"Akwaaba: A Taste of Ghana" is great!

If you have ever tried or wanted to try great food from the African continent, this cookbook is for you! "Akwaaba: A Taste of Ghana" has over 50 recipes from Ghana ranging from breakfast through dinner to desserts!

Copies are available at Alikobooks , Barnes&Noble and Amazon.

Try some recipes and let us know what you think!

Brownies !

I love brownies but I try not to eat them or bake them as often.  I recently tried out a brownie recipe I got from Paula Deen's website...I made a few changes of my own ( used a little less sugar and used Golden Tree chocolate bars from Ghana), and it was delicious! You can find this delicious and rich chocolate at most West African grocery stores - to find one near you, visit www.africanbizbyzip.com and type in your city or zip code.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter / margarine

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup Golden Tree cocoa powder

8 0z chocolate (11 "20g Golden Tree chocolate bars")

1/2 tspn baking powder

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 13 x 9 ban with some butter
• Melt chocolate using double boiler method and let cool *
• Beat margarine and sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy( you can use a handheld electric mixer)
• Add eggs (one at a time)
• Add vanilla
• In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and cocoa powder
• Slowly add in flour mix to butter mix
• Add in melted golden tree chocolate
• Pour batter in the pan and bake for 35 minutes

Notes:

1. When adding flour mix to butter mix, add about 1/2 cup at a time, beat until mixture is mooth and creamy, then add another 1/2 cup.
   
2. 8 oz = 28.35g so if you are using the bigger Golden Tree chocolate bar (50g), use only 4 1/2 bars. 

* Double boiler method: Boil water in a small cooking pot, over medium heat. Place chocolate in a bowl and put it on top of the boiling pot of water.  When most of the chocolate looks soft , use a spoon to stir until all the chococlate is melted.  Remove from top of cooking pot and let it cool.

Jollof Rice

Jollof rice is a popular rice dish in Ghana and other West African countries and one of my favorite foods. It is delicious, easy to prepare and you can easily find the ingredients at your local African grocery store. If you do not know where to find an African grocery store, visit www.africanbizbyzip.com and type in your city or zip code ! There are slight variations in how Jollof is made...I make mine with beef or corned beef( see the picture below). This is a dish that is great on its own but also goes well with some chicken and salad. Yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 can (29 oz) tomato sauce or 8 medium tomatoes
• 2 medium-sized onions
• 1 orange habanero pepper
• small-sized ginger root (see pic)
  
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tspn of nutmeg powder
• 1 can of corned beef
• 1 Maggi cube
• 3 cups of basmati / jasmine rice
• 2 tbsns of salt

Direction:

• Wash and peel onions; dice one of the onions
• Place the other onion in a blender, add ginger, pepper and tomato sauce and blend well
• Heat oil in a cooking pot, on medium heat
• Add diced onions and let simmer for 3 minutes
• Add nutmeg and let simmer for 1 minute
• Pour in blended tomato mix
• Let sauce cook on medium heat for 20 minutes
• Mash Maggi cubes and add to cooking pot after 10 minutes of simmering
• After the 20 minutes, add and stir in the corned beef until it is evenly mixed into the sauce
• Let the sauce cook for another 20 minutes
• Add salt
• Wash the rice (twice) and add into the cooking sauce
• Stir well until all the rice is completely mixed in with the sauce
• Let the "Jollof" cook for about 45 minutes on low heat
• Stir every 15 minutes so all the rice cooks evenly

Notes:

1. You can use any long-grain rice for this dish
2. You can add frozen peas and corn to the sauce(5 - 10 minutes) before adding the rice...makes the dish more colorful
3. Break the corned beef with your spoon when you add it to the sauce
4. Keep the lid on the cooking pot at all times...this helps retain the steam which also helps cook the rice.
5. Ginger size varies - you can use a small-sized or medium-sized ginger root.