Well, the dinner was a success! Everyone really seemed to love it, by everyone I mean Mike, myself, Bev, Mike's sisters Marilyn and Laurie, and Laurie's husband Kelly. I think the star of the evening was Mike's African Peanut Soup. It was heavenly. Everyone was hanging out in the kitchen while we cooked, so they'd been hearing about this recipe and watching it being cooked for a couple of hours before they actually tasted it. Their appetities were primed, you might say. Lesser chefs (like me) would have been quite nervous about it, but Mike was just relaxed and having a great time. It didn't disappoint either, it was a heavenly soup. Afterwards it was my turn, but, due to my nervousness, I'd overcooked the Low-Fat Chocolate Truffle Cake. It was still pretty good, but it wasn't as creamy and yummy as usual. I tend to do that if I'm nervous. I have horrible visions of givng people food poisoning and I end up cooking things too long. I also fixed a red wine reduction to go on top with some raspberries, which everybody seemed to love, although personally it was just a little too sweet for me. But I'm a picky one when it comes to desserts. So, as I promised to my lovely (and sweet) sisters-in-law, Laurie and Marilyn, here's the African Peanut Soup recipe. It's easy, it's pretty quick, and if you have any fondness at all for peanuts, it's divine. You can double it, it keeps well, it freezes well, it's very flexible.
African Peanut Soup
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
4 cups chicken broth or stock
Emeril’s Essence to taste
2/3 cup extra crunchy peanut butter (2/3 is just a guess, it’s really to taste)
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Cook onions and bell peppers until lightly browned and tender, stirring in garlic when almost done to prevent burning. Stir in tomatoes, chicken stock, and Emeril’s Essence. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
2. Stir in rice, cover, and simmer another fifteen minutes or until rice is tender. Add in peanut butter in small spoonfuls, stirring constantly. It needs to be in small spoonfuls because otherwise the peanut butter won't dissolve and you'll have lumps of peanut butter in your soup (which isn't that awful, really). Once you've got the peanut butter in, serve or turn down the heat to lowest possible because if it's on high the peanut butter will start to scorch on the bottom.
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