Papa Tofu and I Love Ethiopian Food!

I adore Ethiopian food — the spicy lentil gravies, the slow-cooked collards, and most importantly, the spongy injera bread. We have a great Ethiopian joint in Midtown called Abyssinia, but I always overeat when I go there. They give you so much food! Plus, they have a lunch buffet and that spells danger for an eat-aholic like me.

But I recently bought a copy of Kittee Berns' new zine, Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food, so now I can make my own and control my portions. Kittee has a few Ethiopian recipes in her original Papa Tofu zine, but this one is all Ethiopian, all the time. Plus, it's gluten-free since Kittee has gone all xgfx. You can buy your own copy for only $9 on Kittee's Cake Maker to the Stars blog. It's 85 pages, and in my opinion, worth way more than a measly $9! So buy one!

I stocked up on Soy Curls at Food Fight Grocery in Portland, so I had to try the Bakela Dinich W'et (Soy Curls and Potatoes in a Spicy Gravy) first:

Soy Curls and baby red taters are simmered in a spicy (like spicy with spices, not hot spicy) sauce seasoned with ginger, garlic, berbere (an Ethiopian spice blend ... I made my own), cumin, coriander, and tomato paste. Even though it's not traditional, Kittee suggests serving this with sliced and salted avocado. And when somebody tells me to eat avocado, I don't question it. The cool avocado slices were, indeed, the perfect complement to the spicy sauce.

On the side, I made Kittee's Y'eabesha Gomen (Mild Collard Greens):

These are similar to my own Southern-style greens in that they're slow-cooked and seasoned with fat. I typically use olive oil. But to make these Ethiopian, Kittee suggests making your own Niter Kibbeh, a butter sauce seasoned with onion, garlic, ginger, and spices. Amazing!

In true Ethiopian style, I ate with my hands, scooping up each bite with a fingerful of injera bread. That's the spongy stuff under my food in case you're not familiar with it. Now Kittee does include a recipe in the zine for making your own, but I've always been intimidated by the injera-makin' process. So I bought a big ole bag of pre-made injera from Abyssinia. It freezes beautifully, so now I'll have plenty for future Papa Tofu meals.

Have you tried Ethiopian food? What's your favorite dish?

Let the Good Times Roll!

Well, it's technically already Ash Wednesday here, but I'm still up, so it's Fat Tuesday to me. In fact, every Tuesday might as well be Fat Tuesday since I don't really celebrate Lent or whatever. But regardless, I can't pass up an opportunity to snack on king cake and drink New Orleans-made beer.

Every Fat Tuesday, I bring a homemade King Cake to work, courtesy of a recipe I tested for Kittee years ago. I can't share it because I believe she's using it for a zine one day, but you can find another Kittee king cake recipe here. Here's this year's cake:

In year's past, I've always filled my cake with Kittee's suggested cinnamon-sugar filling, but this year, I tried using cherry pie filling instead. The gooey, sweet cherries made for one tasty (and gorgeous) filling:

Since I've not been able to find plastic babies for sale here to hide in the cake, I've always used Kittee's suggestion of hiding a dry white bean (with a smiley face drawn on in Sharpie!) inside the cake. The person who finds the bean in his or her slice is responsible for bringing the cake next year. And wouldn't you know it? I got the damn bean in my own slice! Of course, I always bring the cake anyway, so it's appropriate.

Later on in the night, I went to my friend Shara's house to play games on her new Xbox Kinect and drink Abita Turbodog. I always drink Abita on Fat Tuesday since it's made in New Orleans. That's Shara on the left and her cute-ass dog Doogie!

Even though I don't celebrate Lent or Easter in any kind of religious way, I've been considering giving up something for Lent this year just because. I was thinking about giving up cooking with oil and/or fried foods, but now I'm having second thoughts. Lent lasts a long time, and I'm not so sure I'm ready to give anything up so soon after my January cleanse.

Are you giving up anything for Lent this year?