I have one of those pans. My understanding is that they aren’t supposed to be used at “high” temperature and never with any oils or shortening. We’ve only used ours at medium temperature and w/o oils, etc., to do up eggs for breakfast. So far the pan is as clean as a never-blown whistle.
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I… just can’t wrap my head around that.
I did figure out that my cast-iron pan, if not quite non-stick, is at least now minimal-stick (I re-seasoned a while back).
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Yes, definitely nothing higher than medium-high heat for the white ceramic nonstick, but cooking eggs without a little butter in the pan is just wrong, and I will take my chances gumming up the pan. So far, so good.
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Speaking of cast iron…
Duck breast, seared skin side down in a cast iron pan, and then transferred to the oven at a high heat to roast. Served on a bed of lentils with mashed swede and potatoes, orange sauce, and a rich game stuffing. The stuffing is made with leeks, onions, sage, toasted chilli, sunflower, pumpkin, and poppy seeds, chopped dates, salt, pepper, and wholemeal sourdough breadcrumbs.
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Oh, wow. That looks spectacular. Well done!
Or medium, as the case may be.
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We recently tried making our own injeera (Ethiopian bread) from scratch as the local Ethiopian restaurant won’t sell us just injeera…
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That looks good. I’m not at all familiar with Ethiopian cuisine, though.
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This is the time of year when I make Duck Bigarade. Bitter oranges like Sevilles only show up in the local stores January through February. Regular oranges are just too sweet to stand up to the rich and fatty duck meat.
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BTW, you photograph very well.
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A little brown and not springy enough, but a good first attempt! You’ll have it down soon enough.
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We used the dark teff flour… may cut it with some regular flour next time. Any advice on getting more of the air bubbles in there to get it more like the restaurant injeera?
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What was your fermentation technique and how long did you give it? You might not have much wild yeast in the air in your place – it is winter, after all – so it’s possible you might need to tweak your recipe to make up for it. A tiny amount of yeast or (preferably) sourdough starter, for example, or at least a longer fermentation. For example, overnight rather than a few hours.
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Yeah, just water and a couple days covered… Might try that bit of yeast idea. Thanks!
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Even keeping it uncovered, or very loosely covered with something like muslin would be worth trying.
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No idea whether it works with injeera, but more-bubbles-in-dough that is made with water: a last batch of fizzy mineral water just before baking.
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This is actually pretty common – when my wife used to make it herself (before we moved near D.C. where pre-made injera’s easier to come by), she would cut it with self-rising flour. Much of the time, commercially-made injera (in the US) is cut with wheat and/or barley.
I am pretty sure that she never added yeast, but she did used to keep a starter in the fridge.
ETA: @thekaz, @chgoliz, I asked my wife about it, and she said here in the US, she always had to add self-rising flour. She could never get the bubbly-action using only teff. She suspects that only works in Ethiopia, where there’s something different in the air and/or water (conversely, cutting the teff over there doesn’t improve things, although some people do it). (This reinforces my suspicion that, in the US, there’s no such thing as gluten-free injera unless they import it.)
She does always use a starter. She suggests taking 1/2 or 1 cup of teff flour* (*edited for clarification), and mix that with enough water to make a paste so it’s a bit thinner than pancake batter – maybe like for crepes? Add a thin layer of water on top of this. Leave this out for three days or so.
ETA (again): But wait – there’s more!
The recipe was something like this: mix 2 cups of teff flour, 1/4 cup self-rising flour, all of your starter (as above) and enough water to make a thick paste. Let this sit for about half a day. Mix this with enough water so it’s thinner than pancake batter, and add a little bit more self-rising as you go. For best results use a blender as this also seems to help the bubbly-action.
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this is great, thanks! will let you know how it goes when we try it.
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Sure! I ought to have mentioned that these measurements were approximations. It sounds like the main thing is letting the starter sit for a few days. Good luck!
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I tried something new yesterday. The idea has been simmering in my mind for a few weeks. I have never heard of it before, but please tell me if the idea isn’t unique.
After preparing the sashimi for the extended family’s New Year’s celebration, I felt like I had a good handle on preparing the fish and vegetables. I’ve also been watching a lot of the Eater YT videos on Omakase. So I had the thought to prepare Omakase sashimi, but with Italian flavors instead of Japanese flavors.
So I bought some sashimi-grade tuna, salmon, and yellowtail, prepped a few sauces to brush on, and veggies to complement. Then served it Omakase-style to my family.
This is what it looked like:
From the top, going clockwise: egg noodles with fresh ground pepper, Jacobsen sea salt, EVOO; POMI tomato sauce with sea salt and shaved sweet onion; anchovy-horseradish sauce; yellowtail with shaved mushroom, sea salt, and truffle oil; salmon on shaved cucumber with lemon juice, and garlic olive oil; tuna with carbonara sauce & pecorino cheese; shaved radish (salted).
The big hit was the salmon with cucumber, lemon, and garlic oil. It melted in your mouth and had just the right combination of sweet, tart, buttery, and that hit of garlic. It took a few tries to dial-in the yellowtail with the mushroom. I found one drop of lemon directly on the fish, with 0.2 pinch of salt really helped the flavor. Without the lemon, you couldn’t taste the fish. A touch of vinegar might also work.
I had high hopes for the carbonara sauce, but it was bland. I wouldn’t bring that one back. The tuna was best with the anchovy-horseradish sauce (which was intended to replace soy sauce with wasabi) and the shaved radish. It was also good with the tomato/onion combo, but again, only with a drop of the anchovy-horseradish on it.
Overall, it was a nice experiment. I would go with some more flavorful fish next time. Maybe some mackerel or bonito. The serving style was also a lot of fun. There was a production to it that we enjoyed. It made a regular meal at home more of an experience.
Oh, and I enjoyed a nice Prosecco with the meal. It worked well with the fish, though I might go with a Pinot Noir next time.
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Wow! I may try anchovy-Horseradish sauce tonight. I have a head cold, but I bet I will be able to taste that.
I make a delicious homemade fresh horseradish with just a pinch if salt and a dash of cider vinegar.
Thank you,
And Cheers.
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