Lunch today: bean fritters made with pinto beans mashed with an egg, bit of cornstarch, bit of cornmeal. Rolled about in cornmeal because I'm running out of things to roll fritters in. And a great big pinch of berbere.
This is an Ethiopian spice mix, which requires that you are in no hurry to get there. Long list of ingredients, where you decide what to use for the ones you definitely can't get unless there's an Ethiopian grocery in your life.
Then you pretty much empty your entire spice repertoire onto the counter, and get grinding and mixing and sneezing and getting quite high on the scents.
Since beans are by definition fairly bland, likewise cornmeal, it's fine to add the berbere with panache.
I had this with those farm green beans I mentioned, steamed, and made a dressing pretty much swiped from Ms Moon.
Oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic. I don't think I'll have them any other way after this. Thank you Mary, lovely stuff. I didn't have shallots, but I managed.
Today's lunch
Tomorrow's lunch, together so I remember they should be together. I need visual aids.
Little walk down the street and I came upon a little fantasy world, like a housing development for imaginary characters.
I wonder if the gnomes I saw the other day couple of houses down from this Acorn Glen are planning to move in. Or looking for decorating ideas.
i hear you on the visual aids - I leave cues for meals, tasks, activities all over the house.
ReplyDeleteIm glad it's not just me.
DeleteBerber certainly sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI love making spice mixtures. You can make it how you like it. When you buy, there's sometimes too much of the cheaper ingredients in tge mix, might not be to your taste. Ottolenghi is great on this. And bill Veach on curry powders. Once you start, there are plenty of sources to study.
DeleteI'm so glad you liked the beans! I use a little balsamic vinegar too, for sweetness. Aren't they wonderful?
ReplyDeleteThey are. I usually eat then dutifully, but without much enthusiasm. But now that's changed.
Deletecertainly a whimsical collection. I like the turtle thing with the green crystal (?) glasses in the first pic.
ReplyDeletebean fritters. hmmm. might have to try that.
Ah - yes, visual aids! Resident Chef gets totally mystified when I have things in 'certain places' and then wonders why I get huffy when he moves them. It often happens when we're heading out somewhere and we end up in the car, generally half way to our destination, and it hits me that something got left behind that I know full well would have been picked up on the way out the door had 'someone' not moved it!!
ReplyDeleteWould Ms. Moon be willing to share her recipe? I rather hate green beans so maybe adding some 'oomph' to them might make them edible.
She uses a vinegar and oil mix, with minced shallot, minced garlic, Dijon mustard if I remember correctly. If you suggest those ingredients to resident chef, I bet he could do it.
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