Ethiopian Ful Medames - Fava Beans with Berbere and Tasty Garnishes - Recipe

Ethiopian Ful Medames

Ful medames (pronounced fool mehdahmez) is one of my favorite foods. A big bowl of fava beans with lots of olive oil and garlic, it is eaten throughout the Middle East, mopping up with fresh pita. Filling, inexpensive, and nutritious. So imagine my joy a few years ago when I found out that one of our local Ethiopian restaurants (Cafe Selam, 2715 Cherry St., Seattle) was serving their national version of this dish, which is eaten for breakfast or an early lunch.

I set out to make my own ful because it is such a simple and tasty dish that it makes a great weeknight supper for our family. If you use canned favas (or cook them yourself in advance), you can have it on the table in 20 minutes.

The main differences between Ethiopian and other ful medames is that the beans are fully mashed, a little berbere is added to flavor the mix, and it is served with big rolls of white bread (not pita or injera). The rolls are crusty on the outside and fluffy and warm on the inside. You don't want a real artisan baguette here. Something with a softer texture that lets you soak up the sauce is ideal. This is the only utensil you will have - no forks, spoons or knives are ever used with Ethiopian food.

A lot of the love in this ful comes from the garnish of olive oil, green onions, feta cheese, diced tomato, jalapeno and hard boiled egg slices. You can customize each bite for a new experience.

Berbere is the best known spice mixture from Ethiopia. If you live in Seattle, it is readily available from any of the markets in the Central District, or you can find it on Amazon (Berbere 4.0 oz by Zamouri Spices). It typically contains chilis, ginger, cardamom, cloves, coriander, allspice, fenugreek, rue and ajwain, and is quite hot. In this dish, it provides just a subtle background flavor, but if you make other Ethiopian stews it can play a starring role.

The beans themselves are a type of fava, but they aren't the ones that look like giant lima beans. They are more round, like a chickpea but a lot darker. Any Middle Eastern or Ethiopian store will carry them, usually both canned and dry. Just ask for ful. The canned ones work just fine in this dish, just be sure to drain and rinse well before using.

Ethiopian Ful Medames
Vegetarian / vegan if you omit the feta & egg / gluten free if you choose a different bread
Serves 4
20 minutes if you have pre-cooked beans

• 4-6 big crusty rolls
• 1/4 cup olive oil + more for garnish
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 cup minced white onion
• 1 teaspoon berbere
• 6 cups cooked ful (round fava beans)
• salt
• 6 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 6 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup finely diced tomato
• 1 finely diced jalapeno
• 2 hardboiled eggs, cut into 1/8" slices
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

1. Put the rolls to lightly toast in your oven or toaster oven.
2. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and fry the garlic and onion for 2 minutes. Add the berbere and cook for 1 more minute. Add the ful and 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.
3. Remove from the heat, mash the ful, adding water if needed to reach the texture of refried beans. Salt to taste. Return to the heat briefly.
4. To serve, divide the mashed beans between four shallow bowls and garnish rather heavily with more olive oil, green onions, feta cheese, tomato and jalapeno. Top with the egg slices and sprinkle them with a little cumin powder. Serve immediately, with the rolls on the side.

 

(Cooked) Carrot and Radish Salad - Recipe

Salad with Cooked Baby Carrots and Sliced Radishes in a Ginger-Lime Dressing

It is still early season at our farmer's markets in the Northwest. The booths aren't full yet, but I enjoy the challenge of figuring out what to make with a limited palette. Small, super-sweet carrots and radishes in every color are two of the items that caught my eye this week.

When I think of salads, I tend to focus on raw ingredients and forget that cooked and chilled vegetables are a perfectly valid option. This dish is an easy and pleasant exception, especially if you already have a pot of water boiling for pasta.

You'll want to pay attention to your technique when boiling the carrots. The water should be in a good sized pot at a full boil and well salted. Check them frequently for tenderness, and the very second they are done, plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking, preserving the texture and color. This is very simple, but the details matter.

You could do the same dish with baby beets or turnips or even potatoes and it would be just as wonderful. You could also elaborate with say, toasted sesame seeds, or a bit of pesto made from the carrot tops.

The recipe is pretty flexible about amounts, and will make more dressing than you need; you can use it the next day in a different salad.

Since staging at Canlis I've become attuned to the option of intentionally not emulsifying dressings, allowing the oil to separate to produce an attractive look on the plate. That is what I did here. If you want it to emulsify, add a small amount of mustard or xanthan gum, whiz the heck out of it just before serving, or use the traditional technique of adding the oil in a thin stream while whisking

Cooked Carrot and Radish Salad
Vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten-Free
Serves 4

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice or lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
• salt to taste
• 1 bunch of small, sweet carrots with tops attached
• 4-6 radishes, preferably of varying colors
• a few tiny sprigs of dill
• finishing salt (this Haleaka Ruby would be amazing)

1. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil and set up an ice bath.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the olive oil, citrus juice, and ginger. Add salt to taste, and reserve.
3. Peel the carrots and trim the tops, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem.
4. Thinly slice the radishes, using a mandoline if available.
5. When the water is boiling, cook the carrots until tender, checking them frequently with the point of a knife. When they are just tender, remove them immediately to the ice water.
6. When you are ready to serve, drain the carrots and pat them dry. Give the dressing a quick whisk and toss the carrots with some of it. Transfer to a serving platter, and arrange the radish slices amongst and over them. Drizzle more dressing over the top. Garnish with the dill and finishing salt.

Asparagus With Nori Butter - Recipe

Asparagus with nori butter

I'm in the middle of a two-week stage at Canlis, a terrific fine-dining restaurant in Seattle. [The stage is over now, and I've written a little about what I learned.] One of the many delicious items on Chef Franey's menu is an asparagus with sauce gribiche. At Canlis we use much more classical French technique than I typically apply in my home cooking. I thought I would apply some of those ideas towards this asparagus with nori butter, though of course the level of refinement is not as high as what we serve at the restaurant.

I think you will like the nori butter. It brings umami intensity and a slightly sweet funkiness that pairs beautifully with the asparagus.

The garnishes for this dish are nori strips, sesame seeds, Maldon salt, miso-lemon sauce, finely diced lemon zest, and chive tips. Don't feel obligated to make it this complicated at home! You could just as easily toss the asparagus with the nori butter and salt and have a delicious side dish.

You can do all of the prep up to a day in advance, and simply reheat the butter and blanched asparagus when you are ready to serve.

Asparagus with Nori Butter
Serves 4 as a side dish
Vegetarian and gluten-free

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 sheet of nori seaweed
  
• 24 stems of beautiful medium thick asparagus
• 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup white miso
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• Maldon or other flaky salt
• toasted sesame seeds
• 24 chive tips
• thin nori strips, which you can buy separately or cut with scissors from a sheet

1. Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil and set up a ice bath.
2. Melt the butter in a small skillet. Tear the nori sheet into rough pieces and infuse over very low heat for five minutes. Allow to rest 15 more minutes, then strain through a fine mesh.
3. Juice half the lemon and reserve. Cut the juice half in half again, squish flat on your cutting board, and carefully remove all of the white pith, leaving only yellow skin. Square this piece off.
4. Blanch the lemon skin in the boiling water for 30 seconds, shock in the ice bath and drain on paper towels. Cut first into 1/16" strips (fine juliene) and then into 1/16" squares (brunoise).
5. Cut the asparagus to uniform length and use a paring knife to remove all the little random leaves that aren't part of the main tip. Blanch the asparagus until crisp-tender and bright green. The tip of a knife should go in easily but offer a hint of resistance. Shock in the ice water, drain, and reserve.
6. Whisk together the miso, mirin and juice of 1/2 lemon. Aim for a consistency where you can make a dot of sauce on a plate and it will stand up. Put in a squeeze bottle.
7. At this point you can reserve everything for up to 1 day.
8. When you are ready to serve, have 4 hot plates waiting, and set an oven or toaster oven to 500 degrees. Melt the nori butter. Bring the miso sauce back to room temperatute. Brush the asparagus with the nori butter. Reheat the asparagus (this should just take about 3 minutes).
9. To plate, arrange the asparagus in a neat row. Drizzle on more of the nori butter. Add neat lines of nori strips and sesame seeds. Make 6 dots of the miso sauce and top each one with a chive tip. Randomly place bits of blanched lemon zest. Sprinkle liberally with the Maldon salt and serve.