Cooking in Impfondo 5

Bread cooking on the charcoal burner

"Cooking in Impfondo" is a series with recipes and cooking tips for our town.  It will give you a picture of a little slice of our life here, and who knows, maybe a few ideas! 

Recently, Dr. Laura reminded us that we don’t have to have an oven to bake.  Here is what she had to say:

If you have a roasting pan with lid and two kerosene cookers, you can "bake" with it! It's great when gas is low or out, or you just want brownies and don't want to heat the natural-gas-oven-that-wastes-propane-gas (like the one in my house)...

Place the roasting pan on lit cookers. Place four tomato paste cans in bottom of roaster, then place pan of item to be baked on cans. Cover with lid. Bake as directed. You can alter the height of the flame (if possible) to change the temperature of the roasting pan. I used my oven thermometer to determine the temperature inside and thus estimate baking time. 

Happy baking! 

My cooks have started making bread and banana bread in a similar manner using the charcoal burner outside.  They place it in a big pan, and have heat underneath and on top with charcoal.

When there is no gas for your oven, or you don’t want to turn the oven on, you can still make lots of things including treats.

Bread made using
the charcoal burner

Bread from the same batch as above:
This bread was fried in oil on the kerosene burner.

Perfect Popcorn (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_popcorn/)

3 Tbsp oil

1/3 cup popcorn kernels

1 3-quart covered saucepan

2 Tbsp or more (to taste) of butter

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat.   Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.  When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. (Count out loud it's fun to do with kids.) This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop and nothing burns.

If you are adding butter, you can easily melt it by placing the butter in the now empty, but hot pan.

Salt to taste.

Yield: Makes 2 quarts

Kettle Corn

8 cups popcorn, popped

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons water

2/3 cup sugar

Place water, oil, and sugar in a saucepan.  Cook until sugar is well dissolved.  Pour over popcorn, and toss to coat.

Caleb making no bake cookies on the kerosene burner.

No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter (or Evita)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

3 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup nuts

Mix first 4 ingredients in saucepan.  Boil, reduce to med heat, cook 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Drop on wax paper.  Store in refrigerator.

Tip #5 for Cooking in Impfondo:

Think outside the box (or oven.)  Just because you don’t have an oven, your options don’t have to be limited.  You can come up with ways to create the same heat as an oven or find plenty of options that can be made on a burner.  

You might choose to have fry bread instead of baked, make some tortillas, or skip the bread and serve taco toppings or usual sandwich toppings on rice or salad.

I like to save No Bake Cookies for the times when we are out of gas for our stove.  Instead of feeling disappointed and deprived when we can no longer bake, we have something different to enjoy.

Feel free to share your ideas for “thinking outside the box” while cooking.  :)

Cooking in Impfondo- 4

"Cooking in Impfondo" is a series with recipes and cooking tips for our town.  It will give you a picture of a little slice of our life here, and who knows, maybe a few ideas! 

Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
for Caleb's birthday.

These are some of my favorite simple recipes. The first one is from a friend, but I believe it was originally from the "Joy of Cooking" cookbook.

Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup oil
1 Tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients. Place in 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Anna’s note: This is another recipe that I usually double and bake in a 9x13 pan, or quadruple so that there is plenty to share. You can also add instant coffee for a darker chocolate flavor, and substitute Matinel for unsweetened cocoa.

Guacamole
2 ripe avocados, mashed
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 sliver onion, finely minced
1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice
Stir together, refrigerate 30 minutes


Anna’s note: I like to add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper. You can increase the spiciness with more onion and garlic. You can also add fresh tomatoes or a variety spices (try chili powder, cumin, coriander, or chipolte powder. I think this is a great side for almost any meal, but especially grilled or fried fish and hamburgers.

Ketchup

Hamburgers, coleslaw, sweet potato chips, and pineapple.
Homemade ketchup rounds out the meal!

* 6 ounce can tomato paste
* 1/4 to 1/3 cup tap water
* 2 tablespoons vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 pinch cloves
* 1 pinch allspice
* 1 pinch cayenne pepper
* 1/4 cup brown sugar


This is simplicity itself. In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients with a wire whisk. Blend well. Scrape the mixture into a pint-sized, resealable container. Chill overnight, to blend the flavors. Use wherever ketchup is desired.

You can see the recipe with a more complete explanation at Hillbilly Housewife.

Anna’s note: I don’t chill overnight, but usually just make what we will need for that meal. I almost never have the right spices to make it exactly, but I’ve found that if you have the ground mustard and cinnamon, you can play around with the other spices. If you are out of vinegar, or you want to make it a bit more organic, substitute lemon or lime juice.

Guacamole
2 ripe avocados, mashed
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 sliver onion, finely minced
1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice
Stir together, refrigerate 30 minutes


Anna’s note: I like to add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper. You can increase the spiciness with more onion and garlic. You can also add fresh tomatoes or a variety spices (try chili powder, cumin, coriander, or chipolte powder. I think this is a great side for almost any meal, but especially grilled or fried fish and hamburgers.


Tip #4 for Cooking in Impfondo
You don’t need a mix for that! Think about what you can make from scratch instead of buying in a box, bottle, or can.

Cooking in Impfondo- 3

"Cooking in Impfondo" is a series with recipes and cooking tips for our town.  It will give you a picture of a little slice of our life here, and who knows, maybe a few ideas! 

Ingredients look a little
different in Impfondo
than the US grocery stores!

Brenda's Brownies
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients, then add wet and mix well.
Place in a 9x9 pan.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Anna’s note: I usually double this recipe, and cook it in a 9x13 pan. If you want to deepen the chocolate flavor, add a teaspoon of instant coffee with the dry ingredients. You can substitute Matinel for the unsweetened cocoa. When doing this, I usually decrease the sugar, and increase the amount of Matinel.

It's nice to have help
and advice with those.

Banana Muffins (from Sarah Speer)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons water or milk
3 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon baking soda (add with bananas)
1/2 cup oil

Mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Set aside.
Mix water, banana/baking soda, and oil. Add to dry ingredients.
Place in muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees, 10-12 minutes.

On it's way to being
Chicken Noodle Soup.

Tip #3 for Cooking in Impfondo:

Remember you're not on your own.  Ask for recipes or how-to from those around you.  You can ask another ex-pat the best way to make familiar recipes from home, like brownies, banana muffins or pancakes.

You can ask someone Congolese what to do with the ingredients you find here.  Some of them look a bit different, and some of them ARE different.  Don't be afraid to try something new!

Cooking in Impfondo- 2

This is a series with recipes and cooking tips for our town.  It will give you a picture of a little slice of our life here, and who knows, maybe a few ideas!  See Part 1 here- Cooking in Impfondo

Caleb mixing bread dough

Bread

3 cups water, room temperature

1 Tablespoon yeast

3 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons oil

1 Tablespoon salt

9-10 cups flour, sifted to remove bugs

Mix ingredients in order, beginning with the yeast.  Add flour a little at a time, until desired consistancy.  Knead 6-7 minutes.  Let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.  Place in pans, allow to rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.  Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

That’s the basic recipe, but don’t stop there.  I use the same recipe to bake many things:

Rolls of different shapes and sizes

Monkey bread

Bread sticks

Cinnamon bread

Cinnamon rolls (for a twist, use honey in place of sugar)

Herb rolls (add some margarine or laughing cow and spices of your choice to the dough before placing in pans)

Stuffed bread- add a sloppy joe type mixture inside the bread dough

Pizza crust

Resurrection rolls (place a marshmallow inside each roll)

And if you want to fry it instead of baking it or only have a kerosene burner to cook:

Doughnuts (glaze with sugar water)

Fry bread (fry flat round discs of about 6-8 inches in diameter)

Fry rolls (great for sloppy joe sandwiches)

You can use just about any addition to the bread that you want to try.  I’ve used honey and poppy seeds as a filling, or Jempy and jelly.

Tip #2 for cooking in Impfondo:

Have a basic recipe that can be adapted depending on what is available.  Another example of this would be beans and rice.

Start by sautéing onions, garlic, and spices in a pan.

Add meat if desired.

Add cooked beans of choice.

When heated through add any of the following:

-tomato sauce

-tomato paste

-canned mixed vegetables

-corn

-cooked squash

-mushrooms

Serve with cooked rice.

The sky (and availability of ingredients) is the limit with beans and rice.  You can add raw cabbage, okra, and eggplant with the onions and garlic.  You can change the flavor by changing the spices or type of beans or meat.  Serve plain or with guacamole, yogurt, and fresh tomatoes.  Kick up the spice with some peppers.  Substitute tortillas for the rice. Have fun experimenting!

Cooking in Impfondo- 1

This is a series with recipes and cooking tips for our town.  It will give you a picture of a little slice of our life here, and who knows, maybe a few ideas!

Hello, everyone!

I know that cooking in Impfondo can be a challenge.  Even if you have a cook, there may be times that they have a day off, take vacation, or become ill and unable to work at the last minute.  I’ve been reminded of this recently!

I thought that we could share some ideas and recipes to make that easier.  I’m going to try to share one a week (when I have internet), and you can all add tips or recipes that you think will be helpful.  :)  The first one is a quick, easy one with non perishable items that can be kept on hand.  It uses all ingredients that are available in Impfondo.  The sausage is available in the store across the first intersection after the main part of the market.  (Across the aisle from where the buses load.)  The tiny pasta is available at Ets. Ali Baba, next door to the international store, across from the main intersection of the market.  

Random food photo

Easy Sausage Pasta

1 pack sausage, cut into small pieces

1 can whole tomatoes, crushed with fork or spoon

1/2 package tiny pasta

optional: Onions, garlic, mushrooms

Saute the sausage, with optional ingredients if desired.  Add tomatoes and two cans full of water.  (You can change the amount of water based on your preferences.)  Bring to boil.  Add pasta, let cook 3-4 minutes, until pasta is tender.  Serve warm.  (Note: I do not drain this pasta, but add enough water to have it cook, without lots of extra water.)

You can also change this recipe by adding other spices, tomato paste, fresh vegetables, canned vegetables or beans, or whatever else you think would taste good together.  It’s very versatile.

Tip #1 for Cooking in Impfondo:

Keep some non-perishables on hand that can make a quick, easy meals for those times when you don’t have a cook, are too tired to cook a big meal, other plans fall through, or guests drop by unexpectedly.

Ideas:

Pasta

Rice

Crackers

Laughing cow cheese

Tomato Paste

Canned Tomatoes

Canned Veg

Canned Beans

Cassolet

Canned Meat, such as ham, corned beef, and tuna

Mayo

Pickles

Examples of quick meals:

1) Pasta, tomato sauce, and corned beef can make spaghetti.

2) A can of beans, can of vegetables, and canned ham can make a quick sauce to go over rice.

3) A can of tuna with some mayo and pickles can go with crackers for a light meal in the early evening.  (or whenever.)

What other suggestions can you add?  I would love to hear your ideas!