West African Peanut Stew Recipe

Ingredients (19)

• 1 cup (5 1/2 ounces; 160 g) raw shelled red- skin peanuts
• 5 teaspoons (15 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; for table salt use half as much by volume
• 7 cups (1.65 L) homemade chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 2 medium red onions (1 pound; 453 g); 1 onion roughly chopped, 1/2 onion cut into 1/2-inch pieces, and the remaining 1/2 onion halved and thinly sliced, divided
• 1 medium red bell pepper (175 g), chopped
• 2 medium plum tomatoes (8 ounces; 225 g), chopped
• 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, stemmed and cut in half (optional)
• 1 (4-inch) piece fresh ginger (about 2 ounces; 60 g), peeled and grated
• 4 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons (75 ml) peanut oil, divided
• 1 pound (about 450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 pound (about 450 g) boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 leaf bay leaves
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Nigerian dry red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into coins or chunks (about 1 cup)
• 1 pound baby bok choy, leaves pulled apart and rinsed
• Plain rice, or Dodo (fried Nigerian plantains), or flatbreads