Right in the heart of LA, there’s a small strip of Ethiopian eateries lined up to each other for several blocks. It was just a matter of time until this little neighborhood, appropriately called “Little Ethiopia,” was on our radar for one of our monthly Ethnic Explorations. We decided this was the month to venture into the African cuisine. Immediately, Merkato Ethiopian Restaurant and Market stood out among the many options in the area for its quaint market and gift shop filled with goodies.

Since neither of us was that familiar with Ethiopian food, we began our explorations with a proper meal at the restaurant. We were lead to taste their awaze tibbs, a plate of beef chunks with onions, tomatoes, hot red peppers, and spiced butter. And, yes, it was spicy! To help mellow out the awaze, we munched on the yemisir and yesega sambusa appetizer, a fried pastry stuffed with lentils and ground beef respectively. It may have been the late morning, but we definitely had to try an imported Ethiopian beer-–two bottles of St. George Beer please. Everything was rich and full of flavor. Perhaps the most pronounced taste in the whole meal was the bread traditionally eaten with just about every Ethiopian dish, injera.

If you’ve never had injera before the taste and feel can be quite surprising. Injera is a light and soft flatbread that has a unique, spongy texture. Generally cooked with teff flour, ingera is made from a sourdough yeast starter, so it has a sharp, tart bite to it. Like much African dining, Ethiopian food is meant to be eaten with your hands. The injera is your main eating utensil, used to scoop up the food on your plate.

After lunch we ventured into the market, located just on the other side of the restaurant. We planned on making doro wat (sometimes spelled doro wot or doro wet), a chicken stew that is known as the Ethiopian national dish. Along with the doro wat, we hoped to make iab, a chilled, light cheese side dish that is regularly eaten as a finish to most Ethiopian meals. And well, it’s pretty safe to say no Ethiopian meal would be complete without injera. Whether we wanted to or not, injera had to be made to do justice to this cooking attempt.

The market had specialty spices galore! A whole wall was dedicated to a variety of ethnic dried herbs, ground spices, and raw grains and beans. In the same section you could purchase Merkato’s own injera bread packaged and piled knee-high. One customer whizzed by and did just that during our visit, very enthusiastically we might add! Other than this corner of spices, grains, and other snacks, there wasn’t much other food one could buy at the market. For the doro wat, we specifically needed the spiced butter niter kibbeh, along with berberé paste, which is a red pepper paste mixed with several other spices–cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, fenugreek, cloves, cumin, black pepper, turmeric, etc. They did have the berberé paste for purchase, but one of the staff members there told us we should use ground berberé for the doro wat. She suggested it would give it a stronger flavor than the paste. We, of course, submitted to her expertise and grabbed the ground berberé.

Just on the other side of the shop was a whole selection of African gifts and personal items. Varieties of soaps, toothpastes, candles, incenses, even a henna tattoo kit filled the small space to the brim. There were also exotic body oils, stylish hats and jewelry, as well as a whole wall of African CD’s and cassettes–-literally hundreds of music options.

Whether you want to shop for a few African specialties or just enjoy an authentic Ethiopian dining experience, Merkato is a prime choice. We left the shop with the doro wat ingredients, ready to commence cooking our dish.

Amir also couldn’t pass up a couple African soaps. At five bucks for each item purchased, including the soaps, we left the shop with only a couple items and spent roughly $20. We now have, though, more spiced butter and berberé than we know what to do with. Our recipe only called for a fraction of what we bought. Oh well, excess ingredients could be a good reason to throw together another dish very soon.

Merkato Ethiopian Restaurant and Market
1036 1/2 Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 935-1775

Okay, words to the wise: follow directions! Unfortunately, we don’t heed to this golden rule too often in the kitchen. You would think one would follow directions precisely to the ‘t’ when it comes to baking and making bread, right? Nope, not us. For the injera, we easily scored the teff flour at Whole Foods, but because of our direction-following-negligence, the bread did not come out right in any way, shape, or form actually.

The key ingredient to the injera is the starter, which is just the flour and some water. The only other ingredients to make the bread are just more water, teff and some salt. You can make the starter from scratch or use a sourdough starter. Any recipes for an injera starter, or even a sourdough one, has the batter ferment for a minimum of 3 days. Some recipes even suggest up to a full week. This allows the dough to pull yeast from the air, and is something that is integral to making these type of breads.

Well, clearly we missed the most vital ingredient to making injera–time! For various reasons including our conflicting schedules, work, life in general, we thought a day of fermenting would be just fine. We were wrong! Our injera looked okay, but it didn’t have that sour, tart flavor we just experienced at Merkato. Plus, the injera at Merkato was light, soft, and felt like a flat sponge. Ours was not. Surely, any Ethiopian food connoisseur wouldn’t even consider what we made to be injera. Rather, it was a teff flour flatbread of some sort. Again, follow directions, kids!

We also tried out a “quick” injera recipe that incorporated club soda, but found it was just as sad as the other batch. We must stress, though, that the doro wat and iab turned out spectacular. We were licking the bowls clean. The chicken was moist, the iab was refreshing, and the whole meal was just so flavorful–minus the injera. Dora wat also sometimes has boiled egg in it. This is an optional ingredient that we omitted from our dish. And, Doro wat is traditionally very spicy. We like enjoy a little kick, but feel free to adjust the heat to your liking.

Dora wat – Serves 4-6 (adapted by What’s 4 Eats)
2 pounds chicken legs quarters
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 cup niter kebbeh, or butter
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 cup ground berberé
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup water or chicken stock
1/4 cup red wine
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate the chicken in the lemon and salt. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

2. Meanwhile, process onions, garlic, and ginger in a food processor to form a thick purée. If needed, add a tablespoon of water or stock to the mixture to help bind everything together.

3. In a large pan over medium-high heat, heat the niter kibbeh or butter. Mix in the paprika, berberé and cayenne and cook for about 3 minutes. Allow the flavors to seep into the oil but not burn.

4. Add the liquids, marinated chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked. Be sure to add more liquid if needed to maintain a saucy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Iab – yields 2 cups (adapted from What’s 4 Eats)
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to let the flavors meld together. Serve as a side dish or the final course to your Ethiopian meal.

Injera – yields 4-6 whole injera (adapted from Apple Pie, Patis, Pate)
1/4 cup teff starter from the previous batch, or if making for the first time check out a starter recipe here
1 3/4 cups water, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups teff flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1. Place the starter in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in water until fully dissolved. Then add the teff flour and combine until smooth. The mixture should resemble a thin pancake batter.

2. Cover bowl and let stand at room temperature for 5-6 hours. Reserve 1/4 cup for the next batch of injera.

3. Using a paper towel, wipe oil over a large skillet, at least 10 inches wide, that has a tight-fitting lid. Then heat pan over medium-high heat.

4. Pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of batter in the center of the pan, tilting and swirling it immediately to coat the pan evenly. Cook the batter for 1 minute, or until holes start to form on the surface. Cover with the lid and steam bread for an additional 3 minutes, or just until the edges pull away from the sides and the center of the bread is set. Do not flip the bread.

5. Transfer injera to a large plate or wire rack and cool completely. To store, cover tightly in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Click HERE for printable recipes.

Here’s another Guest Test Kitchen for ya! This month, our dear friend James shares one of his favorite recipes and cooking inspirations. He shows how your favorite recipe can be jazzed up or tweaked to fit any occasion and season, and how sexy a simple squash salad can be. This dish would be a fabulous contribution to any summer meal gathering. Plus, it’s vegetarian so everyone can love it. Enjoy!

“I follow two food blogs: The Duo Dishes (obviously) and Heidi Swanson’s excellent 101 Cookbooks. And while I look to the Duo for new flavors and sweet treats, 101 Cookbooks is my go-to source for healthy, tasty, everyday dishes that will get me through the week. Heidi’s recipes are healthy as well as wonderfully adaptable.

Last winter, I made her ribollita at least twice, then tried my own Mexican take with black beans and pasilla peppers. She does quite a bit of cooking with quinoa, which is one of my favorite whole grains, and I’ve adapted a few of her quinoa skillet recipes. But my favorite 101 Cookbooks recipe – one I’ve been nervous about adapting – is for a roasted pumpkin salad. I’ve made it probably half a dozen times, and have followed the recipe fairly closely. It’s so good that, until now, I’ve never wanted to mess with it.

But it’s a fall dish, and it’s 90 degrees outside, and why not try something new for the summer? So I took Heidi’s dish, swapped a few things, lightened it up, and suddenly had grilled summer squash salad. It’s light, refreshing and summery, and it pairs well with summer beer. Anchor Summer Beer is perfect with this dish.”

Grilled Summer Squash Salad (Adapted from 101 Cookbooks) – Serves 2-4
1 1/3 cups wild rice
2 yellow squash
1 zucchini squash
1 medium-large Vidalia or other sweet onion
2 lemons
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Before doing anything else, start cooking the wild rice according to the package directions. Cooking times vary, but I usually assume it will take an hour. Once your rice is going, remove the ends from the zucchini and summer squash. Cut each squash in half lengthwise and cut into half-inch-thick pieces. Cut the onion into eight wedges. Combine onion and squash in a bowl and toss with regular olive oil. Season with two generous pinches of salt, the dried thyme and pepper to taste.

Start a grill or preheat your oven’s broiler. (Grilling is best, but I used a broiler because my apartment complex is run by Smokey Bear.) If grilling, use a vegetable pan. Grill or broil the squash and onions for 10 to 15 minutes or until the onions begin to brown. Set aside.

When the rice is tender, drain any excess water and transfer to a large bowl. Add the onion and squash mixture, the extra virgin olive oil, sriracha, most of the chopped cilantro, the juice of one and a half lemons and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the remaining cilantro and lemon half. Serve warm. (It’s also great cold and makes excellent leftovers. I like it on its own cold, or warmed up and served over a bed of spinach.)

Have you ever made something once and then become determined to use it over and over again in new ways? Let’s use simple syrup as an example here. It’s such an easy, and occasionally necessary, component for a cocktail or sweetened beverage, but we do have some friends who didn’t even know that you could make it yourself. With just a little sugar and water, yes, even you can make your own simple syrup. It’s a blank canvas that can be adjusted and flavored however you choose. Once you have the base, you can add it to just about anything. Make a big batch and store it for all those times your recipe needs a little something sweet.

Most people know that mojitos require simple syrup as a sweetener, but really, you can use it in almost anything that needs a bit of sugar. Start the base of your lemonade or sweet tea with simple syrup. Take it a step further and play around with a pastry chef’s method of keeping cakes moist–brushing simple syrup on top before frosting. You can adjust your ratios of sugar to water depending on the final use. A ratio of one part sugar to one part water is the basic recipe, but you can go as high as three to one (a very thick syrup) or two to one (a mid-range syrup). The thinnest syrups are used for glazing cakes or cookies, whereas the thicker syrups typically find themselves in drinks or drenching candied fruits. This refreshing vodka drink is laced with hints of fresh ginger and sour lime. The infused simple syrup acts as a conduit that brings everything together and initiates a little kick with each sip. Who knew simple syrup could be that little spark!

Ginger Lime Cooler – Serves 6
1 1/2 cups sugar
5″ ginger nub, peeled and sliced
Zest of 8 limes
Juice of 8 limes
1 1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup triple sec

1. Pour the sugar and 1 1/2 cups water into a sauce pan and cook over medium high heat until it forms a thin syrup, approximately 7-10 minutes.

2. Remove the sauce pan from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pour into a glass jar or bottle and add the lime zest and ginger nub. Set aside to steep and cool completely.

3. In a large pitcher, stir the lime juice, vodka and triple sec together with 5 cups of water. Once the ginger lime syrup is ready, remove the ginger and pour the syrup in the pitcher. Stir well.

4. Serve over ice with a few slices of lime.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

Always on a mission to step outside of the box, here’s a a recipe from uncharted waters–Vietnamese cuisine. Can you believe we’ve never made one Vietnamese dish? When it comes to cooking, we both have our own personal missions and goals, and one of them is to try new recipes from all across the globe. About a month ago, we spent an afternoon noshing on a full array of Vietnamese food cooked by Hong and Kim of Ravenous Couple. When Hong heard we had never eaten Vietnamese before (not even the well known banh mi), he graciously extended an invite. They stuffed us to the gills with a myriad of foods that tickled the tongue with flavors. It was time to add Vietnamese food to the list of must-eats. As easy as it is to find a Vietnamese restaurant in this town, it’s more fun to try it at home.

This recipe could not be any easier, and if you are looking for a different way to cook chicken, this is one for you. Yes, there is a lot of sugar, but once the velvety, shiny sauce cooks down, the flavor is very complex with hits of spice and tang. Do not let the fish sauce deter you. There are a number of good brands on the market, and you can find them at your local Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese and Japanese markets. It can range in levels of saltiness, aroma and also color–from clear and light brown to murky gray. Find which one works best for you, and you’ll see that it can work in stir fries, salads, burgers, ribs and more. Consider this the start of Vietnamese recipe testing!

Ga Kho (aka Caramelized Chicken) – Serves 6 to 8 (Adapted from both
Ravenous Couple and Cookin’ Canuck)
4 chicken thighs, with bone and skin
4 chicken legs, with skin
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Thai chilis, minced
1/2 cup brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce*
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 bunch scallions, chopped
Water
Canola oil

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 tablespoon brown sugar, black pepper and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Add the chicken, toss to coat, cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Mix the onions, ginger, garlic, half the scallions and Thai chilis in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Once ready, pour both the sugars into a medium skillet over medium high heat and cook until they both begin to mix and melt, approximately 3-5 minutes. Pour 1/3 cup of water, the fish sauce and rice vinegar, along with the onions, ginger, garlic and Thai chilis. Cook another 5-7 minutes or until the sauce just begins to reduce, then remove from heat.

3. In a separate, larger skillet, heat a swirl of canola oil with the 1/2 teaspoon sugar over medium high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and sear on both sides, approximately 2 minutes per side, making sure the skin has sufficiently browned.

4. Pour half of the sauce in with the chicken and cook until it reduces by half. Turn the chicken over and add the remaining sauce. Cover and cook another 20-25 minutes or until done, basting the chicken occasionally and turning as necessary.

5. Garnish the chicken with the remaining scallions once done.

*There wasn’t enough fish sauce in the house, so there is a significant decrease in the suggested amount for the caramel sauce. The chicken was marinated with soy sauce for this reason as well. If you’re going 100% traditional, use all fish sauce for pure authenticity.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

It is so easy to be lazy in the summer. Sometimes you just don’t feel like cooking! Your boss is getting on your last nerves, so you run out of the office to escape. Traffic’s terrible (as usual), and the ride home feels like an eternity. You walk in the door, and all you want is to pour a glass of wine–not turn on the oven. We’ve all been there, no matter how much you enjoy to cook. There are many ways around this, and one of them is planning ahead, but another is keeping your mind open. Instead of making a big meal that feels daunting at the time, think about what is light, easy and satisfying. Fresh vegetables are so easy to make into quick, varied meals. Plus, they make the perfect summer dish when the sun is high, and your patience is low. And you can still have that glass of wine. We’d never take that away from anyone!

As long as you don’t let it dry out, phyllo dough can be a wonderful ingredient for a meal. Just cover the sheets with a damp paper towel to keep it pliable as you work. Make the filling ahead if you’re in a time crunch. Don’t feel like cutting up the goat cheese? Just stir it into the warm filling then cool completely. If you’re the kind of person who can’t fathom doing any of this during the week, take some time over the weekend to prepare the filling, assemble, then freeze each pocket. Pull them out individually when you need to bake them up. See? More time saved! For anyone who needs a little help learning how to fold your phyllo into triangles, check out these step-by-step photos. If at any time frustration begins, just take a sip of that wine and try it again!

Zucchini and Mushroom Pockets – Serves 12
1/2 package phyllo dough
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 zucchini, sliced into half moons
1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 large red onion, chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced
1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 ounces goat cheese
Olive oil

1. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a large, shallow pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the zucchini, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or just until the mushrooms begin to soften.

2. Add the lemon juice, zest and tomatoes. Cook another 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat. Stir in the basil, parsley and salt. Cool the filling completely.

3. Lightly brush a sheet of phyllo dough with the melted butter, then fold in half. Place a bit of the filling in one corner, along with a dollop of goat cheese.

4. Fold the corner into a triangle and repeat along the length of the phyllo sheet, maintaining the triangular shape the entire way down. Lay on a baking sheet and brush with more butter. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough until all of the filling and cheese are gone.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until browned.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

Yes yes, it’s another post highlighting yet another dessert. What can we say? We have a strong sweet tooth. A meal just isn’t complete without a sweet finish. This one takes us back to a road trip though. Just over a year ago, we celebrated Memorial Day on a weekend getaway in Santa Barbara. Our first night there we ate at the incredible Palace Grill–a charming, Cajun-style restaurant. After eating our meal, we tried their Louisiana Bread Pudding Soufflé for dessert. This delectable dish was a hot mix of bread budding with Grand Marnier, raisins and a whiskey cream sauce. It was so bomb we had to take a picture, which previously lived in our About section for a while. If you saw the excitement and anticipation in our eyes, you’ll know why this version had to be made.
We wanted to relive last summer’s experience at the Palace Grill by making our own Cajun-inspired bread pudding. Of course we had to have some kind of liquor in the dish! We wanted something reminiscent of the whiskey sauce, and dark rum immediately came to mind. What goes well with rum? Bananas of course. Brilliant! We poked around the web, bought a loaf of bread, and set off to make magic. And we were extremely pleased with how it came out. We must say, this recipe yielded a very large dessert, so be ready to share with a bunch of friends. Unexpectedly, this dessert was just as tasty cool as it was hot. Try it both ways. Regardless, you’ll be happy you tried it.

And while we’re at it, here’s a giveaway for you! Our friends at Snubbr are sponsoring today’s giveaway. Have a question or need advice on new products, appliances, vitamins, cookbooks–whatever!–the good folks at Snubbr will get you an answer. Speaking of cookbooks, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post about the cookbook that you want to add to your collection right now and why. The folks at Snubbr will choose the winner, and you’ll have the chance to pick any cookbook with a retail value up to $35 from any online retailer. It’s easy. Maybe you’ll pick one that has an awesome breading pudding? Let us know! You’ll have until Wednesday, July 14 at 11:59 pm PST to enter.

Bananas Fosters Bread Pudding with Custard Sauce and Banana Rum Sauce – Serves 12 to 14 (Adapted from Gumbo Pages)
Pudding
12 cups cubed stale or dried bread
5 egg yolks
7 egg whites separated
5 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 bananas, mashed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup dark rum
1 cup raisins
2 bananas, sliced

Custard
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup half-and-half
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark rum

Sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
Dash of ground cinnamon
1/3 cup of above custard
1 cup pecans, chopped

1. Soak the raisins in the dark rum for at least one hour, then drain and set ingredients aside separately.

2. For the bread pudding, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale, about 2-4 minutes. Mix in half-and-half, drained dark rum, vanilla, cinnamon, mashed bananas and beat until well combined.

3. In a a large, clean bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Slowly fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then add the raisins and sliced bananas. Make sure you do not deflate the egg whites!

4. Place the bread pieces into a deep bowl, pour half of the egg mixture over the bread and let sit for 10 minutes. Top with remaining bread and eggs, then soak another 10 minutes.

5. Coat a 9″ x 12″ baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Add bread mixture into the dish, cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for one hour. Remove foil and bake until the center and edges set, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle the remaining melted butter on top.

6. As the pudding cools and sets, pour the sugar, corn starch and egg yolks into a heat resistant bowl and whisk until they become light and ribbony. Mix in the half-and-half, rum, and vanilla and whisk well. Set the bowl over a bit of simmering water in a pot and cook until thickened, and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 12-14 minutes. Stir constantly. Reserve 1/3 cup of the custard for the sauce.

7. Prepare the final rum sauce by melting the butter and brown sugar in a skillet over medium heat until the sugar has melted and dissolved. Carefully mix in rum and continue to heat. If desired, carefully tip the edge of the pan towards the stove flame and watch for a bit of a flare! Stir in the cinnamon followed by the custard sauce and pecans.

8. To assemble, place a pool of custard onto a dessert plate topped by a square of the bread pudding. Drizzle the rum sauce over the dessert to finish.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

If you’re the kind of person who equates salad with lettuce and only lettuce, then today’s recipe will be a lovely change of pace for you. If you are the kind of person who adores couscous, then today’s recipe will be one that you must make now. Don’t waste another second. Two friends hosted a Moroccan-themed dinner party, and the side dish requirement needed to be filled. Couscous is a versatile, quick grain that you can make in less than 5 minutes and dress up however you like. Plus, it’s good for you! You can’t go wrong with this one. That’s why you can’t go wrong with this salad.

There’s no lettuce in sight for this salad, but it still has great crunch from flaked almonds, sweetness from plump raisins, warmth from paprika and cumin and brightness from the fresh herbs and orange flavored dressing. The addition of pre-cooked black lentils literally makes this a salad you can put together in 15 minutes. It’s just as good at room temperature as it is hot, and you can eat it as a side dish or a main dish. It’s packed with a variety of ingredients that fill almost every slot for the types of foods you should consume in respectable amounts on a daily basis. How many more reasons do you need to leave your lettuce in the fridge and move on to couscous?

Black Lentil and Couscous Salad – Serves 8 to 10
2 cups couscous, cooked
2 cups black lentils, cooked
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup almond flakes, toasted
1/3 cup raisins
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1/2 orange
3 tablespoons honey
3 ounces feta

1. Whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, orange zest and juice and honey. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients until well incorporated. Drizzle the dressing on top, toss and serve.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

One of the best parts of summer is finding ways to eat in a lighter fashion. Don’t get the wrong idea. You will still see lots of desserts popping up this summer and maybe a few more cocktails, but don’t think that’s all we eat. We like our protein and veggies as much as the next person, and we both find ways to create balanced meals for the majority of our eating. If you have a hard time squeezing in healthy servings of the food pyramid, try wrapping them in flakey, crispy dough. Maybe phyllo dough if you’re feeling frisky. It’s light and airy and provides just the crunch you need when paired with fresh salmon, spinach and feta cheese.

There was a short debate on our Facebook page about the final main ingredient for this recipe. We asked the poignant question: Would you rather see salmon or tilapia paired with feta and spinach? The answer was a resounding salmon, and there were several disparaging remarks about tilapia. It was basically equated to the garbage fish of the lake! Salmon was the right choice for this dish, but we are not haters of tilapia. If you have a particular like (or dislike for it), please share. In the meantime, try this Greek-inspired, phyllo dough-wrapped, protein and fiber-packed meal. It’s a fast and easy summertime fix.

Salmon Spanakopita – Serves 4
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for the fish
Black pepper, optional
1 pound salmon, deboned and skin removed
12 sheets of phyllo dough
Unsalted butter, melted

1. Mix the cheese, spinach, herbs, onion, yogurt, nutmeg, garlic, pine nuts, lemon zest and juice and salt until combined. Set aside.

2. Pat the salmon dry cut it into four 4-ounce pieces. Set aside.

3. On a dry surface, take one sheet of phyllo dough and brush well with melted butter. Cover with another two sheets of phyllo dough, brushing them both with butter. Put a piece of salmon down, then top with the spinach mixture.. Wrap the four edges of the dough over the fish, flip over so the smooth part is on top, brush the top with butter and set on a aluminum foil or parchment paper covered baking sheet. Repeat with the other three pieces of fish.

4. Once down, bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until browned.

Click HERE for the printable recipe.

We do a lot of talking about Southern foods. Maybe it’s because we miss them so! There’s something comforting and familiar with all of the foods we remember from our respective youths (even if that youth extended to our college years). We associate these foods with memories of family and friends on birthdays and holidays. No Thanksgiving or Christmas are complete without key dishes that only certain people are entrusted to make, and they know exactly who they are. One of the Southern dishes we’ve lamented the loss of would be shrimp and grits. It’s not a complicated meal, but it is full of complexity in its own right. A mouthwatering bowl of shrimp and grits will remind you of all that is good in the world, and you will be craving more. Oh yes, it is that serious, and you’ll see why.

In one of last summer’s Guest Test Kitchen features, we shared a good friend’s recipe for shrimp and grits. A year later, we are back with shrimp and grits, but this time, we’re flipping the switch. That’s what we’re known for of course! We met up with online and real life friend, Carole, actress and green blogger galore. She’s also a Southern girl from Georgia who knows exactly what we’re talking about when it comes to shrimp and grits. It was time for burger and fries, but we went for crab and shrimp burgers next to baked grits fries. Outstanding! We topped the burgers with freshly roasted peppers that we popped on the grill, steamed, peeled and sliced up. There’s also a spicy homemade tartar sauce with sriracha. The grits fries were crunchy on the outside but creamy on the inside. Each bite was peppered with crunchy bits of garlic that burst in the mouth and kept us reaching for more. Put these two together, and you will appeal to anyone who has a hankering for their days below the Mason Dixon line.

Crab and Shrimp Burgers – Serves 8
1 1/2 cups large shrimp, cleaned, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh crab meat
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup panko crumbs
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup seafood seasoning (A good friend from New Orleans gifted us with River Road seasonings!)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

1. In a large bowl, carefully mix all of the ingredients except the breadcrumbs, seafood seasoning and butter. Form into 8 patties and set on a baking sheet. Chill for an hour.

2. Once chilled, cover all sides of the patties with bread crumbs and lay on a separate baking sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flipping once.

3. If desired, top with a bit of butter and set the burgers onto a vegetable grill basket. Heat for 1-2 minutes on a preheated grill just for flavor and a little color. Serve on warm buns.

Garlic Grits Fries – Serves 4 to 6
1 cup grits
3 cups water
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Dried garlic (Amir had Garlic Gold Nuggets in the back of his pantry!)

1. Cook the grits according to the package directions. Stir in the cheese and salt just before removing from heat.

2. Carefully pour the hot grits into a large, shallow plastic container. Allow the grits to cool down to room temperature. Cover, then chill overnight.

3. When ready, overturn the grits onto a large cutting board and cut into 1/2″ wide pieces. Lay them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until browned. Flip them once to brown all sides.

Click HERE for printable recipes.

It seems safe to say most people have had Thai food at some point in their lives Even if nothing more than quick takeout from your neighborhood Thai restaurant, this type of cuisine is becoming more and more popular all around the country. There are numerous Thai eateries in Los Angeles that we both have experienced, but we’ve never cooked authentic Thai food at home. Luckily, there is a small neighborhood east of Hollywood lined with many Thai markets for us to explore, which come in handy for this month’s Ethnic Exploration. This month’s experiment was definitely one that lead us down two separate paths, but in the end, the journey was a good one. We definitely learned several things along the way.

The fun started in the neighborhood of Echo Park, which finds itself nestled somewhere between Hollywood and Downtown. We decided to check out A-Grocery on Sunset Boulevard. The local market takes pride in its wide variety and low prices. It is stocked with not only Thai goods, but also a few Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese ingredients. We poked around, speaking with the manager as well who directed us to the aisles we needed to peruse in order to grab a few ingredients for the day’s recipe. Our goal was to cook up a traditional pork laab–spicy pork with onions and fresh herbs. We’d also make a Thai tea to wash it down.

We only had to pick up a few necessary, but new to us, ingredients. Laab does not have a very long list of elements, but there is one that cannot be missed, and that is toasted rice powder. The name tells you exactly what it is–rice that has been toasted and ground into a fine powder. You have to use Thai sticky rice though for the real deal. We could’ve made our own, but we decided to pick up a small packet. We also grabbed fresh lemongrass, Thai chilis, vermicelli noodles and galangal powder. Galangal is part of the ginger family and plays a huge role in Thai, Laotian, Indonesian and other Southeast Asian dishes.

The market has an impressive amount of products stuffed into the small shop. We stumbled over Thai teas and beverages, condiments and sauces such as fish sauce, oyster sauce, ginger sauce and spiced additions as well. Move to the next aisle, and you’ll run your fingers over puddings and frozen custards, dumpling and spring roll wrappers, glutinous rice and bao flour, spices and herbs, and fresh and interesting produce galore. If you need to grab fresh meats and fish, they have them too. All the fish heads you want! Oh, and don’t forget to check the frozen aisle for pork blood, lumpia wrappers, sweet desserts and pre-packaged foods. Look carefully because you never know what you’ll find in there.

We walked out with two very full bags of goodies. Even though we only needed a few ingredients for our recipes, it was fairly impossible not to snag other things along the way. With everything we purchased, we didn’t spend more than $25, and trust us, we bought a lot. It was time to cook, and we were armed with everything we needed.

A-Grocery Warehouse
1487 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 250-1446

Here is a slight disclaimer. Our dishes were pork laab and Thai tea. If you’re familiar with laab (also spelled lab, larb, larp and laap), then you may know that it’s a dish that originates from Laos. Laos is locked between several counties, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand. It is the national dish of Laos, and it’s popularity has spread to not only Northeastern Thailand and Thai restaurants here in the States. If we must be honest, this is not an indigenous Thai meal, but it is one that has been well adopted into the Thai culture. (For a truly interesting look into the linguistic background of laab, check out the smartly written post from Leela at She Simmers.) For the Thai tea, we added our own twist–coconut milk.

Pork Laab – Serves 4
1/2 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon toasted rice powder
1 teaspoon galangal powder
2 tablespoons water
1 shallot, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
Zest and juice of 3 limes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemongrass, chopped
3 Thai chilis
Chinese vermicelli noodles, cooked

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the shallot, red onion, lime juice and zest, garlic, fish sauce, cilantro, ginger, mint, lemongrass and Thai chilies. Set aside.

2. Heat the canola oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add the pork and cook approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the toasted rice powder, galangal powder and water. Continue to cook until done, approximately 2-4 minutes.

3. Pour the meat, along with its juices, into the bowl with the chopped vegetables and seasonings. Stir well to mix. Serve over the cooked vermicelli noodles.

Coconut Thai Tea – Serves 8
6 bags Thai
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar, plus more to taste
Water

1. Pour eight cups of boiling water over the tea bags and steep for approximately 5 minutes.

2. Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar until melted. Add the coconut milk. Serve over ice.

Well, if we could say that both of our recipes worked, that would be great. Unfortunately, we cannot quite admit that. Something about the pork laab did not meld. Perhaps we used too much toasted rice powder or maybe our brand of fish sauce was too overwhelming. Something did not work. Maybe we should’ve followed the She Simmers recipe instead of doing our own thing, but hey, we’re the Duo. We don’t know how to follow directions. The Thai tea also did not float our boats. It separated in an odd fashion, and the color was very…orange. We could’ve kept those recipes under the rug, but why not share our faux pas with you. At least you’ll learn from our mistakes. In the meantime, we had to go back to the drawing board.

With a big Thai fail on our record, we set out to find inspiration for a new treat. The same afternoon we left A-Grocery Warehouse, we stopped off in Thaitown to explore one more market for a foreign beer. It turned out to be Silom Supermarket. Silom did not have the beer, but right outside the door, they had a flat top griddle set up and a short line forming. We saw these pancake-looking sweets topped with a white cream and stringy, yellow threads. We asked the woman in front of us what she was waiting for, and she said they were Thai tacos. Thai tacos? She offered us two from her box of many, and the second they hit our lips, we were sold. This is what we needed to make! We asked the man behind the griddle what they were called, and he only said Thai tacos. We left with our own box of Thai tacos and the decision to find out how to make them. After putting a call out to Twitter, Cheng at Have Your Cake and Eat It Too hooked us up with the real name for our new loves–khanom bueng. They are a very popular street food that comes in two versions–the salty version features shrimp and coconut, whereas the sweet one is topped with either candied egg threads or coconut. The toppings always sit on a bed of coconut cream. With just a bit more research, we set off to make Thai tacos. And this time, we followed recipes.

Silom Supermarket
5321 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 993-9000

Khanom Bueng – Serves 6 to 8 (A combination effort of All Recipes, Tan Kitchen and Thaiways)
Topping
3 egg yolks, lightly stirred
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
Cheese cloth

Meringue
3 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Batter*
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Starting with the topping, bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring often to make sure the sugar has melted. Reduce to a simmer and continue to heat for another 10-15 minutes.

2. Carefully spoon the eggs into the cheese cloth and squeeze through the cloth, circling over the pot. Use a heat resistant utensil to quickly stir the eggs in the water to break up the strands into small pieces. Remove from the pot with a strainer once cooked and set aside to cool.

3. For the meringue, add the egg whites and lemon juice together in a clean, dry mixing bowl. Beat on medium high speed for about a minute, then slowly pour in the sugar and continue beating until you have glossy, stiff peaks. Cover and chill until ready to use.

4. Once ready for the batter, whisk together the salt, sugar and flour in a small bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the egg white and vanilla until light and frothy. Stir in the dry ingredients until smooth.

5. Heat a griddle or very shallow pan over medium heat. Spray with a bit of nonstick spray if necessary. Spoon a thin layer of batter on the griddle’s surface, spreading out to form an oval shape. (If you have the traditional kra ja on hand, use that! With no kra jas on hand, we found the back of  a spoon to work just well.) Cook until just browned on one side, then flip. Immediately spread a bit of meringue cream on the top and sprinkle with a bit of the sugared egg. Carefully fold over into a taco shape and set on a platter.

*Traditional recipes for khanom bueng batter are made with rice flour, mungbean flour, palm sugar, egg, salt and lime water. We attempted this exact version on the first round, but we did not have lime water. Many recipes say you shouldn’t even make khanom bueng without lime water as it adds flavor and creates the crispy texture of the shell, and they were right! We tried to make our own lime water, stirring it into the batter, but the final taste was not up to par. It was definitely nothing like the batter of the khanom bueng we had outside the market in Hollywood. Looks like we should go back to the market, grab some lime paste and try this one again for authenticity!

Finally! We achieved culinary greatness! Well, at least on this day. Even though we had to use a basic fortune cookie batter to get the taste we were looking for, we were pleased with the substitute. It tasted almost exactly like the crispy tacos we grabbed outside of Silom Market. As you can see, this month’s Ethnic Exploration took us on a whirlwind tour around the world, and we tackled not just one recipe, but three. The khanom bueng top the list of course. We had quite an interesting time stepping one foot into the world of Thai food, and with pantries stocked with staple items, we are poised to try other recipes. What’s next? We should probably work on a new pork laab recipe, so it’s right on the money. If you have any suggestions, let us know!

Click HERE for printable recipes.