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Aug. 25th, 2004 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickThe grapes don't look good this year. The cool, wet August we've been having is not conducive to huge numbers of concord grapes. Rot and powdery mildew have been taking their toll and the ripening isn't going to hit all at once, which makes doing stuff with the damn grapes problematic. I feel kind of bummed about this because I was looking at a second go-round with the new, improved spreadable grape slop that came out so damn well last year. Maybe Roy's grapes are better off... his are green, though, not blue. I'm not sure how well the green would work. Maybe taste expectations would not be met because the stuff would be the wrong color. We shall see. I'll inquire about the grape situation today at work.
Two ingredients I would not have bet I'd enjoy as much as I enjoy 'em... spiced, clarified butter and red, onion paste. Both of these are ostensibly Ethiopian items, though I'd feel a lot more comfortable claiming them as inspired-by rather than authentic.
Spiced, clarified butter: In a large saucepan, combine 1 lb. butter, 1 onion (sliced), 5 clove garlic (sliced), 2 1/4" slices fresh ginger, 5 cardamom pods, 1 stick cinnamon, 5 cloves, 1 teasp. turmeric, 1 teasp. fenugreek. Simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Carefully pour off the clear liquid into a pint canning jar and store in fridge. You're supposed to discard the rest, but waste not. The not-clear liquid (store in different container) also works nicely at lower heats (but browns more easily) and the garlic slices are very tasty if you snag them out of the solids and eat 'em. Go ahead, you know you want to.
Red, onion paste: Toast the following spices in a frying pan until they are fragrant. 2 teasp. cumin seed, 4 cloves, 1 teasp. cardamom seed (or five pods, which is what I used), 8 peppercorns, 6 allspice, 1 teasp. fenugreek, 1/2 teasp. red pepper, 3-4 dried chiles (I used a teaspoon of ancho and a teaspoon of chipotle because I don't have dried chiles in the house), 1 Tbsp. paprika, 1 teasp. ground ginger, 1 teasp. turmeric (why does my grocery only sell this in tiny little jars? I need a bigger jar of the stuff.), 1/2 teasp. nutmeg, 1/2 teasp. cayenne pepper. When fragrant and stuff grind to a fine powder. In a blender, add one onion, 1 Tbsp. salt, 5 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup red wine (I use burgundy), 1/2 cup oil (I use olive), and the spices from before. Blend until smooth. Put this in a pint jar and store it in the fridge. It keeps surprisingly well.
What do you *do* with these items? Put about a tablespoon of the butter stuff and two of the red onion stuff into a cast iron skillet, on low-ish heat. Chunk about a cup and a half of cauliflower florets into the pan. Stir around a bit, and put a lid on. Revisit and stir occasionally until cauliflower is soft. Serve over white rice. These ingredients also work nicely in homefries, with fried summer squash, and as the base for doro wat.
My brother Roy brought me a twenty pound bag of sushi rice some time ago. The weather was fit when he did, but I don't remember when. It might have been this spring. At any rate, I poured the last of the monster bag of rice into the small, counter-top container today. I need to shop for more rice.
Two ingredients I would not have bet I'd enjoy as much as I enjoy 'em... spiced, clarified butter and red, onion paste. Both of these are ostensibly Ethiopian items, though I'd feel a lot more comfortable claiming them as inspired-by rather than authentic.
Spiced, clarified butter: In a large saucepan, combine 1 lb. butter, 1 onion (sliced), 5 clove garlic (sliced), 2 1/4" slices fresh ginger, 5 cardamom pods, 1 stick cinnamon, 5 cloves, 1 teasp. turmeric, 1 teasp. fenugreek. Simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Carefully pour off the clear liquid into a pint canning jar and store in fridge. You're supposed to discard the rest, but waste not. The not-clear liquid (store in different container) also works nicely at lower heats (but browns more easily) and the garlic slices are very tasty if you snag them out of the solids and eat 'em. Go ahead, you know you want to.
Red, onion paste: Toast the following spices in a frying pan until they are fragrant. 2 teasp. cumin seed, 4 cloves, 1 teasp. cardamom seed (or five pods, which is what I used), 8 peppercorns, 6 allspice, 1 teasp. fenugreek, 1/2 teasp. red pepper, 3-4 dried chiles (I used a teaspoon of ancho and a teaspoon of chipotle because I don't have dried chiles in the house), 1 Tbsp. paprika, 1 teasp. ground ginger, 1 teasp. turmeric (why does my grocery only sell this in tiny little jars? I need a bigger jar of the stuff.), 1/2 teasp. nutmeg, 1/2 teasp. cayenne pepper. When fragrant and stuff grind to a fine powder. In a blender, add one onion, 1 Tbsp. salt, 5 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup red wine (I use burgundy), 1/2 cup oil (I use olive), and the spices from before. Blend until smooth. Put this in a pint jar and store it in the fridge. It keeps surprisingly well.
What do you *do* with these items? Put about a tablespoon of the butter stuff and two of the red onion stuff into a cast iron skillet, on low-ish heat. Chunk about a cup and a half of cauliflower florets into the pan. Stir around a bit, and put a lid on. Revisit and stir occasionally until cauliflower is soft. Serve over white rice. These ingredients also work nicely in homefries, with fried summer squash, and as the base for doro wat.
My brother Roy brought me a twenty pound bag of sushi rice some time ago. The weather was fit when he did, but I don't remember when. It might have been this spring. At any rate, I poured the last of the monster bag of rice into the small, counter-top container today. I need to shop for more rice.
