Sierra Leone

 Welcome to Sierra Leone!  Sounds like it should be in the mountains of California, but it is actually a country in Africa!  According to Google, the population is 8,184,889 people, and the capital is Freetown.  It is also home to the third largest harbor in the world!  It's national dish is...

Cassava Leaves!

What do you do with cassava leaves?!  From what I read, the people in Sierra Leone often make stews and soups with cassava leaves, so that's what I opted to do.  However, I could not find cassava leaves anywhere!  I could find the rest of the plant, but not the leaves.  The recipe said that if you couldn't find the leaves, to use spinach leaves.  Spinach to the rescue!  To complement the soup, I also made Ginger Cake.  Apparently ginger is grown en masse in Sierra Leone, and the ginger cake is a common street food.  Here's what I did:

CASSAVA LEAF SOUP

3 pounds spinach, put in a blender until the consistency of sand - I used frozen (a substitute for cassava)

1 pound beef, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 pound smoked turkey (Costco for the win!)

1 onion, chopped

1/2 C olive oil

1 tbsp shrimp paste

4 tbsp peanut butter

2 C chicken stock

1 habanero pepper, diced

1 pound shrimp

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large saucepan, heat the chicken stock and add the onions and beef.  Cook the beef for about ten minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a large stock pot, and pull the onions out of the beef sauce pan, and add them to the oil (I used a slotted spoon).  Add the shrimp paste and pepper, and sauté until fragrant.
3. Add the beef and the smoked turkey.
4. Add the peanut butter and mix well.
5. Add the stock, and cook for about five minutes.
6. Add the spinach, and let it cook for about 25 minutes.
7. Add the shrimp, and cook until shrimp are pink.
8. Serve over rice.

(Source: Cassava Leaf Soup)

SIERRA LEONE FRESH GINGER CAKE

2 1/2 C gluten free flour (I used Cup-4-Cup)

2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 C butter

3 eggs

1 C whole milk

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1. Grease and flour a 8x8 pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon and salt.
4. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
5. Mix the eggs, grated ginger, and vanilla into the butter mixture. 
6. Add milk to the butter mixture.
7. Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
9. Bake 50 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.
10. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip onto a cutting board.
11. Dust lightly with powdered sugar and ginger, and enjoy!
    

(Source: Sierra Leone Fresh Ginger Cake)

The verdict?  There were SO many things I would do differently.  Let's start with the soup.  If I were to make it again, I would leave out the beef and add extra smoked turkey.  The recipe said it could be any type of smoked protein (fish, chicken, turkey), and it really added a lot to the flavor.  The smell, however, was not good at all.  So much so that I couldn't eat it all.  It was a very earthy smell.  Handsome Husband likened it to the smell of freshly-cut wet grass.  I couldn't argue. The recipe also said to season with salt, pepper, and oil.  It needed A LOT of salt.  It was quite bland without it.  Handsome Husband tried it with the oil and said it did make a difference in a good way.

For the cake, the recipe said to use two loaf pans, and to split the batter.  Because I cooked it in an 8x8 pan, it took twice as long to cook.  It worked, but I cooked mine for about 100 minutes. It tasted pretty good for a gluten free cake.  It had a very strong ginger taste, but it was a good-strong.  

  

ME

Taste of Cassava Leaf Soup (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

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Cassava Leaf  Soup (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

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

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

ME

Taste of Sierra Leone Fresh Ginger Cake (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

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

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Sierra Leone Fresh Ginger Cake (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7

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

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

Another down!  Hard to believe we've been doing this for more than a year!  Join us next time in Cambodia!