love of "teff love" + giveaway

My love of Teff Love (Amazon, B&N), an Ethiopian cookbook by the fabulous Kittee Berns, of Cake Maker to the Stars blog, runs deep. I know I'm a little late to the festivities, but I can't imagine not gushing, along with everyone else, about the brilliance of this book.

I won't go into the details of the book, as I am sure others have done that quite well in my stead (check out Teff Love's blog tour HERE). I'm just here to give you my take on the dishes.

Having bought and used Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food, Kittee's zine, religiously, I knew that the recipes in this book would be at least equally good, but I wasn't really prepared for just how amazing the dishes in Teff Love turned out to be.

There are a few helpful suggestions to keep in mind before cooking Kittee's incredible food; these will put the recipes into the uppermost tier of fabulousness.

The first step to delicious and authentic Ethiopian is to ensure you have injera, the flat, sourdough bread used as both utensil and a delicious tool to sop up the yummy gravies. Of course, even tortillas or pita is better than not making any of the dishes due to lack of injera.

The second step in making any of Kittee's dishes successfully, is to prepare the seasoned oil, ye'qimem zeyet, page 25. Although Kittee gives you the option to use olive oil instead of the seasoned oil, since the recipe is so easy and returns so much in flavor, I highly, highly recommend it.

The third absolutely necessary component of even the smallest Ethiopian feast is a salad, page 133. As you can tell, each of the platters I made has a simple salad as a component. The salad provides a fresh, cooling accompaniment to the other dishes. The dressing is a simple vinaigrette, page 145 or 146.

We are lucky enough to live near an Ethiopian restaurant in San Diego (albeit, one that serves meat as well), but truly, the recipes within Kittee's volume are heads and shoulders above anything we could ever have here.

All in all, this really is a volume you should own. Period. If you haven't had Ethiopian food before, Teff Love is the most excellent way to get some of this ah-mazing grub on your plate. If you are among the lucky ones already initiated into the club, you can't beat all the creative and downright delicious food Kittee shares with us. And don't you just love the title??

I'm itching to share this wonderful cookbook with someone, so make sure to enter below for your chance to win a copy of Teff Love. To be eligible to win you must be following this blog via email or RSS feed (link). Contest is open to US residents only and ends Monday, August 17. Good luck!


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ethiopian sweet potato + peanut burger

Day 5 of #VeganMoFo #Burger Extravaganza is an Ethiopian Sweet Potato and Peanut Burger with Nitter Kibbeh Aioli. Both the name and the burger are a mouthful, but, I promise, really damn good!

This burger requires the making of the Ethiopian spiced butter (oil, in this case), Nitter Kibbeh, however, that only takes about 2 minutes to assemble and 15 minutes to simmer. At this point anyone entering your home will be hypnotized by the aroma of simmering cinnamon, cardamom, clove and garlic and crash your dinner; be sure to make plenty of burgers.

As Kittee from Cake Maker to the Stars, aka Vegan Ethiopian Queen [can't wait for her cookbook!], will undoubtedly tell you, Nitter Kibbeh and Berber are the two top Ethiopian flavorings that you simply cannot do without.

To simplify this burger, but keep all the flavors, I've combined the two into one easy to make oil. This super spiced oil weaves its magic through the burger and right into the sauce. Ginger, garlic, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, paprika and cayenne will fill your kitchen. THAT right there is reason enough to make this.

Long burger post short, sweet potatoes, peanuts and lentils are the burger base, the Nitter Kibbeh Aioli is the sauce and a cooling celery-tomato salad is the crowning glory.

Time to gather your spices.

ETHIOPIAN SWEET POTATO AND PEANUT BURGER PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Ethiopian Sweet Potato and Peanut Burger with Nitter Kibbeh Aioli

Serves 4

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons Nitter Kibbeh, divided, recipe below

½ cup brown or green lentils

2 cups water

⅔ cup quick-cooking oats

⅓ cup roasted peanuts, chopped

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 scallions, minced

2 celery ribs, minced

1 medium ripe tomato, chopped

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon neutral oil

½ cup vegan mayonnaise

4 burger buns, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 450-degrees F. Combine sweet potatoes and 2 teaspoons nitter kibbeh on a baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until tender. Cool lightly and transfer to a food processor.

2. Combine the lentils and water in a medium pot. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and add to the food processor.

3. Add the oats, peanuts, paprika, coriander and 2 tablespoons nitter kibbeh to the food processor. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Pulse just until combined and you can form burgers that will hold together. Form into 4 burgers about 3-inches in diameter.

4. Combine the scallions, celery, tomato, cilantro, lime and oil in a medium bowl. Toss well to combine and season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.

5. Combine the mayo and 1 tablespoon of nitter kibbeh in a small bowl. Stir well and set aside.

6. Heat a large grill pan over medium heat. Spray the burgers lightly with oil and grill the burgers until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes per side.

7. Assemble the burgers by spreading aioli on the bottom buns, adding a burger and topping with the salad. Serve with the top bun.

Nitter Kibbeh

½ cup neutral oil

¼ cup chopped onions

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 (1-inch) piece of ginger, sliced

6 cardamom pods

2 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon paprika

1 to 3 teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon sea salt

1. Combine the oil, onion, garlic, ginger, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, pepper, fenugreek and turmeric. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Strain and stir in the paprika, cayenne and salt. Cool and store in an airtight container. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

© 2014 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

I am linking to these recipe parties: Healthy Vegan Fridays, What I Ate Wednesday and Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck. 

 

ethiopian

When Tami, over at Vegan Appetite and author of American Vegan Kitchen, posted a contest for PaPa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food, I knew there was no way I was going to wait to just lose in the contest, so I hurried over to Kittee's blog to grab her zine. Besides, I knew I was going to have to have it, so I didn't want to take the chance away from someone else.

I love, love, love Ethiopian food and the complete lack of a vegan cookbook on the topic was depressing. Until this little zine came along.

She covers how to throw your own Ethiopia food party and gives you all the essential recipes to start cooking your Badookie off. 

She has a gluten-free injera, (flat-bread), recipe, the niter kibbeh, (flavorful cooking fat), recipe and a berbere paste recipe. It's all here to get you started. 

I made the injera, niter kibbeh (you can't skip it), dinich siquar allecha (sweet potatoes), ye'miser w'et (red lentils in spicy stew), and ye'takelt w'et (mixed vegetables in spicy stew). It was all amazing! The two w'ets used the same red spicy gravy, but they were still distinct enough that they were able to stand on their own. 

All vegan, all Ethiopian and all gluten-free. And leftovers? Just as amazing. But, like Kittee says, don't even entertain for a second to have it with rice. Although I've erred in the past regarding this, I now concur.

Dinich Siquar Allecha (Sweet Potatoes)

Ye'Takelt W'et (Mixed Veg in Spicy Gravy)

Ye'miser W'et (Red Lentils in Spicy Gravy) with Selata (Salad)