Shro Wat... Adventures in Eating

A couple weeks ago my husband and I went out for a 'date'. He wanted to go to this Ethiopian restaurant, Abyssnia, that he had tried with some coworkers for lunch. I have had the Ethiopian style beans at another restaurant. They did not have tefff with it though. Mainly because even though The Natural Eatery is owned by Ethiopian people and there is Ethiopian food- it is more about vegetables and local fresh produce. This other place Abyssnia- is really about Ethiopian food. Since I have never tried teff before I was a bit ambivalent about going. This is not like me, you see, I am more of an adventure eater and really prefer ethnic dishes rather than American dishes. I went anyway.

Really, it was darn good move on my part. An excellent suggestion on my husbands part. The food there was delicious. Like, over the top delicious. I am not an expert on Ethiopian food but I sure am an expert on what tastes good to me and this food ROCKED the house. I am so in love with injera now, I am waiting with baited breath to go back again.

There was a side of these amazing creamy vegetables, the brown lentil beans, misr wat, that I had made before (see here) and a yellow lentil bean. Then I had a lamb type stew dish that was really good. But honestly I was really gung ho about the beans and the veggies. I did make a vegetable dish a few days after that experience that was close to what I had at the restaurant. If any of you have or know of such a recipe for these Ethiopian style vegetables- I would so love to know about it.

And of course my husband, being the really daring eater that he is, had a raw beef dish. Similar to steak tartar I guess. I just couldnt do it. I could not bring myself to eat it. Maybe next time.

After a thorough investigation of Ethiopian recipes on the web- I decided to make this dish. Sounded kind of interesting. While it will not win any beauty awards- it sure was delicious. The recipe really had me when it said I have peanut butter AND butternut squash in the same bowl.

Shro Wat
based on this recipe at Ethiopian Recipes

1/2 lb butternut squash, cubed
1 jar (32 ounces) stewed tomatoes
2 teaspoons berbere, powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup corn kernel
2 tablespoons peanut oil
salt
pepper

In a large saucepan, brown the onion in the oil, then add the garlic and the berbere powder and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, peanut butter and tomato paste and stir until sauce is smooth.

Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 30-45 minutes. During this time, stir every so often and add more water as needed. Towards the end of the cooking time add the corn.

At the end of cooking if the sauce is too thick, add more water; if too thin, boil to reduce. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary and serve.