Holiday Soiree: Thanksgiving

The Holiday: Thanksgiving(United States)
We all know the basic story/myth behind Thanksgiving in this country: The Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims and the Native Americans sharing a meal. Most sources say this took place in or around 1621. We'll probably never really know what actually happened, but we have built a narrative around what information we do have.

What you may or may not know, though, is what happened afterwards. Thanksgiving wasn't an annual celebration until over two centuries later. New York state became the first state in the Union to adopt an annual Thanksgiving celebration in 1817, and it wasn't until 1863 that President Lincoln declared the holiday to be celebrated by the entire country, in an attempt to unify a nation torn apart by war. It wouldn't be until the 1870's, though, when all states actually started participating.

From that time, until 1939, the holiday was celebrated on the last Thursday in November. President Roosevelt changed the date to the third week of November, in hopes of giving shoppers an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas in an attempt to boost the economy, which was still lagging due to the Great Depression. The outrage was so great, however, that by 1941, he changed it to the fourth Thursday in November, which is has been ever since.

Regardless of the true history, or how the dominant culture treats minorities in this nation, I still feel that there is nothing wrong with setting aside a day for being grateful for what we have in our lives. If done right, that gratefulness could be used to extend kindness to others. I think it's actually intended to be so, but we forget that part, most of the time. This is how I choose to think about Thanksgiving.

The Food: Stuffing Bread, Vegetarian Dressing, Cranberry Applesauce, Holiday Cranberry Tart, and Turkey Hash

I started these last Saturday, but because of timing and when I would actually get to taste them, I decided to put off writing this post until this weekend, when I could write about all of them from start to finish. This will be a long post, be warned!

Stuffing Bread
3 1/2-4 cups flour
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. rubbed sage
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg
For Stuffing:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
3-4 cups chicken broth or water

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, and seasonings.

Add water and oil; beat just until moistened. Add egg and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Shape into a large round loaf. Place on a greased baking sheet. cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

To make stuffing, cut cooled bread in 1" slices and then into cubes. Let stand 24 hours to dry.

 

In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, eggs, butter, and enough broth to achieve desired moistness. Stir to blend.

Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Uncover, bake 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Makes 8 servings (Editor's note on the recipe card: Stuffing may be used to stuff a turkey, chicken, or pork roast by substituting 3/4 cup egg substitute for eggs.)

This recipe is courtesy of Marion Lowery of Medford, Oregon, from the December/January 2001 edition of Taste of Home magazine. I have had this recipe forever and every year I looked at it and thought about trying it out, but it never happened. I thought this blog project was the perfect time to finally do it. It was so worth the extra work of making the bread. I ended up using about 5 cups of liquid for this, and I added sauteed onions and celery like a traditional stuffing. I used vegetable broth to make it suitable to the vegetarian in my family. It ended up being about 3 cups broth and 2 cups water. My entire family enjoyed this recipe and I am currently trying to convince my mom to switch over to it next year and use it in the turkey. I'd love to see how it tastes with the turkey flavor.

I made this bread last Saturday, and cut it up on Tuesday to sit and dry out a bit. I assembled the stuffing on Wednesday and baked it Thursday morning. There were a lot of leftovers, and I used some of them for last night's blog meal.

Turkey Hash
2 Tbsp. butter
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
2 cups leftover stuffing
2 cups (1/2" pieces) leftover cooked turkey
1 cup leftover cooked vegetables, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves, chopped(I skipped this, I think parsley is one of the most useless herbs in existence. Don't waste your money on it.)
1/2 cup leftover cranberry sauce

In 12" nonstick skillet, melt butter on medium. Add onion and cook 8-10 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Stir in mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and vegetables. (You have to really stir it a lot to get it to mix together, but I think it's better that way.)

Cook 20 minutes, turning occasionally and pressing with spatula, until browned.

 

Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with cranberry sauce. Makes 4 servings; 550 cal, 23g fat, 6g fiber

Like all hash recipes, this one looks a bit like a train wreck, but boy is it delicious! There's just nothing elegant about how a hash looks, but it's all about the flavor anyway, right? And don't skip out on the cranberry sauce, it really enhances the overall taste.

And speaking of cranberry sauce, why not try out the sauce I made this year? It turned out to be pretty excellent!

Cranberry-Applesauce
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2 cups sliced tart apples
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup honey
Zest of 1 orange

Combine cranberries, apples, water, and orange juice.

Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until cranberries have popped and apples are tender. Add honey and orange zest.(I cut down the amount of honey to as little as I could get away with. I ended up doubling the recipe because I had too many apples, but ended up using only a bit over 1 Tablespoon of honey. Start with a small amount and adjust to your personal preference.)

Puree in a blender.(I used a hand-held blender.) Serve warm or cold. Makes about 3 cups.

This sauce is really smooth, more like an applesauce with cranberries than a cranberry sauce with apples. It's really easy to make too. I highly recommend this one.

And now that we're on the subject of cranberries, we can move onto the dessert!

Holiday Cranberry Tart
Filling:
1 med. orange
2 bags(12 oz. each) cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
Pastry:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening(I used butter or you could use lard if you want)
Topping:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

1.) Prepare Filling: Grate zest and juice the orange. In 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat, heat orange zest, orange juice, cranberries, and sugar to boiling.

Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, uncovered, until cranberries pop and mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; cool filling to room temperature.(This can be done a day ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to use.)
2.) Prepare Pastry: In medium bowl, using fork, mix flour, sugar, and salt. With pastry blender, cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle about 4 Tbsp. cold water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, into flour mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition, until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Shape dough into disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 30 minutes.

3.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On lightly floured surface, using floured rolling pin, roll dough into 12" round. Press dough onto bottom and up side of 10"x1" round tart pan with removable bottom.

Press overhang in and against side of tart pan to form rim 1/8" above edge of pan. Using fork, prick dough at 1" intervals to prevent puffing and shrinking during baking.
4.) Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake 20 minutes; remove from oven. Turn oven down to 375 degrees and remove foil and pie weights from the pie.(The original recipe calls for you to bake longer after taking out the foil and weights but this overbaked my crust. I do not recommend doing this step.)
5.) Meanwhile, prepare crumb topping: In medium bowl, mix flour, sugars, and cinnamon until well-blended. Using fingertips, work in butter until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.(This can be prepared a day ahead.)
6.) Pour cranberry filling into tart shell (no more than 1/4" from the top.) Using hand, crumble topping into chunks; sprinkle evenly over filling.

Bake tart until crumbs are golden brown, 30-40 minutes, if necessary, covering edge of crust with foil to prevent browning. Cool in pan on wire rack at least 30 minutes.

Makes 10 servings; 425 cal, 19g fat

I didn't alter the sugar content in this recipe because I didn't want to mess with the texture of the sauce. This was really tasty, but you don't need a lot. I tried my piece with Cool Whip(don't judge me, you try liking delightful whipped cream and being lactose intolerant. You'll turn to this stuff gladly, rather than have nothing at all.) and that made it even better.

Well, I am really glad that all of my recipes turned out ok this year. It's always risky trying out new things for a holiday meal, but I like the excitement and challenge of it. I would make any one of these recipes again. The cranberry sauce and tart would also work well for Christmas.

I hope everybody had a lovely Thanksgiving! Stay tuned for next week's post. I think you'll like it!

Holiday Soiree: Dia de los Muertos

The Holiday: El Dia de los Muertos (Mexico)
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in English, is the time of year that Mexicans celebrate the dead, and as with Halloween in Europe, is thought to be the one time of the year where the dead can return to this realm to visit the living. It is a pre-Columbian holiday that has changed and expanded over the years, particularly after the Spanish invasion and the mixing of Catholicism with the original holiday. As with Halloween in Ireland(see last week's post), the Catholic church kept the main rituals of the original holiday, but changed some of the meanings to make it fit in better with their belief system. Now, Dia de los Muertos, is a two day celebration beginning on November 1st and ending on November 2nd. Each day has a different focus. November 1st focuses on children who died young, stillborn children, and miscarriages. This is a day to honor these children. November 1st also coincides with All Saints Day in Catholicism. November 2nd coincides with All Souls Day in Catholicism, and this is the day for adults who have died. Families will go to cemeteries and clean off graves and bring food to share with one another. The mood is festive and joyful, and the idea is to invite your deceased loved ones to spend the day with you.

Dia de los Muertos is something I've known about for a long time, since my Spanish class days in middle and high school, but I never celebrated it until a few years ago. My family and extended families have been steeped in untimely deaths over the last few years, and I wanted a way to honor them, particularly my cousin, for whom Mexico was his favorite place on Earth. The holiday landed about a month before the first anniversary of his passing, and it seemed like the perfect way to help deal with my grief. I researched the holiday and set up an ofrenda (altar) with some of the traditional items, including an apple and pan de muerto (bread of the dead) that I made myself. It was lovely. So lovely that I did it the next year too, and had a larger ofrenda, with items to honor and entice even more of my loved ones.

 My first ofrenda devoted to my cousin

Last year's ofrenda, includes pan de muerto and black licorice wheels as well as objects and photos associated with all of my loved ones.

Unfortunately, this year, Dia de los Muertos lands on a weekday, which makes it really difficult to make fresh bread, so I will not be doing an ofrenda this year. But, I made pan dulce (sweet bread) today to celebrate.

Dia de los Muertos involves other things as well, like sugar skulls (calaveras) and skull make up (like the picture at the top of this post). Some people wear costumes too. With the concerns about cultural appropriation, this is the line I have drawn for myself, personally. I partake in the food element of the holiday, and the remembrance of my loved ones, but I don't dress up or put on make up. To me that feels like taking something that isn't mine.

This is fast becoming one of my favorite adopted holidays. There is a lot of information about it on the internet, and if you want a visual to go with your research I would recommend the movie The Book of Life, as well as the Dia de los Muertos episode of Elena of Avalor. Both handle the subject with care and respect and will help you learn a lot about the holiday and the true meanings behind it. The biggest thing to do, when partaking in a holiday that isn't one of yours originally, is to be respectful of it. And to actually bother researching it. Dia de los Muertos isn't "Mexican Halloween" or an extension of Halloween, it is it's own holiday, rich with meaning. It has managed not only to maintain its original meaning, but to adapt to the new rituals that have come out of it over the years as well.

The Food: Conchas

I have made pan de muerto for the last couple years now, and the point of my blog projects are to try new things, so I didn't want to make it again. I wanted something different, and I had just found this recipe(I can't remember the source, unfortunately) recently and was really excited to get to try it out.

I have always been interested in this item. I have seen them in pictures and on TV before, and in panaderias(Mexican bakeries) but didn't actually know what they were. They were bread of some sort, but the topping is what intrigued me the most. It's like a brightly colored topping with lines all through them and I had no idea what it was made of, what it tasted like, or how you made them. They were a complete mystery to me. Conchas, are rolls made to look like seashells which is why they have those wavy designs on top, to make it look like a seashell. This recipe takes all the mystery out of it and it turns out, they aren't that complicated to make. They are a lot of fun to make, actually! Here's the recipe:

Buns:
3 tsp. active dry yeast (this is about 1.5 of the yeast packets)
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup lukewarm milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, room temp.
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting

Sugar Paste Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup margarine (I actually used margarine for this. Since butter is used in the bread, I figured there was a reason for using margarine here, and it wasn't my place to second guess.)
1/2 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Assorted gel food colorings (I used the liquid kind, not the gel kind, and it worked just fine. Just use whatever you have on hand.)

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer fixed with a paddle attachment. Add the milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups flour. Stir together until just combined. Switch to the dough hook attachment. (I used the dough hook attachment the whole time and it worked just fine. Don't bother getting another item dirty that you'll have to wash later on when you don't really need to.) Add an additional cup of flour on medium-low speed. When the flour is incorporated, knead at medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be elastic and slightly sticky, but easy to handle. If the dough is very sticky, knead in additional flour. (I did this step by hand. I took the dough out of the bowl and kneaded it by hand. I enjoy kneading by hand and seeing what the dough feels like. But, do what you like most!) Place the dough in a large greased bowl and turn the dough over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the sugar paste topping: Beat the sugar and margarine together until light and fluffy.

Stir in flour and mix until a thick dough forms. Add additional flour, if needed. Divide dough into 3 or 4 pieces and tint with food color. If the dough becomes sticky from the food color, add more flour. Cover pieces with plastic wrap until ready to use.

When dough is ready, turn it out onto a slightly floured surface.

Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Shape each dough piece into a ball by tucking the corners over. (Don't roll between your palms, as this will cause the dough to deflate and become tough.) Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Roll out the sugar paste pieces on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 2 1/2" rounds with a cookie cutter. Use the cutter to score lines in paste to resemble ridges on a seashell. Transfer to scored sugar paste rounds to the bun, using an offset spatula.

(Here is what I did with the paste, as opposed to the instructions: I rolled each color out and cut it into quarters. From there, I used the offset spatula to pick up each piece and put it onto the bun but didn't attempt to make it into a shape. This was really hard dough to work with. I then used the back of a knife to draw the lines on each piece. Just score, you don't need to cut all the way through. This seemed to work pretty well.)
If the paste won't adhere naturally, use a pastry brush to apply dots of water on the underside before applying to the buns. Allow the buns to rise on the baking sheet for 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake buns for 18-20 minutes (I did mine for 18 and it was perfect), or until they are fragrant and lightly brown on the bottoms. Store the leftovers in an airtight container.
Makes 16 buns

These look just like the ones I have seen in the store and online! I was really excited to see them. I was even more excited to taste them. The topping is crunchy and adds a great texture to the bread. It's not overly sweet. The bread is really soft and I could have probably eaten 5 or 6 if I had wanted to, which I sort of did, but I made myself use restraint.

I can't wait to take these to work tomorrow to share with my coworkers. One of my coworkers is from Mexico and was excited when I told her about making these over the weekend. Hopefully they will taste like she remembers!

Well, if this is the first you are ever hearing about this holiday, take some time to research it. You might just find that you want to try it out yourself next year!

Holiday Soiree: Pumpkin Extravaganza

Holiday Soiree: Pumpkin Extravaganza
So, like last week, there wasn't a specific holiday for this week either, but I decided to continue with the use of autumn and Halloween-themed ingredients. This week was pumpkin, in canned form. I looked through my recipes and found a really interesting recipe for pumpkin French toast that used canned pumpkin in the egg wash. It called for a hearty bread, and when I ran across another recipe for pumpkin egg bread, I knew I'd found what I needed. Pumpkin French toast made with pumpkin bread? That so needed to be a thing! This turned out to be a great meal, and none of it was very difficult to do.

The first recipe is for the bread. Most pumpkin breads are quick breads, meaning there is no yeast and it has more of a muffin-like texture. Think zuccchini bread, or banana bread. This recipe was more unusual in that it was a traditional bread, with yeast. It was quite like a Challah bread, but with the addition of canned pumpkin,which gave it an amazing color, and pumpkin pie spice, which added more flavor than the pumpkin actually did. It also called for bread flour which I have never worked with before. I'm glad I had a chance to try it out because I think it created a superior product. Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Egg Bread
1pkg. active dry yeast
3 Tbsp. warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
2-2 1/2 cups bread flour
Egg Wash-
1 egg
1 tbsp. water

1.) In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, brown sugar, butter, pie spice, salt, the yeast mixture, and 1 cup flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

2.) Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3.) Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into thirds. Roll each into a 16" rope.

Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid. Pinch ends to seal; tuck under. Cover with a towel; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4.) For egg wash, in a bowl, mix egg and water; brush over loaf. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 1 loaf, 12 slices. 126 cal, 3g fat, 1g fiber per slice

As you can see, this bread looks really amazing when it's finished! It's very much like a Challah bread, but the color and flavor are different. It has an amazing flavor and texture and as far as bread goes, was pretty simple to make. The bread flour is the key. Bread flour has more gluten in it than regular flour, so it's really only suited for bread-making. It was tougher to knead because of the extra gluten, so don't worry if you are kneading it and wondering why it's taking a little extra strength to get it to work. And sorry to the gluten-intolerant folks out there, but this recipe isn't going to work for you...Though, if you are able to adapt it to gluten-free flours, please let me know, I'd love to her how it turns out!

The next recipe is for French toast that calls for a more heavy-duty bread than just regular bread. I thought the bread I made would work perfectly, and I was right! This is also a super easy recipe, and I actually have a source listed for this one. This is courtesy of this food blog. Since I have the link for it, I am not going to write it out here. I will share the pictures, though!

This is the egg batter once you've whisked it very well. The pumpkin takes a lot of whisking to break down and incorporate into the rest of the ingredients. It will look slightly like the filling for a pumpkin pie when it's mixed properly.

Here it is cooking on the stove. If you use white bread, it probably won't look quite so orange because the bread I used was orange to begin with.

The finished product! I served it with other breakfast foods for a delicious breakfast-for-dinner. The store had some awesome country-style bacon on sale. It looks very different from regular bacon and I highly recommend it! You could use syrup on this French toast, but I prefer a small sprinkling of powdered sugar on mine. It adds a touch of sweetness but doesn't drown out the flavors you worked so hard to create!

My sister ate this too and loved it. She doesn't normally like stuff like this, so that is saying something! I had a lot of fun making these two recipes and was really excited that they both turned out so successfully. I had enough bread and egg wash left over to make more for my lunch today too! And the rest of the bread will be used as regular toast. I haven't tried that yet, but I have the feeling it will make amazing toast!

Happy Baking!

Dining-In: A Culinary Tour of the World-Botswana

 

 The Country: Botswana

Continent: Africa, south
Capital: Gaborone
Current Head of State: President Ian Khama
Form of Government: Parliamentary Republic
Official Language: Setswana, English
Ethnic Groups: Tswana, Kgalagadi, Bajarwa, Kalanga, white
Population: As of 2014-2,155,784
Currency: Pula
Independence Date: September 30, 1966-From the UK
Main Religion: Christianity
National Anthem:

The Food: Phaphatha and Botswanan Chicken Groundnut Stew
This is my first stop in Africa for this project and it turns out it was a delicious stop! Both of my items were amazing. A lot of Botswanan recipes were for beef, and since I don't eat that, I had to look around for something that worked. I managed to find one I really liked. For my other recipe, I chose Phaphatha. Though a difficult word to pronounce, phaphatha is actually a delicious bread. It is essentially an English muffin, but with elements of biscuits and pancakes added. It's baked on the stove top which really intrigued me. It doesn't rise nearly as long as a traditional yeast bread, like biscuits. And the way it cooks on the stove, is like pancakes. I ate mine with butter but you could add jam if you wanted. The original recipe says it makes a good breakfast sandwich too, if you are so inclined. The recipe used metric measurements, which I had to translate. I will provide the translated amount, as well as my own notes.

Phaphatha:

17.6oz flour, plus extra for rolling and kneading

½ pkg. yeast

1-1 ½ cups lukewarm water

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Sift the flour and yeast into a bowl. Add the sugar and salt. Gradually add water and combine with your hands to form a dough. Only add enough water to form the dough.

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes till it’s soft and pliable.

Put aside in a bowl covered with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about half an inch thickness. Using a round object like a plastic cup or cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. 

Dust the phaphathas liberally on both sides and place in a flat pan on medium heat with enough space between them to allow for rising. The phaphatha will continue to rise while cooking. When it is very puffed on the top, turn over to cook on the other side.

Remove from heat when cooked through and enjoy with tea (or coffee) while warm. Alternatively, stuff with whatever you like to make a sandwich.

My first batch got a little too done on one side and the part that touched the pan got too hard to eat. It was easy enough to eat around that part though. The second batch I had turned down the heat and they ended up being less overdone on top. These were delicious and I loved the texture. I'm curious to see if these would freeze well to eat at a later date. I think they would, if I planned on toasting them. I can see how they would make an awesome breakfast sandwich too. Maybe I'll freeze one and test it out next weekend!

For my entree, I decided to try the chicken and groundnut stew. Groundnut is basically peanut butter. I have heard of savory items with peanut butter in them. It's used a lot in certain Asian cuisines like Thai food, but I haven't had a lot of experience with it myself. I vaguely remember using it one time in last year's project, but it evades me at the moment what I did with it. This was a very good use of peanut butter, and if you aren't used to it in savory preparations, I highly recommend this one. Again, I translated the metric amounts and will provide them here.

Botswanan Chicken Groundnut Stew:   

1 chicken, cut into serving pieces
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
8.5 oz. water
4.5 oz peanut butter(I used freshly ground peanut butter with no sugar added.)
4.5 oz. tomato paste
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 Tbsp. brown sugar(I completely forgot this and left it out. I didn’t even notice until typing this out. Feel free to leave it out if you want it to be less sweet)
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes

Prepare the sauce by combining the sugar, chili flakes, ginger, peanut butter and tomato paste in a bowl. Slowly stir-in the water a little at a time until the sauce is smooth. Add the oil to a large pan and fry the chopped onion until translucent. Add the chicken and continue frying until the chicken has begun to brown before adding the bell pepper. 

Continue cooking until the chicken is nicely browned all over. Pour in the peanut sauce and stir well.

Cover and reduce the heat to low simmer. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice or rice balls. (I served mine with cooked whole wheat berries and bulgur wheat that I had left over from some salads I had a couple weeks ago.) 

I ended up doing this for Sunday lunch instead of Saturday dinner and it was a great Sunday lunch! The peanut butter isn't very peanutty, it's just very rich and savory. Because I left out the sugar and used fresh peanut butter, there was no real sweetness to it. It blended with the tomato paste really well. I found that this had a lot of oil on the top. Probably from the chicken and the peanut butter, as well as the small amount of oil in the pan to start with. I recommend pouring this off or using a spoon to skim it off because you don't need that much fat in it.

I liked how both of these items cooked on the stove top. It's good for times when you don't want to use your oven, like hot summer days. Of course, the chicken is a bit heavy for a really hot day, so you might want to wait for colder weather. It's great comfort food! If you have never had African food, and are curious about it, this is a great place to start. I highly recommend both of these recipes!

Sources: 

Bread Recipe

Chicken Recipe(scroll through to find it)

Map Link

Flag Link

National Anthem