Chef Dave Pedinotti of The Mouzon House drew an enthusiastic crowd when he prepared this dish at the market recently. A small crowd walked through the Market with Dave as he chose ripe, robust vegetables and fruits and other ingredients to make a provincial ingera. (Ingera is a national dish of Ethiopia, consisting of a unique flatbread of slightly spongy texture. The bottom surface of the injera, which touches the heating surface, has a relatively smooth texture, while the top becomes bubbly and porous. This porous structure allows this flatbread to serve as a handy scoop for sauce, and vegetables or meat.)
While similar to the French crepe this flatbread is thicker and has more substance. Dave made his ingera with gluten-free flour, farmers’ market eggs and buttermilk. The small amount of xanthan gum added to the gluten-free flour provides body to the finished product. The toppings chosen at the Market were fresh corn, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, sprouts, herbs and sausage.
To prepare the dish for the class, Dave used a top end grill, the Big Green Egg®, a type of kamado cooker which traces its origins to ancient China. The EGG®, provided by Adirondack Appliance owner Tom Thiebeault, has a superb grilling surface, but rest assured most grills that can accommodate a pizza stone will suffice.
Ingera is a delicious way to showcase the season’s garden bounty and enjoy summertime grilling. The spices provide a surprising depth of flavor in a finger food that can easily substitute as a light main meal. We are delighted to that Dave was willing to share his recipe here.
Ingera Batter
6 fresh eggs *
1 cup buttermilk (Argyle Cheese Factory)
½ cup gluten free flour (Bob’s Red Mill brand suggested)
1 tsp. xanthan gum (Bob’s Red Mill brand suggested)
½ tsp. salt
For the Topping
4 links merguez sausage from Dancing Ewe Farm*
1 sweet red pepper*
1 sweet yellow pepper*
1 jalapeño pepper*
1 onion*
1 head garlic*
1 ear sweet corn*
Arugula sprouts* to taste, and a handful of basil and cilantro
Mouzon House seasoning to taste (or Old Bay)
Extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Heat griddle, grill or oven to 500 degrees.
Chop the vegetables (except sprouts and herbs) and toss with olive oil and seasonings. Shuck the ear of corn, but leave intact.
Slice the herbs finely into a chiffonade, toss with sprouts and olive oil, and reserve for a garnish.
Roast vegetables until soft. Allow to cool. Remove corn kernels from the cob.
Grill or pan fry the sausage; cool and slice.
Heat the crepe pan or pizza stone.
Mix together the batter ingredients until consistency of a light pancake batter.
Ladle enough batter onto a stone or crepe pan to make individual serving sized flatbreads, or larger versions which can be into wedges after cooking. Flip over when browned.
Transfer the flatbreads to a plate and rub with roasted garlic.
Drizzle with olive oil and arrange roasted veggies and sausage over top. Or simply use the flatbread to scoop the mixture from a bowl.
Garnish with the sprout and herb mixture.
A version of this market recipe appears in this week’s edition of Saratoga Today. Ingredients marked with an asterisk (*) are available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market.
