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

Although the temperature is an astounding 87 degrees Fahrenheit today, we looked at the calendar and realized that it's September - and back to school time - is just around the corner. In our house, we get much busier between work and school and everything else, so the slow cooker is our good friend!

This is a hearty Moroccan filling dish and super easy when prepared in the slow cooker. There are a number of online recipes for the slow cooker but don't hesitate to experiment. For example, AllRecipes and food.com both have a terrific recipe which calls for garbanzo beans. We use red kidney beans, or, frankly, whatever we have in the cupboard. Quite by accident, we ended up using black beans, and the results were quite delicious!

We recently purchased a Ninja Cooking System, which is a slow cooker, stove top cooker and oven all in one. We can't praise this device enough. You can brown, heat up, slow cook all in the same pot. Cuts down on storing appliances as well. We make all sorts of things in it - spaghetti sauce, soups, stews, ribs - even a cake! It has a steam feature which works really well for poaching fish. 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.  All Recipes and Food.com are also good resources. As always, we've tried to approximate our family method of preparing this recipe. This recipe gets varied from time to time, depending on what ingredients we have on hand (or need to use up) and who is preparing the dish.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can of diced tomatoes - large (if you don't have diced, just break up a can of plum tomatoes)
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 large sweet onion, rough chop
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 big sweet potatoes, diced in fairly large chunks
• 3 big carrots, also diced in fairly large chunks
• approximately 2 pounds of chicken cut up into about 1-1/2 to 2" pieces (we use whatever chicken we have on hand, thighs or breasts)
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin (we actually use a bit more - probably just shy of 1 teaspoon)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of black pepper (to taste and we like roughly fresh ground pepper)
• 1 can of beans - drained (traditionally garbanzo beans but we've used kidney beans, black beans, navy beans, etc.)

Just bung everything into the slow cooker and stir well to mix all the ingredients and spices. Cook on high for about 5 hours. Then yum, yum! This recipe makes 6 to 8 servings (depending on the size of your bowl or appetite!). We like it with a variety of breads and it is especially tasty with biscuits to sop up what's left at the bottom of the bowl. 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!

This super simple stew is so tasty you will make it over and over again. We often do a double batch and enjoy it for several meals. The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of garam masala which is a mixture of a variety of spices. AllRecipes has a fail-safe garam masala recipe. You can buy it pre-mixed, but it is so easy and economical to make it yourself.

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. As always, we've tried to approximate our family method of preparing this recipe. We have some finicky eaters in our family, who aren't big on meats, so this recipe is a great way to get some protein into them.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you don't have to use cayenne, we often use a rough ground black pepper)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin (as always, experiment - we like a bit more cumin)
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (as always, we substitute broad leaf parsley as we don't like cilantro)
• 1 bunch of kale with the ribs removed, chopped
• 3 potatoes, cubed
• 1 small onion, chopped (we always use a sweet onion)
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (14 ounces or thereabouts)
• 1 cup of golden raisins
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and well rinsed (about 14 ounces)
• Water (just enough to cover the mixture when you get to that point)

Instructions

1. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onions are cooked through. We like ours slightly caramelized.
2. Then stir in all the spices and cook for around a minute. Until the spices smell terrific!
3. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and the potatoes and raisins.
4. Pour just enough water over everything to cover the mixture. Bring it up to a nice simmer for about 15 minutes. You're done when the potatoes are cooked through.
5. Add the chickpeas and kale and simmer everything until the kale wilts. It won't take very long 3-4 minutes at most.
6. Sprinkle the cilantro or broad leaf parsley over the top.

This recipe makes 4 servings (depending on the size of your bowl or appetite!). We almost always make a double batch because we look forward to having it several times. This stew goes well with almost any bread or biscuit. 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..

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

• 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

• 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

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.

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.

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.

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.