June 17 - West African Peanut Soup With Chicken
In an effort to catch-up on all my Bittman recipes before the new recipe came out today, I made back-to-back Bittmans for dinner on Monday and Tuesday night. I had anticipations for the meals as I was shopping on Sunday. I was excited to make the sautéed squid -- getting well prepared squid in restaurants is a treat but I've never made it myself. And I was less then enthused about the peanut soup -- I'm not a big soup fan in general, and a hot soup isn't the most appealing option for a summer meal in DC.
Neither recipe was difficult to make. The squid recipe had very few ingredients and preparation was really easy (less than 10 minutes total). While I had to do quite a bit of chopping and prepping for the soup, it was easy work and took less than 10 minutes. The cooking only took an additional 25 minutes, but 10 minutes of that was a largely unsupervised simmer.
These final products did a 180 on my expectations. The squid was nice, but nothing to special, while the soup was a better than I expected -- hearty but not too heavy with a nice combination of flavors and textures. Neither were 4 star recipes in my book, but I think I will probably make them again. I'll probably tweak the squid (perhaps switching out the basil for another herb), and I'd like to try the soup with a non-meat preparation (just leaving out the chicken or perhaps substituting some beans in its place).
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Sautéed Squid with Garlic, Chili and Bread Crumbs
Time: 10 minutes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2to 2 pounds cleaned squid, in rings (cut tentacles in half if large)
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced basil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
About 1 cup freshly toasted coarse bread crumbs
1. Put oil in a broad skillet over high heat; a minute later, add squid, salt, pepper and chili flakes; cook, stirring, until squid is opaque, about 60 seconds (do not overcook).
2. Add garlic, basil and lemon juice and stir for about 30 seconds. Turn off heat, add bread crumbs and serve.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
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West African Peanut Soup With Chicken
Time: About 45 minutes
3/4 cup roasted and shelled peanuts
2 tablespoons peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
1 medium red or white onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken (about 2 thighs or breasts) cut into chunks
Pinch of cayenne
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups stock or water
2 sweet potatoes or yams (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into thick slices
8 plum tomatoes, cored and halved (canned are fine; drain and reserve liquid for another use)
1/2 pound collards or kale, washed and cut into wide ribbons
1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth.
1. Chop peanuts, or crush them with the side of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor to chop roughly.
2. Put oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just coloring. Add 1/2 cup peanuts and the cayenne and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Stir in the stock and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to medium-low so the soup bubbles gently. Stir in tomatoes and collards, then cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in 1/4 cup peanut butter. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point) and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts.
Yield: 4 servings
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