Archive for June, 2006
Siga (Beef) Wat
June 16th, 2006If you’ve never tried Ethiopian food, you should. It’s tasty and fun to eat since you use your hands. Siga wat is one of the standard dishes, and it’s best eaten with injera (traditional spongy Ethiopian bread; your best bet is to buy some at an Ethiopian market/restaurant, if there is one nearby, since I have no idea how to make it.)
This recipe is adapted from here, but modified in a way I like.
- 2-3 onions
- One head of garlic
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon berbere (Ethiopian spice; if unavailable use cayenne)
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon curry powder
- 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon sweet basil
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 pounds sliced or cubed beef
- 1 can tomato paste
- Chop the onions and the garlic cloves. Put them into a heavy dish without oil or water. At high heat, stir constantly until the onions appear translucent.
- Add olive oil. Lower heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for a few minutes and then add beef. Stir for about 15 min.
- Add all spices.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and stir until completely blended. Simmer 15 minutes.
- At this point, the sauce should be thick and dark red/brown. Serve with injera and enjoy.
Breadbar
June 24th, 20068718 West Third Street Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 205 0124
Not really a restaurant, but more of a bread market that serves breakfast and lunch, Breadbar makes some of the best and freshest breads and baguettes around. Their breakfast omelettes are unique, and make sure to get a bag of what they call “Wall Street”, little grape sized nuggets of chocolate and vanilla cake.
Tuk Tuk Thai
June 24th, 20068875 W. Pico Blvd Los Angeles, 90035
(310) 860-1872
A small, cozy Thai restaurant with great curries and unique Thai-style appetizers and dishes. Their pad see ew is also good, although their pad thai isn’t. The best thing you can do is order their mango and sticky rice dessert — the sweetest rice, the softest mangos…seriously, words can’t describe it.