Ethiopian Food

We had Ethiopian food last night.
All homemade and easily my NEW favorite cuisine.
A ton of spices create a fantastically TASTY and generally sneaky hot meal.
Really spicy, and lots of heat but a totally different kind of burn.
Everything should have been loaded with clarified butter but I halfed it in the spicier stuff.
We agree that it was pretty much right there with what we've had in Ethiopian restaurants.
The red lentils were a slight miss. Everything else-fantastic.
Maybe I'll offer some leftovers to the guy with the store where we got the bread.

Oops, not ALL homemade.
I did not make the injera(groovy spongy-stretchy-sticky-sourdoughy flatbread that is also your dining utensil). I have nothing but big FAIL there.
I have tried 3 times now and yesterday's flavor was spot on,
but it has become obvious that the cooking requires MAGIC!
This sucks because I mail ordered Teff Flour, not cheap and it has to ferment a few days before cooking. So my 3 day investment didn't pay off. I did a ton of homework here too. I am going to have to find someone to teach me how to make it, or settle for buying it. (6 sheets for $5 = ridiculous $$)

Dishes were -
in English
Spicy chicken - basic Ethiopian started of a ton of onions and spices, saute, add tomato paste and wine, add chicken simmer till falling off the bone and delightfully yummy. This recipe was not the classic Doro Wat, but a variation that was super tasty and sneakily hot.

Collard greens - collards rough chopped with onions and spices, slow cooked till tender and sweet/spicy

Yellow lentils - big yellow lentils, mild seasoning-cardamom,cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, paprika, cumin, salt , pepper, fenugreek, clove. Simmer herbs in oil, add onions and saute till translucent,throw in lentils, add chicken stock, cook till it's a paste. Eat.
Burp.

Red lentils - tiny lentils in a really sneaky hot sauce. Insanely tasty and the heat comes on slow. Process like above but more/different spices and some red wine as well. SOooo good.

Vegetable stew - cabbage, carrot, potatoes, onion in a mild curry sauce.

Beef tartare (kitfo) - chop up meat, 'toast' cayenne in some butter without burning either, allow to cool to about room temp, mix into meat, salt to taste, eat, get glazed expression of delight.

Seasoned cheese - faked IAB with cottage cheese/greek yogurt/lemon juice/S&P.

We didn't make honey wine :(

International Bazaar

We took a trip to the International Bazaar
(Brighton, MA)
on the way back from the New Balance outlet
(Dave needed sneakers)


The main theme is Russian, but they have all sorts of food,
including a number of Turkish favorites.

Here is what we got:
1 bottle White truffle oil
1 1/2 gal tin of olive oil
3 Mac apples

8oz blueberries
3 nice big tomatoes
1 BIG brocolli crown
1 10 oz goose liver 'pate' (German)
1 lb stick of "baby" chicken bologna
1/2lb chopped chicken liver spread
1/2 lb herring and onion salad - I'd call the preparation gravlax style -salty sweet w/onions and dill

1/2 lb lardo-but russian version-not very seasoned, and very spready-

1/2lb+ Black Pudding (blood sausage)<<- this was THE BEST!
2 doz HUGE eggs
1 lb fake seafood sticks
1 liter juicebox sour cherry
chunk of smoked gouda cheese
chunk of muenster cheese
chunk of some Croatian cheese
bottle of South African 'champagne'
12oz can Sour Cherry juice - mmmmm
1 2oz package "fish lunch"
1 pint of labneh
the mega pack of Finn Crisp crackers
1 head purple cabbage

a big bunch of parsley
about 1lb of fresh beets

jar of taramsalata(cod fish roe spread-yum)
1 8oz jar of Ajvar (hot papper spread-it's HOT)
1 kilo of kasha

The price was great too. Really.

Send me a guess. You'd be amazed.

So dinner was a plate of crackers and tasting of many things

Creative Eating For Chinese New Year

Killing 2 birds with one meal...or what you do with no room to cook.

Chinese New Year "feast" was a celebrating of bizarre-fusion-asian.
The guidelines/parameters were set by the pantry, Rachel Ray's time allotment and serious lack of counter space.

We had no fresh veggies beyond onion and garlic and really no meat beyond frozen hamburger so pretty much any regular Chinese options were out
We did have a container of leftover dumplings from a previous Chinese themed dinner and a lot of Japanese stuff to go with the New Year's Resolution to make more sushi (not doing so well there). Re-Resolved with this meal which included sushi variants.

There are no process photos so...WHAT WE ENDED UP WITH

A platter of Inari, Onigiri and fake fish "sashimi" - sushi rice made in the steamer on the right side of the sink, the pan comes out when it is done. Rice seasoned in a small bowl for various purposes. Onigiri mold makes 2 at a time, inari wrappers in a small can ready to fill, 1/4 Nori sheets in a small package. All fit on the right side of sink as well. But that was it for space.










Steamed dumpling, fish cake, fish balls and shrimp - steamed in serving containers in a double decker pan on the stove
Tempura/panko shrimp and onions - prep on left side of stove, cooked in enamel apple roaster because it is so narrow at the bottom- saves oil(we only had "workhorse" olive oil) served on the lovely paper plates we have been using.

We still had half a bottle of that La Vielle Ferme from a couple days back, and it needed drinking, so we gave it a shot. I'll admit to 1/2 a glass to try it with everything, but the other half was still there later that evening after we worked downstairs. "nuff said.



PS - If you live in the Boston area and know of any places selling Kewpie mayonnaise, PLEASE let me know.
Dave works in Chinatown and can't find it anymore, Super 88 in Malden and Dorchester came up lame as well. Porter exchange is probably going to be our only hope, but they are sooo expensive and I was hoping for something closer.

On the table

Pretty basic dinner

and, of course,

a 'secret' ingredient.

I think this was Saturday.

I was tired.

Dave cleaned and steamed the beans.

I think he took this photo as well.

• Chicken thighs - Slow cooked in broth/onions/garlic and secret ingredient and assorted other stuff. From the color of the juiceness, I'm guessing there's paprika and turmeric
  
• Steamed green beans - salt and pepper
  
• Turnips - Parboiled then tossed in butter in fry pan, white balsamic, S&P
  
• Tortillas - Butter, fajita pan
  
• Pickles - Mechalaney - we *heart* these.
  

Ingredient revealed - Goya jamon...

I use this in everything; scrambled eggs, meatloaf, casseroles, pea soup, grilled cheese, whatever.

Tastes like ham.

Salami fail

We "put up" a salami near the end of the fall.

It was doomed from the start.

It's first day was snappy and cool and it went out in the shed/stairwell at Dave's apartment.

Then the weather promptly changed.

It got warm and humid. Muggy, warm, rainy, damp. All sworn enemies of the homemade salami.

So, we brought it inside and hung it in a box infront of a fan.

It started to dry out lopsided. One side shrunk really fast because it was getting the fan.

We kept turning it and flipping it and hoping for the best.

Then it was time to move.

We wrapped it in foil with the intention of finding it a nice cool dry spot int the new house.

It sat on a shelf at room temp, wrapped in foil for 2 weeks.

This morning I noticed it on the shelf and took off the foil.

Half of it was covered with mold, I won't include embarassing photos.

I cut it open for the heck of it and there was a nice moldy cavity on one side.

The fan idea probably made it dry out too fast. I also think the recipe didn't have enough fat.

Yum!

Super yummy dinner and a camera .
No recipes, but a secret ingredient revealed.

The lamb was outstanding even before the marrow bones went in...
it marinated in sioux's spice blend that smells like Turkey ovenight,
then cooked slow the next night, and on the 3rd day, we eat it.
I threw the spinach in about 5 minutes into the reheat,
since I didn't have anything to cook the spinach in separately...ugh, moving!
The bones (beef) were a last minute addition because I had bought a bunch
of them and had these already roasted and in the fridge...
marrow-y goodness.Dave loved this, so we had to have the pic--
Kashi multi grain pilaf, Moroccan flavor.
It was tasty, and comes already cooked in a vacuum pack.
I cheated.Lebanese pickles and tomatoes (olive oil, vinegar, S&P and secret ingredient).
We also had warmed up tortillas posing as pita bread,
if you don't know what tortillas look like, sorry.

Wine from Chile - we bought it pretty much because of
the Easter Island head, the under $10 price,
and the guess that a 2005 Chilean red wouldn't be a loss
based on past experience.
It was a great pick for this meal.
Dark, solid fruity and intense.
It was a great compliment to the spiciness of the food.
That's complex, intense, tasty, spicy, but not heat.
Yay, getting better at wine, with very little homework.

Table from IKEA.
Today's secret ingredient - pomegranate reduction...
I like to just mix it in water for a really tart jolt.

General update

I have been away from this blog, which I have treated rather poorly for far too long.
but while I was away I joined a band and bought a house

House blog is here

Band is here

As part of a more organized new year I hope to put this blog to use keeping up with items other than the aforementioned house and band.

This will just be a miscellaneous journal.

So here's some miscellaney

It's freezing in this office.
I believe the Boston temp is bout 10 degrees right now. I am in an office on Beacon Hill 8 feet from a door that has a nearly one inch gap at the top. It isn't windy, so the cold just sort of seeps in. And people come in for various reasons so the warmth goes right out each time the door is opened. There is a big old room heater on the wall that has been cranking since 9:15 and the baseboard heat is turned up to 75 and has been going all day as well. I have on a heavy tank top, long sleeve silk sweater, long sleeve silk/cotton sweater and a heavy cotton hoodie. And I am still cold.

My lunch
As a new homeowner in a bad economy and a frigid winter, I know the importance of "brown-bagging" it.
In my case it was bento-ing it, but whatever.
I had chinese noodles (udon sized egg noodles) with some dumplings and turnip cake that was all leftovers from the pan-asian dinner I made last night. I couldn't find the divide for the box and I was late, so the edamame didn't make it into the meal. I also made crab rangoons, but they were all gone because they were awesome and I only made 6.

Dinner tonight
I put some kebab lamb chunks in a mixture of spices and olive oil on Tuesday night and cooked them slow last night. Tonight we'll have that with garlicky spinach and lebanese pickles and olives and tortillas that will pretend to be pita.

Once we're unpacked and the kitchen is a bit more functional I'll start putting up pictures