Mafe Food

MAAFé

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until it is translucent.
• Add the meat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly browned on all sides.
• In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter with 1-½ cup (400 ml) of cold water and pour it over the meat.
• Dilute the tomato paste with 2 cups (500 ml) of hot water, and pour over the stew. Stir well.
• Add the remaining ingredients and lower the heat. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.
• Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Serve hot over white rice.

MAFE (PEANUT BUTTER STEW)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until it is translucent. Add the meat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly browned on all sides.
• In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter with the cold water and pour it over the meat. Dilute the tomato paste with the hot water, pour the liquid over the stew, and stir well to make sure all the ingredients are well mixed. Add the remaining ingredients, lower the heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Serve hot over white rice.

SENEGALESE MAFE

Steps:

• Season chicken and brown in oil in a large heavy pot. Add onions and tomatoes. In separate pot heat chicken stock and whisk in tomato paste. Thin peanut butter slightly with hot liquid and add all liquids to pot with chicken. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add vegetables and cook until chicken and vegetables are tender, approximately 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt, cayenne and ground white pepper. Garnish with peanuts.

CHICKEN MAFE

Steps:

• Finely mince 6 cloves garlic and the ginger with a pinch of salt, plenty of black pepper and crushed red-pepper flakes to taste. Season chicken all over with salt, and rub with the garlic mixture. Marinate for three hours or overnight, refrigerated.
• Finely chop the remaining 6 cloves of garlic. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the onion, chopped garlic, 2 teaspoons kosher salt and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the onion is starting to become translucent. Stir in the fish sauce, then the tomato paste, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the paste and onions have combined and are a shade darker. Stir in 6 cups water, scraping up any browned bits.
• Add the chicken, bring to a boil and turn heat down to a moderate simmer. In a mixing bowl, stir a cup of the cooking liquid into the peanut butter, a splash at a time, to loosen it. Pour the peanut butter mixture into the pot, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cabbage and carrots, and simmer 10 minutes. Peel and cut the sweet potato and waxy potatoes into 1 1/2-inch chunks, add them and simmer 30 minutes, until the vegetables and chicken are tender and the sauce is like a very thick gravy. (The oil will be separating in the sauce.) If the chicken and vegetables are tender but the sauce is still a little loose, remove them, and let the sauce cook down. Add the chile if using. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and serve over white rice.

LAMB-SHOULDER MAFE WITH FONIO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Season the lamb with 1 tablespoon of salt, and brown in batches until all the meat is browned. Set aside the meat, and pour off excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pot.
• Add onion, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and cook until it turns translucent. Reduce heat to low, then add garlic, and stir well. Cook for a minute or 2, until it is fragrant, then add tomato paste, and cook for 7 more minutes, until the paste is dark in color. If the mixture begins to brown too quickly, lower the heat, and add a splash of water to deglaze the pan. Return the meat to the pot, add stock to cover meat and bring to a simmer. Add bay leaves, thyme and remaining salt, and cover. Cook for 2 hours on low heat, or until the meat is very tender.
• Prepare the parsley topping: Combine the parsley, scallions, garlic, Scotch bonnet and lemon zest in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover and refrigerate until it's time to serve.
• Start the fonio: Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and carrot, and cook for 3 minutes more, until the garlic is fragrant. Add 1/4 cup water along with the peas, and cook covered, on low heat, until the carrot is tender, about 8 minutes, then turn off the heat, and set aside until you're ready to eat.
• Finish the mafe: In a large bowl, gradually add a little hot liquid from the lamb to the peanut butter, mixing it with more and more liquid until it's thick, smooth and pourable. Return it all to the pot with the meat, and mix well. Add the okra, Scotch bonnet and fish sauce, and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or so, stirring frequently to avoid clumps of peanut butter at the bottom of the pot, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon and a little bit of fat has pooled at the top.
• Cook the fonio: In a pot with a tightly fitted lid, bring 2 cups of salted water to a boil, add the fonio, stir, cover and turn off the heat. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Fold fonio into the shallots and peas, season and taste. To serve, pile bowls with fonio, top with lamb and generously sprinkle over the parsley.

VEGETARIAN MAFE (AFRICAN STEW)

Steps:

• Heat oil in Dutch oven or heavy soup pot over medium-high heat.
• Add the onions and cook until beginning to brown.
• Add vegetables one at a time, sauteing each one for a minute or two before adding the next.
• Stir in tomato sauce and about one cup of water (depending on thickness of stew you desire). Reduce heat & simmer until all the vegetables are tender (15-30 minutes).
• Spoon out half a cup of the broth & mix it with the peanut butter to make a smooth paste. Return to the pot & simmer for 15 minutes.
• Serve over cooked, hot rice (optional).