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I wish you ALL a spectacular 2012!


Sunday 1 January 2012

Chicken with peanut butter sauce





That's it 2012 is here! I thought about "the first" recipe of the year i will be sharing with you, and this one came up straight away: 
Well known all over the African continent (also called Maffe); It is cooked in several ways and with different types of meat, fish or vegetables. Therefore, it suits everyone from meat lovers to veggies addicts! The combination of tomato sauce and peanut butter is surprisingly delicious!

Most of the time, the dish is eaten with rice or plantains.

For 4 people
10 min Preparation time
+/- 35 min Cooking time
Ingredients

4 chicken legs or breasts (cut in nice chunks)
1 big onion
2 small garlic cloves
250 gr. peeled tomatoes (can)
2 coffee spoon concentrated tomato paste
2 chicken stock (cube)
½ beef stock (cube) 
2 laurel leaves
coffee spoon nutmeg powder
2 tbl spoon peanut butter
1 Whole Chili or Pili Pili as we call it
750 ml water
8 tbl spoon olive oil
Frying oil

Let’s get started:
1. In a bowl

  •   Press 1 garlic, 1 chicken stock (cube)
  •  Add 1 coffee spoon nutmeg powder, 2 tbl spoon olive oil
  •  Add chicken pieces, mix well


2. Heat a pan with frying oil, fry chicken pieces until nicely brown on both sides (+/- 5 to 10 min when using legs pieces) and let sit aside 

3. Heat a deep pot with 6 tbl spoon olive oil, add chopped onion, pressed garlic and stir for 2 min


  •   Add pealed and paste tomato
  •  Add water and stir
  • Add chicken and beef stocks (cubes), laurel, remaining nutmeg, chicken and stir
  • Lower the heat (half the maximum heat of your stove), cover and let simmer for +/- 20 min
  • Add peanut butter and stir slowly until all butter dissolved in the sauce
  • Add pili pili, cover and let simmer approximately 4 min
  • Take out the pili pili before serving (please make sure not to break the pili pili as the dish might become way too spicy)
  • Taste to adjust the seaisoning

4. Serve with white rice or fried plantains

Thursday 22 December 2011

Peanut butter & Corn flour biscuits






Christmas being around the corner, people have been baking cookies, cakes, and biscuits to give away or to enjoy with a nice cup of tea or coffee. Coming from the Congo, I realized that we don’t have this tradition of baking sweets. I started thinking about how I could integrate this cookies baking spirits with my background?
Here is what I came up with… Trust me they are simply delicious and the smell in the kitchen is divine…

20 min Preparation time
30 min Sitting time
10 min Cooking time

Ingredients

250 gr. corn flour
50 gr. wheat flour
150 gr. butter
100 gr. sugar
1 egg
2 T/S milk
2 T/S peanut butter

Let’s get started:
1. On a clean surface:
  •   Pour flours, sugar, butter (no need to melt it just cut it in pieces)
  •   Add milk and egg
  •  Mix ingredients together with your hands (it is a fun exercise) until smooth
  •   Add peanut butter and mix until the dough is smooth
  •  Let sit aside for 30 min

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C
3. Flour a clean surface
4. Using a rolling pin, roll dough to 3mm thickness
5. Using a cookie cutter, shape your biscuits and place them on an oven tray with baking paper
6. Cook in the oven for 10 min until nicely golden
7. Enjoy!