West African Groundnut Stew

This dish is one of the best intros to West African cuisine for newbs. But even to aficionados, it's always a tasty treat. I've made it with almond butter as well in the past, due to some allergies in the house, but now that I'm on the West Coast with an apartment part of the time, I took the opportunity to make a good batch like in the old days when it was one of my go-to 'batchelor meals'. It's something you can cook up on a Sunday, gorge yourself and lounge in the afterglow, then save the rest for meals during the week...

I made it with lamb because the fancy-pants grocery I went to did not have goat meat, which is my FAVORITE meat for this! Lamb works well too, though.

In my book, it is required to be accompanied by fried plantains. In my book, that could go for most meals, of course.

I made a big deal to my family about getting the specific recipe I've used many times, making fun of the variety of recipes out there, then of course realized that each time I make it, it's a little different anyway...

I ended up not using the cumin nor the bay leaves, but they were an early thought...

• 1 onion
• 3 tomatoes
• tomato paste
• 1” approx of ginger
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 habanero peppers
• 1.5 lbs. bone-in lamb for stew, cut to 1" cubes (I had to do a little butchering myself as there were some very sharp bones and the meat was cut to about 2" cube sizes...I did leave some of the less pointy bones in for flaaaaaavor)
• crunchy peanut butter (some folks use creamy, but I feel crunchy is more like what you'd get 'in the market', i.e. roasted peanuts run through an old meat grinder 3 times)
• frozen spinach (I used probably about 10-12 oz. of this pack. I often use one of the smaller frozen spinach boxes, I forget the brand)

I used a medium chop - this is a hearty meal, not some delicate, dainty dish!

Of the four habaneros, I ended up just using two, partly because the other two were looking a little 'suspect' - they were some of the last in the grocer's bin. It could probably have used the extra heat, but that can always be added with cayenne pepper later or some hot sauce when served. I did dice these fairly small so they'd spread their flavor out better.

Apartment liver/low budget/reduce-reuse-recycle tip: the plastic trays that are used for take-out dishes make good prep bowls! The lids are good for the finer-chopped items like garlic that you'll want to scoop off the side rather than dump in wholesale.

I rinsed the rice as I figured that would make it more like 'the real deal', where rinsing helps in removing things like, oh, weevils, little stones, that kind of thing. But it also removes some of the outer starch, which gives a more solid consistency. I believe this is also common practice in Thai cooking.

Again, with the multitude of used take-out containers I've accumulated in my stays out West at my 'remote office' apartment, I found they were also useful in 'panning for rice goodness', i.e. rinsing! Putting the top on and cracking one edge helped prevent a massive rice dump into my sink when draining...

I put the garlic, ginger, and onions in first until softened, then added the meat to brown.

Now things can relax for the long haul, letting the ingredients simmer together. There are a couple stages in which to add items.

After adding the chopped tomatoes and peanut butter, and starting the simmering, I added in some tomato paste. About this time, I started the rice. I also melted the shortening in the frying pan for the plantains later, just to gauge how much I'd need to have a nice layer of frying oil when the time came.

I later added about 10 oz. of the spinach as the time drew nearer for things to finish up, then a few seconds later, perhaps another 3 or 4 oz. when I decided it needed some more green in there...

These plantains were perfect - almost completely black on the outside, looking like they were about to rot. Maybe a couple touches of mold that I cleaned off before peeling, but I'm not going to testify to that in court. Slice them diagonally.

I didn't have good palm oil this time, which is a requirement in my book to properly fry plantains, but I made do with a coconut/palm oil 'hybrid' shortening I found, and it came out about right. I think I've actually used a palm oil sold by Nutiva in the past as well. The key element is that bit of almost sweetness the palm oil imparts. My daughter thought they came out perfectly, with the right bit of caramelization, but she instantly detected the lack of pure palm oil: "Hey, my fingers aren't turning orange!"

Next time, I hear there's an African grocery in San Rafael, so I will make a pilgrimage for some good palm oil (and perhaps some other stuff like dried crayfish, bitterleaf, etc...)

I did the plantains at the end, just prior to the stew being ready to be served, so they'd be nice and hot and pliable still. Yes, I could eat fried plantain all day - for my 15th birthday, my dinner request to my Mom was simple: a full dinner plate, heaped as high as possible with fried plantain. Nothing else.

Yes, I know a good Beaufort or 33 Export would be the ideal accompaniment, but there are so many good beers to be had in Marin, I went with a replacement. I WILL keep my eyes out for a 33, though I think mostly what is found under that name comes from Vietnam, not Cameroon. An interesting comment on the lingering vestiges of French colonialism...

Anyway, geopolitical commentary aside, my daughter and I ate until we could eat no more, and still had some to freeze for the next visit.