I was perusing allrecipes.com for new recipes to try for the weekly food plan when I came across a really pretty picture of some roasted yams. I stalked a photographer of the yams, which led me to this recipe. And her image of this dish was a hell of a lot nicer than any of mine in this post, which is the case about 99.9% of the time.
Because the image was so beautiful, and because I had nearly everything to make it, the recipe went into the queue immediately. And tonight, it's for dinner.
1/2 cup olive oil
4 carrots, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
5 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
5 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Cook the carrots and onion in the hot oil about 5 minutes.
Stir in the salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric* and cabbage and cook another 15 to 20 minutes.
*turmeric, it turns out, will stain a Pampered Chef spatula, so beware
Add the potatoes; cover.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until potatoes are soft, 20-30 minutes.
My giant potatoes (more along the lines of a 1.5" dice) required 20 plus 10 plus 7 minutes before they were finally soft.
Considering how I'd technically botched this recipe, it turned out fairly decently. The flavors were good, however, I can see that they'd be much improved if the potatoes were cut smaller than what I'd made them and possibly added sooner.
The cabbage was shredded to 1/8" or less and it cooked quite quickly. By the time my huge potato chunks were added, the cabbage and onion was ready for consumption. Waiting for the potatoes to cook until softened resulted in cabbage and onion caramelization/burning.
Next time, I'll definitely cut the potatoes into 1" dice and add them a couple minutes after the spices and cabbage are stirred into the carrot/onion mixture. I think that will lend more flavor to the potatoes while keeping the cabbage far from the browning/blackening point. And I'll make it a point to have something bready or proteiny to accompany as it seemed like it was missing something. Like bread. Or protein.
Before anyone gets all up-in-arms over that previous statement, I realize I say this being a person never having had Ethiopian food (that I can recall) and thus could be easily criticized as being off my rocker or spouting comments I have no business making. As an American/half-Korean experimenting, I'm just sayin' some bread or protein would be a good accompaniment. That's all. Hell, for all I know, bread and lamb or goat are normally coupled with this dish and I was being an idiot for not knowing that fact. Please school me...just be gentle.
Cost:
- carrots: $0.40
- onion: $0.20
- cabbage: $1.23
- Russet potatoes: $1.50
2 comments:
You're right about the feeling for the need of a bread product. Ethiopians make injera, which is akin to a thin pancake or crepe, and is unleavened. They tear off a piece of it and use it to grab a bit of food in lieu of using flatware. If you ever get a chance, try out an Ethiopian restaurant. We have a great one here in Kansas City called The Blue Nile Café, if you're ever in the area.
Thanks, Kristi! I appreciate your gentle schooling, very much. While I don't go through Kansas City often, I will make it a point to visit the Blue Nile Cafe when I do - thanks for that heads up!
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