I actually prefer biscuits to cornbread, as cornbread tends to be dry. But it’s traditional, at least in my family.
Forgot to follow up with the yam stew:
Chicken, Peanut and Yam Stew
2 pounds chicken meat, cut into 1"-2" pieces
1 tsp salt
1 15 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup water
2 TBSP tomato paste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced and mashed into paste with 1 tsp salt
1-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
1-3/4 cups chicken broth or stock
1 lb sweet potato or yam, cut into 1 inch chunks
Sprinkle chicken with salt and let stand for 30 minutes.
Pulse tomatoes and juices in a food processor until finely chopped.
Stir water into tomato paste in a small bowl until smooth.
Pat chicken dry. Heat oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high, then brown chicken in batches, adding oil as necessary. Remove from pan. Pour off excess oil, if any, leaving about 2 TBSP, then add the onion and cook over medium heat until lightly golden. Return chicken to pan, add tomatoes, tomato paste mixture, garlic paste and cayenne and mix together.
Whisk together peanut butter and one cup of broth until smooth, then add to the pot with the remaining 3/4 cup of broth, stirring well. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Add the yam chunks and simmer until tender, 10-15 minutes. Serve over rice, if desired.
No one here likes dried white string beans? I love 'em with pork trotters. However, I season it with fermented fish sauce. 
I’m not sure it’s that nobody likes them, but perhaps an issue of famlliarality with them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything called dried white string beans in the US. Are the beans separated from the pod when dried, or are they dried whole?
Separated. You have the white kind (which is actually brownish) and the black. Soaked overnight and stewed with the trotters. It produces a thick, milky brown soup. Amazingly, the dish looks exactly like black-eyed pea soup. Errr… what are black eyed peas anyway?
Looks exactly like this:
http://afewshortcuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/byps.jpg
I agree that it does sound like you are describing what we call black-eyed peas here, or at least a very similar legume.
That’s a black-eyed pea. Don’t think there is something else that looks like that.
Also, cowpeas/black-eyed peas are apparently known as paayap, if that helps the_diego (who I believe is in the Philipines.)
They’re yard long beans. They’re called white string beans in another dialect and that’s what confuses me. 