Waste not

One of the biggest issues with cooking Eritrean food is getting consistent injera - the right texture and a nice balance of fermentation.  The other issue is what to do with the leftover bread.  Maybe it'll last a day at room temperature but then it gets very tangy...if you refrigerate it, the texture is all wrong, so I generally try to make enough zigni to last two days or make a new dish the next day. 

As usual my daughter was asking for timtimo...I actually could've gone for qulwah but i didn't have any beef.  I made the timtimo in the crockpot on Sunday with some frozen green beans on the side.  Yesterday I was in the mood for mac and cheese so I made it (as the main dish) with a little pan seared halibut and the leftover green beans on the side.  We haven't had mac and cheese in awhile so everyone was pleasantly surprised.  The only problem was that we had a couple of pieces of injera still lurking around so I stuck in the the refrigerator.

When I made the timtimo I realized that my berbere supply is just about depleted...somehow Abay is almost out of berbere herself, so my friend offered me some berbere paste.  We're not sure how Abay's friend made it but it looks like it's berbere that's been cooked with oil, water, and possibly onions and garlic.  Beggars can't be choosers so I gladly accepted some. 

This morning I decided to take a stab at injera fit-fit using the paste.  I sauteed onions in olive oil and butter (my version of clarified butter...tesmi is more authentic but I certainly don't have that), mixed in the paste then mixed in the torn injera.  It was so good that I might make more for lunch.