Cassava Leaves 2 (Feuille de Manioc)

A staple of the sub-saharan diet, made in west African style here.

• 2 packets of frozen chopped cassava leaves from a Latino or African grocery.
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 3 tbs fresh peanut butter
• salt
• 1 habanero pepper

Defrost the frozen chopped leaves, and place in a pan, adding enough water to just barely cover.

Crush the peanuts roughly, and add along with the peanut butter, whole hot pepper, and 1 1/2 tsp salt.

Bring to a medium simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Uncover and continue to simmer until all the water is gone.

Delicious as a side dish with steamed manioc and plantain, and a nyembwe (palm nut sauce) dish.

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Cassava Leaves 1 (Saka saka)

It's the main dish in Central Africa (Congo)where I'm from, it's served with foufouor cssava. It takes 3 hours to cook it when its fresh and 4 hours when its frozen.

• 3 packages of frozen cassava leave
• 1 package of frozen spinach (or fresh)
• 2 green sweet pepper(cleaned and finely chopped)
• half habanero pepper ,chopped
• 1 small package of green onions
• 1 big red onion roughly chopped
• 1 big red onion cut in round
• 6 big cloves of garlic ,mashed
• salt,black pepper to taste
• 1 and half of palm oil
• half cup of peanut butter
• 1 liter of water

You need to be patient when cooking this dish, it should delicious when well done.

So, put all the ingredients together in the pan except: peanut butter, palm oil, onion cut in round. The water shoud cover the veggie.

Let it boil till the cassava leaves are tender when you taste, if not soft add more water.the secret is to have them soft before the final step (oil and peanut butter).

Once the veggies are soft, you should have at least 1 cup of water left, if not add so and set the pan aside.

In a small container melt the peanut butter with some oil and pour over the veggies, mix them all together;
in a frying pan heat the remaining oil till start to smoke,

Then add the onions and then pour onto the the veggies and return the pan to the fire. Mix everything together and let it simmer for 15 min and ajust the spices.Serve with cassava or foufou or rice, bread or boilled yuca.

Just be patient when cooking saka saka or pondou.Use canola oil if dont have palm oil.

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Steamed Cassava and Plantain Banana

The staple starches of central Africa, a great change from potatoes.

1 kg manioc (cassava) tubers, available in most grocery stores.
1 kg green plantain bananas.

Cut the manioc root into large (10 cm long) chunks, then peel, making sure to remove the inner skin (just under the thick brown outer skin).
Using a large knife, split the chunks lengthwise into halves, or quarters for very big pieces.

Cut the plantains into three equal pieces, and peel (this can be a pain, but use a knife to get the peel off.
Alternately, you can steam the plantain then remove the peel).
Add the manioc and plantain to a large pot in a steamer basket, or directly on the bottom of the pot.
Add 2 cm of water in the pot, and bring to a medium simmer.
Cover and steam for 40 minutes, remove and pile on a platter.

Goes well with anything that you would normally serve potatoes or rice with, and is very inexpensive to make.

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Cassava and cheese fritters

Ingredients
½kg/1lb 1½oz fresh peeled cassava (must remove the fibrous centre from it)
200g/7¼oz feta cheese
4 whole eggs
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped spring onion
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
oil, for deep-frying

Method

1. Boil the cassava for at least 20 minutes, then drain and let rest for five minutes in the colander, to make sure it is thoroughly dry.
2. Mash the cassava with a potato masher (do not use a food processor as it will make it too gooey).
3. Add all the other ingredients, except the oil, and mix well.
4. Heat the oil in a pan until very hot (CAUTION: Hot oil is very dangerous. Do not leave unattended). Using two dry spoons, shape the dough into dumplings.
5. Drop the dumplings into the hot oil and fry for at least five minutes. Put five or six dumplings together and then take one first to check if it is done. All the ingredients are already cooked so the centre can be a little soft.
6. Serve with salsa, or prepare the day before and serve in a bowl of soup.

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