Jan
8
You know what I will be glad to see the end of, what I will NOT MISS when Stinkerbelle is grown, a few short-ish years from now?
No more blunt force trauma to my face.
Not a day goes by where I am not smacked in the teeth or mouth by something she’s wielding in her flailing little hands. Not a day goes by where her cement head does not impact the bones of my face in such a way as to cause pain, if I am lucky, or a fat lip or bruising or some sort if I am not.
Earlier, I went to snuggle my daughter, and my cheekbone met her skull with epic force as she writhed and squirmed and did kid-type things. Hey, at least it wasn’t my eye socket. (Oh yeah. That was yesterday.)
Gah. Is there danger pay offered with this job?
(And if one single earth-mother-happy-lovey-touchy-feely Mama comes along and gives me the “oh, in a few years all those memories will just MELT AWAY and you’ll just FORGET ALL ABOUT THEM!!” like they used to say about the adoption wait, I swear, as doG is my witness, I will show them what blunt force trauma to the face can REALLY MEAN.)
Jan
8
Okay, since Kelly asked, here is our recipe for doro wat. (Goodness knows I got this from somewhere, it’s not like I came up with it by myself — but I don’t remember where, so it will have to be uncredited.)
Doro wat is a traditional Ethiopian chicken stew that is usually served on special occasions with a sour, tangy sort of flatbread/pancake called injera. We don’t like injera much, so we serve it over rice instead. Also, we are not fans of meat with bones in this house, so our recipe is done with boneless skinless cuts of chicken, whereas it is traditionally done with bone-in chicken.
Also, it requires an Ethiopian spice mix called berbere. It’s something we had to hunt around for, living as we do in the wilds of whitebread southern Ontario, but we ended up finding it at an African restaurant in the city where BDH works. But if you live near some ethnic foodstores, you could start your quest there.
It’s very hot — as in, spicy hot. We love spicy. So if you don’t like spicy food, move along… or try experimenting by cutting back on the spices.
Doro Wat
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into smaller pieces
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces
3-4 tbsp lemon juice (myself, I just grab a bottle of lemon juice and use a big healthy squirt or two)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2-3 onions (If you like onions, go for more. If they make you farty — hey, it can be a problem! — maybe 2 is enough.)
3+ cloves garlic
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 c butter
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp berbere powder
1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper
1/4c red wine
3/4c chicken broth
8 hardboiled peeled eggs (optional)
Sprinkle the salt and pepper on the chicken pieces. Put the chicken in a large ziplog bag with the lemon juice. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Put the onions, garlic and ginger in a food processor. Blend into a paste.
In a large pot, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the paprika and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the berbere powder and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. (This step can be a little smoky, so put the range fan on.)
Add the onion puree to the butter and spice mixture and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. (This step will make your eyeballs fall out of your head from whatever it is in onions that makes your eyes water and hurt, so leave the range fan on, for the love of doG!)
Add the wine, chicken broth, and chicken. Stir everything together. Bring the mixture to boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Remove the lid and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until thickened. (By this point, your chicken should be tender and falling apart into bits of tender chickeny goodness. Yum.)
If desired, add the hard boiled eggs to the pot 5-10 minutes before serving. (BDH’s favourite part is the eggs. It’s no secret. It’s supposed to be one per serving, but it doesn’t always work out that way…)
Serve over rice.
Enjoy!
