Shoestring Gourmet - Ach, Du Leber! |
In February, a small but dedicated crew gathered at the sumptuous Arrowhead Ranch home of Jane Khatiblou to dine Ethiopian. Since Ethiopia lies at the intersection of several different trading routes, there was an astonishing variety of dishes to choose from. Instead of serving dishes one by one in our usual style, we readied everything to be sampled at once, as it is done there; it is only in this way that diners can get the full effect of the complex interplay of spices that are part of this ancient cuisine.Nedra and Glenn Case prepared the cornerstone of the cuisine, injera bread. The idea was to use this pancake-like flat bread to pick up everything else. served green mixed salad and rice; Joice and Chuck Braden, chicken with hard-boiled eggs, accompanied by a thick lentil stew served with cinnamon sticks. To complement the shimmering balance of spices, Ursula Gore favored us with iab (cottage cheese, yogurt, lemon, and garden herbs) and lamb cooked with cardamom and served with ginger vegetables. Though Ethiopians don’t really do dessert, we topped off the meal with espresso made with Ursula’s new cup-at-a-time coffee grinder/brewer (everything you need to make a great cup of coffee except for the goatee and the attitude), cookies and sliced cantaloupe.
At 6 p. m. on Saturday, March 10, Shoestring will be hosted by , and though our theme, the cuisine of Germany, will be a lot more familiar, let’s not underestimate the variety of Europe’s second favorite cuisine. We’re open to anything German, from cold to warm, cold appetizer to hot main dish, cookies to Schwartzwaelder torte, north Germany to Bavarian. And don’t forget your favorite German beer or wine! To coordinate dishes, please RSVP with Ursula at 602-863-9648 by Thursday, March 8.