In early 2010 I posted about ofam, a tasty savory over-ripe plantain loaf from Ghana that is also described in The Ghana Cookbook. It uses only 7 ingredients: over-ripe plantains, good quality red palm oil, hot pepper (I use habanero) fresh grated ginger, flour (I use white rice), grated onion, and a little salt. Unsalted dry roasted peanuts make a great garnish or accompaniment.
Now that plantains are becoming more readily available (after years of begging my local grocers to import the yellow--ripe plantains--I am happy to say that I can now find them locally at Wegmans, Giant, and Weis! A great thing since in the winter the green ones will not ripen properly here in central PA.
When I was in Ghana in March, Paulina Addy gave me a can of organic, high quality palm oil (thank you), and I decided yesterday that, since spring is almost here finally, it was time to open the can and make some ofam. I plan to serve it at a Penn State student symposium luncheon I'm catering next week. (My husband begged me to cut a little slice for a taste since he couldn't wait). Oh, and when made with rice flour, it's also gluten-free and sugar-free.
Note: I did find that in my new oven it took a bundt pan 45 minutes to cook (longer than the 30 minutes in my old oven).
I'm excited to announce we've just launched a new version of Betumi.com today. The good news is that it has a fresh new look and some new resources. The not-so-good news is that I've somehow managed to delete the link to this betumiblog (will get it added back in soon) and also that many sections are still under construction. Please check it out and give us some feedback on what you do and don't like. As they say in Ghana: "little by little, the chicken drinks water." Thanks for all your support.
Fran
