Eggplant Rollatini

SP wanted to make something homey and delicious one cold winter day, so he bought a bunch of eggplants and set about making eggplant rollatini.


He used some of the fresh tomatoes my mom and I canned last summer in the sauce and it was phenomenal. You could really taste summer in every bite.



Eggplant Rollatini
Lidia Bastianich

3 cups whole-milk ricotta
tomato sauce
2 medium eggplants
coarse salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil
3 eggs
all purpose flour
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
black pepper
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4" sticks
8 fresh basil leaves

Preheat 375 F.

Trim the stems and ends from the eggplants. Remove strips of peel about 1" wide from the eggplants, leaving about 1/2 the peel intact. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4" slices and place them in a colander. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt, tossing to expose all slices, and let drain 1 hour. Rinse eggplant under cool running water, drain thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.

Pour olive and vegetable oils into a medium skillet over med-high heat. While the oil is heating, whisk 2 of the eggs and 1 teaspoon coarse salt together in a wide, shallow bowl. Spread flour in an even layer in a separate wide, shallow bowl. Dredge eggplant slices in flour, shaking the excess off. Dip the floured eggplant into the egg mixture, turning well to coat both sides evenly.

Add as many of the coated eggplant slices as fit without touching and cook, turning once, until golden on both sides.

Stir the ricotta, 1/2 cup grated cheese, and parsley together in a mixing bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Beat remaining egg in a separate bowl and stir into ricotta mixture. Pour 1 cup tomato sauce over the bottom of a 10 X 15 baking dish.

Lay one of the fried eggplant slices in front of you with the short end toward you. Spoon about 2 tablespoons ricotta filling over the narrow end of the slice and top it with a mozzarella stick and a basil leaf. Roll into a compact roll and place seam side down into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, placing rolls side by side. Ladle remaining tomato sauce over eggplant rolls to coat them evenly. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.

Cover dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the edges of the casserole are bubbling and filling is heated through, about 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Pizza

Another pizza:


... this one has pepperoni and black olives hidden under the blanket of melted mozzarella.

Sometimes I put the cheese on first and then the toppings and sometimes the other way around. How do you do it if you make homemade pizza?

Stay Tuned!

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I posted a blog update, but I promise there will be a slew of new posts coming very soon.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me during this slow time.

Christmas Dinner

This year my mom took over the cooking of the traditional Christmas feast. She made a standing rib roast, which my stepdad expertly carved:


... as well as Yorkshire pudding with the pan drippings:


My mom took these pics because I was feeding the baby, so I don't have closeups of the green beans with almonds or the mashed potatoes, but here's a table shot:


And my plate with a little bit of everything:


The meat was done perfectly, nice and rare. Everything was fantastic and a great meal to celebrate our first Christmas with Baby Girl. Dessert was a yummy, dense chocolate cake:


... and coffee. I could have eaten half the cake, it was that good.

Christmas Morning Strata

I made the traditional Christmas morning strata for breakfast this year.


What I love about it, besides it being so delicious, is that you make it the day before and just bake that morning. Look at all that gooey cheesiness:


My mother-in-law brought cinnamon rolls:

Christmas Eve Dinner

For Christmas Eve dinner I wanted to make something special, so I turned to one of our favorites - baked stuffed shrimp:


I just love the way the shrimp look all ready to go into the oven:


I also made baked potatoes and we had my favorite asparagus as a first course:


... roasted asparagus topped with a fried egg, salt, pepper and some grated Pecorino cheese. Delish!

Baked Stuffed Shrimp
Slightly Modified from Cook's Country Feb/March 2008

4 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup bottled clam juice
1/4 cup fresh parsley
4 scallions
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt
1 1/4 pounds extra-large or colossal shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse bread in food processor to coarse crumbs. Transfer crumbs to broiler pan bottom and bake, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove crumbs from oven and reduce temperature to 275 degrees.

Add parsley, scallions and garlic to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Combine crumbs, mayonnaise, clam juice, parsley, scallions, garlic, lemon juice and zest, mustard, cayenne and 1/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl.

Pat shrimp dry with paper towels and season with salt. Grease the broiler pan with vegetable or other light oil. Using a sharp paring knife, cut a 1-inch opening along the back of shrimp (where the vein was located) to butterfly it. Arrange the shrimp cut-side down on the broiler pan. Divide bread crumb mixture among the shrimp, pressing it into balls between the tails and body. Bake 10-15 minutes for extra-large shrimp or 20-25 for colossal. As soon as the shrimp turn pink, they're done.

Combine lemon juice and melted butter. Remove shrimp from oven and drizzle with lemon juice and butter mixture before serving.

Breakfast Sandwich

My stepdad brought us some sourdough bread so I made breakfast sandwiches:


Scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and melted cheddar cheese pressed between buttered slices of bread.

Pizza

Another homemade pizza:


... with pepperoni, mushrooms and black olives:

Food from Friends

Our next-door neighbor, K, brought us some food a few weeks ago:


From the top, going clockwise: pulled pork, mac and cheese, green beans, squash, Parmesan chicken and roasted potatoes.

Rigatoni Woodsman-Style

SP vaguely remembered this recipe from when I made it last year, and after a quick look through my blog he asked that I make it. I did a quick inventory of the freezer and pantry and realized we had everything I needed to make Rigatoni Woodsman-Style:


It was just as delicious as we remembered, with just a slight kick from the sausage. I don't know why this is so tasty, but it definitely is.

Onion Chicken, Au Gratin Potatoes and Green Beans

We had leftover French's onions from Thanksgiving. I was looking at the can and saw a recipe for onion chicken that sounded super simple - coat chicken in egg and crushed onions and bake.


I have a confession to make - I've been cheating these days. SP found these Betty Crocker casserole potatoes and I fell in love with them. Simple to make and they taste pretty darn good. I'm also into steaming veggies in the microwave, especially since our supermarket was practically giving them away at Thanksgiving. One day, when Baby Girl is older and I can really get back in the kitchen, I'll go back to my old way of cooking but for now we had a delicious meal in no time flat.

Red Robin

We took Baby Girl out to dinner recently and thought Red Robin would be a safe bet since they're so kid-friendly. We brought the camera in the hopes the robin would be there, but since he wasn't I decided to grab a shot of my delicious burger:

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Turkey Day! Yes, I know this post is a little late but things are hectic around here, as you can imagine. This year we decided to keep things very low-key. We still went to my parent's house, but SP did some of the cooking (veggie sides and dessert) and my mom did the turkey and the rest of the sides. It was a great time and Baby Girl slept through the whole meal, allowing everyone to enjoy a hot meal together.

Here's the turkey, fresh from the oven:


And here it is after my stepdad worked his carving magic:


Glorious, fluffy mashed potatoes:


SP made the stuffing, with a little help from me:


...with a hint of apple from apple cider. Delish! He also made green bean casserole:


Yes, it had cream of mushroom soup, but the beans were fresh. Cranberry sauce:


Glazed carrots:


... were the surprise hit of the year. It was a simple recipe using brown sugar, sherry and baby carrots and butter. Plenty of gravy made from the turkey drippings:


The table all laid out:


My plate with lots of everything.


I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Next year maybe Baby Girl will be helping out in the kitchen.

Caramel Apple Walnut Pie

This year we had planned to host Thanksgiving dinner for the family, but things have been so crazy we just couldn't do it. SP and my mom decided to split the meal, each taking a few dishes to make so neither was overworked. One of our items was dessert, a Caramel Apple Walnut Pie:


Normally I don't like pie (I'm not a fan of chunks of cooked fruit) but the apples in this pie cooked down to be almost like applesauce, which was perfect.


Caramel Apple Walnut Pie
Makes 8 servings

8 tablespoons butter, divided use
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups thinly-sliced apples
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 soft caramel candies
1 unbaked pie crust
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. Add the apples and cook until soft. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in corn starch, vanilla, and caramels. Place crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Mound the apple caramel mixture into the crust. Melt remaining butter. Mix in flour, brown sugar, and walnuts. Top pie with mixture and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

Spaghetti Carbonara

One of the first real meals I cooked post-baby was spaghetti carbonara, a dish I absolutely love, make often and haven't had since before I got pregnant.


Just look at that pan full of goodness:


I have to say, this was one of the best versions I've made, perfectly seasoned and utterly delicious. I was bad and used a full pound of bacon and 4 small onions to ensure there was plenty of both in each forkful.

Pizza

This is actually a meal I cooked post-baby! My mother-in-law and my mom were over for dinner so I made two pizzas - pepperoni and olive:


... and mushrooms for SP:


It was good to get back in the kitchen.

Postpartum Sushi

During the first week we were home with Baby Girl my dad and stepmom came to visit. I had been craving sushi throughout my pregnancy and they were nice enough to indulge my craving once I was able to have it again.


My dad and I split this order of spicy tuna, spicy rock roll, tuna and avocado, Godzilla roll and SP got an eel and avocado roll.

Creamy Chicken and Artichokes with Mashed Potatoes

Unfortunately I have no idea where I got this recipe for creamy chicken with artichokes, or any recollection of whether we liked it or not. Whoops!


I assume we liked it since it has artichokes and we all know how much I love artichokes. I just wish I knew where I got it so I could link to it. If you read this blog and this is your recipe, please let me know.

Creamy Chicken with Artichokes
Slightly Adapted from Pleasure Cooker

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can chicken broth
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained
4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken breasts evenly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add wine, broth, garlic and artichokes to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 2 minutes. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. If sauce needs to thicken, mix 2 tablespoons of broth with 1 1/2 tablespoons flour and add to sauce. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Serve sauce over chicken.

Vegetable Soup and Sandwich

I made a big pot of the vegetable soup from our Titanic meal so that we'd have some for dinner and I could freeze the rest.


I also made sandwiches to go with the soup:


... our favorite Cubans on regular bread instead of the good rolls.

Peanut Chicken with Noodles and Veggies

I'm starting to get back into blogging, slowly but surely. I have a bunch of photos saved but no clue when I made the various meals.

We love cold sesame noodles but I don't see them as a full meal. When I saw this recipe for Peanut Soy Chicken, Cold Noodle, and Veggie Bowl I thought it would be the answer to that problem. It certainly looked good:


... but the flavor was a little lacking. We love an overwhelming peanut butter flavor and it just wasn't there. It also made a ton of food, so if I made this again I'd cut the recipe in half.