The best food in Africa

I apologize for not posting for so long. I do have good excuses....like I spent over a month in Africa and it was Thanksgiving and my wedding anniversary. But the reality is that despite having those good excuses, I have still made the following discoveries: 1) Keeping a blog takes up a lot of time if you want to do it well, and 2) I'm an inspirational writer, and I'm not always feeling super creative. So, there you have it. I will do my best to make my posts more frequent so you can have new exciting recipes to try at home, but I can't promise anything.


To celebrate my return back to America, I thought I would share a new Ethiopian dish I learned how to make during my recent visit. Ethiopian food has easily become one of my favorite ethnic foods. It's full of spices and rich flavors. And you eat it with your hands....food is just more fun when you can eat it with your hands! The common spice used in most Ethiopian dishes is berbere (pronounced "burberry") and it's the key ingredient in the dish below.


My friend Bekele, his wife and their house helper taught me how to make Shiro. The first time I just watched them make this delicious, velvety goodness.... I thought, I can do this, not a problem! Then it was my turn to make the shiro and put into practice what I had learned a couple days prior. I wasn't able to get through the entire recipe without a bit of guidance (Ethiopian cooking is more about your own interpretation and experience, not by measurements and exact recipes). But...after my first attempt I was officially sworn in as an Ethiopian cook and considered "half Ethiopian."

I love ethnic food and it is so fun to make. A little warning before you get started....this is not a science. You may have to do a few trial runs before perfecting your version of this popular Ethiopian dish. Have fun!


Ethiopian Shiro


• Chop up a small onion (I would use shallots) as small as you can. Fry onion in about ½” of sunflower oil for 3-5 minutes. I would use a small pot to cook.
• Add 1 ½ to 2 TBL Berbere spices. You can adjust based on how spicy you want it.
• Fry onion, oil, and spice mixture for a minute.
• Add a small can of tomato paste and 2-3 garlic cloves mashed up. Fry together for about 5 minutes.
• Add water (about half way up in pan). Allow water to boil and cover. Boil for 10-12 minutes.
• Add 2-3 TLB Shiro powder. Allow mixture to boil and thicken for at least 10 mintues. You just really have to go by looks here.
• Add some course sea salt for taste.
• Finish with 1-2 TBL Ghee (or butter).
• Serve hot with Injera…Enjoy!


Delicious Ethiopian Cuisine



Some good Ethiopian Recipe Sites:

http://ethiopianrecipes.net/

http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/recipes.html

http://www.food.com/recipes/ethiopian

Old Fashioned Family Fun

My brother, mom, and I have started a new family tradition. I don’t think it is ever too late to start new traditions. This one is a real winner….we take one Sunday every quarter to have an all day cooking extravaganza. Trust me, this isn’t for armatures.  We’ve made everything from homemade tamales (including the sauce from scratch) to homemade fresh pasta. Some new adventurous spaghetti sauce is always on the agenda.

In honor of our new family’s tradition, I’d like to share a couple family favorites. Since my family is Italian, naturally we like our meat sauce, so we are sure to make a couple huge pots on our quarterly cooking days. This is a great way to stock up our freezers with dinner-sized portions of sauce to pull out for a quick, deliciously homemade weeknight dinner. Check out our great meat sauce base at Making it Spicy.

Another family favorite is a powerfully tasty chili recipe. I actually got this when I was working at John Henry’s café my senior year at Oregon State. The café no longer exists…so I feel like I have to keep the dream alive, and share this amazing, simple, but flavorful chili recipe. This is another great item to stock your freezer with…as the chili just gets better and better as the ingredients have time to marinate together. Get it at Making it Spicy.

Enjoy these family favorites...and let me know if you try them out...I'd love to hear what you think!

-Erica Stillar 

Anything but bleu....

There are few things that I find irresistible. There are many things I love, even adore. But I usually can resist them if I absolutely HAD to. But one of the very few, the very elite items on Erica's irresistible food list is....... cheese. I mean, this should not be a surprise. Who doesn't have an unnatural obsession with cheese?

Seriously, this stuff is so good, it's like cotton candy for the adult mouth.

I wouldn't say that bleu cheese is my favorite kind of cheese, but it's one of those cheeses that makes you feel like you are doing something you really shouldn't because it tastes just too good to be true.  It's like sneaking in candy or pop into the movie theater...You know you aren't supposed to, but when you do, it's exhilarating and adventurous and just a little bit dangerous. That's what bleu cheese is all about....Danger.

My co-worker, Kate, and I found ourselves in an interesting discussion about Blue Cheese the other day. Yes, we actually found enough to talk about for at least 20 or 30 minutes. I think we bonded in that moment. Another reason cheese is on the irresistible list. Not only is it everyone's dangerous dirty little secret, it's a friend maker. 

So you are asking yourself, what should I use this rich, lavish, scandalous cheese for? Try crumbling it on a salad, or put a slice over prosciutto-wrapped baked chicken. You could even splurge and live a little by slicing some high-quality creamy French bleu and pairing it with a glass of Port or Zinfandel. The sharp, salty taste of bleu goes really nice with the opposite sweetness of these wines.

For the love of all things blue.....

I'm going to share two amazing and irresistible ways to use bleu cheese, along with another food on my irresistible list...sweet onions. Yes, I know, it seems like a weird item to have on the sacred list. But if you knew me well, you would get this. I put onions in everything. Seriously, everything. If a recipe doesn't call for onions, I find a way to include them. But I'll save going into depth on the most versatile item in cooking for another post.

A little tip on shopping for blue cheese (or any cheese for that matter). We all love the farmer's market home-made style gourmet cheeses. Those really are the best....along with Rogue's award winning Rogue River Blue Cheese....worth the splurge if you are crumbling it on salad or drinking with a glass of wine. But for recipes where you are cooking the blue cheese in a sauce, you just dont need the expensive stuff. I've found that Trader Joe's has an amazing cheese selection and really reasonable prices. I would buy your cheese there for the recipes below.

Ok, brace yourself..................... and get ready for a taste party in your mouth!

Dinner #1 - New York Steak with Onion Blue-Cheese Sauce

Yeah, I know, it's almost too good to be true. This simple, delicious sauce has become my new favorite concoction in the kitchen. I'm positive this sauce changed my life, just a little bit. I think I get a taste-gasm every time I put a bite in my mouth. Don't think about the calories on this one...you just aren't going to win, so chalk it up to a "special treat" and head to the gym the next day to work some of it off. You wont regret it, I promise!

I have to thank the Pioneer Woman for this recipe. Check out her photos of this dish here.

1) Start with melting half a stick of butter over medium heat.
2) Roughly chop a large sweet onion and sauté in the butter until the onions start caramelizing (turning a brown color). I often sprinkle onions with a little sea salt and a bit of sugar to help with the caramelizing process.

3) While your onions are caramelizing, get your New York steaks ready for the grill. All a good cut of meat needs is a little salt and freshly ground pepper. I sprinkle a little olive oil on as well so the steaks don't stick. Cook the steaks on the grill on medium temperature for about 5-10 minutes per side (depending on the thickness). Make sure to keep watch on these...nothing is worse then burnt steak!

4) Once the onions are nice and a light golden-brown color, add one of those mini cartons of heavy cream. (I told you this would be a calorie bomb).

5) Cook the mixture on low heat until the cream starts to thicken and reduces to almost half.

6) Add about 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese. Stir until all the cheese is melted.

7) Grab your steaks off the grill and serve this sauce right on top!

Get ready for pure bliss.......

Dinner #2 - Rib-Eye steak with Blue Cheese butter and Walla Walla Onion Rings

I didn't make this one up either. I'm not claiming to be a Rachel Ray or a Paula Dean, I'm just identifying what's amazing and making it really dang well. If that is a crime, then I'm guilty! I made this goodness last Thursday night and the Rib-Eye is a real winner. I didnt realize that the cheese in my fridge was actually Gorgonzola instead of Bleu cheese, so I made the same butter, and it was decent, but i think Bleu would have really hit the spot.

1.) Make the Butter either the night before or before cooking the steak. Add 1/3 cup room temperature butter, chopped parsley, a little lemon zest, and about 3 tbl. of crumbled bleu cheese. Set aside.
2. ) Make the Onion Rings. Mix 1 cup of cake flour (or 1 cup minus 2 Tlb of unbleached flour), 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder...whisk together. Add 1/2 cup of beer and mix. Dip 1/3" slices of walla walla onions into the batter. I found that coating the onions in flour first makes the batter stick better.
3) Dip in 350 degree vegetable oil on the stove (cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes). Set on a paper towels to dry.
4) Sprinkle your rib-eye with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (sit in your fridge covered overnight if you would like). Put on the grill and cook a couple minutes per side (if you want a rare piece of meat, which I recommend).
5) Serve the rib-eye with a spoon-full of the bleu cheese butter on top and onion rings on the side.


Ok...You can thank me later for this. In the mean time, enjoy a little slice of heavenly bleu.

-Erica Stillar 

Summer is for Farmer's Markets

My new favorite past time living in SE Portland is to bike to the Hollywood Market on Saturday mornings and shop for fresh, local produce.  I've discovered that my shopping habits remain the same even when I shop at the Farmer's Market. I love returning to the same vendors, getting the same amazing fresh, organic ingredients, but do my best to creatively come up with a new way to use that ingredient. I think my favorite vendor of the summer has been Peak Forest Fruit. They sell a variety of wild mushrooms, which I always find myself buying, even if I have no idea what I am going to do with them. The little fungi are just so tempting! They also have the best cherries I've ever had! Needless to say, I've become a loyal customer.


One vegetable at the market that keeps calling my name is the colored chard. It's like vegetable eye-candy. Seriously...it must be a crime to have a vegetable look this good. I'm a sucker for color...and it comes in rainbows. I have to admit I've never tasted, bought, or cooked chard. Every time I go to the Farmer's Market I walk by this lusciously seductive vegetable.... it calls my name.... yet I just cant find the courage to buy it. I'm intimidated. I don't know how to cook this stuff...and it's probably not going to look as good as it does displayed in all it's glory at the market when I cook it. New goal.....Purchase alluring green vegetable and attempt to make it appetizing and potentially delicious. 

Colorful Swiss Chard

In honor of Farmer's Markets and the approach of summer's end, I decided to make one of my favorite late summer meals this evening....Roasted Tomato Soup. The secret to this amazing soup is using a variety of tomatoes. I like the big beefsteak, mixed with a few early girls, romas, heirloom, and the long skinny kind (I cant remember their name, it starts with an "m"...you'll figure it out when you go to the market). It's delightful with a grilled mozzarella and pesto sandwich. :) Happy Eating!

Get the recipe at Making it Spicy.

-Erica Stillar 

Fonts

Hey everyone!

It was brought to my attention today while viewing my blog on my work computer that the really cool font I found to use for Thirty and Famished isn't viewable on computers that don't have it downloaded. So...if you would like to have the fabulous font, it's called Pea Kensey, and you can download it for free at this link:

http://kevinandamanda.com/fonts/fontsforpeas/pea-kensey/

-Erica Stillar 

My love for food....the history behind the passion

I'm technically not 30 yet....29 years, 4 months, and 16 days to be exact. But I figured, might as well get a head start on Thirty and Famished because.... one, I'm emphatic about food and this is a good idea.... two, it builds suspense leading up to the big day I do turn 30...and three....because I can. And gosh dang it, who doesn't want to read about my exceptional taste in food and drinks and all things related?.......That's what I thought!

So anyways...how did it I come to love and appreciate food so much? I think I have my snobby food family to thank for that. As early as I can remember I have been surrounded by fresh, quality, fabulous food. My dad is a salmon fisherman...I remember having salmon BBQ every summer (keep following and I might just share our family secret "salmon sauce" recipe for you). My mom is Italian.....I spent Sunday's at Grandpa's eating homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs and other delicious Italian goodies. The Comella's come from a long line of Sicilian immigrants that worked in the produce industry for generations. My Uncle is the notorious NW Produce Guy, Frank Comella. Frank owned his own produce store in SW Portland. My Grandpa often worked along with him and graciously brought our little family a box, yes an entire box, of FREE produce every week! 

And people wonder why I love vegetables so much.

I grew up in the most ideal situation to foster an appreciation for food. What kind of kid gets fresh salmon, produce, and homemade Italian meals every week? So I blame my parents for being so snobby. Thanks mom and dad, I owe you one! I also just happen to grow up in a family of great cooks. My younger brother is one of those people that can whip up a gourmet meal out of 5 random ingredients in the kitchen and make it look like a stroll in the park. He's got some pretty good signature dishes, but I think I might be able to give him a run for his money. Hmmm....Maybe we'll have to do an iron chef sibling rivalry competition....more on that later.  But, in all seriousness, I wouldn't have my love for cooking if it weren't for him, so thank you little brother (he's a lot bigger then me in real life). I also have to give a shout out to my dad's dad, Papa. Papa had a strange way with the kitchen....his style was more like "put everything in the Thanksgiving stuffing, including the kitchen sink." I attribute my eagerness to try random, crazy, exotic foods to him....although I don't think I will try putting turkey gizzards into my Thanksgiving stuffing anytime soon. 

With all of this indulgence and rich history, I find it severally ironic that I married a man that grew up in a family of 10, where food meant function, not pleasure. Think french toast, rice, casseroles, and mac and cheese. Gross. You should have seen my face when I found out that most of them had never tried Thai food before....really? These people even exist? So I guess this points out another important reason I must share my love with the world as quickly as I can....my husband's family needs to have their horizons' broadened. 

This is for you....and all those like you. 

One more shout out before I start this culinary journey....My dear friends Marlo and Porsche. I probably wouldn't have started this blog if it weren't for Marlo's boss pushing her to come up with a blog for "extra credit" (who does that anyways), and for Porsche actually coming up with the name, "Thirty and Famished." The idea sort of died as soon as it was brought into our little friend circle....so, because I am a visionary, and I am passionate about food...I'm just running with it! :) Thanks girls for letting me use this idea for my own personal fulfillment.  

Thirty and Famished will be an on-going personal editorial of all things culinary I enjoy. I'll share some of my favorite recipes, tell you about some secret Portland hot-spots, and give you way too many opinions about anything and everything you can eat or drink. I don't promise I'll be exceptionally witty or funny. I also don't promise that you will learn anything of great value that will better the world around you. But I do promise that I'll freely give away all towards the pursuit of creating food-loving disciples like me. 

Enjoy! :)

-Erica Stillar