Ethiopian red lentils, or misir wot

We love Ethiopian food, yesterday I tried to make misir wot, since I had some red lentils and homemade berbere spice mix to use up. My homemade Berbere was really bad, way too cinammon-y and it just about ruined my dish. I don't want to name names, because I like most of her other recipes I have tried, but don't trust white midwestern vegan bloggers if you want an authentic spice mix from Africa. Next time I will buy some berbere!

But this method for making the dish (from a different blog) was great, I think once I get my hands on some good berbere this will make some excellent ethiopian red lentils. I went looking for the recipe to blog it and I almost couldn't find it again! I am making a mental note to blog recipes I want to keep right away next time!!

Misir Wot
from this link

Ingredients:

-- 2 onions, finely minced (food processor is easiest)
-- 3-5 cloves minced garlic (or 2 Tbsps)
-- 1 T. minced ginger
-- 3 T. berbere (Ethiopian spice mix, you can try making it yourself from recipes online or buy in specialty stores/online)
-- 1/2 c. - 2/3 c. crushed tomato (from a can, or peel and puree one yourself)
-- 1 cup dried red lentils
-- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
-- 4 cups water
-- 1/2 t. salt (if your berbere doesn't already have salt in it!)
-- 1/2 t. cardamom (I didn't include this because my spice mix was already wacked)

Directions:

1. Get all those ingredients pre-minced and measured before you start. (esp the water, as you will add it in bits and it’s hard to keep track of how much you’ve put in. measure it out in a bowl and take some as needed.)  
2. Heat stew pot over medium heat. Add minced onions dry, no oil in pan. Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes, 
3. add in garlic and ginger. Saute sans oil another few minutes. 
4. Add oil; after 1 min. stir in berbere.
5. Simmer, stirring often for 15-20 minutes, should resemble a paste. If starting to get too thick/stick, add a little water form the bowl you premeasured, no more than 1/4 cup. 
6. Add in tomato. 
7. Rinse lentils in fine mesh colander under hot water.
8. Add lentils to onion and cook while stirring for ten minutes. 
9. Add water 1/2 cup at a time over the next 15 minutes. Once water is all added, lower heat and let simmer with lid on, stirring occasionally another 10 minutes. Test the lentils, you want it to be just a bit softer than chewy, not too mushy. 
10. Towards the end of the cooking add in salt and cardamom. 
11. While cooking the oil will rise ot the top. Stir it all in. 
12. Let cool for a few minutes and serve with the traditional sourish Ethiopian bread, injera, if you are lucky enough to have some. Or pita if that's what you have. Rice would work too. I ate some with potato chips last night. It's a free world.

this table is here because I can't figure out how to remove it

Tarte Tropezienne -- whole recipe

Just posting so I have it on hand, will update post with story and photo of final product once I finish it!

From this website

1 loaf brioche, approx 12 - 14" in diameter 
(I use this no-knead recipe)

For the pastry cream:

1 quart milk (4 cups)
7 oz. sugar
8 eggs
5 oz. flour
2 vanilla beans (can substitute 2 teaspoons good vanilla)

9 oz. butter

-- powdered sugar for topping
 
1. Cook the brioche.
 
2. To make the pastry cream:

• Put the milk and the vanilla bean, which has been cut lengthwise, into an enamel (or non-reactive metal) pan.
• Bring to a slight boil and remove from the heat to let the vanilla bean infuse the milk.
• During this infusion time, separate the eggs, keeping the yolks. Put the whites in a separate bowl and save for another use. In a mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (5 min). Add the sifted flour, beating lightly until all the flour is incorporated.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the milk. Scrape out the seeds and put back into the milk (to give a stronger vanilla flavor).
• Add milk to the egg/flour mixture gradually.
• Cook this mixture at high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan continuously with a wisk or wooden spoon to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom until the mixture becomes very thick and difficult to stir. This should take about 2 minutes. Note: the cooking, and burning happens in a flash so be ware! The first time I did this I got a brown film of cooked egg that I had to strain out of my cream.  

• After the pastry cream is cooked, put it into a clean bowl. Before the cream has cooled all the way down, add butter which has been kneaded to soften. Beat the mixture energetically by hand or with a mixer.
• Refrigerate until ready to use.
  

3. Final assembly:

• Cut the brioche tarte in half horizontally.
• Spread the pastry cream on the bottom layer.
• Arrange halved strawberries or raspberries on the cream layer and replace the final top layer of the brioche. (we never had one with berries in france so I will skip this step)
• Add powdered sugar if the brioche doesn't already have sugar on it.
• Refrigerate until served.

Tropizenne part one: no-knead Brioche

The other day we received an invite to a pot-luck dinner which was very interesting. "We're asking each person (family) to bring a dish that reminds them of some special place they've been to or lived in the world," it read.

I started wracking my brain to think of something we could bring that was interesting and vegetarian, as usually no one else brings a vegetarian main dish to these types of dinners and I wanted to make sure Mahesh had something to eat.

After a lot of thinking, the dish I wanted to make the most was a dessert called Tropizenne. It's a pastry we discovered in the south of france, basically pastry cream sandwiched inside of a brioche bun with sugar sprinkled on top. (Brioche bread is just a rich bread made with eggs, butter, and honey). So simple but really the most memorable sweet thing we ate on our last trip to France. I've never seen it in any restaurant or pastry shop here in Vancouver, so in order to ever eat it again, short of going to France I would have to learn how to make it. This sounded like the perfect opportunity.

When I told Mahesh I wanted to make it, brioche bread and all, and he thought I was crazy. But I found a no-knead Brioche recipe, and I decided to make a sample brioche just to see if I could. If I could do that, the rest will be easy.

I almost threw out the dough because the yeast granules didn't look like they dissolved and I was afraid the final bread wouldn't rise, but I decided that it would be just as easy to throw it out after I baked it. I am happy to report that the final brioche turned out great! I will share the recipe below, and next week try and make the whole pastry.

No-knead Brioche

From Weekend Bakery

makes 1 Brioche loaf

250 g French Type 55 flour / all purpose flour / plain flour
100 g fresh dairy butter, melted
70 g water at room temperature
2 organic eggs (medium, about 110 g)
50 g runny honey (flower /acacia)
5.5 g / 1 teaspoon salt
3 g / 1 teaspoon instant yeast

-- egg yolk for brushing

TO MAKE AUTHENTIC TROPIZENNE: 
-- 1 handful of pearl sugar (or sliced almonds) -- This is a special kind of "puffed" sugar used is French pastries. It looks like "rice crispies" and has about the same light texture and crunch. It's very difficult to find this type of sugar, but worth the effort to make your Tarte Tropézienne look authentic. The only luck I've had in San Francisco is buying some from a local French bakery.

Making the Brioche

1) If you use granulated yeast like I do, put the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for 5 minutes to dissolve a bit.

2) In a larger bowl, combine eggs, honey, salt and melted butter, yeast/water mixture and whisk, somewhat vigorously, for about 30 seconds. Sift the flour into the mixture. Again, with enthusiasm, whisk for 30 seconds until your dough looks smooth and homogeneous. Cover your bowl and let the dough rest for two hours at room temperature.

3) Take the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured work surface and do one or two stretch and folds (full fold ones, left over right, right over left, bottom over top, top over bottom; see Weekend Bakery's bread movies to observe this technique if you are not familiar with it). If your dough is very ‘elastic’ and cooperative, do a few, if it starts to resist you can just stop.

4) Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with clingfilm and take it to the fridge where it will stay for 24 to 48 hours.

5)  Take the dough out of the fridge. Now it is time to shape. You can choose any shape you want but for tropizenne you want EITHER 4 inch buns, or one large flat round loaf. I am doing one large flat round loaf, so I made a circle about 8" around and 1" high, on a silpat-covered baking sheet.

6) Cover and leave to proof for 2 to 3 hours, depending on the temperature of the dough and of the room.You are looking for it to double in volume. It is best to cover the brioche with something that does not stick to the dough or weighs it down.

7) When dough has risen, brush it with egg yolk and sprinkle the top with the crystallized sugar if using.

7) Preheat your oven at 190ºC / 375ºF. Brush the brioche with some egg wash before you put it in the oven. Bake at 190ºC / 375ºF for about 10 minutes, then turn down the thermostat to 160ºC / 320ºF and bake for another 15 minutes. If the top browns too quickly or gets too dark, cover it with some aluminum foil to protect it.

8) After taking it out of the oven, brush it, with some melted butter directly after baking. Then leave to cool completely before slicing it. The brioche keeps very well for a few days (in container or bag) and even after that it can be given some oomph by toasting it lightly.

I thought it was great, and I wasn't the only one. 

Mahesh's favorite garbanzo salad

This is a salad I just made up one day with stuff we had on hand, Mahesh loved it and asked me to make it again and I had to rack my brain to remember what was in there. I am writing it down so I don't forget next time.

Mix in a bowl:

-- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
-- 3 small cucumbers, cubed (about 2 cups)
-- 3 T. finely minced onion
-- 3 T. finely minced cilantro
-- 3 T. mashed avocado
-- 2 T. Annie's Organics Goddess dressing
-- 3 drops habanero hot sauce, more or less to taste
-- salt and pepper to taste

That's it!

Gruyere, Leek, and Mushroom Quiche

I have made quiche a lot over the years, but I think today I finally got the crust and the filling right! So I want to remember what I did for the next time.The crust I got from this recipe, and the filling I adapted from this recipe. You can mix up the filling ingredients with any meat/veggie/cheese/herb combo you like. But this one is pretty good. 

GRUYERE, LEEK, AND MUSHROOM QUICHE

FOR THE CRUST:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1/2 cup (1 sticks or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

 FOR THE FILLING:

-- 2 leeks, trimmed so only the white and lightest green parts remain.
-- 1 lb crimini mushrooms
-- 2 T. butter
-- 2 T. olive oil
-- 1 1/2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded (approx. 6 ounces)
-- 1/2 cup milk
-- 1/2 cup heavy cream
-- 3 eggs
-- pinch nutmeg
-- salt and pepper

METHOD:

First, start the crust:

1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. Note that too much water will make the crust tough.

2. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape the dough mixture into a disk. Work the dough just enough to form the disk, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

Then get the quiche ingredients prepped:

3. Slice mushrooms. Melt 1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil in a frying pan and fry mushrooms until browned on the outside, stirring occasionally. This will take a while, maybe 20 minutes. Put Mushrooms in bowl.

4. Slice leeks in half lengthwise and then thinly slice into half-moons. Soak the rings in water, mixing well to remove any hidden dirt. Then drain. If you are not sure you got all the dirt out wash them again. Then dry. After the mushrooms are removed from frying pan, add 1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil in pan and fry the leeks on med heat until they are soft and beginning to caramelize and taste good. Add to the bowl with the cooked mushrooms, set aside.

Then, roll out the crust:

5. Remove crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

6. Make a nice crust by fluting the edges with your fingers, then when perfectly formed, transfer crust to freezer to chill for 30 minutes or overnight.

7. Preheat oven to 350°. Line pastry with parchment paper, or aluminum foil, pressing into the corners and edges. Fill at least two-thirds with baking weights - dried beans, rice, or aluminum pie weights. Bake first for 15 minutes, remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. Carefully remove parchment paper and weights. Poke the bottom of the pie pan with the tines of a fork and return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly golden. (Fork holes are for any air to escape.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. 

8. Mix milk, cream, eggs, nutmeg, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add half your cheese to the crust, then sprinkle on the leeks and mushrooms, then add the other half of the cheese. Pour the egg/cream mixture on top. Transfer to oven, and bake until just set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!!

Mmmm brussel-sprouty pasta! Quick and healthy. I got the recipe here but souped it up quite a bit to suit my tastes. A good way to use up the brussels sprouts in those huge bags from Costco.

Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts

 Ingredients

• 3/4 - 1 pound (300-450g) Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 1/2 pound (225g) dried egg fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• shredded parmesan or parmesan-reggiano cheese to top pasta

 Instructions

1. Put pot of salted water on to boil for pasta.

2. Meanwhile, slice Brussels sprouts in a food processor fitted with slicing disk (or by hand).

3. When water is boiling, add fettucine and cook until al dente. 

4. When brussels sprouts are sliced, heat butter and oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook pine nuts, stirring, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic, then sauté over medium-high heat until tender and lightly browned, about 4-6 minutes.

5. When pasta is finished cooking, reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta and add to skillet, tossing with enough reserved water to moisten. 

6. Top with parmesan cheese. 

Cauliflower puree

I made this recipe for cauliflower steaks with cauliflower puree the other day, and it was okay. The cauliflower steaks are really just a different way of serving roasted cauliflower which, while good, does not quite live up to the "steak" moniker. I might try making it again with a different sauce in the future.

The real winner of that dish was the cauliflower puree. Making it is more of a multi-step process than I usually go through but the final product is worth it in my opinion. I served some (with no salt and pepper) to Kiran and he loved it too! So I find myself making it again a couple weeks later, and want to keep the recipe handy.

Cauliflower puree

• 1 1-pound head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. 

2. Using sharp heavy knife, cut cauliflower into florets. 

3. Combine florets, 1 1/2 cups water, and milk in medium saucepan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. (no salt and pepper if making for babies!) Bring to boil and cook until cauliflower florets are very tender, about 10 minutes. Strain, reserving cooking liquid. 

4. Spread florets on large rimmed baking sheet, and bake 10 minutes until slightly dry. While florets are baking, you may want to boil down the water/milk mixture a little. Not totally necessary though. 

5. Transfer florets to blender. Add some cooking liquid and puree until smooth, adding more liquid until you reach the consistency you like.