Cameroon Beef

Cameroon Beef -the curry powder I make, is very mild, you could add more to suit your taste.

There are a lot of really great dishes, from Cameroon, but this is my favorite. It is an incredible combination of flavors. I top mine with a little chutney, and drizzle it with the African hot sauce.
I'm squeezing in a lot of recipe's on this post. But they all go together. This is a bit of work, making the sides, but well worth it. They can be made, a day in advance.  The fried bananas are a perfect side for this dish. I add coconut chips, to the water, when I cook the rice, too. If you can, use fresh pineapple for this, it tastes so much better.

Ingredients:
2 diced onions
1Tbl. mild curry powder
2tsp. salt ( I know it sounds like a lot, but you'll need it)
1/2tsp. pepper
2Tbl. oil
2lbs. chuck roast-cubed
1/2 of a fresh pineapple or 1 can chunks
1/4cup raisins
1 can of coconut milk
1/2cup water
1/2 of a fresh coconut- chopped or 1-cup unsweetened coconut chips
1 mango-cut into strips
cooked rice


I use chip ribbon coconut, instead of fresh.
Preparation:
In a 4qt. pot, heat the oil. Fry the onion, curry, salt, and pepper, until the onion, softens.
Add the beef, and cover the pan. Don't allow the beef to brown. Simmer on low, for 45-minutes.
Add the pineapple coconut milk, water, and raisins. Cover and continue to simmer, until the beef is tender. ( about 30 minutes)
Add mango and coconut cook about 10 more minutes. serve over cooked rice.
Serve with a choice of, chopped peanuts, African hot sauce, pineapple chutney, chopped coconut, pili-pili sauce. It was great with fried plantains.

                             Pili-Pili sauce: from the Congo cookbook
Make 3-Tbl.
3-4 ripe red jalapenos-minced (Or any ripe pepper)
juice of one lemon
1tsp. minced garlic
 1tsp. dried or 2tsp. fresh parsley
2Tbl. cooking oil
pinch of salt
Either grind, or use a food processor to puree. Simmer for a few minutes in a saucepan, to remove the raw flavor. Refrigerate before using.

            African hot sauce: from the Congo cookbook. I love this sauce!
Makes 1/4-cup:
3 red ripe hot peppers- diced ( I used jalapeno)
An equal amount of green bell pepper- diced
1/2tsp. minced garlic
1/2 of a small onion-diced
2Tbl. tomato paste or ketchup
1Tbl. vinegar
1/4tsp. sugar
 1/4tp. salt
Either grind or use a blender, to puree. Simmer for a few minutes in a saucepan, to remove the raw flavor. Refrigerate before using. I love this sauce, it's good uncooked too.

As a stand alone dish, I don't really care for these, but drizzled with African hot sauce, they are the perfect side for Cameroon Beef.


1 plantain (or any banana) for each person-sliced or split horizontally
oil for frying
salt or African hot sauce (sugar if your using them for dessert)
Heat about 1/2-inch oil, in a skillet. Wait for the bottom to become golden brown, then flip it, and brown the other side. Drain on a paper towel. Serve with your choice of, salt, hot sauce or sugar.

      Pineapple-Mango Chutney- This tastes great with fresh pineapple.

makes 1-cup:
1/2 of a fresh pineapple-diced or 1 can tidbits
1 mango- diced
2 ripe red hot peppers-minced (I used jalapeno)
1/4tsp. mild curry powder
The white section of 6 green onions-chopped
1/4tsp. pureed ginger
1Tbl. vinegar
1/2tsp. minced garlic
1/4tsp. salt
1/4tsp. sugar
 Add everything to a saucepan, simmer on a low flame, about 5-8 minutes, or until it thickens somewhat.
Chill before serving.

African- hot sauce

            African hot sauce: from the Congo cookbook. I love this sauce!
Makes 1/4-cup:
3 red ripe hot peppers- diced ( I used jalapeno)
An equal amount of green bell pepper- diced
1/2tsp. minced garlic
1/2 of a small onion-diced
2Tbl. tomato paste or ketchup
1Tbl. vinegar
1/4tsp. sugar
 1/4tp. salt
Either grind or use a blender, to puree. Simmer for a few minutes in a saucepan, to remove the raw flavor. Refrigerate before using. I love this sauce, it's good uncooked too.

Piri Piri Chicken

                        Piri Piri Chicken with Roasted lemon potatoes


Pan grilled chicken and sweet peppers, simmered in a mildly hot, Portuguese-African sauce. I love this, quick and easy too. I've done a bit of research on this dish, and have been altering my original recipe, which, in turn, was altered from one of Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals. It has a much deeper flavor now. I'm removing the old post.

Piri is Swahili for pepper, particularly, the African birds eye chili. It is said that this dish originated in Mozambique. The peppers were believed to have been brought to Africa, by Portuguese settlers.  It always seems, the most complex sauces come from combining cultures, no matter what part of the world it happens. Such as the The Caribbean, Mexico, the Louisiana bayou, just to name a few. Many of my favorite dishes derive from these cross cultures.

I've made this using green bell peppers, it was almost as good, but the sweetness of ripe bell peppers really compliments the sauce. I think I'm also going to try: Grilling the chicken outdoors, then basting on sauce, like BBQ sauce. I let you know how it turns out.

Ingredients:
1tsp.-plus-1tbl. oil
boneless, chicken breast-thawed and flattened between two pieces of plastic-this sauce is enough for eight
1-to-3 Ripe bell peppers- julienne sliced (I use 1red,1yellow and 1orange, for a 3lb. bag of chicken breast.)
1/4 cup water

For the Piri Piri Sauce:
1 onion-diced
1Tbl. minced garlic
1/2tsp. pureed ginger
2 bird chili peppers- broken
2 red, ripe jalapenos-seeded and diced
1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
1/4cup white wine vinegar
1Tbl.Worcestershire sauce
1/4cup water
1Tbl. dried basil
1/2tsp dried cilantro
1/2tsp dried thyme
1/2tsp. salt
1/4tsp. tarragon
1/2 of a bay leaf

Preparation:
Puree the sauce ingredients in a blender, until smooth.
Heat the tsp.of oil in a skillet. Saute the peppers until crisp-tender, remove the peppers from the skillet.
Add another Tbl. oil to the skillet, and turn the burner to a high flame.
Brown the chicken on both sides, cooking until the chicken is cooked through and lightly browned. Most of the browning occurs at the end of cooking.
Add the 1/4 of water to the hot pan, to de-glaze the bottom of the pan. This adds more flavor to the dish.
Add the peppers back to the pan, along with the sauce.
Simmer about 3-5 minutes, to allow the chicken to absorb the sauce. Serve hot.

                                        Puree the sauce ingredients.

                         Saute the peppers until they are crisp-tender.

     Pan grill the chicken until it is cooked through, and lightly browned.

De-glaze the pan with 1/4cup water. Add the peppers, chicken and sauce. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Serve hot.

Porkloin with Moroccan Stuffing

                                Porkloin with Moroccan Stuffing
I adapted this from two Moroccan stews that I really like. It's my favorite stuffed porkloin recipe.
Sorry about the photo, the battery died on my camera, just as I was about to take it.

Ingredients:
1 porkloin
1Tbl. butter
1tsp lemon zest
1-1/2tsp. mined garlic
1tsp. pureed ginger
1 large or 2 small onions- minced
1tsp. cinnamon
1tsp. coriander
1/2tsp. ground cumin
1/2tsp. chili powder
1tsp. salt
1/2tsp. pepper
1/2tsp turmeric
1cup died apricots-chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1/2cup water
2tsp. honey
1cup canned chickpeas-drained
1Tbl. dried parsley

Preparation:
Melt the butter in a skillet.
Add the zest, garlic, ginger, onion, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, chili, salt, pepper and turmeric.
Saute until the onions soften a bit.
Add the apricots, lemon juice, water and honey.
Cook stirring until the water has been absorbed.
Crush the chickpeas, just to flatten a bit, then stir them into the apricot mixture, along with the dried parsley.
Set aside to cool.
Here is a video to show how to cut a porkloin for stuffing. prep meat for stuffed porkloin
Preheat the oven to 375*
Spread the stuffing over the loin, then re-roll it.
Place it in a baking pan, cut side down, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until cooked through. Cool 15 minutes before slicing.

Chin Chin- Caraway Twists

                                                     Chin Chin

I found this little gem in an International cookbook, years ago.
I would never have considered using caraway in something sweet, but it meshes perfectly with the citrus.
This is a street food sold by vendors in Nigeria. Crisp, lightly sweet and very good.
You could also add 1/2 tsp. orange extract to make it even more citrusy. Or add more sugar if you like it sweeter.


Ingredients:
1cup flour
pinch of salt
2Tbl. sugar
1tsp. grated orange zest
2tsp. caraway seeds
2tbl. cold butter
1 beaten egg
oil for deep frying

Preparation:
Whisk together the flour and salt.
Cut in the butter, using a fork or pastry cutter, until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the caraway, sugar and zest, mix well.
Mix in the beaten egg.
It will be a very firm dough, if you can't mix in all the flour, add a few drops of water.
Knead about 2 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch.
Cut the dough into 1inch strips, then cut across the dough to make them about 6inches long.
Cut a slit into one end of the strip, and pull the other end through the slit to make a bow.
Fry about 1 minute or until lightly golden. Serve hot. Makes 12

Whisk together flour and salt, then cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. If you are using real butter, you may have to rub it in.

                                The dough will be very firm, like pie crust.

Roll the dough to about 12"x6" Cut into1"strips, then cut across the strips to make roughly 1"x6" strips. Cut a slit in the cut end and pull the other end through to make a loose knot or bow. Fry until lightly browned.