Apparently today is a holiday. Or a “holiday”, as it were. The first Friday in June is apparently National Doughnut Day in the US. Yes, just what we as a generally overweight nation need: a day in celebration of the doughnut. And yet, when I heard that Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme were giving the little gems away, I decided that I could one up them by simply making my own, hence these Glazed Ricotta Doughnuts. For Breakfast. Before work. On a holiday.
I was making a jar of one of my staples — Berbere Spice — so I thought that codifying the “recipe” would be good. What is Berbere Spice? It is an Ethiopian spice mixture, a mix of sweet and savory spices. I’ve seen a number of different configurations of the spice, but the main components involve some heat (chiles, pepper cayenne) and some sweet flavors (cinnamon, clove, cardamom and nutmeg). Toss it with vegetables before roasting, use it as a dry rub on pork or poultry before grilling. You can even add it to fruit or yogurt with a touch of honey; maybe pie? [grin]
Oh, and you’ll be surprised at how “every day” the ingredients are … you might actually have a vast majority of them in the pantry. Having the whole spices and toasting/grinding them yourself is preferable, but if you just have ground (and no spice mill) just mix together the ground that you have.
I’ve been meaning to make this recipe for a while, and since it got cold out again I figured that I could just revert to cold weather food again for a day. The recipe is almost a combination lasagna (with ricotta and such) and meatloaf, then all rolled up and sliced. I served it with wild rice and a tomato-y sauce, but you could also serve it truly Italian with pasta, or go the other way with a brown sauce or glaze.
