2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
19 ounces canned chick peas
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
5-1/2 ounces tomato paste
4 cups water
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the garlic, onions and spices until onions are tender.
2. Add the water, squash and carrots and bring to a boil.
3. Add the chick peas and tomato paste. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender and liquid has almost entirely evaporated, about 20 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes 6 servings

2 cups flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine flours, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
3. Combine the butter, egg, buttermilk and extracts and add this to the dry ingredients, stirring to form a soft dough.
4. Turn the dough onto a well floured surface and roll it to about 1/2" thickness.
5. Cut the dough into 2" by 4" rectangles and transfer to a greased baking sheet.
6. Bake until the tops are crisping and lightly browned, about 25 minutes.
7. Eat them as they are, or reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees, return the rusks to the oven and continue to bake until dry and hard, between 8 and 12 hours.
8. Soften in tea or coffee to eat.

Makes 12 servings

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter with oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and carrot and cook until vegetables begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Combine the garlic, turmeric and a good pinch of salt, then add the quinoa.
4. Top off with water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover.
5. Simmer until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

1 pound Boerewors (South African sausage), cut into 1/4" slices
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic
5 sprigs thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
19 ounce canned black eyed peas
salt and pepper

1. Brown the sausage in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, cayenne and a pinch of salt and sauté until onions are tender, about 6 minutes.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Makes 6 servings

I had a pound of South African sausage sitting in the fridge, so I had to make use of it. It's supposed to be very good barbecue, but the weather is horribly frigid and I'm not ambitious enough to brave the great outdoors. So, I looked up South African recipes and tried to find something to utilize this. They were almost all very heavy, not unlike southwest or Creole cooking, but with some Indian spices thrown in. The recipes that were appealing were Moroccan, so I went with that instead.

The sausage itself is new to the butcher shop and no one there could tell me what was actually in it, so I had to try it to find out for myself. I found many recipes for boerewors, a South African sausage, which is a combination of beef and pork flavored with pepper, coriander, nutmeg, thyme, allspice and cloves. As far as I can tell, this sausage had similar if not the same seasoning and is crucial to the flavoring of South African Black Eyed Peas. This recipe is top notch in my books and also gave me an opportunity to use up some of that enormous bunch of fresh bay leaves I purchased. Beans and sausage are a good pair, in my opinion, and the flavor of all of those spices and the aroma that filled the kitchen is wonderful. I definitely noticed more of an aromatic to the bay leaves in this dish, but as far as I'm concerned, bay leaves are as essential to a dish as celery. They do make a difference, but I'm not sure I'd ever notice if it was left out.

I took another stab at making quinoa after my horrible blunder with Apricot Quinoa Pilaf. I've been informed that it's essential to rinse quinoa extremely well before cooking because of treatment and husks and some other such thing that might actually be toxic to eat. Good thing my previous attempt was like inedible rancid orange zest so I didn't consume anything toxic! The Moroccan Quinoa was edible, but just seems like couscous that takes longer to prepare and is more expensive to buy. I'm not sure what makes this labelled Moroccan cooking other than maybe the turmeric. I'm not sure I'll ever prepare this again, but it was improved by topping it with a Moroccan Vegetable Tajin.

In looking up tajin I'm not quite sure what defines it. If it's supposed to be the traditional name for tagine, then this recipe bears no resemblance to that. At any rate, it's basically tomato and cumin infused root vegetables with chick peas. It's what I should've made instead of Bengali Squash last month, because that was bland and dry. The flavor is pleasant, like a mildly Indian-flared Tomato Soup. It's a good blend of vegetables. It just pales in comparison to the black eyed pea dish that I didn't have much interest in eating it.

I started making Rusks as a sort of after dinner snack/dessert, only to realize that I'm supposed to keep them in the oven for twelve hours. I've learned this time and time again, but rule number one of cooking from a recipe is always to read the recipe before trying to prepare it. As far as I can tell this is the African version of biscotti and is fully intended to be soaked in a strong cup of coffee. After 20 minutes of baking, they're still not exactly light and fluffy. I soaked one that has yet to be dried out to nothing in rooibos sweetened with honey and thought it was similar to a biscuit crossed with biscotti. Shannon said she actually preferred it to a Buttermilk Biscuit. To me, that's saying a lot, since I absolutely love biscuits. I suppose the rest of the rusks will be ready in time for my morning coffee now.