More lamb and the starter is ready to start!

So I was really bored. What else is new? I decided to make my own berbere to compare it to the berbere that Kim (our neighbor) brought back from Ethiopia (along with my favorite little kids in the whole world). I have 3 Ethiopian cookbooks and I got this recipe out of one of them. The cookbook is called "A Taste of Africa" by Dorinda Hafner. Looks like the cookbook was bought off the 1/2 price shelf and came to this marriage with Mr Food. My berbere came out a lot different than the berbere that came from Ethiopia. Not sure which one I like better. I will have to cook some dish with each of them to determine the "winner".



I also made some sourdough starter. I used the recipe from "The Cheeseboard" in Berkeley, California. I knew it wouldn't be the same as when we were in San Francisco but I wanted to see what would happen. I used half of the starter and converted it (by adding Teff) to injera (Ethiopian flatbread) starter.



Sourdough was a success (although it got too done on the bottom). It was some of the best sourdough I have had since I have come to New England so I have to perfect it. I will keep you posted on the Injera which I am making today.



Last but definitely not least is lamb-o-rama. We decided to make something out of the lamb stew meat that we had. We found a recipe that sounded good out of "The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen" by Paula Wolfert. The recipe was Slow-Baked Lamb with Fennel, Pecorino, and Potatoes. It came out great but I must say that the recipe could have used some proof reading. Not that we couldn't figure it out, but if you are going to do a book it could be accurate (ok, I used to work in the publications department at RAND and I am picky).

Yum....it was good!





Simple ingredients. Parsley came from the garden and besides the basil is the first thing I have been able to use from the garden.



I liked it but I think we will move on to find another recipe for the rest of the stew meat that we have. We are off to Texas for a few days on Thursday but the Lamb Fest will continue when we return.