A Day of Plenty

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and we finally slept in. Even the dog was tired and Mrs.B didn't even stir until we got up at 10:30am. Both C and I were still full from yesterdays birthday BBQ food so no breakfast was required. Plus, we were headed to share some Ethiopian cuisine from Kokeb with my parents at 12:30. None of us had ever been but I had tried Ethiopian food before are Masawa. However, they had the poorest service I had ever experienced and there is no justifying waiting 2 hours for food. Kokeb, where we went to on Sunday, proved to be quite delicious and a reasonable wait. We first sampled the vegetarian samosas, which were stuffed with spicy green lentils and were amazing and piping hot. Golden and crispy, right from the deep fryer. They came with some minced hot pepper sauce that provided just enough heat.

Next, we ordered one meat mixed platter and one meat and vegetarian mixed platter which actually all came out together on one enormous platter. Stewed meats (chicken legs, eggs, chopped beef) and lentils (brown, green, yellow) were sitting atop on the spongy sour dough ingeri in little mounds. Crispy salad of lettuce and a light tangy oil and vinegar dressing were also joining the platter with crispy fried potato slices, beet salad, and stewed potatoes.

Everything was hot, delicious, and had just enough heat to be a crowd pleasing dish. One of the most fun parts about Ethiopian platters, is the social aspect of sharing the meal. A plate in injeri is brought out and this acts as your cutlery. You tear pieces of the spongy sour crepe-like bread into smaller pieces, then use it to scoop up the stews and bring it to your mouth. For me, this is the only way to eat the food and part of the experience. The culture of touching the food that you eat with your hands adds the tactile element to the visual, taste, and smell. I would recommend this type of food to those that enjoy the company of their friends and don't mind sharing off the same plate.

At the end of the meal, we did the coffee ceremony, which really wasn't a ceremony at all. I'm not sure where this promised frankincense was, but the hand roasted coffee beans really made the flavour bold and unapologetic. Some of the best coffee I have ever tried.

Kokeb mixed meat and vegetarian platter

Ethiopian coffee

With full bellies and a fleeting thought of the tragic irony that we were gorged full of wonderful Ethiopian cuisine while too many people to count are currently experiencing famine in the African country, we drove home. I cannot imagine not being able to afford food, and it costing 60% of our take home pay. We are truly lucky to have been born Canadian and while it sounds like such a cliche to say, we could have been born anywhere into any circumstance. I always wonder if there is such a thing as reincarnation and if once we die, we come back in the opposite circumstance that we are in, or perhaps we trade places with someone that we have wronged or looked down on to walk a mile (or a lifetime) in their shoes. Appreciate what you have if you have it. Not everyone is so lucky to get to eat daily.

Later in the evening, after much running around and getting errands done, my husband and I returned from Walmart and Superstore looking as if we were going to be hosting a giant BBQ. We bought out all of Walmart's ketchup and canned pickled items it seemed.

We had planned to make my aunt L's recipe for antipasto. Or Anti-Pasta as my dad calls it.

Basically, this is pickled items, chopped veggies, tuna, in a tomato base that you serve as an appetizer, often on crackers. You can buy this in many stored, but it's expensive and homemade just tastes better.

We decided to do the 1-1/2 version of this recipe which translates into a whole heck-of-a-lot of chopping. 3 red and 3 green peppers chopped into perfect little cubes, 1-1/2 lbs cauliflower (everything gets chopped into the same sizes little cubes), 1-1/2 cups carrots, 6 cans green beans, 3 jars black olives, 3 jars green olives, and 3 jars pickled onions

At least an hour of chopping for the antipasto base

Once all of the chopping has been done, too much oil (in my opinion) is added to a large (and by large, I mean you need basically a bathtub of a pot) pot. Which, we didn't have, so we had to half the 1-1/2 recipe so that we could make 2 of our large pasta pots of it. So, the carrot and onion get dropped into the boiling olive oil first (after they have been parboiled for 3 minutes), then this is cooked for about 5 minutes. Then, in goes the peppers and onion.

1 batch of antipasto: chopped veggies cooking

Next, in goes all of the ketchup. Two 750ml bottles of regular ketchup per pot and one between the 2. Then, 1 bottle of hot ketchup each and one between the 2.

So much ketchup!

Now, the green beans and olives are added and again, the mixture is brought to a boil. Then, 3 tins of drained and flaked tuna per pot get added, and again, brought to a boil. There is a lot of cooking time with this as well. If you plan to make this, reserve about 3 hours for yourself, without the canning part.

Finished antipasto, boiling



Ladling the hot antipasto into mason jars



Finally, at almost 10pm, we finished. The 2 full large pasta pots full of antipasto were no all in their jars and formed a sea of spread across the countertop. We had an army of jars, waiting for their time to shine at a party or as part of a present. We were too tired to seal them, so they went into the fridge and today we'll get out the canner and seal them all for pantry storage.

These are best aged for a minimum of a week before eating them and taste best cold on crackers. I'll try to share some with you if I can pry a couple jars of out my hubby's grasp ;)

Finished jars of antipasto

Antipasto Army