Burundian Chicken with Summer Squash and Bell Peppers

Isosi

As Assumpta Karire, from Gitega, Burundi, taught Lindsay Sterling in Portland, Maine.

Serves: 8
Cooking time: 1 hr
Note: The chicken and vegetables are in the photo above in the 6 o'clock position. They are served here with spicy rice called ipilau (at 12 o'clock in the photo), and Burundian spinach (3 o'clock). 

Ingredients

• 8-12 chicken drumsticks
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 chayote squash
• 1 onion
• 1 yellow summer squash
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 zucchini
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 + 3 bouillion cubes (she used Maggi brand) or 1 Tbsp Better than Bouillion
• 2 tsp spice mixture (see below)
• 1/2 cup water

Spice mixture:

• 1/2 tsp whole coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 whole allspice
• dash ground nutmeg
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp whole black pepper

Instructions

1. In large pot cover drumsticks with water and boil for about twenty minutes. While chicken is cooking, cut up all your vegetables into one-inch cubes. Blend the spices for the spice mixture in a spice grinder (a coffee grinder dedicated to non-coffee flavors). If you have more than you need, simply put it in a small jar or ziplock for use again later. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Strain the chicken and let it cool to the touch. Discard chicken skins and put the chicken in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp pepper to chicken and 2 crushed bouillon cubes or (if you don't like MSG) 1-2tsp salt. Grate 3 cloves garlic over the chicken. Massage the flavorings into the chicken. Using your fingers, pierce the thickest parts of meat and stuff garlic in the slits. Cover a sheet pan with tinfoil and place drumsticks on it evenly spaced. Bake for 20 minutes until chicken is a little bit crusty and golden.

3. In a large pot on the stove, saute the vegetables with 2 tsp spice mixture in oil. After a couple minutes, add ½ cup water, and 3 bouillion cubes or 1 Tbsp Better than Bouillion (for those who don't want MSG), and cook with the lid on. After ten minutes, grate 3 cloves of garlic into the vegetable pot. A couple minutes later when vegetables are soft and juicy and garlic is cooked, remove from heat. 

4. Serve baked chicken with saucy vegetables. Assumpta served them with Burundian spicy rice and spinach with smoked fish. Click at right for those recipes.

Cape Verdean Calamari

Guisado de Lula

(Stew of Squid)

As Clarice Pinto and Lucy Pires, from Santiago, Cape Verde, taught Lindsay Sterling in Brockton Massachusetts. Photos by Lindsay Sterling.

Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 10
Notes: I adapted this recipe slightly to avoid MSG which was in many of the pre-prepared spice mixtures they used. You may use squid or calamari in this recipe; both taste great.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs cleaned squid (a mixture of whole bodies about 4" long and legs is ideal; sliced bodies or rounds would also work)
• 3-inch-piece of yuca root, also known as cassava (optional)
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup red cooking wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup beer
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 small bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced into triangular chunks
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp annatto or achiote powder (optional)
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (adjust to your preferred spice level)
• 1 tsp Old Bay (optional)
• 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon

Instructions

1. Cook calamari covered with water in pressure cooker under pressure for 30 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, don't worry about it. Just boil it for twenty minutes in a regular pot. Your calamari won't be super duper tender like hers was, but it'll still taste great.

2. Cut/pry the thick brown skin off the yuca. Slice lengthwise through the middle and carve out the fiber that runs through the middle. It's about the size of embroidery thread. If you can't find it, don't worry about it, it may become apparent as you cut the yuca into pieces. Cut the yuca into 1/2 inch thick triangles.

3. Strain calamari and add back to the pressure cooker pot or large pot with all other ingredients, including the yuca. Cook on medium high heat, boiling for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and yuca are soft and some of the liquid has evaporated.

Dominican Stewed Beef

Note: In the Dominican Republic, a lunch plate of meat, rice and beans, and fried green plantains, is a classic called La bandera. In Spanish, "la bandera" means "the flag," which is to say that the dish is as Dominican as the flag itself. The kind of meat served varies. This is one of my favorites.

Makes: 10 servings
Cooking time: 30 min in pressure cooker; 80 minutes in regular pot + 1-12 hours marinating

Ingredients

For the marinade (called sazon or sofrito):

• 1/2 head garlic
• 1 onions
• 1 bell pepper
• 1/4 cup rough chopped cilantro
• 1/2 chicken bouillon cub
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/2 Tbsp achiote powder
• 1/2 Tbsp green olives
• 1/2 Tbsp capers
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 1/4 cup water only if needed

For the beef:

• 2 1/2 pounds stew beef
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce (if you're gluten-free, please be sure to use gluten-free soy sauce)
• 2 Tbsp sazon or sofrito marinade
• 1 tsp pepper  
• 4 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
• pinch cinnamon
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3-4 cups hot water
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Make the marinade. Peel the garlic cloves, peel the onion, and cut the onion and green pepper into quarters. Place all of the marinade ingredients in the blender with just enough water to get the blender going. Blend until smooth.

2. Reserve 2 Tbsp of the marinade for making the beef, and freeze the rest in 2-Tbsp portions in an ice tray or in piles on a sheet pan/cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Once frozen, transfer the marinade nuggets into a sealed Ziplock. Use these later when making this beef dish again, rice, or soups. 

3. In a large bowl mix soy sauce, 2 Tbsp of the marinade, pepper, garlic, and cinnamon. Coat meat evenly with this mixture by massaging with hands. Cover and let marinate in fridge for 1-12 hours.

4. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed large pot (with lid) or pressure cooker pot. Once oil is hot, add meat. Once the meat is brown on the surface, add cilantro and enough water to come up "shoulder high" on the meat. Cook the meat until tender. If you're using a pressure cooker, this will be about 15 minutes. If you're using a regular pot, this could be more like an hour - you'll need to add more water to keep it saucy. When the meat is tender, add tomato paste, and cook for five minutes more. Taste and add salt if necessary.