8 small red potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger puree
6 scallions, minced
salt and pepper
water

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook potatoes until just tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan heat the oil with onions, jalapeno, garlic, ginger and scallions. Do not allow to brown.
3. Drain potatoes, pat dry and toss with the flavored oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes 4 servings

4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ginger puree
3 cups water
3/4 cup red lentils
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil with garlic and onions in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook until onions are tender, then stir in tomato paste, paprika and ginger.
2. Add water, bring mixture to a boil, then add the lentils. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings

1 cup butter, cubed
1 small onion, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger puree
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 black cardamom pod
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole clove
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, being careful not to brown.
2. Once melted, raise heat to bring the butter to a boil and stir in the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Reduce the heat to a simmer and leave uncovered until the milk solids have separated, about 30 minutes.
3. Strain the clarified (clear) part of the butter and discard the milk solids.
4. Heat prepared butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown lightly on both sides, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until chicken is cooked through to center and juices run clear when pierced with a fork. Serve with excess butter from pan.

Makes 4 servings

In the never-ending search for new dinners to prepare, I've now came across a selection of Ethiopian meals to create. They sort of blur together with this general idea of what I picture Indian food to be, which is basically anything composed of vegetable, grain or meat and any spice that could potentially be in a garam masala. However, it gave me an excuse to buy even more dried lentils than I already have in my cupboard. It's possible I've already done Ethiopian, but I haven't done these specific recipes, so here we go.

The lentils were purchased for Amhari Mesir Wat, which I'm calling Ethiopian red lentils from here on in. I like red lentils because they get sort of creamy like split peas instead of like brown lentils, which just sort of retain their shape. Maybe I'm imagining that. They're cooked simply in a tomato onion sauce, which does not really set them all that far apart from any other curried lentilish dish I've made this year, the main difference being that they're red lentils and do not contain ginger, I suppose.

I also made Ethiopian Potatoes, which I think someone might be pulling my leg on because they're basically boiled potatoes with jalapenos. It's hard to go wrong with potatoes, but I'm hardly blown away by this not so amazing recipe. To fill up the rest of the plate I attributed a recipe for niter kebbeh, an Ethiopian spice butter, as a way of cooking chicken. By that I mean I figured if I cooked chicken in the niter kebbeh recipe, it would turn out incredibly delicious. That was not true at all, because aside from a mild flavor of curry that was quite overpowered by cardamom for some reason, the Niter Kebbeh Chicken really didn't taste like much other than chicken fried in butter. Oh well.