African Peanut Stew (8/10) - Fall/Winter Soup

African Peanut Stew. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes . I obviously didn't take the photo. I was going to take a picture of my pot but I knew it wouldn't have turned out very well so I thought I would just post this one instead. The soup was very good and worth making again so I am adding it here.

I had some left over pepper chicken that my parents brought up so I thought it would be a good time to use it for a soup that called for heavy pepper flavor. I also bought sweet potatoes from GE which I always thought were yellow but the ones in the bin for sweet potatoes were white. I got 1.5 pounds of those plus 1 pound of yams so I could get some of that orange flavor.

Overall the soup was really easy to make but make sure you have a very large pot if you follow the recipe. I also used a 28 oz can of tomatoes since that was the only size they came in for "crushed". This recipe filled our largest pot to the brim.

Another change that I made was that I added cumin since I love it as a spice and I left out the coriander since I only had whole and didn't want to overpower the bites with it in. I doubled the cayenne because Lindsay and I like things with a little heat. It could have used a little more since it is African after all.

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 pounds chicken legs, thighs and/or wings
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large yellow or white onion, sliced
• A 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced (omitted because I don't like ginger)
• 6-8 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
• 2-3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes (used larger can)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup roasted peanuts
• 1 Tbsp ground coriander (omitted, didn't have ground)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste (doubled)
• Salt and black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

METHOD

1 Heat the vegetable oil in a large soup pot set over medium-high heat. Salt the chicken pieces well, pat them dry and brown them in the oil. Don't crowd the pot, so do this in batches. Set the chicken pieces aside as they brown.

2 Sauté the onions in the oil for 3-4 minutes, stirring often and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté another 1-2 minutes, then add the sweet potatoes and stir well to combine.

3 Add the chicken, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, peanut butter, peanuts, coriander and cayenne and stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer and taste for salt, adding more if needed. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 90 minutes (check after an hour), or until the chicken meat easily falls off the bone and the sweet potatoes are tender.

4 Remove the chicken pieces and set them in a bowl to cool, until cool enough to touch. Remove and discard the skin if you want, or chop it and put it back into the pot. Shred the meat off the bones and put the meat back in the pot.

5 Adjust the seasonings for salt and cayenne, then add as much black pepper as you think you can stand—the stew should be peppery. Stir in the cilantro and serve by itself, or with simple steamed rice.

Yield: Serves 6-8