Cooking from VeganMoFo: Socca

Remember VeganMoFo? I made a list of some of my favorite MoFo posts and resolved to make some of them over the course of the year. That original post is here. I am already a little behind, having only made mashed plantains so far. However, I made some socca today.

These were mad easy and pretty tasty. I like having recipes for quick breads/flatbreads/biscuits that I can make to accompany the main dish. It makes me feel so accomplished as a cook - like I have a super power or something (which I do... shhh!).

Socca: original inspiration from here
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Mix ingredients together. (Apparently this can be made ahead of time - like 2 hours ahead. I mixed and used within 20 minutes)
Preheat cast iron pan and oil generously. When the pan is hot add enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan and be about 5 mm thick. The edges will firm and change color. Flip when the firmness is almost to the center of the circle.
Flip. Cook other side for a few minutes.
Finished!

Apparently you can bake or broil these. Broiling scares the socks off of me!

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From Scratching: Roasting Coffee

Roasting coffee at home is in vogue at the moment. This simultaneously annoys and encourages me. It encourages me because if something so DIY as coffee roasting can become a trend then there may really be hope for a widespread change in the food production system. It annoys me because the rich, white urbanites that are buying raw coffee beans are not doing so in replacement of their charbucks but as a form of social currency.

My foray into coffee roasting is intended to replace the purchase of all coffee beans consumed in the home and I will continue to support local cafes. It is my belief that coffee should be a luxury. It should be a treat, enjoyed because of the flavor and comfort that it brings and not a daily necessity.

It is this view of the luxury of coffee that allows me to drink a single espresso that takes 12 hours to produce!

I have roasted coffee three times now. The first time I tried the beans-in-a-fry-pan method. This method would work but I was too freaked out by the chaff and the popping beans to allow the roasting to continue and therefore had a bunch of under-roasted beans that had to be tossed.

I then bought a 13 dollar popcorn machine and voila roasted beans!

Roast ya'selves some beans:

a popcorn machine

open window/fan

bowl

1/2 cup of raw green beans

stopwatch

tea towel

strainer

Situate the popcorn machine by an open window or fan as fire alarms have been set off with this method! Place a bowl under the shoot of the machine because once the beans start 'popping' chaff will fly out of the machine. Sometimes beans are expelled as well. Put the beans in the machine and turn it on. Start the stopwatch.

The following are some visual cues I use...

4 minutes - beige/brown

13 minutes - carmel brown

25 minutes - chocolate brown

35 minutes - dark chocolate brown

Turn off the machine and place the beans in the strainer. The top of the popcorn machine is hot, so use the tea towel! Shake the beans until they are cool and you can touch them. Technically the beans are now ready to use but I find that the final product has more body if you wait six to twelve hours. 

Disclaimer: I have not managed a really dark roast (which is the roast I usually like) but I have managed to make a decent espresso with this method.

Due to energy consumption, I would love to use the stove top method but I thought the whole thing was gonna light on fire! I want to try roasting over a campfire - if it lights on fire in the great outdoors - oh well!

Overall this was a fun/rewarding thing to do and the popcorn method is easy! I would recommend you give it a shot!

Have you roasted coffee? Do you have advice for me? What do you think about my views about the luxury of coffee?

 

dj

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Review: Kittee Berns' "Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food" Cookzine

    'Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food' was my first official cookzine purchase and let me tell you, I did NOT regret it! As well as tons of awesome recipes this zine includes articles on 'Cooking for a crowd' and advice on how to plan a menu. I think one could easily and successfully host an Ethiopian dinner party with this cookzine as your only resource - which I plan on doing!

     Another major plus is Kittee's guide to making Ethiopia style/inspired dishes. I made a pretty successful Jackfruit W'et following her guide. If you are a total Ethiopian noob, Kittee even tells you how to eat it authentically. I think eating food in the authentic way is an important sign of respect for the food and the culture so I love that this is included in the cookzine.
     I purchased injera for my Ethiopian feast mainly because I was in a rush and did not prep the injera fake-outs from the zine. I would recommend making either the fake-outs or a more traditional injerna recipe (which is available on Kittee's blog). I would NOT recommend purchasing injera. I assumed that because injera is not a mainstream food that the purchased ones would be tasty and authentic. They aren't. The industrialization and commodifcation of food as a result of the food industry is pretty complete. Any more than wonderbread is good bread, purchased injerna is not good injerna!

Recipes I have made:
Niber Kibbeh (clarified "butter")
Berbere Paste (hot spice blend)
Ye'abesha Gomen (mild collard greens)
Ingudai T'ibs (sauteed mushrooms)
Keysir Allecha (Ethiopian style beets)
Ye'miser W'et Version I (red lentils in a spicy gravy)

    The best advice I have for anyone cooking from this zine is this Don't be afraid of the berbere. I used a very light hand with the berbere and the resulting food was lackluster - which is an odd thing for Ethiopian food to be. The next day I kicked up the berebere and it was divine. The flavor of these dishes comes from the spices. It does not have to be hot, it just needs to be tasty! I made the berebere because I could not find any to purchase, but Kittee's advice to vary up the berebere recipes seems like good advice.
  My first foray into Ethiopian cost me quite a bit but that's because I really had to stock up on my spices. However, now that I have them, my next meals will actually be very cheap (cost of veggies, lentils and beans).
  
  I have only a few criticisms of this zine. I wish the pronunciation guide was either located at one end of the cookzine or directly after each time the word is used. The guide is currently located on page 18 and is halfway down the page and is under the header 'Make your own!' which makes it difficult to search for. My second critic is a bit more benign as I would have liked a dessert or drinks section.

This cookzine is definitely worth it. I would rate it 4/5.
I lifted the picture from Kittee's blog check it out here and get your own copy of this awesome zine!

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Eating the Web

a. The famous Isa Chandra Moskowitz tweeted about growing potatoes in towers. It looks easy, amazing and kinda space saving! Link here.
b. This article on how waiters read your table was very interesting and that my moody behavior may actually get me better service.
c. As someone who has dabbled in homebrew and is an avid drinker of craft brews this article on the future and nature of craft beer was intriguing. I'm not sure where I land on the issues - except that good beer is good!
d. Bees without Borders
e. And yet another ridiculous article on Starbucks!
f. Lastly, the most important news on the web this week - I'm on the Sporkful! Listen Here! 

Follow me on Twitter @Sarah999 for all my favorite food stories!

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Food Podcast: The Sporkful

You may remember this post in which discussed an awesome podcast The Sporkful! They emailed me back and right before Christmas I did a little phone interview with them. I must say I was a little bit awed to be actually talking to Dan and Mark! After a few weeks and new podcasts I'd kind of given up hope that I would be podcast famous! But I checked again to today and my interview was included in this recent episode! SF111: Call in Smorgasbord: Grizzly Dan and PB and Honey

Thanks for the memories Sporkful!

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Food Blog Event: Dollar Store Foodies!

I have been thinking of starting this for over a year. I originally got the idea from one of those chef/cooking contest shows. The chefs had to shop at one of those huge dollar stores in the states that carry frozen food and fresh fruit. I have never been in one of those huge dollar stores but ever since that episode when I am in a dollar store I walk down the food aisles and try to think of what I would make. So that's the challenge! Shop at a dollar store and see what delicious dishes you can dream up!

Rules:
Shop at a dollar store.
Spend approx 5 dollars on 5 items. (excluding taxes)
Use those 5 items and standard pantry and spice items. (Standard to you.)
The items purchased should be the star of the dish!

Deadline: 31 March 2012

Send an email to wingedsnail99 [at] hotmail [dot] ca with the following information:
- your name
- your location
- the name of the dish
- the ingredients that you got at the dollar store
- perma link to the blog post (the blog post should include a link to this blog)
- a small, thumbnail picture of the dish

Questions? Ask away!

Be creative and have fun. And come back in April for roundup!

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News for March

I have been posting my 'news' here on the food blog but because of the nature of this news (food distro, academic, and life in general) I have decided to shift it over to my main blog - www.sarahhoffman99.blogspot.com. This month's is posted on both blogs but next month will be on the main blog only! Thanks!

This month...
... on www.wingedsnail99.blogspot.com there will be
a. a review of the cookzine 'Papa Tofu loves Ethiopian Food'
b. my first foray into coffee roasting
c. monthly blog event entitled 'Dollar Store Foodies!'
... at the cookzine distro
a. massive zine listing update
... Presentations at
a. philopolis Guelph
b. Dalhousie graduate conference
... regarding zines in general
a. final layout and print run of the zine 'Make a Wish...'
b. first official call for submission for my next zine project (don't worry it WILL be about food!)
... in real life
a. 4 year wedding anniversary
b. St. P's day celebration!

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