Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Night Of Celebration!!! (+ ETHIOPIAN RECIPES!!!)

If you've been following my blog and our journey for some time now, you probably know that we have developed a very close-knit group of friends through our agency's yahoo listserv.  These fellow adoptive families are all in different areas of their journey: Jon and Janice came home with their sweet pea last year (shortly after we met).  Justin and Niki are leaving TOMORROW to bring home their long-awaited baby boy!  Chad and Tarah are anxiously waiting to pass court for their two littles.  And Erik and Darcee still wait (like us) to be matched with their daughter(s).  It still BLOWS MY MIND that we were connected solely because of our journeys to our children, but that we will FOREVER be friends!  I love you ladies and your families SO very much!!!

Well anyways....

Last week we were at this point that we knew Justin and Niki would be leaving for their 2nd trip soon, and once they were home they would be cocooning....and then it would be Chad and Tarah....and once they were out of THEIR cocoon Hubs and I would be nearing that stage...and then Erik and Darcee.....

SO ANYWAYS...we decided we better get together, and FAST before life get's so crazy that we don't see each other for several months.  So that's what we did!  Last minute...seriously, like the NIGHT BEFORE, I said, COME OVER!  I'm making ETHIOPIAN!  Amazingly enough, it worked out!  Some were without husbands, everyone (except for us of course, being at our house) were without kids.  I spent ALL DAY making Ethiopian food (not because it's that HARD, just because it tastes better that way) and it was AMAZING to share this dish together from the birth country of our children!

And let me tell you!  This was a night to celebrate!  Celebrating Justin and Niki preparing to BRING HOME their son!!!  Celebrating Chad and Tarah meeting their children and then soon following Justin and Niki back to Ethiopia!!!  Celebrating Hubs and I making it into the TOP 5 on the waitlist!  Celebrating Erik and Darcee in the TOP 10 on the siblings list!!!  It was all around smiles on our faces =)  Niki and Tarah both brought pictures of their recent trips to Addis and shared stories about not only their precious littles, but the other ones there a well.

Have I mentioned how much I love these ladies?!?  Thank you so much you guys for coming over and putting a smile on my face during this wait!

{Janice ~ Tarah ~ Darcee ~ Niki ~ Me}

{Janice ~ Tarah ~ Darcee ~ Niki ~ Me}

{Tarah ~ Niki}

And NOW for the part most of you have been waiting for - THE RECIPES!!!!  =)

{Sorry that I don't have have pictures of each of them!  I was too busy staring at pictures of Ethiopian cuties at Hannah's Hope to pay that much attention!}

***None of these recipes are my own!  They are found from multiple google sites and from other adoptive families.  I have "written" in my own special tweaks of what has worked for ME after making them a few times.  I'm sorry that I don't know where I found each recipe originally though.  =)


Doro Wat (Traditional Chicken Stew)

2 lbs Chicken Pieces {we used drumsticks only}
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
1 tsp Salt
4 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 cups Onion, finely chopped
1 Tbs Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Ginger, ground
1/4 tsp Fenugreek, crushed
1/2 tsp Cardamom, ground
1/8 tsp Nutmeg, ground
2 Tbs Berbere
4 Tbs Paprika
2 Tbs Tomato Paste
1 cup Water
2 Tbs Butter
1 Hard Boiled Egg per person

Remove skin from chicken and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt.
Heat oil on low heat and add onions, garlic, and ginger.  Cook until onions are brown.  Add fenugreek, cardamom, and nutmeg.  Stir well and add berbere, paprika, tomato paste, and water.  Bring all to a boil and cook slowly for 45 minutes.  Stir often and add water if necessary (should be like a heavy cream).  Add chicken and turn to coat.  Add butter.  Cook on low for 1 hour, or until chicken is cooked through.  Take hardboiled eggs, cut 5 shallow slits in them and place in pot for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Serve with injera.

Shiro (Vegetable/Side Dish)

1 lg Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1-3 tsp Berbere
2-3 cups Water
1/2-11/2 cups Shiro (I use about 1c)
Salt to taste

In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until soft (about 5 minutes).  Turn off heat, place in blender and puree.  Return to pan, add berbere (I use about 1 hefty tsp, sometimes 2 depending on how spicey I want it) and a little water (so it does not stick) and stir to combine.  Cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add water (I start with about 2 cups).  Begin to add 1/2 cup shiro powder, a little at a time so it does not clump.  I find it easiest to use a whisk for this.  You want it to be about the texture of hummus.
Serve with injera.  I have also found it AMAZING with pita chips =)

Himbasha Bread (Sweet Honey Bread)

1 cup Water
4 cups Flour (more or less, you want a dense dough, not really sticky)
1/4 cup Oil
1 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Honey
2 tsp Yeast
2 tsp Black Sesame Seeds
2 tsp Fenugreek, crushed/ground
2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Cardamom, ground

Mix together flour (I usually start with 2 1/2 - 3 cups), salt, sesame seeds, thyme, cardamom, and fenugreek.  (I add the cardamom and fenugreek together in my magic bullet to grind them first.) Then add in the yeast (I was told not to put salt and yeast right next to each other that's why I add yeast last). Make a dam with the seasoning, add the oil, honey, and warm water in the middle of the dam and stir in circles slowly adding the surrounding flour. Add more flour as needed for a stiff dough. Once the dough starts separating from the bowl, put on a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes until no longer sticky and smooth like a baby's bottom (except you'll obviously feel the seeds, lol). Place in a round pan and let rise (I put a little oil brushed over it and cover with saran wrap and a towel and place it near my heater since its COLD in my house). Then bake at 350 degrees until light golden brown, about 30 minutes. As soon as it gets out of the oven, brush with butter.

***You can also add more honey for an even sweeter bread if you want!


Yetimatim Saleta (Tomato Salad)


1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
11/2 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp Pepper (freshly ground is best)


Combine all ingredients and let stand for at least a half an hour before serving.


***Was out of A LOT of ingredients but wanted something similar with my meal so I used the red onion, tomatoes, lemon juice and pepper...but added chives, iceburg lettuce and a little more lemon juice as needed and it was a delicious addition to our Ethiopian meal!

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11 comments:

Becca Harley said...

Love your group - and your fellowship! So good that we travel this with those who get us - what would we do without them!!!:) Thanks for the recipes - cnanot wait to try them out (your doro wat is a little different then mine and I love tweaking mine:)! Praying for you guys ... cannot wait to hear your big news!!!

erica said...

Yum!!! Everything sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipes!

Mindy said...

Yummy!!! Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to try these sometime!

Home Project Manager said...

Oh man....got some more cookin to do! These look awesome! We're primarily vegetarian but the chicken is easy to modify and make veggie.

BTW..LOVE my new T. Turned out super cute and thank you so much!

Alison said...

Okay, ya'll are all so CUTE!! I want to come eat Ethiopian food with ya'll! Wish ya'll weren't so far away! :) I am going to have to try your recipes...have still never tried Ethiopian food. Looks yummy!

titushome said...

What a great get together!!! I can't wait to meet you all! The food looks fabulous! Your doro recipe is a tad different from the one I make, so I'm looking forward to trying it! :)

I have a hunch we're going to be getting a burst of referrals soon and you will see the face of your little princess!

Kimberly said...

Looking forward to trying some of these out - thanks for posting Megan!

Now let's get some referrals going!!!!

Angela Hunt said...

Such a fun post! Thank you for posting all these recipes. I can't wait to try them. But I do have a question. Where were you able to find all the unusual ingredients?

missy said...

what a precious group of friends. it will be their turn to celebrate your turn before too long! true confession: i haven't tried making ethiopian food on my own. only mooch off our ethiopian friends or go to restaurants. this post inspired me to just do it!!!

Sharon @ Texas to Ethiopia said...

I'm going to give these to my husband. He made some ET stew for the first time the other day and it was great (and I had horrible heartburn) and he wants to learn to make more dishes.

Kimmie said...

Thanks for sharing this....my two Ethiopians (plus the rest of us) will love this. Wondering where you found shiro powder?

Kimmie
Mama to 8
one homemade and 7 adopted