Monthly Archives: May 2011

Eggplant Parmesan – my favorite meal of all time!

Posted on by tinycookba
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Eggplant Parmesan – When done right, this is my favorite meal to eat!  Thin layers of crisp eggplant, gooey cheese, and just enough sauce to hold it all together.  Unfortunately most restaurants do not make it right, either by leaving the bitter skin on or by cutting it too thick.  I haven’t made it in awhile, so I decided to make a practice batch and to make a giant pot of marinara sauce, because I have a few friends that I want to make this for very soon.  Here is the best way I know of to eat eggplant:

Eggplant Parmesan

1 large eggplant

3 Eggs

2 T milk

Flour

Italian style breadcrumbs (or plain breadcrumbs with Parm and parsley added to it)

Marinara sauce – I used this recipe from Fine Cooking.  Try and use San Marzano tomatoes or a good brand like Muir Glen, for the best tasting sauce.

Mozzarella cheese, shredded ( I don’t use fresh because I find it too watery for this)

Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, grated

Vegetable oil

Peel the skin off the eggplants and cut off the ends.  Slice eggplant (either longwise or across) into slightly less than ¼ inch slices.  Arrange the slices in a colander or on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.  Sprinkle each piece with kosher salt.  Leave the eggplant for 30 minutes or so, until the bitter juices have been released.  Using paper towels, pat the eggplant slices to soak up the excess juices.

Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan.  Put some flour in a shallow bowl (season with salt and pepper), beat the eggs and milk in another shallow bowl, and add the breadcrumbs in yet another shallow bowl.  Dip the eggplant slices into the flour, then the egg (shaking off excess), and into the breadcrumbs.  Fry the pieces in canola oil until golden brown.  Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.  This frying process will take a few batches, but tastes much better than baking the eggplant.  *Important* make sure you wipe out the frying pan after every few batches, as some of the breadcrumbs will fall off and start to turn black, leaving a charred taste to the eggplant. And don’t forget to sprinkle the eggplant with some salt when it comes out of the pan.

When all of the eggplant is cooked, it’s time for assembly!  You can use lasagna dishes, regular 9 x 13 dishes, or whatever you have around that’s a few inches deep.  (1 large eggplant will make enough for an 8-inch square baking dish, serving 6-8 people, or less, if you’re serving Italians or my friend Rob).  Spread some sauce on the bottom of the dish.  Put down one layer of eggplant, making sure to fill in empty spots.  Spread some more sauce on top of the eggplant, then some mozzarella and Parmesan.  Continue the eggplant, sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan layers until you are out of eggplant.

Bake in a 350-degree oven, covered, until heated through.  Uncover and bake for 5 minutes more.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Salted Caramels

Posted on by tinycookba
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Vanilla Bean Salted Caramels – yum!  I recently made these for a yard sale we had, benefiting our friend who is fighting cancer.  The yard sale was a huge success for them, as was the bake sale table we had as part of it!  This caramel recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe – I use gray salt instead of fleur de sel, and only half the amount, I added vanilla bean (which I think is essential – you can get them for a great price at Costco during the holidays), and my process and final temperature are a little different than her recipe.   I know caramels can sound daunting, but if you like caramel, you must try this recipe.  It took me a few different recipes and a few different tries, but now I can make this with my eyes closed – the key is to not walk away from it!  And it costs very little to make, so practice away!

Vanilla Bean Salted Caramels

Makes about 60 candies

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

½ teaspoon French gray salt

Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then very lightly oil parchment.

Heat cream, butter, and gray salt in a 2-cup glass measuring cup in the microwave for 1 ½ -2 minutes, until hot.

Add corn syrup and water to 3- to 4-quart stainless steel saucepan, then add sugar.  Turn the burner to medium heat and boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel (this step is crucial – make sure the caramel is very light because it is darker than it appears on the surface, and it will also darken after the cream mixture is added).  Do not walk away from this caramel because it will darken very fast.  If sugar crystals are forming on the sides of the pan, brush them down with a little water (this is what recipes always say, I find it unnecessary).  Carefully stir in cream mixture with the candy thermometer (make sure to scrape out any salt that settled on the bottom of the cup), (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 244°F (for a soft caramel) on thermometer, about 10 minutes (keep a close eye on it). Pour into baking pan and cool about 2 hours. Cut into 1-inch pieces, sprinkle with some gray salt if you like, then wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of parchment paper, twisting 2 ends to close.

Sweet Corn Tamales and Arroz Verde!

Posted on by tinycookba
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I hope everyone had a great Cinco de Mayo yesterday!  Mmmmmmm, Mexican food – my favorite of all cuisines, yet I still don’t cook that much of it because here in Los Angeles, great Mexican food at a great price is so easy to come by.  Yesterday, though, I was inspired by the fresh corn that is now in season, so I decided to try my hand at tamale making – starting with an easy non-filled tamale: the Sweet Corn Tamale!  I used Rick Bayless’ recipe from his website – click here for the recipe.  Chef Bayless won on Top Chef Masters with this recipe.

I was not disappointed with these tamales.  I opted not to fill with cheese and poblanos because I just wanted to get the tamale part down first.  I used some fresh corn husks, but mostly dried husks since they were larger pieces – they both tasted the same to me.  The only mistake I made was that I overcooked the tamales just a bit.  The recipe says to steam them until the tamales come free from the husks – I checked after about 50 minutes and they were coming free from the husks, but still seemed mushy – this is when I should have removed them from the heat.  As they cool, they firm up quite a bit – mine weren’t dry, but they could have been more moist – the flavor though, was delicious.  I used a collapsible steamer in my dutch oven to steam these babies – you can also steam them standing upright in a large stockpot.  Do not be intimidated by the process of tamale making – these were not that labor intensive at all!    Also, these can easily be a vegan dish with the use of Spectrum in place of the butter! 

And for a condiment: grilled tomatillo salsa – – grilled tomatillos, grilled jalapeno, some onions, cilantro, and salt – the spiciness of the salsa went great with the sweet tamales.  And for a new side dish to try…..how about Arroz Verde from Fine Cooking.com.  This recipe got such rave reviews that I had to try it.  It was incredibly flavorful and a nice change from the standard red rice.  This is the first time in over a year that I have cooked rice outside of a rice cooker and that was a mistake, because the texture was a bit mushy for me.  Next time I will make this in the rice cooker.  All in all, a great Cinco de Mayo meal.  Now I can’t wait to make filled tamales!

Carrot Fries & Sliders w/ Caramelized Onions

Posted on by tinycookba
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Carrot Fries.  If you like sweet potato fries, you’ll love these carrot fries even more!  The carrot fries were born out of an over abundance of carrots last year from my CSA box.  I have been making baked sweet potato fries for years, so I thought I should try it out with carrots.  As far as baked fries go, I think the carrots come out much better than the sweet potatoes because they stay firmer and don’t get mushy, which can sometimes happen with the sweet potatoes.  I peel them and cut them into uniform size, then drizzle them with olive oil, kosher salt, some brown sugar, and some chili powder – give them a toss and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, tossing occasionally so that they cook evenly.  Yum.  My kids love them too.

Now for sliders with caramelized onions.  I like to make little sliders because they are fun to eat and the kids love them.  I like to use Kings Hawaiian sweet rolls because they are the perfect size and they are soft and sweet and go well with the burgers.  I use Ina Garten’s recipes for the burgers and the caramelized onions – click the link for the recipe.  1 pound of ground beef (costco has a great price on organic ground beef) makes about 12 sliders.  These caramelized onions are AMAZING!  I have tried many different recipes for caramelized onions, but I think this is the best.  Some recipes call for added sugar, but I find the natural sugars in the onions to be plenty.  I caramelize them almost to the point of an onion jam – I like them on the darker side, which makes them super flavorful.  These also freeze very well.  Add them to equal parts mayo, sour cream, and cream cheese for a great onion dip.

I ran out of time, but usually I also make a garlic mayonnaise to go with the sliders – some mayo, some minced garlic, kosher salt, and a bit of chopped parsley.  Yum!