Magic Butter

Somehow, I go off on a tangent and get lost on a new path of discovery. Ethiopian food! In my desire to create an African inspired meal for my Kenyan friends, this path of twists and turns leads me to Borders where I find Marcus Samuelson's glorious book 'The Soul Of A New Cuisine'. Useful, practical and visually stunning, this African cookbook would fit comfortably on my smallish coffee table.('Oh gosh, do I really need another cookbook? I think not.') Feverishly copying recipes on coffee stained tattered papers, I am determined to actually follow through and cook some African food. 'If I place my hands on this book can I absorb the soul and essence of this vast continent by osmosis?' I wonder.

Back to the kitchen laboratory to make a fragrant neon yellow spiced butter called Nit'ir Qibe. Onions, ginger, garlic, basil, oregano, cardamom, cumin and fenugreek are simmered in freshly made ghee, or clarified butter, along with turmeric for color. OK, ghee alone is already magical, but this stuff is magical to the twentieth power. This is sllllllllooooooooowwwwwwwwwww cookin'. This is a test of patience. This is a meditation practice. A sadhana. A labor of love. When the flavors are sufficiently extracted, the golden liquid is strained and poured into an impeccably clean jar. Use it instead of butter for sauteing. Or drizzle over your cooked veggies, rice and grain dishes, or your beans and lentils. It's a subtle spice perfumed flavor that doesn't knock you over the head with a sledge hammer. This butter will last for up to three months in the fridge. Call me crazy but I'm likin' this Nit'ir Qibe thing a lot. Love the color yellow.


Then on to the Berbere, an Ethiopian spice mixture with some likeness to garam masala, but loaded with paprika and hot red chili powder. The aromatic spices, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, fenugreek and allspice, along with onion and garlic powder, with the heat of red pepper will please the fire eaters among us. When I use this in small quantities, say a pinch here or there on onions sauteing or sprinkled on the rice pilaf the dish is suddenly exotic. Too much of this stuff however could be lethal, especially to the intestinally challenged.

Using these Ethiopian pantry staples, I make a tomato based lamb curry with coconut milk and gingery garlic black eyed peas with collard greens. All packed away in neat little containers and ready to go in fridge and freezer, my friends practically jump up and down with delight and just plain relief that they don't have to cook. Having an infant and a toddler when you work outside the home all day, that is more than understandable.



Slow cooking has its many rewards. It's the gift that keeps giving. A slice of the NOW, that's remembered and treasured. When I find myself wondering 'What the heck am I doing with my time?' I think of how happy I am when I'm lost in creativity. Then I stop thinking and just breathe. Onward.