Maafe - Pinterest Pick #26

 I have been hearing a lot about West African food lately and I realize I haven't really cooked any African food before. When I came across a recipe for Maafe in one of my food groups, I thought it sounded delicious and easy enough to give it a try. So I made this dish yesterday and it was a very different flavor than what we usually eat. I liked it, hubby was on the fence. It was spicy and nutty. The dish comes from Senegal in West Africa. Peanuts are their largest crop, which explains the peanut butter in the dish. A lot of their cuisine are stewed dishes, often eaten with bread. I served the dish with garlic biscuits, but you could also serve it with rice, couscous, or a flatbread like Naan. I hope this recipe influences some of my dear blog readers to branch out and try African cuisine if you haven't before. I did leave out the jalapeno and green bell pepper as I did not have any on hand, but the dish was spicy enough with the red pepper flakes. If you prefer a milder flavor, I would reduce the amount of red pepper flakes or leave them out entirely. You can find the original pin HERE and the original recipe HERE,

Maafe (Beef Peanut Stew)

Ingredients:
2 lb beef stew meat (or a chuck roast cut into 1 inch pieces)
(Marinade)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
(Stew)
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs minced ginger
3 tbs tomato paste
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp red pepper flakes (use half or leave out depending on your spice tolerance)
1 jalapeno, finely diced (I omitted)
1 red bell pepper, largely diced
1 green bell pepper, largely diced (I omitted)
12 baby carrots
3 cups beef broth
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, but crunch is fine too)
salt & pepper
*I also used a spice from Trader Joe's called Ajika which is spicy, garlicky, and nutty so it fit in with this dish (I used about a tablespoon)

Directions:
Marinate meat for a few hours (or overnight like I did) in the paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger.

Sear meat in vegetable oil for 5 minutes on each side. Remove from pot (I used a 6 quart Dutch oven) and set aside. Add a touch more oil to the pot and add in onions. Saute until tender. Add in ginger and garlic, and jalapeno if using. Cook for 1 minute then stir in tomato paste. Let cook for an additional minute then add in salt & pepper and red pepper flakes. Let cook for 5 minutes. Add in broth and carrots. Stir in peanut butter then add beef back to pot. Simmer for an hour then add in bell pepper. Let cook an additional hour. Serve with rice, couscous, or bread. Enjoy!