Author Archives: karllueck

by | April 22, 2013 · 4:36 am

Karl’s Doro Wot (Ethiopian Red Chicken Stew) with Authentic Injera

If you have ever been to an Ethiopian restaurant the beautiful tray covered with the large, sour pancake dotted with brightly colored stews is a delight to see and even more to taste.  It makes you want to try to do this yourself. While many of the Ethiopian dishes appear to be simple, with only a few ingredients, you discover hidden complexities. Many of the ingredients in Ethiopian cooking turn out to have their own complex recipes.

Ethiopian Feast

Karl’s Doro Wot – Ethiopian Red Chicken Stew
(in the center)
with Authentic Injera (under all)

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by | April 22, 2013 · 3:33 am

Karl’ s Berbere and Mekelesha Ethiopian Spice Blends

The spice blend Berbere (when the Ethiopians say it, it sounds like “Barbara”) seems to define the Ethiopian stew called wat. According to Wikipedia Berbere contains: chili peppers, garlic, ginger, dried basil, korarima, rue, ajwain or radhuni, nigella, and fenugreek. A couple of these spices are hard to acquire outside of Africa.

Karl’s Berbere Ethiopian Spice Blend

Karl’s Berbere Ethiopian Spice Blend

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by | April 22, 2013 · 3:24 am

Karl’s Niter Kibbeh (Ethiopian Spiced Clarified Butter)

adapted from under12parsecs

Niter Kibbeh is a key ingredient in many Ethiopean dishes. I suspect that the clarifying process and spices were meant to keep the butter from going bad in Ethiopia’s hot climate before refrigeration. I made this the day before, so that it would be ready when I started cooking my feast. I will be using this ingredient in my doro wat, shiro wat, and abesha gomen.

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by | April 22, 2013 · 3:19 am

Karl’s Abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens)

Adapted from Esther’s Ethiopische recepten

Jan is always pushing me to have more green vegetables. Last week’s Cajun collard greens went over very well with my family. When I discovered that collard greens were a standard Ethiopian dish I had to include it in my feast.

Ethiopian Feast

Karl’s Abesha Gomen
Ethiopian Collard Greens
(at 9 and 2)

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by | April 22, 2013 · 3:13 am

Karl’s Shiro Wat (Ethiopian Legume Stew)

Adapted from a recipe posted by: jrt 

Is one of those catch all names for a legume stew. It can be made with chickpeas, fava beans, green peas, yellow lentils, red lentils or any combination of these. You roast and grind the legumes into flour. If you buy it (like I did) it comes as either plain (shiro alecha) or pre-spiced with Berbere (mit’in shiro). When you add it to the other ingredients it cooks quickly into a thick stew.

Ethiopian

Karl’s Shiro Wat
Ethiopian Legume Stew
(at 11 and 5)

 

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by | April 22, 2013 · 3:06 am

Karl’s Timitam Salata (Ethiopian Tomato Salad)

Adapted from Ethiopian Food

A cool salad is the perfect counter point to all of the spicy stews and is the standard complementary dish for an Ethiopian feast. It may not be “Ethiopian,” but this salad cries out for garlic and just a bit of spice.

Ethiopian

Karl’s Timitam Salata
Ethiopian Tomato Salad
(at 1 and 7)

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by | April 17, 2013 · 4:27 am

Karl’s Weekday Thanksgiving with Dried Cranberry Sauce

Jan really loves turkey and she has been running her legs off at work (literally, yesterday she walked 7 miles back and forth across campus, as recorded by her Fitbit). I decided to surprise her tonight with roasted turkey, stuffing and green beans, but I wanted to keep it to a weekday’s level of effort.

Karl's Weekday Thanksgiving

Karl’s Weekday Thanksgiving

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by | April 15, 2013 · 6:26 am

Karl’s Cajun Spice Blend

I lived on the West Bank of New Orleans (Gretna) for a couple of years in the 70’s. I have eaten my fair share of real Cajun food, and I have a good idea what it should taste like. If I am just cooking a dish for a weekday meal I will usually just use a Paul Prudhomme’s “Magic” blend. One thing I will not be doing is using the Prudhomme recipe I saw him make on TV one time.  While I am sure it was delicious, I am too much of a Californian to follow a recipe that starts, “when the two pounds of butter has stopped frothing, add the three cups of onions.”

Karl's Cajun Spice Blend

Karl’s Cajun Spice Blend

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by | April 15, 2013 · 6:20 am

Karl’s Braised Cajun Collard Greens

Adapted from Jolinda Hackett, About.com Guide

For this Sunday’s feast I am making Jambalaya. Jambalaya is really a one pot meal, but it is heavy on the meats and starch. I wanted a green vegetable side dish to balance out my meal.  Jan and I are in complete agreement about okra. It may be one of the classic Cajun/Southern vegetables, but despite our Southern roots (Virginia and Mississippi) we both dislike it. Many of the things calling themselves “Cajun vegetables” on the internet were just regular veggies with some Cajun spice thrown on top. I finally decided on collard greens, another classic Southern vegetable.  I would not, however be cooking it in the Southern fashion, the way our mothers did, boiling it down to a sludge. California-Style, braising until just tender, is my plan, with a little red pepper for color.

Karl’s Braised Cajun Collard Greens

Karl’s Braised Cajun Collard Greens

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by | April 15, 2013 · 4:09 am

Karl’s Cajun Jambalaya

In the 1970’s I was working for a diving company based in Belle Chasse, LA. I have been thinking about that time lately (it probably has something to do with Lent and Mardi Gras). I can’t think about N’Orl’ns (one word) without thinking about the food. For two years I lived off of Muffulettas, Shrimp Etouffee, boiled crawfish, and Jambalaya.  I have had a sudden desire for the flavor. Louisiana food generally falls into two main cuisines Creole and Cajun, which roughly corresponds to city and country. 

Karl's Cajun Jambalaya

Karl’s Cajun Jambalaya

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