Ethiopian Food Night

Penny's been on American soil for almost 6 weeks now and has had her share of standard American junk food already, as much as I swore I would stick to organic and mild flavors in  her initial weeks home.  The reality is, she is only mildly picky when it comes to food preference and has pretty much eaten whatever gets placed on her fork.  I love, love me a good international cuisine and Ethoipian food is no exception!

I thought it was high time that she got a taste of some good 'ol Ethiopian style cooking.  So I found a website called Ethiopian Spices.Com and ordered up a bunch of spices that are not found in American food stores.  The website was great because along with all the spices, they also have a list of several recipes using standard measurements, which was a great help.  The spices arrived within 48 hours of placing my order and everything was extremely fresh.

We're going to stick to one Ethiopian dish a week for this month.  Last night I made "Doro Wot" (a red sauce chicken stew) and served it over rice alongside steamed stir fry vegetables.  It had a serious kick to it but it was delicious.  Penny was totally digging it - although even she thought it was spicy.  How do I know?  Hmmm, maybe it was her sticking out her tongue and trying to wipe it off with the napkin between bites - poor baby!  

I love that my family is adventurous enough to let me try this crazy stuff on them and that they even eat it without complaint!  So great!  Kate wasn't a huge fan because she thought it was really spicy but Trent devoured two plates full and Dustin cleaned his plate although he said his eyes were burning from all the onion and garlic.

If you're ever in the mood for some adventurous cooking, here's the recipe (with a few changes from the recipe on the website because it served 10 people and I don't like thigh chicken meat):

"Doro Wot"

4 large chicken breasts, cut in 1" chunks

2 large yellow onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 1/2 tsp. powdered garlic

1 tsp. powdered ginger

1/4 cup Berbere spice (traditional Ethiopian spice only available at African specialty shops or online)

1/8 cup Paprika

1 tsp Korerima (ground cloves)

1 tsp Alich Wot Kimem

1 tsp salt

1 cup water

In a large pot, simmer onion, garlic and ginger with oil until brown.  Add berbere and paprika.  Continue to simmer for 15 minutes at low heat, stirring occasionally and adding a touch of water as needed to avoid sticking.  Add chicken and simmer until chicken is done while adding the remaining water as needed.  Finish off simmering by adding salt, Koreria, Wot Kimem.  

*Usually served hot with Injera (Ethiopian flat bread made of teff flour) but we didn't have any injera on hand and Dustin didn't have time to pick some up at our local Ethiopian restaurant - maybe next week when I try "Sega Wot" (red beef stew)