Thiebou Dienn Cheb Recipes

THIEBOU DIENN (CHEB)

Steps:

• Place cilantro, scallions, garlic and half of the crushed or fresh pepper in a food processor or blender. Process until finely chopped. Add 1 tablespoon of the canola oil. Process until smooth.
• With a small, sharp knife, slice horizontally through the center of each piece of fish, leaving one side attached. Fill the opening in each piece with about 1 teaspoon of the cilantro mixture.
• In a large pot, heat either the palm oil and 6 tablespoons canola oil or the annatto seeds with 8 tablespoons canola oil. When oil is almost to the smoking point, add fish, being careful to keep the filling in the fish. Cook until fish is cooked on all sides but raw in the middle, about 3 minutes per batch. Remove fish from pot and set aside.
• Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add water, 3 teaspoons of the salt and dried fish, if using. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add longer-cooking vegetables to the broth first, then shorter-cooking vegetables. Simmer, uncovered, until tender. Cassava will take about 50 minutes; calabaza about 35 minutes; carrots and eggplant about 20 minutes; okra about 12 minutes; cabbage about 8 minutes. When vegetables are cooked, remove them to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Season with salt.
• Add fish to the cooking liquid. Simmer until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. Season with salt. Measure the cooking liquid. Return it to the pot and add enough water to make 5 cups.
• Whisk in tomato paste and remaining crushed or red pepper. Stir in rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and place tamarind pieces, if using, over rice. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Discard dried fish, if used.
• Fluff rice with a fork. Place on a large serving platter, mounding it in the center. Place fish and vegetable pieces evenly over the top of the rice. Serve immediately.

THIEBOU DIENN SOUS VERRE (SENEGALESE RICE AND FISH STEW)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large stockpot and brown the onion. Add the smoked fish, the tomato paste, and 1/4 cup of the salted water. While the onion mixture is browning, prepare the stuffing for the sea bass steaks by placing the parsley, garlic, chile, and scallions in a food processor and pulsing until they form a thick paste. When the paste is ready, score the sea bass steaks and poke the stuffing into the slits.
• Place the sea bass in the stockpot with the onion mixture, allow it to cook for 5 minutes, and add the remaining water. When the fish mixture comes to a boil, cover the pot, lower the heat, and add the vegetables in the order given, finishing off with the pricked habanero chile, which you will remove (and reserve) when the thiebou dienn is spicy enough for you. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove the sea bass steaks keeping them whole, and place them on a serving platter. Cover them with a bit of the cooking liquid, and keep them warm.
• Continue cooking the thiebou dienn for an additionaly 15 minutes, then remove the vegetables and arrange them on a platter and keep them warm. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid to make the sauces. Return the remaining liquid to a boil, add the rice, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is done.
• While the rice is cooking, pulverize the habanero chile that you have reserved and add it to 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid. Heat it, stirring occasionally, and place it in a sauceboat. Heat the remaining cup of reserved cooking liquid and place it in a separate sauceboat. This will give you a regular sauce and a fiery hot one.
• When ready to serve, mound the rice on one platter and the fish and vegetables on another. Alternatively, you can place the rice in a large basin or deep dish and arrange the vegetables and fish on top and eat Senegalese-style with your hands (right hand only, please!) or with a large spoon.