Another weekend, another pie. In fact, I think that this is the third weekend out of five that I have made some variation on the theme. But I like blueberry pie, and so do a lot of my friends, and this one is again for a grilling dinner. I’ll probably be switching to strawberries here soon, anyway (but then back to blueberries when my favorite kind — Maine Wild Blueberries — are ripe later in the summer. In the meantime, here is this variation, which has a bit of tartness from the balsamic and a bit of sweet from the honey. Don’t be put off by the touch of pepper: you don’t actually taste it much but adds a nice little bit of depth of flavor.
The other day, I made this Berbere Spice Mix. It is super yummy and I find myself putting in and on pretty much everything. But, seeing not everyone knows what to do with the flavors, I thought that I would give you three examples: Skillet Potatoes, Chicken Skewer Wraps with Tzaziki Sauce (yes, Ethiopian and Greek in this case) and a beautiful Heritage Pork Chop. Yum.
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.





