Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Ethiopian cooking class & Mediterranean Kitchen Restaurant

I finally attended the class I've been waiting for what seems like forever, the PCC Ethiopian cooking class. There were 2 instructors, Hanna Petros and Theresa Overlund. They are sisters in law and you can tell that they really love each other and have a great relationship. They were really fun and energetic. I learned a lot in the class. If you live in the Seattle area, Hanna and Theresa will be teaching more classes. I totally recommend taking a class taught by them.

They showed us how to make injera and even provided us with starter, which at one point started out as teff, yeast and water. woohoo! I can hardly wait to try it - well actually it lasts about 2 weeks, so I have a ticking teff clock. The pic below has the dishes they made sitting on top 2 kinds of injera. The injera on the top part of the plate is mixed flour (including teff). The injera on the bottom part of the plate is 100% teff flour. You can sort of see a difference in color. I liked them both.


At 3 o'clock there is Ye Ater Kik Wo't (Split Pea Stew/Sauce). This was really great stuff that mainly consists of split yellow peas and onion. It is mild by design.

At 6 and 12 o'clock is Ye Shiro Wo't. This was good, but I would have liked it a bit spicier. I made it at home years ago, but it was a much spicier version. I also get it really spicy when I go out to eat. The main component of this dish is a flour like powder that is reconstituted with water and you add things to it. You make the powder by boiling chickpeas in water for a short amount of time, drying them in the oven for a bit, adding onion and spices, then finally drying them in the oven all the way. When fully dry, grind up the mix - you'll get tons of flour from it. I've done it before and it's easy despite the long drying time.

At 9 o'clock there is my favorite from the class, Ye Atakilt Alitcha Wo't (Fall Vegetable Stew). It is mainly comprised of onion, potato, carrot, cabbage & tomato. It is not spicy at all.

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I'm also throwing in a pic of the 1/2 eaten Fool (fava beans are the base) that I last week at the Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue, WA. On the side is deep fried pita bread with a lemon garlic drizzle. I love this dish. I forgot to take a pic of the mezze platter that has almost all vegan appetizers. So bonus for me because I got to have almost everything :).

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Here's an old pic of Chippy in the tub. He is so nosy. Take a pic OR turn on the water in the tub. hmmmm...

16 comments:

Jenn said...

Awesome Ethiopian post. I am looking forward to going out for Ethiopian for a friend's birthday this week. I find the thought of making it daunting, so kudos to you for taking a class!

Jen Treehugger said...

Woah Chippy's eye's are amazing in this photo!
That injera looks like a big tongue.

*giggles*

But WOW! Ethiopian cooking classes! How awesome is that!
I so badly want to try Ethiopian food - I just know I would LOVE it!

Bethany said...

I'm such a cheater. I completely enhanced chippy's eyes in this photo. Though his eyes are really scary blue normally.

yasmin said...

wow, I've never even had ethiopian food. Sounds good though. and yum, fool/ful. I have yet to go to the mediterranean kitchen, but did you know b & o in capitol hill also has ful?

Anonymous said...

What a great experience. I love Ethiopian food so much.

Joanna said...

or take a picture while turning on the water and have the cat go nuts haha

actually, that would probably result in a wet camera.

love your crazy ethiopian food food adventures!!! that looks like such a fun class.

do you know if teff flour is gluten free? i'm trying to broaden my flours and only buying gluten free ones.

Anonymous said...

I haven't had Ethiopian food in the longest time! Now I'm seriously craving it. I love injera, but it freaked out my husband the first and only time he tried it.

Bethany said...

yasmin - I think I've had the fool/ful at B&O a long time ago.

Joanna - teff is gluten free. backed up by wikipedia. when you get injera in most US restaurants, it is made of a mix of teff and other flours - so not all injera is gluten free.

vegannifer - yeah, it is sort of freaky because it's served cold. I think it feels sort of like alien skin. but it's not and it is delish.

Joanna said...

thanks, bethany!! i use wikipedia for everything. my teachers tell me that it's a crap website, but they obviously don't know what they're talking about haha

Felicity said...

I've had Ethiopian food a couple of times (yumm), though haven't made it myself yet. Hmmm, The Cat in the Tub, could be a Dr Suess story...

Eric said...

Wow that food looks so good! Bellevue, you say? I'll definitely be checking that out when I move there.

I found a place. Going through the application process right now. Keeping my fingers crossed! I'm soooo looking forward to living in Washington.

Bethany said...

eric - that's cool. you have so many places to explore and eat at - must be exciting. psyched to meet you at your first seattle meetup.

For the Love of Guava said...

I don't think I've ever had Ethiopian food... but sign me up for some deep fried pita!!! YUM!

Anonymous said...

Hi! I was searching for Ethiopian cooking classes in the Seattle area and your blog came up. I have been eating Ethiopian in Seattle (Queen Sheba is the best, 911 E. John right off Broadway) for about 15 yrs now, and just started getting into home cooking. I still buy injera from the Ethiopian groceries off Cherry in Seattle. Anyway, I really want to take some classes because there's a whole lot I'm notgetting right, like the spiced butter, but cannot find contact info for the classes you have taken. Can you post it here? Thanks! We are in Marysville.
Jason

Bethany said...

Jason, no problem. I took the class at PCC. The classes change each time. Even a class w/ the same name typically has different recipes.

That aside, I think they are teaching a non vegan ethiopian class this time. The instructor is Hanna Petros. If you search for her name or for Ethiopian, you should be able to find it. If you can't, lemme know.

The most important spice mix in Ethiopian cooking is berbere. I've made my own mix of it before, it wasn't too hard.

I've also made the flavored oil used in cooking, I think that's what you meant by spiced butter. If you end up taking the class and they don't teach you about it or if you want the recipe I can post it.

Other than the injera starter, I have made everything they covered in the first class I took at PCC prior to taking the class from recipes that I found back in 2001 on the internet. It came out pretty well.

Have fun in the class.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much, i found the class and am signed up for tomorrow's session! Very exciting.