Chad (Africa) 16 August 2024

Chad is located in the continent of Africa. It has Libya to the north, Egypt to the northeast, Sudan to the east, south Sudan to the southeast, Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, Niger and Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest.

The capital is N’Djamena.

The official languages are Arabic and French.

The climate varies from wet to dry tropical to hot arid due to the wide range of latitudes. Rain generally falls between May and October. Chad generally has a short rainy season.

The staple foods are a medium variety of grains like millet, sorghum and rice, okra, cassava, squash, mutton, chicken, pork, goat, fish, lamb, beef and much more (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadian_cuisine#:~:text=Chadians%20use%20a%20medium%20variety,of%20fruits%20are%20also%20eaten).

https://www.britannica.com/place/Chad

JARRET DE BOEUF (Beef Shin Stew) (https://www.thenomadiccook.com/jarret-de-boeuf/):

• 3 beef shins, cut into 1-inch blocks
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• 3 potatoes, halved
• 2 carrots, cut into ½-inch slices
• 200ml beef stock
• 150ml red wine
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 tomato, cut into quarters
• 1 TBSP tomato paste
• Salt and pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 TBSP dried Origanum
• Olive oil

1. Salt and pepper the beef shins.
2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add some olive oil, and brown the meat.
3. Then remove the meat from the pot.
4. Reduce heat to medium and saute the onions, bay leaves, and garlic until soft.
5. Then deglaze the pot with the red wine.
6. Add all the other ingredients except the meat and stir well.
7. Add a few grinds of salt to taste.
8. Now replace the meat and press everything nicely in the pot. Trying to cover as much as possible with the liquid.
9. Replace the lid and turn your heat source to its lowest setting and leave for 3 hours (you should just see a little puff of steam escaping every now and then. Also if you listen to it, it should gently bubble away).
10. You can open the pot after 2 hours just to make sure there is enough liquid inside. If it looks a bit dry, then add a little bit of water.
11. After 3 hours remove the pot from the stove.
12. Give it one good stir and smash one of the potato halves with a spoon or fork (this helps to thicken the sauce a bit).
13. Dish up and enjoy with some rice or fufu (a fermented cassava).

This is how the stew turned out. The meat was sssoooo tender and overall the stew was delicious!!!

RICED CAULIFLOWER:

Here is the riced cauliflower turned out. I cheated since I bought some already prepared. Still good though!

ZESTY LEMON GRANITA (https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/zesty-lemon-granita/):

• 1 C water
• 2/3 C sugar
• 2/3 C lemon juice
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest

1. In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil.
2. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice and thyme.
4. Transfer to an 8-inch square dish.
5. Cool to room temperature.
6. Remove thyme sprigs.
7. Freeze for 1 hour.
8. Stir with a fork.
9. Freeze 2-3 hours longer or until completely frozen, stirring every 30 minutes.
10. Stir granita with a fork just before serving.
11. Spoon into dessert dishes.
12. Garnish with lemon zest.

Here i how the granita turned out. I used monk fruit instead of sugar. Still a VERY lemony taste!!!