I had used about half a large eggplant to make my eggplant parmesan, and I was trying to decide what to use the rest of the eggplant for. I could make more parmesan, but then I realized that I had a few lasagna noodles left in the pantry, and plenty of mozzarella leftover from the parmesan, so I figured what the heck, I'd give lasagna with eggplant in it a try. I've made lasagna plenty of times, but never with eggplant in it.
I usually make lasagna with lots and lots of cheese. I didn't actually have any ricotta in the house, so I made some with the milk we had. (Yeah, I'm that crazy, spending hours making lasagna AFTER spending hours making my own cheese. Somebody commit me or something). I didn't get much ricotta, but it was enough for one layer. I normally would do two very thick layers of ricotta, but for this lasagna I had one ricotta layer and one thinly-sliced eggplant layer. The skins don't need to be cut off of eggplant for something like this, or for eggplant parmesan, etc., but I personally like the skins off. I also like to salt the sliced eggplant and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or so, to draw some of the moisture out of the eggplant. This helps the eggplant from becoming too mushy.
For lasagna, I like to make a simple tomato sauce without too much seasoning and without chunks in it. It also helps to have a little water in the sauce so that as the lasagna cooks, it doesn't become too dry. The noodles get cooked a little less than al dente in boiling water, so that they can finish cooking in the oven.
After building the lasagna with multiple layers of noodles, sauce, eggplant, and cheese, I topped the lasagna with plenty more sauce and lots and lots of mozzarella. Baking time always varies depending on how thick the lasagna is, but I always cook it until it has darker, crusty edges. Those are the best parts, the crusty edges.
My eggplant lasagna experiment was great, even though I did miss the extra cheese. I just love love love the taste of eggplant!
Happy eating!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Almond Chili
...yeah, I said "Almond Chili." Let me explain.
Several years ago, I was in Indianapolis and my companion and I went downtown to walk around and see the sights. We came across a chili place and decided to check it out. The restaurant had a few types of chili, plus a rotating set of seasonal chilis. You could get a sampler of 5 or 6 types of chilis either as a full meal or to try them out before ordering. We got the sampler to share, as one of their chilis was a vegetarian version. It was made with tvp (textured vegetable protein, which is in many, many veggie meat products and is a reasonable facsimilie for ground beef). But, this veggie chili also had nuts in it. Peanuts, if I remember correctly. It was pretty good chili, not the best, but the thing that really stuck out in my mind was how good the nuts were in it.
Since then, I occassionally recall that chili, and when I do I tell myself that someday I'm going to try doing that. Well, it's been a long time coming, but the other day I finally gave nuts in chili a try. I used ground up toasted almonds. I made a typical chili for me except that I didn't use kidney beans, and I used a few roasted mild green chiles, which I don't normally use. I used my flavour shaker (I love that thing!) to crush the almonds so that they were a mixture of pulverized-into-a-powder and very-fine-tiny-pieces.
Dan and I sampled the chili for dinner that night, and wow, it was really good! The almonds added a nice subtle, nutty flavor which really highlighted the dried chiles well. Also, the not-quite-ground-up little pieces of almond added a little texture which I thought was really nice. If I hadn't told him that it had almonds in it, I don't think he would have known; it was really subtle. But it did work really well! I am so making this again, for sure. If you have a few nuts leftover from something the next time you make chili, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Happy New Year eating!
Several years ago, I was in Indianapolis and my companion and I went downtown to walk around and see the sights. We came across a chili place and decided to check it out. The restaurant had a few types of chili, plus a rotating set of seasonal chilis. You could get a sampler of 5 or 6 types of chilis either as a full meal or to try them out before ordering. We got the sampler to share, as one of their chilis was a vegetarian version. It was made with tvp (textured vegetable protein, which is in many, many veggie meat products and is a reasonable facsimilie for ground beef). But, this veggie chili also had nuts in it. Peanuts, if I remember correctly. It was pretty good chili, not the best, but the thing that really stuck out in my mind was how good the nuts were in it.
Since then, I occassionally recall that chili, and when I do I tell myself that someday I'm going to try doing that. Well, it's been a long time coming, but the other day I finally gave nuts in chili a try. I used ground up toasted almonds. I made a typical chili for me except that I didn't use kidney beans, and I used a few roasted mild green chiles, which I don't normally use. I used my flavour shaker (I love that thing!) to crush the almonds so that they were a mixture of pulverized-into-a-powder and very-fine-tiny-pieces.
Dan and I sampled the chili for dinner that night, and wow, it was really good! The almonds added a nice subtle, nutty flavor which really highlighted the dried chiles well. Also, the not-quite-ground-up little pieces of almond added a little texture which I thought was really nice. If I hadn't told him that it had almonds in it, I don't think he would have known; it was really subtle. But it did work really well! I am so making this again, for sure. If you have a few nuts leftover from something the next time you make chili, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Happy New Year eating!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Veggie & Cheese Pot Pie
Since I've started this blog, I've reacquanted myself with many of the dishes I used to cook. I suppose we all get into these grooves throughout our lives where we are doing the same sorts of things, hanging out with the same people, cooking the same food regularly. Then something changes, and it gets shaken up, but then you fall into a groove again, a new one.
A few years ago I was living on my own in a tiny studio apartment in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a kitchen that was barely a kitchen, and I had to make do with my tiny fridge, very little storage space, and my insanely tight budget. A few years before that, I was living in a 2000-square-foot house with a huge kitchen with an island and a skylight, and even though my budget then was also tight, I had a different set of recipes I cooked then than what I regularly cooked in my tiny studio. When I moved out of that studio apartment to trek halfway across the country to Colorado, and moved into a period of my life in which I was now married, living with a somewhat old and broken-down kitchen, and with a better budget but much less energy for cooking since I gradually went from relatively healthy to very very ill, the set of dishes I cooked on a regular basis changed again.
Occasionally I'll make something that I have cooked over and over again in my life, and Dan will say to me that I have never made that for him. There are many, many things I used to cook all the time that I have just fallen out of the habit of cooking. One of those is pot pie.
My homemade pot pie is sortof a semi-homemade (a la Ms. Lee) recipe. I use canned soup and frozen veggies. But, you'd be surprised at how good it is; plus, using the soup makes it so much easier than making a beschamel or something. Here's how I do it:
(amounts are approximate; adjust to your tastes)
1/4 c. minced onion
1/2 stick butter
2 tbsp. milk
2 cans condensed cream of potato soup
2 cups frozen veggies (the basic cut veggie mix that has corn, carrots, peas, etc. in it)
salt, pepper to taste
parsley, paprika, thyme (optional) to taste
4 oz. shredded or cubed cheddar or other cheese
Sautee minced onion in butter with a small pinch of salt until onions are translucent. Add in the condensed soup (do not follow soup can directions; just add it in still condensed), 2 tbsp. milk, and frozen veggies, and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Not too much salt, as the soup is already salty. Add seasoning if you want, to taste. Heat the mixture just until it simmers, remove from heat, and stir in the cheese. Pour the mixture into whatever dish you are using, after spraying the dish with nonstick spray or buttering it. I usually just put it in a big casserole, but you can divide it into individual dishes, too. Top it with whatever crust you are using, egg wash the crust if you want it shiny and golden (you don't have to, though), cut a few slits in the crust, and bake it at 350 until the crust is golden brown. Time will vary based on the crust you're using and the dish it's in.
Crust:
Usually I make a homemade crust, but a Jiffy mix pie crust or other mix works fine, too. However, for a homemade crust, it just takes flour, baking powder, salt, butter, water, and a food processor, so it's super easy. This works for a quiche crust, too: Put 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt into the processor and pulse just to mix. Add 1/2 stick of very cold butter, cut into pieces, and pulse to mix just until it's barely mixed up. You should still see bits of butter. Then drizzle in about a teaspoon of water at a time while you pulse to just barely hydrate the mixture. When the mixture is just barely past not being able to crumble anymore, you are done. Then you can roll it out immediately, with plenty of flour to make sure it doesn't stick, or wrap it in plastic wrap and save it in the fridge to roll out later.
I have also made this pot pie with veggie chicken, but honestly, it's great with just the veggies and cheese.
Happy eating!
A few years ago I was living on my own in a tiny studio apartment in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a kitchen that was barely a kitchen, and I had to make do with my tiny fridge, very little storage space, and my insanely tight budget. A few years before that, I was living in a 2000-square-foot house with a huge kitchen with an island and a skylight, and even though my budget then was also tight, I had a different set of recipes I cooked then than what I regularly cooked in my tiny studio. When I moved out of that studio apartment to trek halfway across the country to Colorado, and moved into a period of my life in which I was now married, living with a somewhat old and broken-down kitchen, and with a better budget but much less energy for cooking since I gradually went from relatively healthy to very very ill, the set of dishes I cooked on a regular basis changed again.
Occasionally I'll make something that I have cooked over and over again in my life, and Dan will say to me that I have never made that for him. There are many, many things I used to cook all the time that I have just fallen out of the habit of cooking. One of those is pot pie.
My homemade pot pie is sortof a semi-homemade (a la Ms. Lee) recipe. I use canned soup and frozen veggies. But, you'd be surprised at how good it is; plus, using the soup makes it so much easier than making a beschamel or something. Here's how I do it:
(amounts are approximate; adjust to your tastes)
1/4 c. minced onion
1/2 stick butter
2 tbsp. milk
2 cans condensed cream of potato soup
2 cups frozen veggies (the basic cut veggie mix that has corn, carrots, peas, etc. in it)
salt, pepper to taste
parsley, paprika, thyme (optional) to taste
4 oz. shredded or cubed cheddar or other cheese
Sautee minced onion in butter with a small pinch of salt until onions are translucent. Add in the condensed soup (do not follow soup can directions; just add it in still condensed), 2 tbsp. milk, and frozen veggies, and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Not too much salt, as the soup is already salty. Add seasoning if you want, to taste. Heat the mixture just until it simmers, remove from heat, and stir in the cheese. Pour the mixture into whatever dish you are using, after spraying the dish with nonstick spray or buttering it. I usually just put it in a big casserole, but you can divide it into individual dishes, too. Top it with whatever crust you are using, egg wash the crust if you want it shiny and golden (you don't have to, though), cut a few slits in the crust, and bake it at 350 until the crust is golden brown. Time will vary based on the crust you're using and the dish it's in.
Crust:
Usually I make a homemade crust, but a Jiffy mix pie crust or other mix works fine, too. However, for a homemade crust, it just takes flour, baking powder, salt, butter, water, and a food processor, so it's super easy. This works for a quiche crust, too: Put 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt into the processor and pulse just to mix. Add 1/2 stick of very cold butter, cut into pieces, and pulse to mix just until it's barely mixed up. You should still see bits of butter. Then drizzle in about a teaspoon of water at a time while you pulse to just barely hydrate the mixture. When the mixture is just barely past not being able to crumble anymore, you are done. Then you can roll it out immediately, with plenty of flour to make sure it doesn't stick, or wrap it in plastic wrap and save it in the fridge to roll out later.
I have also made this pot pie with veggie chicken, but honestly, it's great with just the veggies and cheese.
Happy eating!
Peppermint Patties
One of my sisters made a treat over the holidays that I think is my favorite new addition to the traditional holiday treat line-up. She made homemade peppermint patties! You would think they'd be difficult to make, but actually they seemed super easy. Everybody loved them, too. I haven't tried to make them myself yet, but I am going to this week.
The filling is a simple mixture of powdered sugar and a little cream cheese, and of course peppermint extract for the minty flavor. I suppose they could be made with other flavors instead. That might be something to try. Once the filling is made into balls and flattened into discs, you coat them in melted chocolate, and let them cool. Pretty simple, really.
Everyone in the family loved them. Once I make them myself, I'll report on how I did.
Happy New Year eating!
The filling is a simple mixture of powdered sugar and a little cream cheese, and of course peppermint extract for the minty flavor. I suppose they could be made with other flavors instead. That might be something to try. Once the filling is made into balls and flattened into discs, you coat them in melted chocolate, and let them cool. Pretty simple, really.
Everyone in the family loved them. Once I make them myself, I'll report on how I did.
Happy New Year eating!
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