off the cuff.

Today I took work off my plate and decided to concentrate on Christmas crafting. Inspired by last night's button-making party/ANTM watching at my friend Carley's house (I brought those mint chocolate cookies!), I decided to sew rickrack on my screenprinted tea towels and tie up everything in ribbon. I also had plans on making felt ornaments, but didn't get as far along as I had hoped. Before too long, it was time for dinner and I had 4 chicken thighs defrosted just waiting to be used. I wanted to make an African-style meal that had a bit of spice, a bit of sweetness and a bit of sour. I looked through my cookbooks and I spent a few runs through Google typing in various ingredients, but my search was fruitless. So I decided to tackle dinner on my own. The end results were fantastic and it was a perfect meal for a chilly evening.

I used a homemade spiced pear jam in the recipe, but you really could use anything you had handy; peach jam, mango chutney, honey, molasses would all do a fine job I'm sure! I also didn't have any onions. If I had one, I would have added one. Have fun & play!

my african-inspired chicken stew
½ c flour
salt & pepper
4 skinless chicken thighs
1 T olive oil
1 large can of tomatoes
water
1 T spicy onion soup base
½ head of garlic, chopped
1 large knob of ginger, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1 c broccoli, chopped
1 t red chili flakes
3 T raisins
2 T spiced pear jam
1 ½ t ground cinnamon
salt & pepper
juice of ½ lemon

1. Mix salt, pepper and flour together in a plate. Dredge chicken thighs in the flour.

2. Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add the chicken and brown on both sides.

3. Add the can of tomatoes into the pot and fill half the can with water and add that too. Add ginger, garlic, chili flakes salt, pepper, and onion soup base to the simmering pot and mix to combine. Simmer over medium heat.

4. Add celery, carrots, broccoli, mix to combine and cover for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the jam, raisins, cinnamon and lemon juice and mix well. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice into pot and mix well before serving.

6. Serve over rice or couscous.

thanksgiving

Last night I had a few friends over for a Thanksgiving meal. It was potluck and there were a couple of vegans there, so I figured I'd wait before making my ham in coca-cola recipe. Everyone brought loads of food and even more loads of wine. I'm proud to say, thanks to Ibuprofen and lots of water, I'm up early with no sign of a hangover. I don't know if I can say the same for Cornelius.

It certainly wasn't a typical Thanksgiving meal, but for me, as long as the meal employs the use of cranberries (check!), brussel sprouts (check!) and yams (check!), Thanksgiving it definitely was. Pam brought over a salad made with organic greens, sprouts, cherry tomatos and walnuts. She also brought over Amy's Goddess Dressing which was so tasty! Dan made Martha Stewart's decadent macaroni and cheese and Ryan and Kristen brought over some vegan tofu lasagne (so good!) and a vegan chocolate cake (which is from a recipe I passed onto her that is a wartime recipe sometimes referred to as "wacky cake"). Yum!

As an appetizer, I decided to make some garlicy /lemony beans. I used only 1 lemon this time and yellow beans instead of green ones, but it was a great snack before dinner. Next up, I made my most favorite soup ever from the rebar cookbook. I used all the yams required but also threw in a bit of leftover canned pumpkin since I had some in the fridge. Delicious!

african yam & peanut soup

8 C veggie stock
2 T vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
6 T minced ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 T cumin
2 T coriander
1/2 t cayenne
1 t paprika
1 red bell pepper
4 chopped yams
1 can pineapple, with juice
3 chopped tomatoes
5 T peanut butter
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes' juice
hot sauce

1. Warm the stock
2. Saute the onion and some salt, until translucent
3. Add garlic, ginger, and spices, and saute until soft
4. Add red pepper, yams, and more sal until things start to stick.
5. Add enough stock to cover, boil, and simmer until the yams are soft.
6. Add the pineapple with the juice, tomatoes, PB, and the rest of the stock and simmer for 30 minutes
7. Puree until smooth.
8. Simmer for another 10 minutes
9. Add cilantro, lime juice and hot sauce to taste before serving.

Next post, I'll put up my cranberry chutney recipe and Cornelius made a chocolate chip pumpkin cake! Recipes and maybe a picture to come.