More Eggplant

The garden yields eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and herbs…  more recipes    …..

EGGPLANT CALZONE and Bread

SPAGHETTI and EGGPLANT

 

 

Dice and fry eggplant

while your at it, make some dough…

Divide the dough…

Pan one of the dough balls for bread, using spent grains for topping and lining the bread pan

roll out one of the other dough balls on a 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper

start with sauteed onions…

pick some fresh herbs like basil and oregano

add to the pan…

add all the ingredients and cook to your liking.

top the dough with the eggplant  mixture

Add a layer of sliced tomatoes…

roll out the last dough ball large enough to cover the mixture and seal at edges

mean while the bread has risen…

bake the calzone and bread…

enjoy the bread and ….

enjoy the calzone !

you could go wild and add cheese and sausage !!!

Were not done yet!   Another night some pasta and eggplant !

Using diced eggplant as a base, saute and add what ever you have for a compliment.. like fresh garden peppers, onions and garlic seasonings etc.

1/2 lb spaghetti…

al dente.. !

plate it and your good to go !

eggplant appetizers (Broiled Eggplant with Crunchy Parmesan Crust)

Not from my garden, but eggplant Diane brought home from her sister’s. Long, thin and white, looked up a recipe for these.

Broiled Eggplant with Crunchy Parmesan Crust

http://openhandsfarm.wordpress.com/recipes-2/eggplant-recipes/

Bread with a mixture of bread crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese coating the eggplant with mayonnaise first.

Pan out , broil, flip, broil.

Over the years I’ve developed a taste for eggplant, of course the fresher the better.

Very good, when Diane asked for a taste later, “sorry all gone”, that good!

tomato – basil custard (quiche)

real men don’t eat quiche, so custard seems better…..

Fresh tomato and basil from the garden narrowed down this recipe.
But any event, it took a bit of time to make a crust the egg mixture was easy and the result was good.
From:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2014/09/02/recipe-for-tomato-basil-quiche/FfpVGKTRD2j0bB9ppuV6UN/story.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article_More

for the PASTRY:

1½ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut up
¼ cup ice water mixed with 1 teaspoon vinegar
Extra flour (for sprinkling)
Add sliced butter to the dry ingredients and with a hand held pastry blender, cut in the butter to get a crumbly mixture. Add the ice water mixture and pull together.
form into a ball , slightly flatten and refrigerate for about 20 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients together and 9 inch deep dish pie pan.

FILLING

4 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup milk
whisk the above together and set aside.
and prep ready :
1 cup grated smoked or plain mozzarella
2 tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
½ cup torn fresh basil leaves

Back to the pastry, roll it out to about 12 inches diameter and place in the pie pan. Refrigerate again for 20 minutes. I put a stockpot that fit  in the pie pan to hold down the crust while baking. Bake for about 12 minutes, remove the weight, the stockpot, and finish baking another 10 minutes or so, cool.
The recipe wasn’t specific but I guessed 1/2 the  cheese goes in the bottom of the crust.

followed by the sliced tomato

Then the torn basilgently pour in the custard

top with the rest of the cheese. Some of the mixture poured over the crust, should have rolled it out bigger to go up the side of the pie plate.

Bake at 375 for about an hour or less, let it puff up and brown.

cool slightly serve hot or cold.

Diane wanted the first piece.

The crust was a bit overdone, definitely not soggy ! fresh tomato and basil was refreshing !

cole slaw with tomatoes, unplugged

You wouldn’t know it , but in the middle of   a suburban area stands a small farm. Drive through a neighborhood  of a mostly residential setting, take a right here and another right there and looking for a small sign leads you to a group of small fields. Here a farmer maintains a small shed were purchases of produce can be made. Mother nature dictates whats available. This day tomatoes and a cabbage. Compared to many of the supermarkets in the area very reasonable pricing along with fresh picked flavor.

Though I didn’t get any photos of this off the path mini farm, here’s a map of the area. The center light brown area being the farm.

What to do with a cabbage ? At first a traditional mayonnaise Cole slaw came to mind.

When searching recipes I decided on this simple slaw From McCall’s cooking school recipe. This was one of those old school collections that you subscribed to. Different packets were mailed to subscribers every month or so with and upon receiving  a binder to hold them, you built a collection of recipes, step by step with photos printed on heavy coated paper.  Tabbed pages and indexes allowed you to do a quick search for recipes. After all the years passed still a go-to source for a recipes with clearly written instructions and pictorials.

http://www.amazon.com/McCALLS-COOKING-STEP-BY-DIRECTIONS-MISTAKE/dp/B000BTK1CC

Well on with the recipe !

Now you can easily get your food processor out to make this recipe but get unplugged and use a knife to keep your skills sharp !

The recipe calls for mustard powder so for freshness and tang, crush up some mustard seeds for about a teaspoon or more.

Add the mustard powder, 2 teaspoons of sugar, a teaspoon of celery seed, a tablespoon of salt, one cup of vinegar, and 3/4 cup of oil, to a small pan. Set aside on stove to be boiled.

Now get your favorite knife(s), quarter and remove core from cabbage and thin slice.

Next to go under the knife a large green pepper, cored and sliced into rings.

A Spanish onion, I just had a regular white onion, sliced thin. I pulled off the skin later. Separate into rings.

Done with the knife for now, layer 1/2 the lettuce, 1/2 the pepper, 1/2 the onion in a large bowl or container. Repeat.

Sprinkle the mixture with one cup sugar.

Now bring to a rolling boil the ingredients in the pan from the beginning of the recipe.

Pour over the layered cabbage mixture.

pouring and taking a picture at the same time, the cover on the Ipad shifts, covering the lens at some point. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, about 4 hours., tossing every so often.

Cut up tomato and add to salad when serving.

By the time I got around to blogging the slaw was ready. Served alongside a BBQ chicken leg.

Good, Not too sour or sweet.

Spaghetti carbonara

Quick dish to throw together
Boil up some pasta, about1/2 lb
Sauté diced onion and garlic to taste
Olive oil, bacon fat and butter add the flavor.
Once the spaghetti is al dente , drain and add to the sautéed onion and garlic mixture.
On high heat, toss the spaghetti and add more olive oil etc as necessary to insure that the spaghetti is coated and hot.
Beat two eggs in a cup and quickly toss into the spaghetti mixture.
Reduce heat and toss along with some grated Parmesan.
When the eggs are just about cooked, turn off the heat.
Add diced tomatoes and torn basil, salt and pepper to taste and toss again.
Serve.
If you have time toss a green salad, serve with either brew or wine.