August 2010: Recipes for The Book of Negroes

GRANNAT CHOP


3 lbs chicken, cut into large pieces
3 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
6 scotch bonnet chillies, chopped
8 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 3/4 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 can tomato purée
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
6 medium eggs, hard-boiled

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the chicken until just browned. Remove and set aside then add the onions and chillies. Fry until the onion is soft then add the tomatoes and fry for two minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and add the stock. Bring to the boil then add the peanut butter, salt and pepper. Stir until the peanut butter is completely blended then add the thyme, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Serve on a bed of rice, garnished with halved hard-boiled eggs.
PS.  This looks like a BIG recipe, and could probably be halved for our purposes.  :-)

EGUSI STEW

1 lb stew beef, cubed
1/2 cup Egusi* seeds (substitite pumpkin seeds) ground to a powder in a coffee grinder
1 Maggi cube (of beef stock cube)
1/4-1/2 cup dried, smoked fish
3 tbsp red palm oil (or groundnut oil with 2 tsp paprika)
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 hot chillies, pounded to a paste
1/3 cup chopped onions
salt and black pepper, to taste
3 cups collard greens or kale, shredded

Add the meat to a pot, season and add a little water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside (reserve he stock). Pound the chillies, onion and tomatoes in a pestle and mortar or food processor. Add the palm oil to the pot and use to fry the chilli paste for 2 minutes then add the meat and the meat stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with the maggi cube, ground egusi and cook for 10 minutes more. Add the greens and cook for about 10 minutes at a low simmer. Stir to mix and adjust the seasonings. Serve spooned over rice.

*Egusi seeds are a variant form of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus) seeds with a fleshy pericarp, commonly called egusi seeds which is extensively cultivated in Nigeria for the high protein and carbohydrate content of the edible seeds. They are often added, pulverized to a powder, as a thickener to stews.

BANANA PANCAKES

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/3 cup rice flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp groundnut oil
1 medium egg, beaten
water

Mix the banana with all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Finally add enough water to make a thick batter. Add a little butter to a hot frying pan and add a ladle of the batter. Tip the pan to cover with the pancake mix and fry until the pancake sets on one side. Turn over and cook on the other side. Set aside in a warm oven and continue until all the batter has been cooked then serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of melted chocolate.