African Chicken Peanut Stew

Like peanut butter? Chicken? Then this African chicken peanut stew by Hank is for you. Perfect for chilly weather. ~Elise
Chicken, sweet potatoes and peanuts are one of those magical flavor combinations that make me feel all warm and happy, especially because I never would have thought to do this 20 years ago, when I met some fellow University of Wisconsin students from Ghana who made this stew at their apartment. Chicken groundnut stew is, in various forms, common all over West Africa, and this is my version, inspired by my colleagues at UW.

The best way to make this stew is with two whole stewing hens—older chickens available at Asian and Latin markets. You start by simmering the birds to make stock, which then becomes the base of the stew, and then you use the meat from the hens. This is a bit labor-intensive for most, so I normally use pre-cut chicken parts: legs, wings and especially thighs. This stew is just made for chicken thighs.
What is a little unusual about how you make the stew is that you first brown the chicken and then stew it on the bone. You can certainly eat it off the bone in the stew, but this is messy, so I prefer to fish out the meat and shred it. Why bother with the bones and skin at all? They add a ton of flavor to the stew.
Sweet potatoes or yams are a must in the African version, but if you hate them, use regular potatoes or turnips.
The stew is supposed to be pretty spicy, so I normally use a lot of hot sauce thrown in at the end of the cooking. I only call for 1 teaspoon of cayenne here, because no matter how chile-adverse you are, it ought to have at least a faint bite of heat. If you truly can't take chiles, skip the cayenne. But someone in Ghana will cry.

Grilled Chicken Roll | Ayam Gulung Panggang

Ingredients :

• 350 gram chicken filet or chicken breast deboned first and wash with vinegar or lemon juice
• 25 gram wheat flour
• 2 tablespoon bread crumbs
• 1 eggs, beated
• 5 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon chopped celery
• 5 little shallots or 1 big onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• Some pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 candlenuts
• 1 inch fresh galangal
• 1 tablespoon tamarind water
• Salt
• Sugar

Ingredients For The Omelets :

• 3 eggs, beated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon butter

How To Make

1. Make a smooth paste of garlic, shallots, candlenuts, galangal, coriander and cumin powder. Set aside.
2. Chopped chicken filet or chicken breast until you get very small pieces. Pour some lemon juice over this. Mix this chicken filet with wheat flour, bread crumbs, eggs, and the smooth paste. Add coconut milk, chopped celery, salt, sugar and tamarind water. Mix well and set aside.
3. Meanwhile make the sheets from eggs. The sizes is about 8 inch.
4. Take 2 sheet of eggs, spread half of the mixture, and roll them. And do some bake paper over this, and make sure that the end is close. Take another 2 sheets, and make the same roll again for the other half of the mixture.
5. Steam the mixture for about 30 minutes.
6. Make the roll open, and put them into baking plate and bake them in the oven with 175 degree celcius for about 30 minutes.
7. Cut into thick slices about 1 inch.

Fragrant Rice | Nasi Gurih

Ingredients :

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 green shallots, sliced
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp galangal powder
• 2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1/2-1 cup water
• 6-8 curry leaves

How To Make :

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add garlic, green shallots, coriander, galangal powder and rice.
2. Stir for 1 minute to coat rice and cook until it smells good.
3. Add coconut milk, water and curry leaves and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes stirring from time to time or until liquid is absorbed.
5. Transfer rice to a steamer and steam for 10-12 minutes or until grains are light.
6. If you don't have a steamer continue to cook rice at the lowest heat for 5-10 minutes or until cooked. Remove curry leaves and serve immediately.