Something yummy from Central African Republic.

   Last week we studied Central African Republic as our country of the week. It's not an easy country to study because of the unrest and civil wars that discontinued almost all the tourism. So it's almost impossible to find any videos on a country that is too dangerous for tourists to go to. I didn't feel discourage, though, and use that as a topic of conversation with Monkeys. We read short introduction to Central African Republic and examined their map and flag. We then talked about the troubles the country has been in. The good news is that I did find 2 YouTube movies that showed Monkeys something about Central African Republic other than war. The first video is about one of the indigenous tribes in Africa, the BaAka pygmies, and their songs.

The second video is done by one of the volunteers for MercyCorps and it's about seed distribution to families living in one of the poorest of countries. Monkeys and I had a conversation about seed keeping and farming and feeding families, and why volunteers are doing such a great job helping.

   Since we try a dish from every country that we study, today we tried a dish based on a Central African Republic recipe for Beef and Mushrooms in Peanut Sauce. We have changed the recipe a bit to fit our time constraints (the original one takes over 1.5 hours to cook) and to adjust for the items we had on hand. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about how it would taste since I associate peanut butter with breakfast toast and not a sauce for meat, but I was pleasantly surprised. The recipe itself is dairy and grain free, which is perfect for anyone with allergies. It could easily be served over rice or other grain or with a piece of buttered slice of bread (our choice). It was very satisfying and delicious with a nice flavor. I highly recommend trying it! Here is a recipe so you can try it too:

Beef and Mushrooms in Peanut Sauce

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves,mashed or chopped very finely
• 1.5 lbs of sliced organic steak (we chose round steak)
• 6 large button mushrooms, slices
• 4 large tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 cup of organic peanut butter
• 2 cups of water
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Instructions:

Step 1

Heat the oil in a large pan and add paprika.

Step 2 

Chop the onion and add to the pan.

Saute in the pan until softened but not browned.

Step 3

Mince garlic and add to the pan. Cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Be careful not to burn.

Step 4

Add sliced beef to the pan. TIP: when slicing beef stake freeze the steak for 1 hour before and it will help with think, uniform slicing.

Cook on medium until all pieces are cooked through.

Step 5 

Slice mushrooms,

and tomatoes

and add them to the pan together with ginger. Mix all items gently.

Step 6

Pour in 2 cups of water and increase the heat to medium high.

Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 7

After about 20 minutes pour off about 3/4 cup of the broth and mix in with peanut butter to make a smooth paste. Add the peanut butter to the meat mixture.Add salt and cayenne pepper to your liking. Let it simmer for 20 more minutes.

Step 8 

Serve warm over a bed of brown rice or with a slice of bread for dipping. Enjoy!