Zara Cooks in Cameroon

Ingredients:

2 c. flour 1 t salt 1 t baking powder 2 t baking soda 3/4 c. baking cocoa (Matinal) 2 c. sugar (or less)

1 c. oil 1 c. brewed coffee 1 c. milk 2 eggs 1 t vanilla extract

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl (I actually did this because I have to sift the worms out of my flour). Add oil, coffee and milk and mix together. Add eggs and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes. The batter is thin. Pour into two greased and floured 9" cake pans. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes (or over a medium-high flame in a marmite, one at a time). Let cakes cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan (or not, if you only have one pan and a marmite oven).

Ingredients:

1 c. milk 5 T flour 1/2 c. butter 1/2 c. shortening (or all butter) 1 c. sugar 1 t vanilla extract

Combine milk and flour and mix out lumps. Heat in a saucepan until thick. Cover and refrigerate. Beat butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Add chilled milk/flour paste and beat for 10 minutes. Frost cooled cake.

My sister made this cake for me when I was younger. She got the recipe from Taste of Home, which is where I've copied the recipe from. It is still amazingly delicious and the frosting doesn't require powdered sugar, which is hard to find here.

Ingredients:

2 c. cooked beans 2 eggs 1 c. oats (dry)

1 T oil 1 onion, chopped 5 garlic cloves, chopped (or more) 1 maggi cube 1 shrimp cube 1 packet elena (70 gm tomato paste) cumin, hot pepper

Saute onions in oil for a few minutes. Add garlic, cubes, hot pepper and cumin, cook for another minute or two. Add tomato paste and mix together. Add spice mix to beans. Mash beans with a fork (or what have you) and mix in oats and eggs. Let sit in fridge for 30 minutes or so (this will help the burgers stick together better). Form into 8 patties (about 1/2 inch thick, you can press them thinner in the pan if they're falling apart). Fry on both sides for a few minutes.

Yum!

Ingredients:

8 oz (250 gm) penne, rotelle or rigatoni (I used farfalle) 1/4 c. pasta cooking water 1 T olive oil 1/2 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 lb chard leaves, washed & chopped 1/2 c. wine or stock (or pasta water with a splash of balsamic) 1 t red pepper flakes 1/4 c. toasted pine nuts Salt & pepper

Cook pasta while prepping other ingredients. Toast pine nuts in a dry pan.

In a large pan, heat oil and add onion. Cook for 2 minutes and add garlic. Add the chopped Swiss chard and toss to coat (or not, if you're using a very tiny pan). Pour in the wine or stock (or pasta water with a splash of balsamic, if you're me) and stir to coat (or not, if you're using a very tiny pan). When the chard begins to wilt, stir in the red pepper flakes and pine nuts. Bring to a simmer and stir in the reserved pasta cooking water. Immediately add the cooked pasta (or add *to* the cooked pasta, if that pan is bigger) and toss to coat. Or kind of mix it together carefully, if your chard likes to stick together.

Enjoy!

The original recipe can be found here. You'll notice I didn't use tomatoes (I didn't have any) and I quadrupled the pine nuts (and tripled the garlic). It still turned out great. And my stock substitution was perfect. I bet the original recipe turns out pretty tasty, too.

Also, this was really delicious cold the next day. Boom.

Ingredients:

2 t dry yeast 1 1/2 T sugar 1 1/4 c. warm water

3 1/2 c. flour (+ more for kneading) 1 1/2 t salt

Add sugar and water to 1/2 c. of warm water and let sit 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt and form a well in the center. Pour the dissolved yeast and half the remaining water into the well and mix. Add reserve water as needed to form a firm and moist dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Gradually work in more flour to form a stiff and firm (but still smooth and elastic) dough. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it, cover it with a cloth and let it rise somewhere warm for about an hour (or til doubled in size).

Punch the dough down and let it rest 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (or 9, if you can only fit 3 bagels at a time in your marmite oven and you like symmetry). Roll each piece into a ball and press between your hands to get rid of air bubbles (you can feel them coming out!). Coat a finger in flour and press it through the ball to form a ring. Gently stretch the ring and work your fingers into the hole until it is about 1/3 the diameter of the ring. Cover with a cloth and let rest 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, set the oven to preheat at 425 F or preheat your marmite to what seems like a good temperature. Also, bring a large pot of water to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Use a slotted spatula to lower the bagels into the water in batches of 2 or 3. Boil, uncovered, until they rise to the surface (~1 minute) and then flip them once. Remove from the water and drain excess water. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet (or inverted pan lid) and bake 20 minutes until beautifully golden.

I found the recipe here, a truly amazing baking blog! While mildly time consuming, like all bread is, the bagels were amazing! My yeast didn't proof as well as I wanted, and my bagels were neither smooth nor highly-poofed, but they were delicious bagels in Cameroon. The recipe is easy if you've got the time, and I imagine they get better each time you make them.

Lacking cream cheese, lox, jam, etc, I ate the bagels plain, and ate one toasted and topped with a fried egg, avocado and Cameroon style condiment. Yum, yum, YUM!

Ingredients:

1 small eggplant 2 T butter/margarine 1 t salt 3/4 c. water 1/2 T sugar 1/2 T vinegar

1/2-1 t. ea: - cinnamon - coriander - cumin - turmeric + spicy chili to taste

Cut eggplant into small chunks (1/2-1 inch). Heat butter and spices, cook for ~1 minute (don't allow to burn). Add eggplant and salt and toss to coat. Combine water, vinegar and sugar and add to pan. Simmer covered until tender (~10 min). Uncover and simmer rapidly until liquid is evaporated (~15 min).

This is one of my new favorite recipes! The original recipe can be found here. I like to eat this plain, but it's also good over rice, couscous and with naan. When I serve it over something, I don't evaporate ALL the liquid.

Everytime I cook this, Jane comes to the window and says, "Zara, what are you preparing? It smells SO good!"