Republic of Congo

  Welcome to Republic of Congo! According to Google, Republic of Congo has 5.12 million people and the capital is Brazzaville.  This country should not be confused with DR Congo (as I did as I was typing this blog...).  This is the country that you think of when you think of gorillas, and apparently is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world!  And yet, it is one of the poorest countries in the world.  I remember growing up telling my parents I wanted to visit Congo - I wonder what they thought of that!  Their national dish is...

Poulet à la Moambé

Peanut chicken! Peanuts again - are you seeing a theme?!  My nephew shouldn't ever go to Africa...it may kill him!  We also did a Peanut Butter Mousse - that was an experience.  Here's what I did:

Poulet à la Moambé

3 lbs chicken thighs

6 tbsp peanut oil, divided 

2 onions, chopped 

4 C tomato puree 

6 oz tomato paste 

6 cloves garlic, chopped 

3 green onions, chopped 

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tsp red pepper flakes 

Salt to taste 

1 C water 

1/2 C natural peanut butter

1.  Heat 4 tbsp peanut oil in a large pot over high heat.
2. Brown the chicken on both sides, and set aside.
3. Add the remaining oil, and turn heat to medium-low.
4. Add onions and saute until golden.
5. Add tomato puree, tomato paste, garlic, green onions, ginger, red pepper flakes, salt, and water.  Mix well.
6.  Return the chicken to the pot and mix
7. Turn heat to high, bring to boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for around 20 minutes.
8. Remove 1 cup sauce from the pot and mix with the peanut butter.
9. Return the peanut butter mixture to the pot and mix well.
10. Cook uncovered until the chicken is done.

(Source: Poulet Moambe)

 

 Peanut Butter Mousse 

5 oz. peanut butter 

¾ C sugar 

3 tbsp agar-agar

6 egg whites 

1 C heavy cream 

Cocoa powder and/or chocolate chips for garnishing

1.  Beat the egg whites until stiff while gradually adding sugar.
2. Dissolve the agar-agar in water, according to directions.
3. Melt peanut butter over low heat and stir in agar-agar.
4. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.
5. Whip the heavy cream.
6. Stir in the peanut butter and agar-agar mixture into the whipped cream and beat for 2 minutes.
7. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the whipped cream/peanut butter mixture.
8. Refrigerate to set, at least 6 hours.
9. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and chocolate chips for serving.

(Source: Peanut Butter Mousse)

The verdict?  We liked the other recipe I have for Peanut Butter Chicken better than this one (if you want that recipe, let me know!).  This one had some heat from the pepper flakes, and was good, but not great.  Adding a significant amount of salt helped a lot!  I think it would be good with rice, as it was pretty saucy.  It was a very strong, rich peanut butter taste, which I thought was a bit over powering.  The Peanut Butter Mousse was terrible.  At least I thought it was terrible.  But I have texture issues.  I didn't think that it had a good taste either.  I liked the chocolate chips though!  Handsome Husband didn't think it was terrible, but we didn't keep the leftovers and ended up eating creme brule for dessert instead :-)

   

So the rating.  We are both going to rate the dishes on a scale of 1-10.

ME

Taste of Poulet à la Moambé (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 2

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5 

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Poulet à la Moambé (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 3

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

ME

Taste of Peanut Butter Mousse (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 0

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 2

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Peanut Butter Mousse (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 3

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 4

Another one down!  Hope to meet you next time in Sierra Leone!