Congo Chicken Moambe Stew

This past week, the boyfriend drew the country of Congo for the ethnic cuisine part of the challenge of 2014.  Not much is published on the food of Congo, but from what I did research, it made me realize that I could never be a vegetarian in Congo.  Vegetarianism isn't a known commodity in Central Africa as growing any sort of fresh crops is incredibly difficult.

However, root vegetables such as cassava and sweet potato are typical side dishes to a meat dish.  For this dish, I found a Congo Chicken Moambe Stew.  This is one you certainly have to allot two and a half hours to prepare and cook.

Congo Chicken Moambe Stew -- Oalala of Food.com
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients
1-1 1/3 lbs chicken parts -- cut into serving pieces

Congo Chicken Moambe (stew)

1/4 tsp of salt
1/3 tsp of pepper
1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/3 onion--minced
1/3 dash of nutmeg
1 (2 2/3 oz) can of tomato sauce
1/3 Tbs of butter
1/3 c of peanut butter -- creamy and unsalted

Directions
1. Place chicken in a 6 quart soup pot with water to cover -- add salt and pepper
2. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours
3. Remove chicken and reserve 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth
4. In another pan, sate cayenne pepper, onion, nutmeg, tomato sauce and butter for 3 minutes
5. To the pan, add the cooked chicken and 1 1/2 cups of reserved broth and simmer covered for 15 minutes
6. Add peanut butter to thicken, place in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes, uncovered
7. Serve warm with cooked rice

Out of all the chicken dishes I have prepared, this had to be the tastiest, aside from the roasted chicken I did from Thomas Keller's toolbox.  The mildness of the peanut butter and tomato sauce really pulled this chicken to another degree.

Next week, we'll explore the Searchlight Recipe Book (c) 1943.

Throw Back to 1908...

This past week, the boyfriend drew The Inglenook Cook Book, dated 1908.  He found this book on eBay and gave it to me as one of my Christmas' presents.  Neither of us are really big on Christmas since we don't buy into the whole commercialism aspect of it so we always struggle in trying to figure out what to get the other for Christmas, even if its something photography or cooking related.

In any event, part of the challenge of 2014 is a week of vintage.  I really didn't know what to prepare out of The Inglenook Cook Book, since there are a number of different types of recipes.  Mindful of my "diet," and quest to keep things fresh, I caved.  Unnecessarily, but I was having the week where my "diet" never makes sense only that being a woman in childbearing years without the child.

I also wanted to keep the ingredients simple and perhaps out of the cabinet for this challenge since I'm sure that's what the women of 1908 would do.

Introducing, Chocolate Fudges from Sister Emma Carstensen, Elgin, Illinois.

Chocolate Fudges (c) 1908

"Take 1 cup of sugar (I reduced to 1/2 cup), 1/3 cup of sweet cream (whipping cream), and 1 heaping tablespoonful of grated chocolate; boil until it hairs from the tines of a fork.  Stir briskly till cool, pour into a pan and cut into squares."

Simple right?  Way too simple!  In my days of making fudge, which weren't many since my family was never big on sweets, always involved using sweetened condensed milk.  Now that I know that whipping cream is a good substitute, I can replicate this to a better chocolate (like 67% coco).

In any event, I learned something new from this little venture and hopefully this upcoming week's challenge can pull us through to another vintage week with another book.

Next week, The Republic of Congo...

Monthly update of funds going towards the Food Bank: $4.02