African Feast and Buttercup Festival

Today, readers, I made a dee-licious feast from my African Kitchen cookbook, by Josie Stow and Jan Baldwin. They work at a safari resort in South Africa, where people come and go on a safari and Josie and Jan cook their meals. Is this the ideal job of all time? Yes. Is making the dishes at home nearly as cool? No, but it's still fun and good-tasting.

The dinner table:

Ethiopian Honey Bread

I love bread, making and eating. Unfortunately, it takes ages, so if you want it at your meal, you should maybe make it ahead of time. This bread is one of the tastiest breads I have ever made and we all ate it to the point of discomfort this evening.

Start by heating 1 cup of milk and 4 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan, while melting 7 tablespoons of butter in another. Mix 1/2 cup of honey, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of ground coriander, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon and a little bit of ground cloves in a small bowl (are you anticipating how excellent this is going to taste yet?). Put 5 cups of bread flour and 2 1/4 tablespoons of yeast in a big bowl and then make a little well in the middle. Pour the contents of all the other containers (milk, butter, and spicy egg-honey) into the well. Mix it up, using a wooden spoon or spatula (unless you have an electric mixer with a dough hook, these are the easiest tools for this). Eventually, you'll want to dump it onto the counter and knead it until it is smooth. You will recognize this time because your arm will be very tired from trying to mix this bread with your dinky wooden spoon. After you have kneaded it to a spring and smooth consistancy, let it sit, slightly covered, in the bowl in a warmish spot for an hour.

It's doubled! Like magic! Knead it some more, separate it in half, and put each half in a loaf pan, to rise for another hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees (yup, this is a little less than most bread). Bake it for 50-60 minutes, or until it is light brown and sounds hollow if you tap it. Pull it out, let it cool, and eat it up!



Cookies are another story, for another day!

The second yummy African dish I made was Green Lentil and Banana Salad. We love lentils in this house, since we rarely eat meat. This combines savory and sweet tastes, but in a way that even Jessica could not disapprove of!

First you make your lentils, which you do by simmering one cup of dried lentils in 3 cups of water for 20 minutes. Strain out the water and put the lentils out of the way, cause it's time to cut! 1/2 an onion, one bell pepper, 3-4 bananas and 4 cloves of garlic should be cute nice and small (the bananas can be sliced normally). Put the onion, pepper, and garlic in a skillet for a few minutes to make them soft and flavorful, while you chop 3 tablespoons of cilantro and 2 of parsley. Take the skillet off the heat and add the herbs, banana, lentils and a bit of balsamic vinegar, as well as a bit of salt and pepper. Stir it all together and serve at any temperature.



I also baked some butternut squash with rosemary. This is the easiest, just cut the squash in half, then half again. Scoop out the seeds and cover it with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and serve it. For some sweetness, sprinkle some brown sugar on with the olive oil, instead of rosemary.



Finally, I made coconut lime cookies for dessert. First, cream 7 tablespoons of butter with 1/2 cup of sugar. Then, add 1/2 a cup of flaked coconut and 1 teaspoon of each lime juice and grated lime rind. I added a bit more coconut and lime for extra flavor, and I also added the tiniest drop of green food coloring to make them just tinted green. Mix all that together and beat in one egg. In another bowl, sift 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Fold this flour mixture into the first bowl and mix it until it makes an even cookie dough consistency. I veered from the recipe here, but rolling the dough into balls, dipping them in more coconut flakes and putting them on the baking tray. I then baked them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and they were a hit!




This evening was one of the few evenings that all roommates were present at some point during dinner and also to watch an episode of Arrested Development. A photographic celebration is in order!



Robbie and Bridget, ready for fun times.



Christine and Eve share a Snuggie Huggie



Jessica and I practice Sort-of Yoga.

I am going to give you another webcomic (of sorts) that you should check out. Buttercup Festival by David Troupes (http://www.buttercupfestival.com/) is a world of whimsy and existential quandaries, complemented with graceful artwork. Check out one of my favorites:



Now go enjoy more!

Pizza and Dinosaur Comics

Last Wednesday, my dear friend Joleen came over and made pizzas with me. They were mozzarella with peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and onions, and, my special creation, smoked Gouda with sliced pears. Hooray!

First, we made some delicious dough, courtesy of Betty Crocker. First, take a cup of flour and mix it with a teaspoon of salt, 2 1/4 tablespoons of yeast, and 1 delicious tablespoon of sugar. Sift it nicely and make a little well in the middle to pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil and one cup of very warm water. Stir it up until the flour is mixed in and then add in more flour, one cup at a time, until you've gotten 2 1/2 to 3 cups. Eventually, it'll be really uncomfortable to stir and lots easier to just knead it, but don't do this too soon, because it'll be sticky and awful. Knead it until it is consistent and then leave it in a warm-ish place for 30 minutes.



See how nicely Joleen kneaded this? Hooray!

Meanwhile, you can grate some cheese! Joleen grated 2 1/2 cups of each mozzarella and smoked Gouda.



And I cut up a couple of zucchini, a few tomatoes, 2 pears and a red bell pepper. Also, I sautéed an onion.



Yum!

Look over there! Your dough is twice its original size! Time to punch it!




Knead the air out of the dough and split it in half. Roll each out with your rolling pin and put each on a baking tray. Stick them in your 425 degree oven for about seven minutes so the crust doesn't soak up the sauce.

Take the crusts out and spoon some tomato sauce on one but olive oil on the other. Then sprinkle (generously!) the mozzarella on the tomato sauce crust and then decorate it with the veggies. Pile on the yummy smoked Gouda on the olive oil crust and arrange the pears in some artistic manner.



So pretty! And delicious! Cook it for another 8-10 minutes and enjoy!


Sometimes I read webcomics. Maybe you do too? Dinosaur Comics, by the very clever Ryan North, is my favorite! Here is a link so that you, too, can enjoy the bizarre hilarity of dinosaurs talking about things anachronistically: http://www.qwantz.com/index.php. The first thing that is my favorite about Ryan North is that he does not draw and uses clipart pictures of dinosaurs, which never change positions, instead. My second thing is that he is chock full of literary references and time travel paradoxes. In case you did not know, these are two of the most important items in a writer's toolbox.