Eggplant Timbale ... not really

I grilled an eggplant last week and didn't put anything on it except a little oil and salt, and it tasted so good. I hear they're in season now, so that probably had a lot to do with it, I'm sure. So I wanted to try another eggplant recipe and saw Giada De Laurentiis do this on television. It's kind of a drum made of eggplant and filled with pasta, cheese, and peas. Besides halving ingredients to serve just the two of us, my major adjustments were leaving out the meat, of course, and making this in a casserole dish. I don't have a springform pan. I think the springform could make for more attractive presentation but somebody will have to convince me it changes the taste.


Ingredients:
1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise about 1/4-inch thick
Olive oil, salt, and pepper for grilling and seasoning the eggplant
1/3 pound pasta -- I used rotini
1/2 onion
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/2 cup quartered mushrooms
1-1/2 cup jarred pasta sauce
3/4 cup diced mozzarella, she suggests smoke mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Grill the eggplant. I used a grill pan, which I love because I feel like it's so much easier to clean and control than my outside grill, especially for veggies. I grilled all my veggies, including the onion and mushrooms. I know I use a lot of mushrooms, but they're just so tasty and go really well with pasta. Salt and pepper the veggies.

Boil the pasta; if you want to try my new-found green method, it's now tried and true.

Cube the mozzarella. If I were to do this again, I'd use shredded mozzarella, but I guess that's the trade-off for smokey flavor. When we were eating this, there were cheese patches. Now, I'm not saying that's unpleasant, and this way would be easier to defend if the cheese inspector stops by.

Mix the veggies (minus eggplant!), sauce, mozzarella, the Parmesan, and basil together. Line a pan with the eggplant, then top with the pasta mix. If you have some extra eggplant slices, place them on top to keep your pasta from drying out. If you don't have extra eggplant, consider topping with foil. I guess the other option would be to put the pasta on the bottom, then top with eggplant. Still not sure I'd do it that way, either.

Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, then let rest for at least 10 minutes.

This was really good. We both liked the peas in the mix, but I might also consider using spinach as well. I like my peas with potatoes and my pasta sauce with spinach.

Trying to make it easy by not frying it

No-Fry Fried Zucchini is just as good as it sounds. Yeah.


I'm always looking for new sides to go with pasta. Sometimes we'll just toss a whole bunch of veggies together, maybe some ricotta, and stop there. I've already written about the no-cream creamed spinach, but I was ready to try something different. We made actual fried zucchini once, I think it was when we were frying eggplant for eggplant parm. We also battered and fried some pickles, at Alex's request. This no-fry breading pretty much just fell off, but the zucchini was good. Maybe next time I'll try a recipe for oven-fried battered zucchini.

Ingredients:
3 zucchini, sliced or made into "fries"
1 egg
Store bought breadcrumbs, seasoned
Grated Parmesan
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400F. Yes, for this I did something I almost never do -- I preheated the oven. I used something else I almost never use -- Pam. Spray your baking sheet. I find the smell off-putting, but I used it anyway.

Beat the egg in a low dish. In a second low dish, mix breadcrumbs and Parmesan. I used about 3 parts breadcrumbs for 1 part Parmesan. Season it if you wish; I was worried that between the Parm and the seasoned crumbs the breading would be too salty. I thought it was fine; Alex added salt.

Coat the zucchini strips in egg, then breading, and lay across the baking sheet. Bake 10-13 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender. Now, the recipe I used instructed me to spray Pam on top of my breaded zucchini. First of all, I didn't want to do this, but on second thought I decided to give it a real try. When I spritzed my Pam at the zucchini, the breading flew off! So none of that. It also instructs you to turn them halfway through the cooking time, at about 7 minutes, and I think that is absolutely impossible so I didn't even try. Honestly, though, I'm not sure I would have liked this better if I had tried harder. As I said before, the goodness of the zucchini overpowered the silliness I put it through with my breading and baking.

Stuffing peppers

I can't remember if I've ever had stuffed peppers besides the couple of times I've made them, unless you count chiles rellenos. They always seemed deeply unappealing: dingy green overcooked bell peppers, greasy ground beef and tomato sauce. I guess I don't have any positive associations with this dish, but you don't have to venture too far outside the box to realize that you can put anything in peppers; they're pretty handy containers for all kinds of goodies.

I have three little peppers from my aunt and some leftover orzo I don't know what to do with. Ah, the perfect pair! I also picked up some mushrooms, a mix of a few shiitakes and criminis, and tossed in some onion and garlic borrowed from my tomato salad.

I cut the tops off the bell peppers and blanched them. I brought my water to a boil, salted it, then dropped in the peppers for about two minutes, then removed them and cooled them. I'm not a fan of overcooked green peppers, but because all my ingredients will be pre-cooked, I wanted to shorten the oven time.

I used the same blanching water to cook the orzo. Meanwhile, I sauteed the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in a little olive oil. I mixed the pasta and mushrooms together, tasted for seasoning (something I'm learning to do), then stuffed my three peppers. Bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes. Really, that's all it took for me.

Bruschetta makeover

Over the weekend I obtained a large box of homegrown tomatoes, some my father brought me from his favorite farmer and some from my aunt and uncle's garden. I also brought home some jalapenos and bell peppers from their garden. One last thing I picked up is a new (to me) vegetarian cookbook from a used bookstore. I might have mentioned before that I don't have one cookbook that I'm completely happy with and I typically peruse the 'net for recipes. I picked up The New Vegetarian Epicure and read author Anna Thomas' section on tomatoes.

I made what she calls Minted Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese. Probably the biggest obstacle to this differentiating itself from my previous post on bruschetta is that I omitted the mint. My grocery store happened to be out of fresh mint; I didn't feel like making another stop. Well, that and I just mixed everything up without layering it as she instructs. Alex and I agreed that the red onions and feta, though, were nice additions. I might need to research what parboiling those tomatoes in the other recipe accomplishes, as well, because these were just fine freshly chunked.


Ingredients: (confession - I didn't measure! I eyeballed the amounts to my desired proportions and also tried to make just enough for two servings; the recipe as written claims 6-8 servings as a first course or 10-15 as part of a buffet.)

4 cups ripe tomatoes, cut in chunks
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar -- I probably used more, even though I used less tomato
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 Tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 medium red onion -- I used less because I find it to have a bite that's pleasant only in small doses
4 oz. feta cheese, cubed or crumbled

Serve with crusty bread

Combine the tomato chunks with a tablespoon of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, mint, and basil. You can reserve some mint for garnish. Salt lightly, especially as the feta is salty. Mound the tomato mixture in your serving dish and arrange the feta around the tomatoes. Scatter thin slices of red onion over the cheese. Drizzle the remaining teaspoon of oil over the feta and onions, then sprinkle on the remaining mint.

Like I already mentioned, I mixed everything up and it was so good I only took one photo. I can see her arrangement being visually appealing, mine sure was easier to eat. Once everything is chopped, this is super-easy to put together.

The most Southern Southern food is vegetarian. At least sometimes.

What is that?

Sandwich on Arnold's yummy multigrain sandwich thins

Pimento Cheese!

If you're familiar with pimento cheese, you probably either love it or hate it, or maybe you've never had a really good batch. As a kid, I ate fluorescent orange pimento cheese from the grocery store's lunchmeat aisle as an alternative to slick ham slices. It was always sweet, chunky, and an a disturbingly unnatural color.

I can't remember exactly when I had my pimento cheese awakening. It might have been around the end of high school. Since then, each trip home has been highlighted by a trip to the deli that is famous for its pimento cheese sandwich. Yes, this is also one of those places where people also order fully cooked hams and turkeys. And I walk right by them to the coveted pimento cheese fridge.

I have tried making my own pimento cheese from a variety of recipes, but nobody does it like Papa at Holiday Deli & Ham in Memphis. My father was kind enough to export a tub for me to take home when I saw him over the weekend. This concoction is tasty in sandwiches, especially with a slice of fresh tomato and lettuce, or even smeared on a celery stick.


In its most basic form, pimento cheese is well, shredded cheese and pimentos with seasonings and some kind of binding agent, maybe mayonnaise. I've tried Paula Deen's recipe, others that call for grated onion, others that have two dozen ingredients ranging from Durkee Famous Sauce to Worcestershire and garlic and beer. For now, at least, pimento cheese is one more of those things worth getting ready made.

Clean out your fridge frittata

Dealing with leftovers is one of the biggest differences between cooking at home and eating out. Sure, eating in may be less expensive because you have so much food left over, both as the prepared dish as well as the individual ingredients. Maybe part of this is that I'm always cooking for two.

I've only started making frittata this summer, but it's super easy and a good way to eat some eggs. Personally, I don't care much for eggs, but Alex likes them, so we eat them. I can stomach them best when they're cooked thoroughly -- not soft at all -- and mixed in with other stuff. I'm still experimenting with what can go in it. So, we have some eggs in the fridge and an assortment of veggies and cheese, and I threw it together into a frittata. The result? An impressed husband and a good meal.


I used a shallot left over from the no-cream creamed spinach; a whole tomato I'd bought because it looked so good; the leftover Parmesan from the second run of Portobello Parmesan; and half a green bell pepper I just had in the fridge. I love, love, love cooked tomatoes. I mixed it all up with 6 eggs and a little salt & pepper, poured everything into a buttered (okay, margarined) casserole dish, and baked at 400F for 25 minutes. Voila -- leftover magic!

Sidenote: now, whenever I eat eggs, I think of the chickens wearing homemade sweaters I heard about on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. The story about the sweaters took a turn away from the chickens when Mo Rocca insisted that homemade sweaters were itchy; however, what struck me was the poor less-than-cooped up chickens stressing and losing feathers. And the solution -- make them sweaters? Huh?

Jefferson Hall and the disappearance of Cafe Istanbul

Last night we went out to dinner and a movie. Ever since I've made the effort to cook more at home, we typically go out for things that we can't make or that are just too much trouble. I guess in a way, that's what happened. We ended up with a really good meal, but it was nothing like what we expected. I should probably mention that fried foods is something I'll go out for -- seems silly to waste so much oil frying at home. Look for a trial of no-fry fried zucchini coming soon.

We headed down to Newport on the Levee, ready for a meal at Cafe Istanbul. We traditionally go there before concerts at Southgate House, most recently to see Mindy Smith and Tift Merritt. We also had a really memorable night there on the patio earlier this summer, but it was strange because it seemed that their air conditioner wasn't working. We enjoyed the weather on the patio, but our wine was hot from the bar. Maybe they were on the way out at that point. Anyway, when we got there, we were alone -- no restaurant. I can't believe they closed -- they had a great veggie kabob grill and, of course, falafel.

There are several other restaurants in the center, and of course we could leave as well, but we'd just paid for parking and had plans to see a movie there. We stumbled into Jefferson Hall, and I really didn't have high expectations. We had a great view, medicre service, and our meals were served in baskets.

The Purple People Bridge over the Ohio River from our table at Jefferson Hall

One of our bad habits when eating out is to try an appetizer, even when we know we'll have enough food with just our meals. I'm learning to use the appetizer as something just to try so that I'll be hungry enough to enjoy my meal. Last night, we got the soft pretzels with beer cheese, which is available all over the place in this area as a nod to the German heritage. Of course, to us, soft pretzels are very Philly -- plus I used to work in a pretzel shop. These were really tasty, and the beer cheese was better at Jefferson Hall than at Keystone.

Of course, the reason we chose this restaurant above the others in the same area was that we saw on the menu that you could substitute a black bean burger for the animal burger with any of their toppings. We each got a burger and fries and split each in half. Our suddenly attentive waitress wanted to get us a box for our other halves, not understanding that we placed them in the paper trays to swap. She seemed relieved that we would be eating our meals, not reducing their size prior to digging in.

On the left, the "better" burger -- we both preferred the JHall burger. This featured a generous spread of boursin cheese, a thick slice of grilled onion, and then the regular burger toppings (I took off the raw onions). The other one we tried is the California burger, which features pepper jack cheese, roasted red peppers, and guacamole on the side. I wasn't in the mood for spicy cheese, and the red peppers were a little bitter. Don't let my criticism taint this review, though, because this was a tasty burger. The black bean patty was nearly perfect; it wasn't a Gardenburger like I can get in the frozen foods aisle; it wasn't a hit-or-miss attempt at a homemade veggie patty; it was consistent, tasty, and much appreciated. I think we will be back, but maybe next time we should aim to be there for happy hour.