Have you ever gotten up and realized it was just too beautiful a day to waste doing your everyday routine? As a cool breeze gently made its way into my windows I woke up to song birds and the smell of magnolias. I thought I might still be dreaming, but I wasn’t. I heard my children get up for school, teenagers now, who don’t need my help. I lingered in bed, the sheets that perfect temperature, not too hot, not too cold. I’ve come to call that feeling PST (perfect sheet temperature). I did not want to leave my bed, but when opened my eyes I knew I had to get up and enjoy this wonderful June day.

With my boys off to school and my husband and I off from work. (Truly, we did not call in “sick”!) it was meant to be that we did something special with our day. The Marine and I packed a picnic lunch and headed out. We were off for a little mild trail biking along a beautiful river.

Our bike ride began through our neighborhood, an historic downtown area. The city began to unroll its sidewalks, merchants swept them and the train whistle blew at our backs. We made our way from the market streets to the streets lined with groomed lawns and victorian homes. The aroma of the blooms, the clicking of a sprinkler, a dog barking and the warmth of the morning sun created the scene from a charming movie.

We moved through neighborhoods until we rode onto the canal path. Aptly named as it is a path following a canal to a river, the path was speckled by sunlight as it shined down through the leaves with that warm glow particular to summer mornings that picks up the small etheral particals floating in the air. The narrow canal path widens as we enter the dirt trails that follow the river.

The trails are wide and flat for a while, but then, quickly they become hilly, rocky and winding, our bodies being brushed by the thick new growth of bright green summer leaves heavy and full having been fed by recent rains. As we bike further from humanity we can hear the river, see the glint of the sun bounce onto the bleached, round boulders lining the banks.

Some of these boulders are so flat and inviting that we stop, wade out to a particularly wide boulder of just the right shape and tilt. It is like a little island with reeds making a U shape around it. Perfect. The blanket is unrolled, the drinks and food are set out, but first, we lay on our backs, inhaling the scent of the river, watching the blue heron fly off in our periphreal vision and listening to the sounds of nature.

Our feast consisted of strawberries, cold water with lemon and left-over fried chicken. I love cold fried chicken with just a dash of salt. We didn’t have the luxury of carring a lot of food for biking and trails make it difficult to carry to much. So, what seems meager written on these pages was, for us a feast on a table set by mother nature.

Southern Fried Chicken

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• About 1 cup hot sauce
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• House seasoning, recipe follows
• 1 (1 to 2 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into pieces
• Oil, for frying

Directions

1. In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs with the water. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour and pepper. Season the chicken with the house seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour mixture.
3. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a deep pot. Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil.
4. Fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. Dark meat takes longer then white meat. It should take dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes.

House Seasoning

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup salt (The salt in the original recipe is 1 cup, which we found to be too much. Adjust salt to taste.)
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder

Directions

1. Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Miss Angola, the stunning Leila Lopes, was crowned Miss Universe when she won the title on September 12, 2011. It isn’t often that we watch the Miss Universe pageant, but as it happened, we stumbled upon it while channel surfing. It was easy to pick Miss Angola out of the crowd and as the competition went on Miss Angola had won our hearts.

It was during this show that the idea for Worldly Wednesdays was born. We asked ourselves, “Where is Angola?” Clearly, a geography lesson was in need and so what better way to explore the world than through its food. But, before we get to the food of Angola, let us talk about the home country of our current Miss Universe.

Angola is located on the west coast (Atlantic Ocean) of southern Africa. It is bordered by Congo-Brazzaville at the Northern Province of Cabinda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Namibia. Angola’s terrain is breathtakingly diverse with its dry coastline, moist highlands, arid savanna and lush rain forest.

The first peoples to settle in the area of Angola were Bushmen. Eventually, at the beginning of the 6th century AD, the Bantu migrated to the area. By the 13th century a large area, that included modern day Angola, was known as the Kingdom of Congo. In 1482 the Portuguese arrived. It wasn’t long before trade relations were established between Portugal and the Kingdom of Congo as they could offer slaves, ivory and minerals to the Portuguese in trade for weapons and other goods. Through a circuitous route influenced by European wars that led to a Dutch occupation of Luanda, Angola’s capital, domination of trade by Brazilians, the Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575, but truly controlled by Brazil, another Portuguese colony at the time. Nonetheless, the Portuguese were the colonial rulers and it wasn’t until November 11, 1975 that Angola became an independent nation, 400 years after colonization.

With such a diverse environment geographically, politically and economically finding the correct food to represent Angola was extremely difficult. But, as we searched one recipe kept popping up over and over. We present to you Angolan Chicken Muamba, a wonderfully colorful dish that hopefully captures the cultural variety and beauty of Angola.

Angolan Chicken Muamba (found on multiple websites)

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut
juice of 1 lemon
½ cup palm oil (or groundnut oil with 2 tsp paprika)
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 scotch bonnet or other chili pepper, de-seeded and chopped
3 tomatoes, quartered or diced
1 squash, butternut or pumpkin de-seeded, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces.
1 cup canned palm soup base (‘sauce graine’ or ‘noix de palme’) or home-made nyembe sauce (this can be omitted or use a vegetable broth)
20 small, tender, okra washed, cut into bite sized pieces
salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken and allow to marinate for about an hour.

2. Add the oil to a deep frying pan and heat on high heat. Place the chicken in the pan and brown on all sides then add the onion, garlic, chili, tomato and squash. Stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat for about half an hour.

3. Add the canned palm soup base and the okra. Simmer for a few minutes until the okra is tender, season and serve with rice or corn and rice bread.

Corn and Rice Bread

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups ground white cornmeal
1 ½ cups whole milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup cooked rice
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Beat together the eggs and mix with the palm oil, milk and rice. Mix this into the dry ingredients and combine well.

3. Pour the mixture into a well-oiled baking pan, place in an oven pre-heated to 190°C and bake for 30 minutes.

4. Take out of the oven, allow cooling a little then tip from the tin and allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Note: Some of the ingredients may be difficult to find. It was fortuitous that we just returned from a trip to New York where you can find almost anything. It was there that we found the palm soup base and the coconut oil. You can order these items online or you can substitute with flavorful alternatives of your choice.

Miss Angola, the stunning Leila Lopes, was crowned Miss Universe when she won the title on September 12, 2011. It isn’t often that we watch the Miss Universe pageant, but as it happened, we stumbled upon it while channel surfing. It was easy to pick Miss Angola out of the crowd and as the competition went on Miss Angola had won our hearts.

It was during this show that the idea for Worldly Wednesdays was born. We asked ourselves, “Where is Angola?” Clearly, a geography lesson was in need and so what better way to explore the world than through its food. But, before we get to the food of Angola, let us talk about the home country of our current Miss Universe.

Angola is located on the west coast (Atlantic Ocean) of southern Africa. It is bordered by Congo-Brazzaville at the Northern Province of Cabinda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Namibia. Angola’s terrain is breathtakingly diverse with its dry coastline, moist highlands, arid savanna and lush rain forest.

The first peoples to settle in the area of Angola were Bushmen. Eventually, at the beginning of the 6th century AD, the Bantu migrated to the area. By the 13th century a large area, that included modern day Angola, was known as the Kingdom of Congo. In 1482 the Portuguese arrived. It wasn’t long before trade relations were established between Portugal and the Kingdom of Congo as they could offer slaves, ivory and minerals to the Portuguese in trade for weapons and other goods. Through a circuitous route influenced by European wars that led to a Dutch occupation of Luanda, Angola’s capital, domination of trade by Brazilians, the Portuguese colony of Angola was founded in 1575, but truly controlled by Brazil, another Portuguese colony at the time. Nonetheless, the Portuguese were the colonial rulers and it wasn’t until November 11, 1975 that Angola became an independent nation, 400 years after colonization.

With such a diverse environment geographically, politically and economically finding the correct food to represent Angola was extremely difficult. But, as we searched one recipe kept popping up over and over. We present to you Angolan Chicken Muamba, a wonderfully colorful dish that hopefully captures the cultural variety and beauty of Angola.

Angolan Chicken Muamba (found on multiple websites)

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut
juice of 1 lemon
½ cup palm oil (or groundnut oil with 2 tsp paprika)
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 scotch bonnet or other chili pepper, de-seeded and chopped
3 tomatoes, quartered or diced
1 squash, butternut or pumpkin de-seeded, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces.
1 cup canned palm soup base (‘sauce graine’ or ‘noix de palme’) or home-made nyembe sauce (this can be omitted or use a vegetable broth)
20 small, tender, okra washed, cut into bite sized pieces
salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken and allow to marinate for about an hour.

2. Add the oil to a deep frying pan and heat on high heat. Place the chicken in the pan and brown on all sides then add the onion, garlic, chili, tomato and squash. Stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat for about half an hour.

3. Add the canned palm soup base and the okra. Simmer for a few minutes until the okra is tender, season and serve with rice or corn and rice bread.

Corn and Rice Bread

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups ground white cornmeal
1 ½ cups whole milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup cooked rice
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Beat together the eggs and mix with the palm oil, milk and rice. Mix this into the dry ingredients and combine well.

3. Pour the mixture into a well-oiled baking pan, place in an oven pre-heated to 190°C and bake for 30 minutes.

4. Take out of the oven, allow cooling a little then tip from the tin and allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Note: Some of the ingredients may be difficult to find. It was fortuitous that we just returned from a trip to New York where you can find almost anything. It was there that we found the palm soup base and the coconut oil. You can order these items online or you can substitute with flavorful alternatives of your choice.