As I promise Joanne to participate on her regional recipe event, I made an Ethiopian dinner for my family last night. The dinner was delicious, the only thing missing from our table was the injeera, somehow I couldn't manage to make it. Here are what I made, lentil spiced with nitter kibbeh and turmeric, spicy mix vegetable stew, and beef stew with berbere and nitter kibbeh. Hope you like them.

Beef Stew with berbere and nitter kibbeh

3 lbs beef shoulder, cut into chunks

1 large onion, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

2 whole cardamom

1 cinnamon

1 star anise

2 tbs nitter kibbeh, recipe follows

¼ cup tbs berbere paste, recipe follows

1 tbs red paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

½ cup chicken stock

1 canned (15 oz) tomato

½ cup red wine

1 tbs vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

• Brown the meat on all side with 1 tablespoon oil. Set aside.


• On a medium heat, cook the onion with nitter kibbeh until soft, add cumin, cardamoms, cinnamon, star anise, berbere paste, paprika, cayenne pepper, fry for another minute until fragrant. add the browned meat, chicken stock, tomatoes, and the red wine, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, continue to cook for an hour to an hour and half until the meat is tender. Taste to adjust the seasoning.

Nitter Kibeh:

8 tbs (1 stick) butter

1 stick cinnamon

3 whole cardamom

3 whole cloves

1 - 2 slices fresh ginger

3 cloves of garlic

• Cook everything in a skillet over low heat until the butter is a bit brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a jar.

Berbere Spice Paste

1 tbs coriander seeds

1 tbs cumin seeds

2 cardamom

3 cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

6 funegrek

1/2 tsp black pepper seeds

1/2 cup diced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbs grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2 tsp paprika

1 tbs hot red pepper

1/4 cup dry red wine

¼ cup water

1 tbs vegetable oil + more for preserving the paste

salt

• Lightly toast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, allspice, funegrek and black pepper seeds on a medium heat to release the fragrance. Set aside to cool. Grind in a mortar and pestle, or a coffee grinder to fine powder. Set aside

• Fry the onion with 1 tbs oil until soft, add garlic, and ginger. Continue to cook until the ginger releases its fragrance. Transfer to a blender along with the the rest of the ingredients including the spice powder that you've just grind, add water, process until smooth and no lump left. Return the smooth paste back to the pan add paprika, hot red pepper, and the red wine. Cook and stirring constantly for about 10 minutes on a low heat.

• Transfer to a jar, cool completely before adding enough oil to preserve the paste, about 1/4" above the paste.

• Refrigerated until needed. The paste can be kept for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.