Senegalese MafÉ Recipes

SENEGALESE MAFE

Steps:

• Season chicken and brown in oil in a large heavy pot. Add onions and tomatoes. In separate pot heat chicken stock and whisk in tomato paste. Thin peanut butter slightly with hot liquid and add all liquids to pot with chicken. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add vegetables and cook until chicken and vegetables are tender, approximately 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt, cayenne and ground white pepper. Garnish with peanuts.

MAFE (PEANUT BUTTER STEW)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until it is translucent. Add the meat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly browned on all sides.
• In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter with the cold water and pour it over the meat. Dilute the tomato paste with the hot water, pour the liquid over the stew, and stir well to make sure all the ingredients are well mixed. Add the remaining ingredients, lower the heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Serve hot over white rice.

CHICKEN MAFE

Steps:

• Finely mince 6 cloves garlic and the ginger with a pinch of salt, plenty of black pepper and crushed red-pepper flakes to taste. Season chicken all over with salt, and rub with the garlic mixture. Marinate for three hours or overnight, refrigerated.
• Finely chop the remaining 6 cloves of garlic. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the onion, chopped garlic, 2 teaspoons kosher salt and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the onion is starting to become translucent. Stir in the fish sauce, then the tomato paste, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until the paste and onions have combined and are a shade darker. Stir in 6 cups water, scraping up any browned bits.
• Add the chicken, bring to a boil and turn heat down to a moderate simmer. In a mixing bowl, stir a cup of the cooking liquid into the peanut butter, a splash at a time, to loosen it. Pour the peanut butter mixture into the pot, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cabbage and carrots, and simmer 10 minutes. Peel and cut the sweet potato and waxy potatoes into 1 1/2-inch chunks, add them and simmer 30 minutes, until the vegetables and chicken are tender and the sauce is like a very thick gravy. (The oil will be separating in the sauce.) If the chicken and vegetables are tender but the sauce is still a little loose, remove them, and let the sauce cook down. Add the chile if using. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and serve over white rice.

MAFE (SENEGALESE BEEF STEW)

Steps:

• Whisk together peanut butter and stock and reserve.
• Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Brown the meat well on all sides; do not crowd the meat; saute in batches if necessary.
• Remove meat and keep warm.
• Add the onion, garlic, peppers, and carrots to the pan and saute until the onions are translucent.
• Add the peanut butter and broth mixture, scraping all the brown bits up from the bottom and sides of the pan.
• Return the reserved meat (and any juices) to the pan with the tomatoes and their liquid, the thyme and bay leaf.
• Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, for about 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
• Taste for seasoning.
• Remove the thyme sprig and the bay leaf and discard.
• Serve hot over rice.