GABON: THE FOOD

I have to say: this is the first country that I got to where I searched long and hard and never did find a bread recipe for Gabon.  Almost every single reference I could find just merely mentioned that they tend to eat French bread and pastries. I did find one recipe in French from someone’s blog for a “pumpkin seed cake,” but it was ground pumpkin seeds (or possible egusi?) mixed with onions and fish and other stuff and baked in a banana leaf. It wasn’t the type of  “cake” that I was thinking of. And I also found a reference to a breakfast item of splitting a baguette in half lengthwise and filling it with beans and mayonnaise, but my husband balked at the idea. (He’s not a mayo fan.) So, I was forced to expand my search to include West African breads and came up with groundnut bread.

Groundnut bread. She's a beauty, ain't she?

The inside of the bread. Hello, peanut butter lovers. 

The recipe I found called to use a premade roll mix, but I can do better than that. I used the “Unbelievable Rolls” recipe from Allrecipes.com, and I cut the amounts in half. I heated the milk, water, sugar, and salt in a saucepan, and once I took it off the heat, I added in an egg and the yeast.  Then I put the flour in a different bowl, made a well, and poured the milk mixture into it, letting it sit without stirring it.  After this sits for about 20 minutes, I poured in some melted butter, stirred it, and let it sit for another 45 minutes. At this point, I jump back over to the groundnut bread recipe.  I rolled out the dough until it was a ½” thick. Then I spread peanut butter over the surface, leaving a slight gap around the edge, rolling it up. I pinched one end and swung the rest of it around to form a round loaf (or a ring loaf). I transferred it to a greased cookie sheet and let it rest for about 10 minutes. I brushed it again with melted butter and sprinkled a few chopped peanuts on top before scoring a criss-cross pattern on top and baking it at 400ºF for 15 minutes. I cut it into 2-inch pieces to serve it. I could’ve probably eaten the entire thing myself. But I felt obligated to share with my family. The roll part was light and airy and the peanut butter was not overpowering like I thought it might be. It was practically perfect.

Perfect summer salad. 

Next, I made the side dish: Gabon Cucumber Salad. I’ve made similar salads before, but this is a little different – and it is FABULOUS! I chopped up some onion and grape tomatoes and sliced some cucumbers.  Then I mixed in some dried parsley flakes, mint flakes, olive oil, juice from a half lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and some cumin. The cumin is what made it amazing. Cumin is always amazing.

More chicken than mustard, but try telling that to a finicky 5-year-old. 

The main course for today is Gabon Mustard Chicken. I took some chicken drumsticks and lightly fried them in oil and placed them in a pot. Then I sautéed onions and threw it into the pot as well. I added garlic (about three cloves minced) and yellow mustard. I didn’t realize I should’ve bought more mustard, so I added in a little Italian salad dressing to fill out the recipe. The recipe calls to cover the top of the pot with aluminum foil before placing the lid on it so that it traps the steam.  I also didn’t realize someone used up the last of my aluminum foil either, so I had to use parchment paper.  (I figured it was better and safer than plastic wrap. Oh, and I found out my husband just took my aluminum foil out to the garage for some project and never brought it back in. Pardon me while I scream inside of my head for a bit.) It cooked on low heat for about an hour. (And it was supposed to be on a bed of rice, but, yeah, I forgot to get more of that too.) But I should’ve adjusted my heat or added some water because the salad dressing pretty much burnt up in the bottom, and I got a steam burn on my fingertips. The flavor was still really good, albeit fairly subtle, and the chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender.   

Fresh out of the oven. Check out the photo below for the toppings.  

And finally, the dessert: Baked Bananas. I cut the bananas into thirds at a diagonal angle. Then I beat one egg into a couple tablespoons of orange juice and dipped the bananas into this before rolling it in breadcrumbs and lightly frying it. After they were fried, I transferred them to a baking sheet where I baked them for about five minutes. It’s topped with sour cream and sprinkled with brown sugar.  I wasn’t so sure about the sour cream part (and I certainly didn’t use the term “sour cream” with my daughter – I just called it “cream,” and she loved it. Until she just read this and yelled at me for “lying” to her.) But it was really good.

One outstanding meal, I must say. 

For a meal where I forgot part of the ingredients and part of it didn’t quite turn out the way I anticipated, this was actually a really good meal. The thing I like about West African cooking is that many of the meals often do not take very many ingredients. And although I started my business, Da Capo Proofreading LLC (www.dacapoproofreading.com), it’s slow-going when it comes to gathering customers. And my book project is dragging on forever, too. In other words, money is getting tighter.  But hopefully, things will turn around. At least we weren’t starving artists tonight. We’re pretty full at the moment.

Up next: The Gambia

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: THE FOOD

Well, I now work from home.  I managed to escape out of the corporate world.  The timing wasn’t exactly my choice (it was theirs), but to leave a job I hated almost felt like getting out of jail. Or as my husband puts it, “You’re free now, child. You’re in the north now.”  Yes, there's always the financial and health insurance aspect of it all, but at the same time, I haven’t had a headache from staring at a computer under florescent lights facing a window since I left two weeks ago.  I’m always looking for the silver lining of every situation. So, I’m taking this time to finish editing my book on the Japanese language and get it ready to be published, and I’m also going to start my own proofreading and editing business.  AND I’m cooking and blogging again. 

Comfort food #1. I have some blackberry jam and some mango jam ready. 

And that brings me here.  Because yesterday was Mother’s Day, I’m cooking today. It’s a little weird to cook on a Monday, but that’s ok.  I started with making peanut bread.  I’ve made a similar bread before, but this one was different.  I started with heating coconut milk and honey together in a small pan until it was blended together, and when it cooled a little, I added in the yeast to it.  Then I mixed the white flour and wheat flour in a large bowl, adding in cumin, chili powder, salt, melted butter, the milk-honey-yeast mix, and ground peanuts.  For this, I crushed the peanuts with my mortar and pestle, and then put it in my coffee grinder to grind them.  It actually created a paste that looked like rough peanut butter, and I dumped it into the bowl as well.  I had to add a little less than a cup of water to help the dough along as I kneaded it. I also had to add some more flour to keep it from being so sticky before letting it sit covered for an hour and a half.  (The recipe wasn’t lying that it was a dense bread – the dough was denser than any of the Kardashians.) Then I kneaded it a bit more and transferred it to a greased loaf pan, covered it again, and let it rest for another 40 minutes.  After all this resting, I finally put it in the oven for 40 minutes to bake.  Unlike other recipes, I actually did take it out of the pan and let it cool for another half hour before trying it.  It was so good. And although the dough was dense, I didn’t think the bread was as dense or overpowering.  It was perfect.  Small bits of peanuts that didn’t get chopped up added to its delectable flavor and mouth feel.  I do think it would be great topped with jelly, but that’s the American in me talking. 

Comfort food #2: I may change which side of the grater I use, but regardless, mmmm....

While the bread was cooling, I prepped the side dish to this meal: johonjö.  It reminds me of other African and Afro-Caribbean dishes that are similar.  I took one sweet potato, peeled it, and grated it (it calls for yams, but sweet potatoes were all I could find. I know botanically they are different, but my degenerate taste buds think they taste the same.). I squeezed as much liquid out of them as I possible could.  Then instead of taking a real coconut and extracting the coconut milk like the recipes says (because that sounds like way more work than I’m interested in), I just bought canned coconut milk and used just enough to combine the grated sweet potato into a thick paste, adding a pinch or two of salt as well.  The recipe also calls to put about four tablespoons of this mixture in the middle of banana leaves and making a parcel out of it, but since I’m not a huge fan of the musty flavor banana leaves give off when baking with them, I put the mixture in aluminum foil.  I laid the foil parcels on a baking sheet and baked it for 40 minutes until it was cooked through and set up.  This turned out better than other similar recipes I tried.  It had a really great flavor and sat up pretty well. 

Comfort food #2: how can resist eating this? Go on, try. I knew you couldn't. Because you're not as wimpy as my kids. 

And finally, the main course: a course that I’ve always heard about but am now trying an Equatoguinean version of.  We’re making paella.  It’s actually guineafowl paella, but seeing how I couldn’t find guineafowl and my first substitute of Cornish game hen is only usually found around Christmastime in these parts, I went with chicken.  I took the chicken (I found some tenders on sale) and cut them into smaller pieces and browned them in a skillet, taking them out when they were done and setting them aside.  Then I sautéed the onion and garlic in the same skillet and added in the uncooked rice to cook for a few minutes before adding in the chicken stock, oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and turmeric.  (I realized I was out of paprika and used chili powder instead.) Once it came to a boil, I reduced it and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes.  I added in a can of diced tomatoes, some chopped red bell pepper, and a half can of black-eyed peas and let it simmer.  When the rice was tender, I added the chicken pieces back into the skillet and cooked for about five more minutes and ready to eat.  This is one of those super tasty comfort foods that could easily be done on a weeknight. I will have to remember this recipe. 

The trifecta of comfort. I want a nap now.

I’m glad that I pushed myself to do this meal. It turned out really well.  Now that I’m working from home, I don’t feel so rushed to do my research and writing and cooking.  Of course, right now I’m just finished up the final revisions to my book, but once I launch my business, I’m sure I’ll be far more busy.  Like I’ve said before: I’d rather work 80 hours under my own expectations rather than 40 hours under someone else’s.  There will be some adjustments of course, but as long as I’m not working as a cubical dweller under florescent lights, things will be alright.  It’s time to make the most of my life and eat more comfort food, like paella.  So, here’s to moving forward and following your dreams, with the hopes that I can make enough to keep wine in the refrigerator. 

Up next: Eritrea  

BURKINA FASO: THE FOOD!

I’ve learned my lesson. Ok, probably not. But I did find out the hard way that grocery shopping on a Saturday night is the worst time if you’re aiming at getting decent fresh vegetables.  The only eggplants and sweet potatoes left to choose from were the miscreants of the produce world. But I gathered up what ones there were and whipped them into shape in the only way I knew how. I went at their worst parts with a sharpened knife. (It’s starting to sound like a bad horror film. Hey, producers of Saw, call me.)  But it was all worth it on this one-year anniversary of the first meal I made for this blog. When we sat down for food from Afghanistan, I knew this was going to be an addictive project.

The first recipe I made today was called Munyu Caf Couscous. It’s a stew of “assorted meats” (I chose chicken and thick-cut bacon), onion, tomato, peanut butter, shredded cabbage (I cheated and found a bag of cole slaw mix that was just green cabbage), and aubergines (which I found was another word for eggplant, and I went with baby eggplants which are supposed to be milder). I mixed everything in a skillet and left it to simmer for an hour. I should’ve stirred it a few times because the bottom got a little scorched, but sometimes I kind of like it like that. It all goes on top of couscous. I just bought a box of ready-made couscous and made it like the box said. It was so good together; it was practically perfect.

Not the most flattering picture, but my mouth thought it was more awesome than finding my favorite beer on sale. 

To go with it, I made krakro (or, sweet potato fritters). My husband thought I was making sweet potato pone, but when I told him there wasn’t sugar in the recipe, he went straight to the cabinet and added a ton of sugar to it. So, ok, it wasn’t authentic, but it did taste good. The recipe called to mash the sweet potatoes, dip them in egg, then in breadcrumbs and fry it. But it just wasn’t setting up.  It’s kind of hard to fry something that’s the consistency of paste.  So, I skipped on the egg, and it seemed to work better. I also tried not to flip them too soon, but I still don’t think it ended up like how it was supposed to. However, the taste was really good! So, it wasn’t all bad.

It had so much potential. I still liked it though. Some mess-ups aren't that bad. 

Finally, after we ate the meal, I made the bread. For this, I chose the Banfora Welshcakes. It called for butter to be cut into the flour with a little salt and a half-cup of sugar. Although it called for a little bit of diced dried pineapple, I read someone’s blog who made this that it probably wasn’t the best option. So, I went with an 8 oz can of crushed pineapple (and probably way more than I needed). The recipe called for it to be rolled out and circles to be cut out of it, but it was way too moist and sticky for that. I just dropped it in the hot oil almost like a drop cookie. It actually turned out more like small pancakes. The flavor was really good, although some of them were a little on the thick side and was still gooey in the middle (although I wasn’t sure if it was the pineapple or that the dough wasn’t cooked through).  The best part – of course – was the powdered sugar topping.

I might try to make these with bananas too. Because... why not?

I really enjoyed this meal. But then again, I really enjoy West African food in general. And my husband’s birthday is tomorrow (even though he's not acknowledging it because he doesn't want to get another year older), so this was sort of his birthday dinner (who else cooks a Burkinabé meal for their husband? This girl does.).  I also couldn’t help but thinking of how I’ve been doing this blog for a year now. It’s not my first blog, though. My first blog was for some site (I forget the name) where I was blogging about my city of Indianapolis. Then I had a blog that lasted for about five posts that was about places in Indiana. I had to leave that one alone because I realized I never had enough money to travel around, even if it was traveling around my state. So then last year, as I was driving to work, I lamented to my husband that there wasn’t a bread store that made breads from all over the world, because I would want to try a different one each time I visited. He suggested that I do it myself and write about it, even though I made amateur chefs/bakers seem like professionals compared to my kitchen skills. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the past year. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly learned a lot, and this has definitely opened my eyes to a lot of world history, culture, and the influences and impacts on global cuisine. And yes, I’m making my way around a kitchen a little easier, and like tonight, making really awesome meals as well.

Krakro and munyu caf couscous. My husband's non-acknowledged-birthday birthday dinner. 

Up next: Burundi