Timbuktu

Morgan and I went to my best friend's (Sandy) house for our monthly luncheon. This month's luncheon consisted of foods from Timbuktu, which is in west Africa.

Instead of serving each course individually, we had a family style lunch with all of the food on the table. We had so many dishes, it would have taken quite a while to serve it any other way.

Here was the menu:
Yam Foo Foo - This was made by Paula. It was mashed yams that were seasoned with salt, pepper, butter, and sugar. I love yams and this was a nice dish.

There was a Rice bread made by Debi. This bread can be used as a coffee cake or a bread since it is not very sweet. It stays moist for a week. It consisted of cream of Rice, mashed bananas, sugar, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, water, and oil. I think I was the only one who ate this bread. I think most people had a problem with the consistency. It kind of reminded me of a firm flan texture. I thought it was okay, but I wouldn't make it.

I made an African coal-oven shortbread. I really liked this bread because it was very easy to make. The consistency was kind of like a firm cornbread. It was made with flour, margarine, eggs, sugar, and milk.

Sandy made a Mango jam to go with the bread. She also made a spiced butter. The butter consisted of turmeric, cardamom, fenugreek, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, butter, garlic, onions, and ginger. Unfortunately, after all of the work (and ingredients) she put into the butter, no one liked it. I thought it tasted like a chicken stock base instead of butter.

We also had honey yeast bread and cornbread that Sandy made. They were delicious! Sandy redeemed herself! LOL! I will keep both of these recipes.

I made Chicken Yassa.

This is one of Africa's most famous dishes and was a favorite of several of us at the lunch. The fowl in Africa is usually tough. So, the chicken is marinated overnight in lots of onions, lemon juice, cider vinegar, bay leaf, garlic, Dijon mustard, and a sauce (I used a chicken bouillion).

After marinating, I baked the chicken, then put it under the broiler to get the skin browned. The onions were removed from the marinade and sauteed until carmelized. Then the marinade was added to the onions and cooked some, the chicken was then added back to the pan.

Cheryl made a West African black bean and sweet potato burrito. The filling included onions, garlic, peanut butter, sweet potatoes, black beans, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. The burritos were pretty good.

Sandy made African goat stew that was eaten wrapped in a flat bread (that she also made). I knew that the stew was made with goat meat, but waited until everyone else had tried the stew (and said they liked it) before I said to Sandy, "Isn't this the goat stew?" I think our group knows to expect anything, so no one seemed bothered that it was goat meat. The stew was good and so was the meat. It was very tender and not stringy liked Sandy had heard the meat can be.

Sandy also made the greens with smoked bacon which was very good.

Cheryl made a West African fried slaw that was delicious. It had cabbage, green onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, yellow corn, white corn, honey, cider vinegar, toasted coconut, peanuts, hot pepper sauce, and salt and pepper in the dish.

Sandy made Jolluf rice which everyone liked. The rice had meat (I don't remember what kind), yellow onions, green peppers, ginger, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, thyme, and crushed red pepper in it.

Whew! I'm not done yet!

I made baked sweet plantains. I took a bite and didn't like them. The plantains were cooked with white wine, sherry, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I guess plantains are an acquired taste. I think half of us liked them.

Sharon made a Monrovian coconut pie. The pie was not like a custard pie. The filling was primarily coconut and it soaked up the butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla that was also in the filling. The pie was very good and I think everyone liked it.

Sandy made a passion fruit Bavarian cream that was a gelatin dessert. It was delicious. She also made a peanut butter candy, even though she doesn't like peanut butter! Sandy also made Benne cakes which is a cookie made with sesame seeds. I liked the cookies as well.

I think that was all of the food. We certainly had a lot of dishes to try. Sandy also made an iced mint tea and White Elephant drinks.

Entertainment was provided by Morgan, who played the piano for us!

Next month, Cheryl will be hosting us as we eat foods from Poland.

Morgan and I had a lot of fun at the lunch. We were the last ones to leave!