Around the world - Stopover 33 - Zimbabwe

African countries have had a low profile during my random virtual travels so far. Madagascar and South Africa are the only destinations I've covered to date so I was pleased when Zimbabwe was the next country drawn. Zimbabwean food is mainly based on traditional recipes although there are also some influences from British and Portuguese cuisines. Most of the Zimbabwean population rely on a handful of staple foods - cornmeal, rice, beans, peanuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, a selection of green leafy vegetables as well as some meat and sardines. 

When I began my hunt for recipes I was drawn to some Zimbabwean sweet potato biscuits/cookies with lemon icing on food.com. These biscuits were simple to veganise using dairy-free margarine in place of butter, agave nectar instead of honey and a flax egg. Another minor modification I made was to halve the amount of ground nutmeg as I feared that the full amount may be too strong. I was happy with this decision as the nutmeg seemed to be perfect in this quantity, any more and it would have overwhelmed. The original recipe stated that it made 60 biscuits although they must have been tiny morsels, I used a slightly larger quantity of mixture from my half batch which resulted in 16 small biscuits with a lovely soft interior. Prior to being iced they weren't terribly sweet and after topping them with lemon icing they were perfect. I found them to be very moreish and polished off more than my fair share.

African peanut stews have filled me with fear for many years. Due to allergies with some of my family members, I grew up in a nut-free household and never consumed nuts until my adult years. Although I adore most types of nuts these days, I still find the flavour of peanuts to be quite strong and have never embraced peanut butter. As there was a recipe for a Zimbabwean peanut stew called Huku ne Dovi in my copy of World Vegetarian Classics I figured it was time to be brave and try out this type of meal.

The stew contained chunks of sweet potatoes and carrots, onions, chillies, okra, tinned tomatoes and spinach - some green beans that needed using up were added to the mix as well. I reduced the amount of ground peanuts from 150g to 100g and didn't find the peanut flavour to be overly strong this way. The stew was very flavourful given it didn't contain any spices apart from the chillies and the ground peanuts made it thick and extremely hearty. The leftovers held up well which I happily devoured for a few days in a row afterwards.

The man generally dislikes stews as well as most meals containing sweet potatoes, so to make this meal more enjoyable I whipped up a batch of African baked tofu from Vegan Eats World to have as an accompaniment. The tofu was marinated in orange and lime juice, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, salt and a Persian spice mix called Baharat prior to being baked in the oven. We've enjoyed all of the baked tofu dishes I've made from Vegan Eats World and this was another wonderful recipe I would be happy to make again. It packed a decent amount of heat and paired well with the peanut stew.


Zimbabwean sweet potato biscuits/cookies (Adapted from food.com)
Makes approximately 16 small biscuits

70g dairy-free margarine
30g sugar
1½ teaspoons ground flaxseed
1½ tablespoons water
zest of ½ a small lemon
40g agave nectar
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup grated sweet potato
1¼ cup plain flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt

¾ cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon dairy-free margarine
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 to 3 teaspoons (or more) water

Preheat oven to 175C.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Whisk the ground flaxseed with water in a small bowl then mix it thoroughly into the butter and sugar. Add the lemon zest, agave nectar and nutmeg and beat well. Fold through the grated sweet potato then add the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Place tablespoons of the mixture onto an oven tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until slightly browned, then remove the tray from the oven and allow them to cool down completely.

Mix the icing sugar, dairy-free margarine and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Drizzle in enough water to make a spreadable icing. Top the biscuits with a generous dollop of icing.

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Did you know?

There are 16 official languages in Zimbabwe. English is one of the official languages but only 2% of the population is fluent in it.

Hedgehog

Hedgehog didn't appeal to me when I was a child. I don't recall my mum making hedgehog although I clearly remember my nanna eagerly offering me her chocolate and biscuit slice on many occasions. On reflection I hope nanna's feelings weren't hurt when I repeatedly rejected one of her signature sweets as my attention was usually focussed on the lemon slice and peppermint slice that my aunts would always provide.

The man has always been the complete opposite – he adores hedgehog and has asked me to make it for him numerous times over the years. It wasn't until he purchased an enormous chunk of vegan hedgehog from our local health food store that I tentatively took a bite and decided it was actually rather nice. After that I promised to try making hedgehog at home.

I went straight to Green Gourmet Giraffe in search of a recipe as I had a vague memory of Johanna being a hedgehog fan. Johanna's recipe looked uncomplicated and traditional, there were no additions like dried fruit or nuts which the man would be bound to dislike. Crushing the biscuits to the right size is possibly the trickiest part - Johanna wisely advises against using a food processor as the biscuits turn out too fine, instead she recommends placing the biscuits in a bowl and crushing them with a glass jar until they are approximately the size of 5 cent pieces. I opted to use the end of my marble rolling pin which also did the trick.

While the recipe wasn't vegan it was easy to veganise using Arnotts Nice biscuits in place of Marie biscuits, dairy-free margarine for the butter and a flaxseed egg instead of a chicken's egg. Both of my men adore this slice which I've made a couple of times recently. I think this has gone onto their favourites list and am sure that I will be requested to make this delicious slice again in the future.

Hedgehog (Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe)

200g Arnotts Nice biscuits
125g dairy free margarine
½ cup sugar
2 heaped dessertspoons cocoa
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons water
2 heaped dessertspoons desiccated coconut

Place the biscuits in a large bowl and crush them with the end of a heavy rolling pin or the base of a glass jar. The biscuit chunks should be no bigger than a 5 cent piece.

Melt the margarine in a small saucepan, stir through the sugar and cocoa and cook for 2 minutes. Mix the ground flaxseed and water together in a small bowl. Turn off the heat and stir through the flaxseed mixture and the coconut. Stir the crushed biscuits into the saucepan mixture thoroughly.

Line a 20 cm square dish with baking paper and spoon the contents of the saucepan into the dish. Spread it out to the edges evenly and smooth out the top. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm then slice into squares and serve. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

In my kitchen - May 2013

Over the past few months I've enjoyed reading "In my kitchen" posts written by my blogging buddies Johanna, Kari, Vaishali and Sandy and decided to join in too. This monthly event is hosted by Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. This is what's been happening in my kitchen...

In my kitchen is a coffee machine and bean grinder. This is the third coffee machine we have owned which was purchased four or five years ago, the previous two models we had only lasted about two years before breaking down. I would have to say this is my favourite appliance as it's used every single day. One cup of coffee a day is all I usually need as long as it's a good quality strong one like this.

In my kitchen are lemons from our young tree which are being used up as quickly as they are ripening. The tree went through minor surgery over summer due to an attack of gall wasp, unfortunately some branches with many new buds had to be amputated and subsequently the yield has been less than I was hoping for. I haven't had the chance to make our favourite lemon slice yet and must rectify this soon.

In my kitchen are some animals on my window sill. The jade elephant was a souvenir we bought when travelling to Thailand (this particular pose with the trunk lifted in the air is supposed to be good luck). The glass horse sat on my mum’s dresser for years before she passed it onto me. The jade cat was a gift from my mother in law from an overseas trip and the wooden elephant belongs to the man although he can't recall where it came from.

In my kitchen are home made vegan cheeses and rejuvelac, a fermented liquid used for culturing the cheeses. Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner was sitting on my cookbook shelf for several months before I finally had the time to delve into it. A lot of patience and self control is required for these recipes to work their magic. There isn't too much hands on work involved although some of the cheeses are best enjoyed after resting for 4 weeks! The cheeses in the photo are a cashew chevre and sharp cheddar with rejuvelac in the background. The sharp cheddar has been my favourite so far.

In my kitchen are delicious meals like these curries; a result of recipe testing for Leigh Drew. I've been enjoying testing for Leigh recently as I'm a fan of her cookbook Wrapped in Pastry and have also loved several recipes I've made from her blog. Leigh's exciting new cookbook will be released later this year!

In my kitchen are some substandard chocolate chip cookies. They have taught me a couple of lessons, to follow my own recipes closely and not to bake things late at night! My fellows had a hankering for something sweet last weekend so I hastily baked a batch of cookies for them. I was slack with measuring and didn't use enough flour which made the cookies way too soft. They also stuck together when I put them in a container as I was frustrated with my cooking blunder and didn't allow them to cool down enough before transferring them. Despite these woes, they still tasted great!

In my kitchen are olives soaking in a pot. They will remain here for the entire month with the water changed every second day! This is the first year our young trees have produced enough olives to bother making an effort with. There are more olives on the trees that are yet to ripen and I plan to experiment with some alternative preparation methods in due course.

In my kitchen are spicy Indian snacks. They are similar to Twisties yet they are coated in spices rather than flavoured with cheese or chicken like regular Twisties. I visit a local Indian spice shop every few months to replenish my hoard of spices and cannot resist their ongoing special of three packets for $4 every time I shop there. They are made from corn meal, rice meal, gram meal, vegetable oil and an assortment of spices. As well as tasting great I also like that there are no suspicious codes to watch out for in the ingredients list.

Thanks Celia for hosting this fun event! I look forward to peeking into other people's kitchens too.

Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies were my favourite biscuits when I was growing up. They were so simple to bake and I used to love pinching as many chocolate chips as possible without being caught when my mothers back was turned. A few weeks ago when I had a craving for some bikkies, I pulled out my copy of The Joy of Vegan Baking and gave the chocolate chip cookie recipe a try.

It was the first recipe I had made from this cookbook that I've been unsatisfied with and my main gripe was the cookies were way too oily. I didn't want to give up on finding a perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and remembered that I had scribbled down the one from my childhood during a phone conversation with my mum many years ago. When I tracked it down amongst my recipe clippings I suspected that a vegan adaptation of this recipe would work out to my liking.

It seemed like an easy recipe to veganise by substituting dairy free margarine for butter and using an egg replacer yet it wasn't all smooth sailing. After mixing in the flour, the dough seemed too firm so I quickly added in a bit of soy milk to rectify the situation. The recipe has been written with the soy milk added earlier as that is how I will make it next time around.

The young man is a big fan of chocolate chip cookies too which isn't surprising as he has such a sweet tooth. He preferred this version over the ones from the Joy of Vegan Baking so I'll be sticking with it in the future. I'm not 100% certain where the original recipe came from although I am fairly sure it was from a Women's Weekly cookbook, most likely the Beautiful Biscuits volume.

Chocolate chip cookies (Probably adapted from Women's Weekly Beautiful Biscuits)
Makes 20-24

1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
125g dairy free margarine
1 egg replacer (I used Orgran)
1 teaspoon vanilla essense
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups plain flour
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Sweet William brand)
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 180C.

Cream the sugars together with the dairy free margarine in a large bowl. Prepare the egg replacer according to the package directions in a small bowl then pour this into the large bowl. Drizzle in the vanilla essense and soy milk and beat until combined. Add the bicarb of soda, salt and plain flour and beat until combined. Fold through the chocolate chips.

Prepare a large baking tray by lining it with baking paper and spraying lightly with olive oil. Take heaped dessert spoons of the mixture, roll them into balls and place onto the baking tray. Allow ample room for them to spread. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the cookies to sit for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.