Burkina Faso

Location: Western Africa, north of Ghana
Size: Almost 275,00 sq km; 74th largest in the world
        Slightly larger than Colorado
Population: Over 16.75 million; 61st largest in the world
Birth rate: Almost 44 births/1000 population; 5th largest in the world
Capital: Ouagadougou
Infant mortality rate: About 81 deaths/1000 live births; 10th highest in the world
Former name: Republic of Upper Volta
Borders: Unresolved boundary alignments with Mali, Niger, and Benin
Source: CIA Factbook

Sorry for the rarity of posts lately.  Summer is going to be a sporadic time with weddings and vacations and such.  Luckily I have still been cooking so far.

Often, when searching for recipes, I narrow it to a few and then send them to Kevin for his opinion.  In this case, it was down to Munyu Caf Couscous and Riz Au Gras.  I mention this specifically to point out that my husband got to choose between these, and he choose the Munyu Caf Couscous.  Not me.  He doesn't like peanut butter.  Maybe this will teach him to read the recipes a little more thoroughly in the future...

So we are off with the recipe, which I halved since it seemed like a ridiculous amount of food.  And for those of you wondering, an aubergine is an eggplant.  My first eggplant purchase, and fresh from the Farmer's Market!

I got the couscous at Whole Foods, where it comes in bulk.  I followed their directions, rather than the ones in this recipe, since I don't know if it is the same couscous you would get in Africa.  Instant vs real and all.

The meat of choice for the Munyu Caf Couscous was chicken.  It seemed legit, as they use it in other recipes too.  I had my normal issues and qualms with the tomatoes.  Why are they so hard to work with?

After that, it is mostly add to pot and cook/simmer.

Is this the right way to cut up an eggplant?  I don't know.

Now that is a glob of peanut butter.

 Bigger pot needed?

We made some naan (not from scratch).  Wrong part of the world, but oh-so-delicious.

 The cats like it when I get crocheting stuff for my birthday.

Curie was hiding in my bag.  Tesla does not approve.

Worn out from winding yarn.  And yes, that is the last season of Angel in the background.

After all of the simmering, Kevin is skeptical of the smell, but sets the table anyway.

Unfortunately, this dish went just about how expected for Kevin.  He had two or three bites and then couldn't go on anymore.  He ate naan.  Had some couscous.  Gave up.

For me, the first three or four bites were pretty good.  Then it got old very quickly.  Other than the chicken, everything else was a generic glob.  It was so covered in peanut butter that you other flavors did not come through.  I couldn't take it for long.  A snack-sized portion could have worked for me, but anything more became overwhelming and yet boring.  I do not recommend drowning anything in this much peanut butter.

Unfortunately, by some measures, this was one of the biggest failures yet.   Kevin made a frozen pizza!  This is the first time we have needed some kind of backup meal.  Before, we've always been able to soldier through until we have had enough.

As a reminder, Kevin picked this recipe.

Next time: Burma (Myanmar)