During the years I was lucky enough to get “stuck” in France, I picked up a lot of practical, food-related lifestyle insights:meals are good, snacking is not; if you feed your kids in courses, veggies first, the veggies get eaten; it is alarmingly easy to buy a bad baguette in Paris—better to commit your neighborhood’s “good” boulangerie’sapparently arbitrary schedule to memory.
The French really know the ins and outs of food.Maybe it was the wine, but I’d swear I never ate a disappointing meal while there. If they can’t put something worthwhile on the table, they prefer not to eat.
That’s why it seems counter-intuitive that among all the delicious dishes I sampled while there, perhaps my favorite is Mafe (mah fay), a hearty Senegalese peanut stew often available in the North African cafes of larger cities.
Traditionally made with lamb or other meat, I prefer to make Mafe as a vegetarian dish, rich with meaty root vegetables.As with most stews, many variations will work (skip the turnips and up the sweet potatoes, saute some sweet peppers with the onions, throw some torn kale in towards the end), but the stars here remain the chick peas and peanut butter.Though it sounds like an exotic combination, if you grew up with peanut butter as a staple like me and still crave its comforting and childhood-memory-inducing qualities, you’ll love this dish in any of its incarnations.
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (or 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups stock of your choice or water
2 Tbsp fish sauce, optional
3/4 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
parsley for garnish
Instructions
Finely chop the garlic and dice the onions. Peel and cut the potato, turnip, carrot, and sweet potato into ½ inch cubes.
In a large, heavy pot over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering and add the onions and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes (until onions are transparent), then add the paprika, cayenne pepper and cumin and cook one more minute. Add the root vegetables, tomato paste, thyme sprigs, chickpeas, salt and black pepper.
Mix well. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the veggies are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Turn off the heat but leave the pot on the stove.
Stir in the peanut butter and fish sauce, mix well and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with jasmine or basmati rice.
Notes
Adapted from the Cooking Channel’s “West African’s Finest Mafe” recipe.
After graduating Bentonville High School and Hendrix College, Paula spent many years out of the area, including time in Key West, New York City, London, New York and Paris. After the birth of their two boys, she returned to family and Bentonville, where, with her husband Frederic. She now owns and operates Crepes Paulette, a popular local food truck, with a storefront Crepes Paulette coming soon to “southern” downtown Bentonville.
We finally had a hint of fall weather in Arkansas recently just before almost-summer temps returned. Mother Nature has a way of playing us that way, doesn’t she? But we all know that it’s coming and we’ll stop fussing about the heat and start to spot the frost on the windowpanes and our nosel. It only takes a little temperature drop to turn our attention to warming our toes and our tummies. For many of us, that tummy warming involves big pots of soups or stews and countless varieties of chilis. We may garnish those with chips and cheese or dunk with a cracker or piece of cornbread — each bowlful calling for its own unique accompaniment in all probability.
This week’s Foodie Friday presents a round up of favorite soups, stews and chilis from some of our ARWB members. You’re sure to find a new one or two to try. Be sure to tell us what deliciousness you discover.
For a little something unique to add to your dining pleasure, whip up a skillet of this Southwestern Pumpkin Cornbread. Yep. That’s right. Pumpkin in your cornbread. And you just thought you had tried all things pumpkin already.
ARWB Soups, Stews and Chilis Round Up with Pumpkin Cornbread {Foodie Friday}
10 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups buttermilk self-rising corn meal mix
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1 - 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 - 2 Tablespoons chopped jalapeno pepper
1 cup cream style corn
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup finely grated cheddar or fiesta cheese blend
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place butter in a 10-inch skillet and melt in the oven while the oven is preheating.
In a medium bowl, mix remaining ingredients in order listed. After skillet is hot and butter has melted, pour most of the butter into the cornbread batter. Leave just enough in the skillet to coat the bottom.
Pour batter into the skillet and bake 40-45 minutes until the top springs back when touched.
Serve warm with butter or whipped honey butter.
Notes
Adjust the ground chipotle and jalapeno to suit your tastes.
I don't put sugar in my cornbread -- heresy in the South for sure --if you feel the need for sweet, I suggest adding in sorghum, molasses, maple syrup or honey for an added depth of flavor that shouts out fall.