AllRecipes is also a good resource. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try. We like to have something to "dip" these little cigars into. Sometimes we make a cucumber and sour cream concoction and we also like to serve these with our homemade hummus. Jamie Oliver's hummus recipe (also sometimes spelled houmous) is our "go-to" reference recipe. We like the consistency and the flavour is amazing.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 sixteen ounce package of frozen phyllo dough
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of crushed plum tomatoes
• cooking spray (we use canola)
• 1/2 pound of lean ground beef

As always, this is just a basic ingredient list. We often fiddle with the spices, sometimes adding a bit more cumin and bit less cinnamon. It's entirely a matter of taste so don't hesitate to experiment!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a baking sheet.
3. After heating up the olive oil in a frying pan, cook the ground beef until good and brown. No pink bits!
4. Drain the fat from the ground beef and then add all the spices and the tomatoes.
5. Let this mixture cook on a simmering heat for around 10 minutes.
6. Make sure to cover the phyllo dough with a damp cloth or it will dry out very quickly!
7. Take out one sheet of phyllo and cut it into two equal pieces. Spray one piece lightly with cooking spray and then put second sheet on top of first sheet. Spray second sheet lightly with cooking spray.
8. Now, take a heaping teaspoon of the meat and tomato mixture and place it near the narrow end of your phyllo sheets. Fold the phyllo dough over the meat and then turn in the sides of the phyllo sheet. Now roll your phyllo with the teaspoon of meat mixture inside up into a cigar shape.
9. Make as many of these little cigar packages until you run out of meat mixture.
10. Place your "cigars" on your greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes. They should be lightly browned when done.

Although none of the recipes we've seen recommend this, we often use parchment paper rather than greasing our baking sheet. Originally, we were introduced to these by friends who serve them as an appetizer but we often have them as a main dish with a little salad or slaw on the side. As a main dish, the recipe will serve 4 people. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make. 

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

Make these for your sweetie pie! Now, we have to confess, we've never made these ourselves. Although, we can say with certainty that they are truly delicious. This recipe comes to us from a favourite "Auntie". We've enjoyed these special treats since we were quite little! The recipe couldn't be easier and the results are delightful! So, go on, delight your honey!

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of unsweetened (flaked) coconut (We buy ours at the Bulk Barn)
• 1/2 cup of self-raising flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup of superfine/caster sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Mix the sugar, egg yoks and the flaked coconut together. The resulting dough will be a bit stiff.
3. Pat and roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter.
4. Roll each ball in the flour
5. Place on a baking sheet about 2 inches away from each other. We like to line our baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check them carefully after 15 minutes. They are done when they turn a lovely golden colour.

Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make!

 

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

We love to read Jamie Oliver's recipes because we always learn something from them other than just the ingredients and instructions. Jamie uses food to tell a story - about where the recipe came from, the diaspora of people and the spread of cultures (and, therefore, their cuisine). He makes food interesting and we follow him closely. So, although we'd been making this recipe for years and years, we suddenly thought "why is it called Jollof Chicken & Rice". So we turned to Jamie Oliver to find out why! His explanation follows: "Jollof rice is more of a concept than a recipe, because it’s found in various guises all over West Africa. Its other name is Benachin, which means “one pot” in the language of the Wolof people who invented it – evidently throwing lots of lovely food in a pan and letting the heat do its thing has always been a popular cheat."

The Wolof people ruled in what is now known as Senegal (1360 to 1549). They were quite powerful and wealthy and before their empire disintegrated, The Wolof traded with Europe. Before their kingdom disappeared, The Wolof spread through travel, trading with others and conquests.

As a result, Jollof Rice is a popular dish in Ghana - over 2,000 km from The Wolof homeland in Senegal. It is also found in Nigeria and Cameroon. This "spread" of the recipe has resulted in varying ingredients but the basic recipe has stayed pretty much the same. Jamie Oliver often says that "the devil is in the detail" and recommends using the best ingredients you can find and ensuring you use long grain rice. Jamie's recipe is amazing - we highly recommend checking it out! Here's an interesting fact! The word Ghana means “warrior king”, so they can probably stand the heat of the Scotch Bonnet Pepper often used in this delicious dish. Our family recipe doesn't include a Scotch Bonnet Pepper, although we have prepared this dish with one in the past. We warn you, it does add quite a bit of heat!

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes.  AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 pounds of chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
• 1 cup of long grain rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 16 ounces of canned tomatoes (we use plum tomatoes and we break them apart with our hands), including the juice
• 1-1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground red pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of thyme (we use fresh and crush it up but you can use ground or rubbed)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Brown the chicken thighs in a large frying pan. When brown remove the thighs and place them aside.
2. Saute the onion in the pan drippings until onions are translucent and soft but not caramelized brown.
3. Put the chicken back in the frying pan.
4. Add the tomatoes (including the juice) and the chicken broth and seasonings.
5. Don't stir the chicken around while bringing the mixture to a boil.
6. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for approximately 1/2 hour.
7. Skim off the fat and then add the rice. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover the rice. If there isn't add chicken broth or water to cover.
8. Cover the pan again and simmer for another 1/2 hour. When the rice is cooked, you're done!
9. Take the bay leaf out and sprinkle the fresh chopped parsley on top!

We serve ours family-style by placing the hot frying pan right in the middle of the table (on some heat protective trivets, of course). Everyone can help themselves to the amount they want.  Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make.

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

We love the name of this simple vegetable stir fry! Sounds like the lead in for a disco song - Chakalaka - Chakalaka! Can't you just hear it? You can pair this recipe up with almost anything! It can be a side dish or, as we mostly enjoy it, all on it's own! Super simple to make and just plain delicious. The trick is to not over-cook the vegetables. We like ours still a bit "crunchy".

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. We just came across a terrific culinary resource - afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and International recipes. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 medium sweet onions, diced (rough)
• 3 plum tomatoes, rough chop
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 bell peppers, diced (rough) (we use a mix of whatever we have on hand - yellow, green, red)
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder (you can use less or a bit more according to your taste)
• 1 bouillon cube (we use either vegetable or chicken - if you want a truly vegetable stir fry - use vegetable)
• curry powder to taste (as curry is such a personal decision, we suggest starting with just 1 teaspoon and adding more to taste)
• salt (to taste)
• ground black pepper (again, to your taste)

Note: We tend to like things a bit spicy but not all do. So vary your spices with this recipe until you get it "just the way you like".

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fry your onions and peppers together in the olive oil. We use a wok but a large skillet/frying pan will work well too. It's done when the onion turns translucent (clear). Don't caramelize the onions.
2. Then add the carrots, water, all your seasonings (again - to taste), and tomatoes.
3. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

This stir fry is terrific on its own, as a side dish, or accompanied by some rice. Please experiment. We've given you just the rough idea of what we do. One of our relatives grates the carrot (although we prefer rough chunks of carrot). Another friend adds some chopped hot peppers or a diced green chili pepper. We sometimes bung in some mushrooms or other vegetables - whatever happens to be in the fridge and seems appropriate. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make!

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

Black-eyed Peas are a big deal in West Africa! They show up in a wide variety of soups and stews. This particular recipe is very tasty and you can vary the vegetables to change it up a bit. You can make this recipe "thick or thin"! Add more vegetables and less liquid and it becomes more stew-like. This recipe is technically vegetarian, although we admit we often substitute chicken broth for the water. Which makes it decidedly NOT vegetarian. Up to you!

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. We just came across a terrific culinary resource - afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and International recipes. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner.  AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• salt and ground black pepper (to your taste - we like rough ground black pepper)
• 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro OR (as we don't like cilantro) you can substitute the same amount of broad leaf parsley
• 1 cup of dried black-eyed peas
• 2 cloves of peeled garlic (or the same amount of already chopped garlic in oil)
• 6 cups of water (or you can do what we do sometimes and substitute either all 6 cups with chicken or vegetable broth OR half broth and half water - 3 cups each)
• 3 cups of diced tomatoes in juice
• 2 cups of chopped sweet onion
• 1 cup of diced celery
• 2 cups of whatever greens you like. Collard greens, kale, chard or spinach are all good choices.
• Okra is optional but we like to use it. We put in about 1 to 1.5 cups of okra (sliced and either fresh or frozen)
• Some Cayenne Pepper. We leave the amount up to you! But, be careful. We advise starting with just a pinch
• 1 teaspoon of ground allspice (Some recipes call for more allspice but we prefer just a teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1 Pepper. The choice is up to you. We've used green, orange, red and yellow bell peppers.
• 1 cup of frozen corn (Some recipes say this is optional but we like the pop of flavour AND colour)

Note: This recipe is very "elastic". You can play around with it, choosing different combos of vegetables and changing the liquid - water, chicken or vegetable broth are all good. Again, more vegetables and greens - it turns out like a hearty stew. Less - it is more like a soup. We tend to make it more "stew like"...

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the black-eyed peas, the garlic and 4 cups of either water or broth into a covered sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer this mixture until the peas are tender. Should take around 45 - 50 minutes.
2. Saute the onions and celery. We use a bit of olive oil. Some recipes say just use a couple of tablespoons of water.
3. When the onions are translucent, add the spices and continue to simmer until the spices are really fragrant. Make sure to stir this quite a bit. Don't let it stick or burn.
4. Now, add the peppers and put a cover on the pan and let that cook for a few minutes (probably about 4 minutes). The peppers should be cooked but not "squishy".
5. Now add the corn and the other vegetables EXCEPT the greens with 2 cups of water or broth. (Whichever liquid you are using.)
6. Cover the pan again and bring up to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the greens. Simmer until the greens are just tender.
7. Now go back to your black-eyed peas. If you used garlic cloves, mash them up. If you used already chopped garlic it's already done for you!
8. Add your black-eyed peas mixture to the other pan (of broth, vegetables and greens). Stir in either the cilantro or parseey (whichever you are using).

Serve piping hot! We like to enjoy this with a nice bread or sometimes with home made biscuits. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make.

 

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

If you like Polenta, you're going to just love Ugali! They are both made from cornmeal. Whether an accompaniment to a soup or stew or alongside meat, chicken or fish dishes, Ugali is a delight. And, it's remarkably simple to make. Basically just a combination of cornmeal and water, stirred until well thickened!

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. We just came across a terrific culinary resource - afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and International recipes. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups of finely ground cornmeal
• 8 cups of water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat water in a saucepan to boiling.
2. Pour the cornmeal into the boiling water very slowly. Doing it very slowly helps to avoid lumps.
3. Stir constantly. If any lumps form, mash them to break them up.
4. You are aiming for a consistency much like mashed potatoes. Add cornmeal in very small amounts if you need to thicken the mixture a bit.
5. Cook the Ugali for three or four minutes but make sure to constantly stir. Stirring is the magical secret to great Ugali.
6. When you've reached "mashed potato" consistency, remove from heat.
7. We like to add a little pat of butter on the top.
8. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

See, we said it was easy. Just two ingredients and a lot of stirring! We use Ugali in a variety of ways. In the bottom of a bowl of piping hot stew (sort of like a dumpling). Alongside chicken, meat or fish dishes. We especially like a "comfort meal" of meatloaf with a side of buttery Ugali. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make! 

 

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

Often considered to be the national dish of Senegal - Thieboudienne - basically means fish and rice. Some other African countries refer to this dish as "riz au gras" or "Jollof Rice". You will see a wide variety of spellings of the name. Cee bu jen, theibou dienn, tie biou dian, etc. Classic recipes for Thieboudienne contain netetou (also sometimes called soumbala or sumbala). Many cooks substitute the more readily available South Asian Fish Sauce. How much to substitute is really a matter of taste. We use about a tablespoon but you may want to experiment to suit your own taste.

Authentic recipes for Thieboudienne also use whole fish. At home, we make it with fish fillets. It's just easier! Not quite as authentic but, hey, it tastes just as good. We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. We just came across a terrific culinary resource - afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and International recipes. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 to 8 fish fillets. You can use a wide variety of fish. Basically any firm fleshed fish. We mostly use tilapia but sometimes we've used bass or grouper.
• 1 bunch of broad leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 medium sweet onion(we like it chopped rough)
• 4 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 shallots, minced quite fine
• 1 cup of vegetable oil (we use a canola/olive oil blend)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced fine
• 1 tablespoon South Asian Fish Sauce
• 2 small dried fish (if you can't find salty dried fish, just substitute another tablespoon of South Asian Fish sauce). Classic chefs would shudder but we've also used anchovy paste! You're just trying to get that savoury"umami" flavour.
• 2 cups of broth (we like to use vegetable broth)
• 4 hot peppers, small dice (any hot pepper will do depending on your love of "heat")
• 1 can of plum tomatoes (we use diced plum tomatoes)
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 lime or lemon (sliced up)
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks
• 6 pieces of okra
• 2 potatoes (you can use any potato but we particularly like sweet potato or a combination)
• 1 eggplant, cut into thick slices
• 1 small cabbage, cut into wedges
• 4 cups of jasmine rice
• 1 piece of cassava root, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
• salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the parsley, half of the minced garlic cloves, half of the diced hot peppers, half the broth and some salt.
2. If you are using whole fish, you will need to clean the fish, rinse it and pat it dry.
3. If using whole fish, make a couple of diagonal cuts in the fish and press the stuffing (the mixture you made in Step 1) into the slashes. We just spread the mixture on our fillets and roll them up loosely and fasten with a couple of toothpicks.
4. Heat up your vegetable oil in a frying pan (a fairly deep one). Fry your fish (or fish rolls) for about 6 to 8 minutes, flipping them halfway through so both sides (or outside) are seared.
5. Turn the heat down to just simmer and add the other half of the garlic and the onion and the remainder of the peppers. Mix well and saute for about 5 minutes.
6. Mix up the remaining vegetable broth, fish sauce (and dried fish, if using).
7. Put the mixture (Step 6) into your pan and mix it in well.
8. Now add the tomato paste and the plum tomatoes (we use diced tomatoes) along with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about another 5 minutes and then add the bay leaves and a cup of water.
9. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
10. Now add all the remaining vegetables and simmer for about a half an hour. You want the vegetables to be cooked but still firm.
11. When the vegetables are cooked, remove them from the pan to a bowl and set aside.
12. Add the jasmine rice (you should rinse it first). Now add enough water to cover the rice. We think we add somewhere between 4 and 5 cups of water.
13. Cook uncovered for about 30 - 40 minutes. Make sure to stir so that rice doesn't stick to bottom of pan.
14. When the rice is cooked, put your vegetables back in the pan along with the fish and cook for about 5 minutes. Just until vegetables and fish are hot again.

Serve this with lemon or lime slices to squeeze over the top. As netetou and fish sauce are quite strong flavours, please experiment to satisfy your own taste. This is a delicious recipe and reheats well (if you have any leftovers!). Our recipe isn't totally authentic (we've sort of adapted it over the years). You can get a wide variety of recipes for Thieboudienne online if you want to pursue a more traditional recipe. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make...

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

While this recipe is often quoted as originating in Uganda, we've encountered all sorts of variations, all over the place! No matter where it comes from, it is a simple, delicious and very appetite-satisfying dish. Matoke is a reference to plantain (sometimes known as plantain bananas). This dish can be prepared with or without the meat and beef broth. It's equally tasty as a vegetarian dish.

As with all our recipes, we often vary this dish. We've added carrots or sweet potatoes or yams, different types of peppers. Used vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Sometimes putting together a stew at our house involves tidying up the fridge. You know - "let's use this up" or "a bit of this and a bit of that". Experimentation with recipes is fun, in our opinion, and often creates a tasty result!

When we think about it, the reason why this dish crops up all over Africa is likely because plantains are a staple crop in a large part of the continent. We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and InterNational recipes is a great source. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 10 to 12 plantains (the amount will vary according to the size of the plantain)
• Salt (to taste)
• 1 large sweet onion, rough chopped
• Coriander (we just use a touch - about a quarter teaspoon - if you really like coriander you can add more)
• A pinch of dried red pepper flakes
• 1 hot pepper, chopped (any kind or heat quotient you like!)
• the juice of one lemon
• Some canola oil (we use a canola/olive oil blend)
• tomatoes (you can use canned plum tomatoes (roughly break them up with your fingers) or 4 or 5 fresh tomatoes - chopped)
• 2 bell peppers - chopped (use any variety of bell pepper you like - we often use orange or yellow just because the colours are appetizing)
• 4 garlic cloves (mash the garlic)
• 1 pound of lean ground beef OR 1 pound of stewing beef (if you use stewing beef cut it up into manageable bite-size pieces)
• 1.5 cups of beef or vegetable broth

INSTRUCTIONS

• Peel the plantains and then cut them up into fairly large cubes. Sprinkle some lemon juice on them and put them to the side for now.
• In a large frying pan heat up about 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil and then fry the pepper, the onions, the hot pepper and the garlic. Just saute them until they are tender but not soft and mushy. You want them to have some substance. The onions should be translucent but not caramelized.
• Then add the meat (if you are using it). If using ground beef, chop it up in the pan with your spatula as you saute it. Keep sauting and stirring the meat (ground or stewing beef) until it is done. When the meat is no longer pink, add the broth.
• Bring the stew to a boil and then reduce the heat to a slow simmer.
• Add the plantains and then cover your pot.
• Continue to simmer over low heat until the plantains are tender and the meat is thoroughly cooked. Stir often to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom!

Because we really like the zip of citrus flavour, we serve this with some sliced lemon to squeeze over the bowl. This stew should be served piping hot. We prefer to make Matoke with stewing beef but the ground beef version is very good as well. This stew pairs well with a variety of sides and breads. We often have it with a salad or coleslaw on the side. As for breads - whatever you enjoy! Just make sure you've got something to "sop up the bottom of the bowl" with. Our family recipe serves four people with a good sized bowl of stew. Food.com has a good basic recipe for Matoke and you can also check out the calories and dietary analysis there as well. Remember as well, that our recipe isn't totally authentic (we've sort of adapted it over the years). If you want a truly authentic recipe, just do an internet search and you'll turn up a wide variety to choose from. Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make!

Getting to know Africa includes experiencing the vastly different - and yummy - expressions of each culture through food.

Three ingredients? Under an hour? This recipe is just not to be believed! So simple. So delicious. You can use any chutney you like, but we prefer to get Mrs. Ball's Chutney when we can. Any store that sells African (or South African) groceries should have it. For those of you in the Toronto area (like we are) - we suggest a trip to The South African Store in downtown Toronto. You can also order online from them. They have quite a variety of Mrs. Ball's Chutney for sale.

 

You can, of course, make your own chutney! Here's a link to a recipe we found at Foodgeeks for a chutney they claim is very similar to Mrs. Ball's. We haven't tried it yet. If you do, please let us know how you like it. We try to keep these three ingredients on hand pretty much all the time. Because this recipe is so easy and so quick, it makes for a great meal when you're all busy. It's also saved us when people have dropped in and we're "casting about" for something tasty to serve. Buy chicken thighs or boneless breasts ahead when they are on sale. Keep at least a couple of jars of chutney and packets of onion soup mix on hand and "Bob's Your Uncle", you've got the making of a great meal. Add some rice on the side and a little salad and you're good to go. There is a wide variety of chutney chicken recipes around - just do an internet search and you'll see! We have made this one for years, though and keep returning to it because it's both easy to make and easy to keep ingredients on hand for. Don't mess with perfection, right?

We love sharing our family recipes with you but please remember you can search online and find lots of variations on this dish and other terrific African recipes. An online recipe site we use over and over again is The Congo Cookbook. My East Africa Journal is also a great source for recipes. afrolems.com - A food blog for Nigerian, African and InterNational recipes is a great source. Visit them - they have a really nice selection of recipes and the instructions are laid out in a really easy to understand manner. AllRecipes and Food.com are also good resources. Just a simple web search will turn up a wide variety of recipes for you to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 to 15 chicken thighs (or you can use halved boneless breasts - we prefer thighs because we think they have more flavour)
• 1 jar (12 ounces) of chutney (we prefer hot chutney but use whatever flavour and heat quotient you like)
• 1 package of onion soup mix (dry)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Set your oven to preheat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine the chutney and onion soup mix
• Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper (go easy on the salt - or omit entirely - as the onion soup mix is fairly salty)
• Put your chicken thighs in a baking dish (big enough that there's a bit of room around each thigh - don't crowd them)
• Pour the chutney and onion soup mixture over the thighs
• Bake for about an hour (start checking them at about 45 minutes - the chutney sauce should be a little bit brown and have gotten a little crunchy around the edges)
• You can do the "insert a knife and see if juices run clear test" but, honestly, as long as your oven is working properly, after 45 minutes to an hour, it's done!

There, we told you. Three ingredients and one hour! We have no idea who started making this in our family. It seems like it's been a "go to" recipe forever! This recipe makes about 6 to 7 good-sized servings. A little hint? We almost always make a double batch. Then we either have some leftovers or we freeze it for a "rainy day". For a family get-together, we made an entire "club pack" of chicken thighs with this recipe and not one scrap was left! Enjoy! And please let us know how you enjoy this recipe and any creative culinary modifications you make!