Seasonal Salad

I'm in the mood for tuna....Yah! Ahi! ...or is it Aha! ?? That'll be my special for tonight! A little champagne, good olive oil, cranberry sounds good, and oh here's some pistachios, some lemon, potatoes, oh maybe parsley pesto, and greens. Heh Heh! They'll love it.

Doro Wat for the Soul

This was a hit with my daughter and I didn't make it too spicy! Its not much to look at but this is some great chicken stew. Probably the best African dish you'll ever try. I love Ethiopian food with a passion. I can probably best describe it as an African "Chicken Jambalaya". It all starts with a spice mix called Berbere. I sautee these spices and vegetables in butter...fenugreek, allspice, clove, ginger, cayenne, garlic, nutmeg, black pepper, onion, and carrot. Then I add chicken stock, thyme, tomato sauce and a dry white wine (apple juice works too), and add the juice of one lemon. Make sure that you have a good amount of liquid in the pot to cover your chicken. I place all parts of a broken down chicken into the pot (bone-in) minus the innards, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. After this I add a few eggs (in the shell still) and let it cook for about 15 minutes more. I pop the eggs out and cool them down under cold water, peel and dice and add back to the stew. Stir it up and serve over rice, cous cous or make some nice Ingera bread. I hope you have more time than I did to locate some Tef Flour. If you live in a city with a significant Ethiopian or Eritrean population you might find a nifty little cultural market that has some. Aren't one pot dishes a pleasure to clean up? - Enjoy.

Mushrooms Galore!

It's the Autumn Mushroom Season again and somehow I have been too busy to post many pics lately even though I have had quite alot of ideas and half finished posts about how wonderful it is to do what I love (Cooking). Here is two lovely fungi I have been using alot. Hedgehogs (left) are great for a quick sautee but I recently used them in a Slow Braised Top Sirloin Dish w/ Cab. Sauv., Pumpkin and Leeks. They cooked down so fast that they became a thickening agent for the sauce which added complexity and richness to the dish.

Pig's Ear are smooth and have a silky texture similar to perfectly cooked squid. They hold up well to frying or a hard sautee. They taste similar to toasted walnuts.

Good Stuuuuuufff!