For the Love of Eggplant

Daniel and I subscribe to an organic vegetable delivery service called Door 2 Door Organics – which basically means every other Monday is like Christmas morning.  I run to the cooler on the front porch in eager anticipation and each time find a bag bursting with a wild assortment of veggies.  Our deliveries typically consist of the usual suspects: lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, and tomatoes; the bewildering deviants like those found on professional cooking shows such as “Chopped” (one of our favorites by the way): escarole, purple bell peppers, sunchokes, and parsnips; and those “tweeners” that aren't totally bizarre and yet wouldn't necessarily be sought out at the grocery store…..prime example: Eggplant!

The Eggplant
photo from: www.foodstubs.com

Thanks to this Giant Purple People Eater being dropped on our doorstep several times (and thus being forced to cook it), Daniel and I have finally tamed this often bland and mushy beast.  So Mr. Eggplant, this blog entry is totally and entirely dedicated to you...

Eggplant Parmesan


Ingredients:

• 1 Large Eggplant
• 2 Eggs
• Approximately 1 cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
• Marinara Sauce
• 1 cup Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the green cap and slice the eggplant longwise, approximately 1/2 inch thick. You can eat the skin but we usually take it off before cutting….

Bake the eggplant on a greased cookie sheet (we highly recommend Silpat mats for your cookie sheets) for 15 minutes or until soft.  While the eggplant is baking, whip the eggs in one bowl and place the Italian seasoned breadcrumbs in another bowl.

Once the eggplant is soft (and cool enough to handle), dip each piece in the egg mixture followed by the breadcrumbs and return to the cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.  Top with marinara sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.

We enjoy our Eggplant Parmesan with a side of pasta or gnocchi.

Eggplant Pizzas


Ingredients:

• 1 Large Eggplant
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Pizza sauce
• Veggies or meat for toppings (I like tomatoes, mushrooms, and sausage)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Slice the eggplant longwise approximately 1/2 inch thick and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Spread a thin layer of sauce on each of the eggplant slices and follow by topping each with toppings and cheese.  Bake for 20-30 minutes and serve.

Biscotti: Our Christmas Treat

Don’t you just love those special Christmas treats people make every year to give to family, friends, and neighbors?  We certainly do! Two of our favorites are my mom's toffee and Daniel's parents' homemade Baileys….YUM!  This year we decided that we needed to put our mark on the holiday tradition.  You just can’t receive these tasty morsels year after year without returning the favor!  So, with our deep love of coffee in mind and the overwhelming amount of sweets overtaking counter space everywhere, we knew that biscotti was in order.

I went searching for just the right blend of deliciousness, and found this phenomenal recipe from The Joy of Baking.  We hope you enjoy it as much as our family and friends did!

Almond Biscotti

• 1 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all purpose flower
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and toast the almonds for 10 minutes.  After allowing them to cool, chop coarsely.  Reserve approximately 1/4 cup of the almonds to sprinkle on the biscotti once they are dipped in chocolate.


Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.


Beat the eggs and extracts.  In a separate bowl (I use our electric mixer), mix the flower, sugar, baking powder and salt.  While mixing, slowly add the egg/extract mixture.  When you've added about 1/2 of the egg/extract mixture, also begin adding the almonds.  The mixture will appear very dry and may need to be kneaded briefly once removed from the mixer.


Roll the dough into a log that is the length of a cookie sheet and about 5-6 inches wide (about 1 inch tall - it will rise to about 1.5 inches).  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until firm to the touch.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes.


Cut the log on a slight diagonal in 1 inch wide pieces.  Return the slices to the cookie sheet and lay them on their side.  Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Allow the biscotti to fully cool before dipping in chocolate.


Melt the chocolate.  We melt the chocolate without burning it by boiling about 1 inch of water in a saucepan and then placing a pyrex bowl with the chocolate on top of the water (we keep the saucepan on low throughout the process).  The heat from the simmering water will keep the chocolate melted without burning it.


Dip the biscotti in chocolate and before the chocolate cools, sprinkle with almonds.  

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  Happy New Year!

Costa Rican Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - I love cooking and have been known to spend weeks prior to the feast looking up creative spins on old favorite dishes.  And while I have a phenomenal recipe for scalloped herbed potatoes, that recipe must wait for another day…..this year we did Thanksgiving Costa Rican style! After spending the holiday week in the tropics of southern Central America, it is only fitting that I share two of my favorite Costa Rican dishes. 

When we were in Costa Rica we rented a house, which unbeknownst to us came with daily maid service.  Our housekeeper’s name was Shirly, and she was the sweetest lady you will ever meet.  Over the course of the week, Shirley and I became very close, and getting to know her was one of the highlights of my vacation.  Daily, she helped me with my Spanish and shared with us about the Costa Rican cultures and traditions.  On Thanksgiving morning, Shirly taught me how to make traditional Gallo Pinto with fresh chorredas, and we cooked a Thanksgiving breakfast feast for the whole family.  

Let me begin by saying that beans and rice will never just be beans and rice again!  After you go Gallo Pinto, you never go back! Gallo Pinto, literally translated “spotted rooster”, is one of Costa Rica's traditional dishes, and is essentially the best beans and rice you'll ever have.  Costa Ricans typically eat this dish for breakfast (when in Rome!), often with eggs and chorredas (corn pancakes).

I took notes as rapidly as I could while Shirly cooked these dishes, however, she didn't measure anything, so the amounts below are only estimates.

Gallo Pinto

• 2 cups dried black beans
• 2 cups white rice
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 green chilies 
• 1/4 cup Salsa Lizano - this is a Costa Rican salsa.  It is so delicious that I considered buying it in bulk and shipping it home.  I'm not entirely sure how the dish will be without it.  I've read you can substitute Worcestershire (and I bet mixing Worcestershire with smoked Tabasco would be good).

Place the black beans in a large sauce pot and cover with water - soak for 20-24 hours.  Ensure that the beans remain covered with water but do not overfill as you will use the concentrated water-sludge in the dish.

Prepare the white rice (as directed on the package).  In the meantime, chop and saute the onion, garlic, and green chilies.  Combine the rice and the onion mixture to the sauce pot with the soaked beans.  Mix in the Salsa Lizano.  Top with sour cream and cilantro and serve!

Chorredas recipe to come!

Potato Soup

Potato soup is potentially one of my favorite winter recipes.  While I know it isn't winter yet (although the forecast this week reminds me that it is just around the corner), this recipe was fitting for us this week because we have loads and loads of potatoes.  We went to a farm with some friends this weekend and harvested potatoes, onions and squash... after digging in the dirt, we came home with lots of tasty veggies, not to mention tons of pumpkins to carve!

Daniel after harvesting a huge bag of potatoes...

With rumor of snow heading our way this week and potatoes coming out of our ears, potato soup was the perfect meal this evening!  What I love about this recipe is it is an excellent way to cook with many different veggies.  If you don't have some of the funky ingredients that I used in ours this batch, no worries, you can make so many different variations of this recipe.  I'll list the key ingredients along with some possible variations.



The Base Recipe

• Potatoes (I used about 15 small to medium sized Russet potatoes; this is approximately 5 large Russet potatoes) - quartered
• 2 onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• Herbs (I use an herb mix called Herbes de Provence along with Oregano and Celery Salt).  I use approximately 2 teaspoons of each type of herb.
• Salt and pepper
• Cheese and sour cream 

Add the potatoes, onions, and garlic to a medium or large sized crock pot.  Add the herbs and toss the potato mixture to evenly distribute the herbs.  Add enough chicken broth so it covers approximately 3/4 of the potato mixture.  If you prefer a thinner soup, add enough broth so that it nearly covers the potato mixture.  Allow to cook on low for 8-10 hours.  

Puree the soup using a hand blender or transfer the soup to a blender in batches.  I use milk to think the soup to my desired consistency and then season with salt and pepper.  We always enjoy our potato soup with cheese and sour cream.

I must admit... I think this soup is even better with extra veggies!  Here are my two favorite variations:

Fennel

Fennel and Leek Variation:

• 4 leeks (chopped and rinsed thoroughly; I like to soak my leeks to remove any grit that may be hiding)
• 1 fennel bulb

Chop the leeks and fennel and add to the potato mixture and cook as directed above.  

Celery Root

Spicy Potato Soup:

• 3 carrots - chopped 2-3 inches long
• Celery root (perhaps one of the coolest veggies I've cooked with).  If you use celery root, peel the root and chop into chunks that are approximately the same size as your potatoes.  You could use celery instead of celery root.
• 1 turnip - chopped to the same size as the potatoes
• 2 Jalapeños - diced (seeds removed!) - our soup was medium-hot.  If you'd like it milder, use 1 jalapeño or try poblano or anaheim peppers.

Add the veggies to the crock pot along with the potatoes.  When I made this variation, I was sure to add one cup milk to cut the spice of the peppers (as I mentioned above).   I also added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon yellow curry.  It was delicious!

Apple Muffins

I've never been much of a baker, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I don't try my hand at baking.  For example, I do make some mean Pillsbury funfetti cupcakes!  Now I know this does't really count as "baking" per se, but they do taste pretty darn good! My last "real" attempt at baking was this past Christmas when I tried to bake homemade french bread for a family gathering.  I ended up accidentally killing the yeast cultures (water was too warm), and presenting an unleavened Christmas french bread that looked and felt more like a baseball bat than a Parisian loaf!

The other day Daniel perfectly articulated my quandary with baking - I'm always striving to make healthy dishes, and he claims that baking was never meant to be healthy! We'll see about that...when I bake I'm always attempting to incorporate spelt and whole wheat flowers and to minimize the sugar (often negating it altogether and neglecting to substitute anything for it!)...  This leaves me with unsweetened and funny tasting "treats" that Daniel tries and says "hmmm... perhaps next time you could add a little more sugar...?"

This week I discovered a recipe for Apple Oatmeal muffins that does not even call for sugar!  Now that's my kind of muffin... well, or so I thought, until Daniel tried a bite and asked if I forgot the sugar.  Shoot.  So I tried again and modified the recipe.  While they aren't your cupcake-style muffin you find at Starbucks, they turned out pretty good and have been a great quick breakfast or post-run snack.  Let me know what you think!


Apple Muffins

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup oats (I've tried it with slow-cook and quick oats - both work great)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (Daniel highly recommends a 1/4 cup!)

Wet Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 pear - cored and peeled
• 1/2 apple - cored and peeled

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Sift the first six dry ingredients together.  Stir the oats into the dry ingredients.  

In a food processor or blender, puree the pear and apple.  Then stir in the egg, ricotta cheese, and almond milk.  Add the sugar to the egg/apple mixture and lightly mix together.  

Add the egg/apple mixture to the dry ingredients.  Pour into greased or lined muffin tins.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Refrigerate any leftover muffins.

** This recipe was adapted from the blog Smitten Kitchen

Good Food and Great Company

Daniel and I recently had my family and our good friends Dave and Maggie over for a delicious dinner that turned into an evening full of laughter, catching up, and reminiscing.   It was when we were sitting around the table enjoying a meal together that I began to internalize why I ultimately had this desire to start a food blog.  It isn't the food alone, although the recipes are delicious.  No, it is the relationships that are deepened as a result of cooking and sharing delicious food.

Cooking is what energizes us after long and stressful days at work.  Daniel and I may start our dinner cooking endeavors begrudgingly, but we almost always finish uplifted and full of joy.  Our longing for healthy, yet delicious dinners is what inspires our creativity; our quest for locally grown veggies is what takes us to the Boulder farmer's market weekend after weekend and challenges us to try new veggies; and our dinner parties are what so often bring friends around the table to share stories and grow closer.

So while the recipes are good, the company is better.  And it was this August evening gathering that inspired it all...


Pancetta, Sundried Tomato, and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast with a Gorgonzola and Walnut Cream Sauce

Stuffed Chicken Breast

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
• 1 package pancetta
• 1 small package sliced mushrooms
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• cooking twine

Begin by pounding the chicken breast to an even thickness (ours was approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick).  Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil and garlic until the juices are released.  In a separate pan, sauté the pancetta until cooked through and slightly crispy.  

Assemble the chicken breast by spreading a thin strip of each ingredient in the center of the breast.  Roll the chicken breasts and secure using cooking twine.

Grill the chicken breasts on medium to medium-high heat for approximately 15-20 minutes.  Flip the chicken breasts halfway through cooking.

Gorgonzola and Walnut Cream Sauce

• 1 package poultry herbs
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• handful of walnuts, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounce package gorgonzola cheese
• 1/4 cup milk

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil until golden brown.  In the meantime, wash the herbs and remove the leaves from the stalks.  Finely chop the leaves and add them to a small sauce pot with the milk and garlic; simmer for approximately  5 minutes on low heat.  This will infuse the milk with herb and garlic flavor.  Stir constantly so that the milk does not burn.   Slowly add the gorgonzola cheese and walnuts, and continue stirring.  You may adjust the consistency by adding additional milk.  Serve immediately on top of the chicken breast.

We served the chicken breast with a side of mushroom risotto and fresh green beans.  Look for our risotto recipe to be posted soon!