Posted on 04/08/2016 4:43:56 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I worked for several years in a large office that included many people who were originally from other countries. We had people from India, the Philippines, China, Korea, and Africa; and our office potlucks were amazing.
I first tasted Ethiopian food at one of those parties, when a young woman made 'Siga Wot', a spicy beef stew; and 'Injera', the spongy, fermented sourdough bread that is used to scoop up other foods, and sometimes used as a sort of 'plate'.
To make Siga Wot, you must first have Berbere, a spicy seasoning used in many Ethiopian dishes. There are many slightly different versions of it - some include Fenugreek, which I'm not crazy about and leave out. (I believe that Berbere may be the same type of seasoning that shows up in many Ethiopian recipes as "chow".)
Here is the Epicurious recipe for Berbere:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ethiopian-spice-mix-berbere-104015
And here is a recipe for the Siga Wot (there are many versions, just as with any of our classic American dishes; this is just one):
http://www.african-food-recipes.com/ethiopian-siga-wat.html
The narration of the following video appears to be in Amharic, but it gives you an idea of the technique:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR5o0lpI-bw
This is best served with real Injera; I haven't made the bread myself yet, but we were recently in a local Seventh Day Adventist shop and they had Teff flour, so I bought some and will try making it soon. (Be sure that you get Teff *flour*, and not the whole grain. The grain (the plant is actually a grass) is so fine that you would have difficulty trying to grind it into flour. The brand we purchased is Bob's Red Mill; but it is also sold in bulk in health food stores.
Here is the Exploratorium's recipe for Injera; it's a recipe that uses some whole wheat flour, which many Ethiopians who have come to America have adapted to include, probably because until very recently Teff was not widely available in the US, and mixing it with other flour made the Teff that they did have go further. But you can also find recipes made entirely of Teff; which is what I'm going to try.
https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/recipe-injera.html
Lastly, one of the most fascinating things to me about Ethiopia is Lalibela, and its rock-cut churches:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela
-JT
I bought my second hand culinary math cookbook from Amazon yesterday for about 20 dollars. Happily, it looks like math for real morons. My only hope is running out the clock before we get to algebra.
She’s part Chinese or Korean and Austrian, I think. But speaks with a British accent. She wears all these cute dresses and talks to Parisian butchers and bakers. I’ve made her quiche once or twice.
She is adorable looking.......has to be w/ that pedigree. LOL.
I was doing just fine with weights and measures until my first attempt at Beef Bourguignon for eight. How many 750 ml bottles of Burgundy does it taken to prepare the dish if the chef sips about 80 ml every ten minutes?
LOL!!!
See, these are the kind of questions that flummox me before I fall to the ground dead drunk.
I’m not crazy, though, for the Lorraine Pascal Brit. She also appears on a cake contest show on the Food Network and is kind of snotty.
I’m not crazy, though, for the Lorraine Pascal Brit. She also appears on a cake contest show on the Food Network and is kind of snotty.
Choppped had the cutest Brit....she taught cooking in her home.
Her dishes looked fantastic...except she lucked out on her dessert.
They occasionally do have Brits. But the French-trained chefs always seem to win.
The French techniques are amazing.....that’s why they win.
The judges love technique.....
Plus the French chefs can make an extraordinary garnish out of anything.
Yes. If you read Jacque Pepin’s autobio, you’ll see that he slaved for years in French kitchens - just learning how to cut an onion. Most people could not possibly be that dedicated but it’s what happens in France. Gordon Ramsey could barely deal with it and he has or had a Michelin star.
And I hear tell the top drawer French chefs ruled the kitchen with an iron hand.....they put the sous chefs went through hell.
That’s what I’ve always understood. They refused to give Julia Child her diploma simply because she was not French. But she got her revenge on them.
That’s ok, it wasn’t taught in any school I went to. I only found that out because I’m a plants geek and was trying to see how many varieties I could grow without them crossing :)
Split croissant layered w/ sautéed mushrooms, bacon slices. Add a fried egg for breakfast.
Serve drizzled w/ a Béchamel Sauce.
Looks like an elegant update on Eggs Benedict. Plus, some of their bacon - they have a lot more cuts than streaky - is absolutely delicious.
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