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Tag Archives: stews, casseroles

Yemisir wat: Ethiopian lentil stew

Yemisir wat (a.k.a., misir we’t, mesir wot, and so on, because I’m poorly transliterating it from another alphabet) is my go-to dish at any Ethiopian restaurant I visit. I’ve always wanted to make it at home, mainly to control the amount of fat that goes in, but most importantly, to consume it without having to […]

Brussels sprouts & cauliflower gratin topped with panko+nuts

Hellllooo, Winter! Brussels sprouts and cauliflower star in this cheesy, creamy seasonal dish. Mine is a somewhat lighter version of the Epicurious recipe, taking copious hints from comments mentioning how heavy the original felt. Already crisp panko breadcrumbs gave me a head-start, so I didn’t need to fry the topping. I also added cornstarch to […]

Lentil stew with eggplant & tomatoes

Unsurprisingly, I’ve been wanting to make more eggplant dishes, not to mention more lentil dishes. Elise Bauer’s Eggplant Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses became a great inspiration for this rich (and vegetarian) stew. However, my rendition uses already cooked eggplants and onion, as well as additional Middle Eastern spices. Another bit of rationalizing: if I […]

Atakilt wat: Ethiopian cabbage, carrot & potato stew

Atakilt wat (a.k.a., atakilt alicha, ye’atakilt wot, etc.) is another one of my favorite Ethiopian dishes, made of humble vegetables: cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onions. Even though it’s rather mild, it’s still quite tasty.

Yedoro tibs: Ethiopian boneless chicken stew

Ethiopian cuisine offers such a wide range of vegetable dishes that it’s easy to go meatless. However, yedoro tibs (a.k.a., doro tibs) is one of the few meat dishes I really enjoy. The boneless chicken is in an easy munchable size, and the rich sauce has such depth! Yedoro tibs on (yep, store-bought) injera. Yedoro […]

Zucchini & rice gratin

The annual zucchini inundation has been going on since last month. Usually we chop then dry-sautée three or four of them in olive oil, and serve as a side dish. But if we skip cooking zucchini for a week, we accumulate a bagful which sits forlornly in the fridge. So what do you do with […]

Two winter gratins: squash and leek, cauliflower and fennel

[I nearly forgot about this article, so with winter is coming to a close here in California…] Gratins are an excellent merging of comfort food and decadence. I mean, what do you do with leftover winter squash or root vegetables? Add cheese! Add cream! Bake until bubbly! Members of the onion family, such as leeks […]

An extremely untraditional cassoulet involving green lentils

I often enjoy dishes made with chickpeas and lentils. But my répertoire is deficient in recipes where these delightful legumes participate. So this brings me to the cassoulet, or rather “cassoulet,” which I recently made. The only vaguely French ingredients are green lentils (from France, yet not the Flageolet beans of traditional cassoulet), duck confit, […]

Americans say chicken stewed in red wine; French say Coq au Vin

Over here in the West, Autumn hasn’t decided yet to descend upon us. But when the weather does turn cold, it’s hard for me to resist tender poultry steeped in a rich sauce. This recipe is adapted from the coq au vin recipe in The Joy of Cooking. Many steps, but worth the time. It’s […]

Macaroni and cheese: simplified (somewhat)

The search for the ultimate macaroni and cheese never ends. That’s a good thing, too, because it’s fun to try out and taste more dishes made of pasta and cheese. Tonight’s version was based on the creamy baked mac-and-cheese by Deb of Smitten Kitchen. The main draw was the avoidance of both pre-cooked pasta and […]