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 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:

2/3 c. warm water 1 t sugar 2 t yeast

1.5 c. flour 1 T oil 1 t salt margarine for frying

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water and let stand for 10 minutes until foamy. Add flour, oil and salt and mix into a dough. Knead for 5 minutes. Let rise for 30-90 minutes until doubled in size or impatient. Divide into 8 equal pieces and roll into balls. Flatten with hands or rolling pin, depending on desired irregularity coefficient, to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Fry in a pan over medium heat, adding margarine for each piece. (More margarine = more tastiness, less margarine = more health, butter instead of margarine = non vegan, wheat flour = add more yeast).

Yum!

This recipe is best served with LJ's Chana Dal and McCrays amazing greens, some cold beer and friends. But. It goes well with pretty much everything. I would wrap bread in this naan. Maybe not.

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!"

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp veg oil 1-2 onions, diced 1-2 carrots, diced 2-3 celery stalks, chopped 4-5 garlic cloves, minced 3 Tbsp peeled/minced ginger 1-2 Tbsp hot pepper, minced (or cayenne)

2-3 Tbsp ground cumin 1-2 Tbsp ground coriander 16 oz lentils (≈2 c) (i prefer brown lentils) ½ t salt pepper 5 c. water

Heat oil over medium heat & add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, ginger, hot pepper, cumin and coriander. Cook 2-3 min. Add water, lentils, salt, pepper. Bring to boil, then cover and reduce to low. Cook for 40 min, until lentils are tender and water is absorbed (unless you want it soupy). Serve over couscous (yum!) or rice, or plain, or on bread-like something.

Leftovers? (Yes, this makes a lot) Take 1.5-2 c leftovers, add 1 egg and enough flour to make into burger consistency (still pretty messy). Make into 3 or 4 patties and fry in a little oil. Lentil burgers, yum!

My senior year of college, I would cook up Easy Lentils and some plain couscous on the weekend. I ate lentils and couscous almost every-day for lunch, and a lot of times for dinner, too.