Injera and Berbere

The last few weeks have been somewhat frustrating waiting for updates and pictures of our little babes. Today we went on an emotional roller coaster that I'm not sure I want to share with anyone yet. We're still waiting for more info... hoping things get cleared up tomorrow or very soon. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers this week.

We did get Jalele Lark pics. She is getting so chubby! And her hair is simply gorgeous. This week's stats:
11lbs 7oz, same length and hc

On another note, Lucas and I have been doing some Ethiopian cooking. We are finally using our skills from the Ethiopian cooking class we took back in March 2011 (R.I.P. Generous Servings Cooking School, sniff). We also received some ingredients from a very sweet friend of the family for Christmas: teff flour for injera, berbere spice, tamarind, and fenugreek seeds. She also gave us a cookbook by Marcus Samuelsson, a celebrity chef who happens to be adopted from Ethiopia.

We used his recipe to make our version of Injera, and it actually turned out good!! Not quite as sour as what I have tasted before, but perfect consistency and look! We were pretty proud of ourselves (and special thanks to Hayley for perfecting the batter). This is not a traditional injera, as apparently, the real thing is made with a sourdough culture type starter. I hear that is virtually impossible to find in the USA.

Here is the close-as-it-gets recipe:

2 cups teff flour or fine ground whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 cups club soda
2 Tablespoons clarified butter (although I just used cooking spray)

Whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the yogurt into the club soda, then stir into the flour mixture to make a smooth thin batter (like a crepe batter). Strain through a sieve or strainer to remove any lumps.
Grease a large skillet with clarified butter and heat over medium-high heat. Pour 1/2 cup batter into the pan in a spiral, starting at the center, and cook for 20 seconds. Cover the pan and cook for another 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate and cover with a cloth to keep warm while you cook the remaining injera. Makes about 12 large flatbreads.
*my notes: I didn't want to use all of my hard-to-find teff flour at once, so I used 1c teff, 1c whole wheat, and 1c all purpose flours. The batter should be very thin. I found I had to add almost double the club soda to get the right texture (which could be from my use of greek yogurt instead of regular- I thought it would make it a little more sour?). I also had a huge pan. If you don't have an extra large non-stick pan, I would use a little less than 1/2 cup for each injera so it can get thin enough. It took a bit of practice. But we had plenty of flatbread to serve with our meal.

Final product served in what I will call "Modern Ethiopian" style (ha!):

Miser Wat (Berbere spiced red lentils), Injera, Ginger Honey Sweet Potatoes, and an Arugula Salad. Oh, and wine, lots of wine. Success! We had fun sharing with our Wednesday night dinner crew Doug, Hayley, Rob and Steph.

Crossing my fingers for a snow day tomorrow, and good news.

XOXO