Baked Eggplant “Fries”
This dish started because I had an eggplant that needed to be used. I love eggplant, but none of my usual recipes were doing it for me. I decided to turn my eggplant into fries. I wasn’t in the mood to actually fry them, so I thought I would try to bake them and see if I could get a result I liked. They came out really good. Plenty crispy.
I shared a picture of my fries and a number of people asked for the recipe. I decided to write out a more detailed version than I posted. People also asked about other ways to make them. I only baked mine, so I can’t give absolute answers, but I can give you a pretty educated guess. Yes, these would work well in an air fryer or convection oven. You’d have to use a lower temp and keep an eye on them for cooking time. Yes, they can be deep fried. I have had deep fried eggplant at restaurants. They were pretty darn good. I have also pan fried them in the past. Just add about 1/2 inch of oil to a large skillet and fry them.
So here is a more detailed recipe. I know I say medium eggplant. I hate to be vague, but that is the best I could do.
Enjoy!!
Baked Eggplant Fries
1 medium eggplant
Salt
½ c. rice flour, but you could use wheat flour or cornstarch
½ c. Oil
Preheat oven to 450F. Peel the eggplant, if you like. You don’t have to. Slice and crosscut into “fry” sized pieces. They are going to shrink some in cooking, so allow for the shrinkage. Lightly salt the eggplant and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The salt will draw some of the water out of the eggplant, making it easier for the flour to stick. Place the eggplant slices in a large bowl. Add the flour and toss until coated. Drizzle the oil on a large baking sheet. Add the eggplant slices, leaving room between them. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the slices over. Return to oven and bake until golden brown- don’t burn them, but pretty dark brown if you want more crunch. Mine were in the oven for about 25 minutes total. Remove to platter with paper towels on it to drain. Toss with more salt, if needed and serve.
Honey Ice Cream
I love this ice cream. The richness of the custard works wonderfully with the sweet flavor of the honey. I don’t use all that much honey in this recipe. It is sweet, but not overly so. You could make it sweeter if you like.
I think about ice cream as a summertime treat, but honestly, I would eat ice cream in a blizzard!!!
So here is the recipe.
Honey Ice Cream
1 ½ c. whipping cream
1 ½ c. half and half
2/3 c. honey
6 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
Heat together cream and half-and-half to simmer . Whisk honey, yolks and salt in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in hot cream mixture. Return to pan and heat until mixture thickens (about 170 degrees). Do not boil. Strain into large bowl. Chill until cold. Process in ice cream maker. Makes about 5½ c.
Coffee Waffles
1¾ c. flour
¼ c. brown sugar
1½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
1½ c. half and half or milk
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. oil
1 T. instant coffee or espresso powder
1 T. vanilla
Non-stick spray or oil for coating the waffle iron
In medium mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients together and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the half and half with the remaining ingredients. The dry coffee granules will not dissolve right away. You can let the wet ingredients sit a few minutes and whisk again, if you like. While they are just sitting there, you can heat up the waffle iron. Coat the waffle iron with a non-stick cooking spray or brush with a little oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until mixed together. Don’t get crazy over mixing. That will give you tough waffles, and nobody wants that. Just stir until you don’t see any dry bits in the mix. I like to use a rubber scraper to get to the bottom of the bowl. Ladle some batter into the waffle iron and cook until golden brown. When the steam stops coming out of the waffle iron, or lessens a lot, it is usually good indicator that your waffles are done. Yield depends on the size of your waffle iron. I got 10 waffles, about 4×5 inches.
Note: The instant coffee breaks down more when mixed with the dry ingredients. Espresso powder will dissolve quickly, but if you use instant coffee like I did, expect a few “flecks” of coffee in the batter. I kind of liked the way it looked.
A Trio of Potato Salads
If you are looking for a side dish for Labor Day, why not bring a potato salad? Everybody loves potato salad. I love potato salad.
Actually, I love potatoes pretty much any way they are prepared. With so many cookouts and picnics, you can never have enough potato salad recipes, right? I am sharing three of my favorite potato salad recipes. The first one is really simple, enhanced with fresh thyme leaves. Thyme pairs well with the potatoes. The second one uses some of my fresh basil in a pesto sauce that is tossed with the potatoes. Who says pesto is just for pasta? The third salad is the way I remember my Mom making potato salad. She never wrote down her recipe, but I think I got it right.
Just in Thyme Potato Salad
With my herb garden growing like crazy right now I thought this was the perfect dish to make. This salad can be served warm or cold and goes well with so many dishes. I find when I have leftovers, I’ll even brown it in a skillet and serve it like hash browns with eggs for breakfast.
2 lbs. boiling potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces*
½ c. olive oil
¼ c. red wine vinegar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
2 t. fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook potatoes until tender. Drain and toss with the rest of the ingredients and serve right away or chill to serve later. Serves 6-8.
* You can really use any potato you like. I often bake the potatoes whole and then peel and cut up. Cook them any way you prefer.
Pesto Potato Salad
This salad always makes me think of a warm summer day. I think it’s because of the basil. During the summer, my driveway is lined with pots of basil. I cook with it almost every day. Pesto can be used in a lot of different dishes beyond pasta. Here I’ve paired it up with potatoes. The combination works great together. I always freeze extra basil so I can enjoy it year round.
2 lbs. Boiling potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 c. basil leaves
3 T. pine nuts
3 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Cook potatoes until tender. Cool. In blender combine remaining ingredients, except 1 tablespoon of the pine nuts. Pour blended mixture over potatoes and sprinkle with the reserved nuts. Chill. Serves 6-8.
Mom’s Mustard Potato Salad
When I was a kid I did not like the taste of mustard- except in this recipe. It adds such a wonderful flavor.
4 lbs. potatoes- I used Klondike Rose and I did not peel them
4 hard cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped, optional
1 c. mayo- maybe a little less
1/4 c. prepared mustard- I like a grainy brown mustard
salt and pepper to taste
dash of hot sauce
Bake whole potatoes until tender and allow to cool. Cube potatoes into large bowl and combine with remaining ingredients. Chill until ready to serve. Serves 8.
Pesto Potato Salad
Mustard Potato Salad
Honey-Pomegranate Glazed Ribs
I like my ribs to be tender, but still have a crispy exterior glaze. I decided to use a combination of moist and dry heat to get the result I wanted. I finished them off with a sauce made from pomegranate molasses and honey. They were really good.
While I prefer cooking ribs on the grill, you can cook them indoors with good results. Sometimes the weather isn’t right for cooking them outside. Sometimes, you realize too late, that you are out of charcoal. You might be forced to cook your ribs indoors.
Honey-Pomegranate Glazed Ribs
1 slab ribs, cut into 3-4 rib portions
salt and pepper
1 c. apple cider vinegar
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. hot sauce
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. smoked paprika
Glaze:
3/4 c. pomegranate molasses*
1/2 c. honey- or more to taste
1 T. hot sauce, or more to taste
Place rib portions in a large pan and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vinegar, soy sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Cover and chill for a couple of hours. You could even do this the night before. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place rack in large baking dish. Pour 2 cups of water into the bottom of the pan. Place rib portions on the rack. Pour over the marinade. Season with salt and pepper then place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn heat down to 400 degrees. Remove ribs from oven. Place ribs in a fresh baking pan. Combine glaze ingredients and brush all over the ribs. Return to oven and bake 20-30 minutes longer, or until glaze has gotten sticky and browned a little.
*Pomegranate molasses is available in some specialty stores, or you can make your own by boiling down pomegranate juice until it gets thickened.
Plum Glazed Wings
I love when local fruit is in season. I found myself with lovely red plums and I decided to use some of them to make a sauce for chicken wings. The sauce came out really nice. I started with onions, garlic and plum puree. I added more ingredients as I went until I felt the sauce had the flavor I was going for. This sauce/glaze would be great on pork or duck, too.
I pan fried my wings, but they could be grilled and basted with the sauce instead, or baked in the oven.
Plum Sauce/Glaze
2 T. oil, butter or bacon fat
1 medium onion, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. plum puree made from about 1 lb. of plums
¼ c. cider vinegar
2 T. honey
1 T. hot sauce
1 t. fresh grated ginger
Salt to taste
I started by peeling the plums. You could leave the skins on, if you like, but I prefer them off. I put the plums in boiling water for a minute and then in cold water. The skins came right off. I removed the pits and pureed the plums- I ended up with a cup of fresh plum puree. Saute onion in a little oil- you could use butter or even bacon fat. Add garlic once the onions are tender. After that, add the plum puree and the rest of the ingredients. Let it cook for about 10 minutes to thicken and give it a taste. I decided to smooth the sauce out in the blender but it would be fine to leave it chunky. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
To cook the wings I just pan-fried them. I had just over a pound of wings. I cooked them in a skillet, covered for about 20 minutes, turning a couple of times. I poured the sauce over them and turned the heat down to medium. I let them cook, covered, another 10 or 15 minutes. Once I was sure the wings were cooked through, I uncovered them and let the sauce cook down and thicken a little. It created a nice glaze on the wings. Easy and very tasty. I could also see baking or grilling the wings and just tossing them in the sauce at the end.
I ended up pureeing more plums and tossed them in the freezer so I can make this sauce again when the weather is chilly and no fresh plums are around.
Blueberry Chef Salad
This is one of those salads that is good any time of the year. A local produce market had the most beautiful blueberries this week. I decided to enjoy some of them in this salad. Besides, it was hot today and I didn’t feel like cooking.
The dressing is a honey French type dressing. It really makes the whole salad work. You can add the berries to the dressing, or serve them on top of the salad. I topped it with cashews, but you could add croutons, if you prefer.
Blueberry Chef Salad
Dressing:
1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 t. paprika
1 t. dry mustard
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. olive oil
3 cups blueberries
Salad:
6 c. torn salad greens
12 oz. cooked chicken, turkey, ham etc, cut into strips
1 c. cubed cheese
1/2 c. cashews
In blender, combine first five ingredients and start running machine on high. Add oil in a slow stream until mixture becomes thickened. Pour into bowl and stir in berries and chill, several hours if you can. When ready to serve, arrange greens on one large platter or on smaller salad plates. Arrange meat and cheese on platter or plates. Spoon over the dressing and cashews then serve. Serves 4-6.
Fresh Tomato Pasta
I really enjoy making fresh pasta. I often use vegetables and herbs in homemade pasta for added flavor. I decided to make a fresh tomato pasta today, using, well, a fresh tomato or two. You could use tomato juice in this recipe, but since I had fresh tomatoes, I just used fresh tomato. I also use tomato powder in this recipe sometimes. I make tomato powder out of the skins of the tomatoes I canned. I put them in the dehydrator and powder them up once dried.
I put a medium sized tomato in the blender and pureed it until smooth. I left the skin on and the seeds in. I didn’t have quite enough liquid, so I added a couple cherry tomatoes and blended again.
The pasta might look a little pale to you. I assure you, it was made with tomatoes. The pasta fades a little when cooked. I also used an orange tomato, so it was never going to be a bright red color. The flavor, however is quite nice. Subtle, but definitely tomato. Here is the recipe.
Fresh Tomato Pasta
2 c. flour
1 t. salt
½ -2/3 c. tomato juice- I just pureed a fresh tomato in the blender, seeds, skin and all. You might need a little more.
Fresh minced herbs, like chives, basil, parsley, rosemary, optional
Place flour and salt in bowl and stir to blend. Start adding the tomato juice, stirring to form a firm dough. Knead until smooth and cover dough, allowing to rest at least 20 minutes. I like to mix the dough in a food processor. Just mixes faster. You can also mix in a stand mixer using the dough hook.
Once dough is rested, roll out to desired thickness and cut into noodles or use as the base for ravioli. Fresh pasta cooks in just a couple of minutes. Watch carefully.
Serves 3-4.
Blueberry Sweet Rolls
These sweet rolls are a favorite recipe of mine. They are not too sweet, even with a powdered sugar glaze. Great for brunch or breakfast. Sweet enough to be dessert, too. I am bringing them to a brunch with friends.
The base of the rolls is a rich, yeast dough. The dough is divided in half, rolled out, then brushed with butter. Then the dough is sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with blueberries. The dough is rolled up, jelly roll fashion, then sliced into rolls.
The rolls are baked in 2 (9-inch) cake pans. The recipe makes 24 blueberry rolls. The rolls can be frozen.
I used fresh berries, but frozen work too. A good reason to buy extra berries and freeze them!!
Blueberry Sweet Rolls
3-3 1/2 c. bread flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/3 c. evaporated milk
6 T. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
6 T. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. grated lemon or orange peel
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
In bowl combine 1 1/2 c. of the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt. Heat together the milk and 2T. of the butter until warm and add to the flour mixture, beating 2 minutes. Add egg and beat 2 minutes longer. By hand stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed until dough becomes moderately stiff. Place in greased bowl, turning once to coat and cover. Allow to double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down, cover, and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 14×8 inch rectangle. Brush dough with the melted butter. Combine the remaining sugar, peel and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough. Top with the blueberries and press the berries into the dough. Starting at the long side roll up dough jelly roll fashion and seal edge by pinching. Repeat with second roll. Cut each roll into 12 slices and place 12 rolls in greased 9 inch round pans. Cover pans and allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. While rolls are warm, you can top with a powder sugar glaze, if desired. Makes 24.
Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup
Tomatoes are in season and I am loving it. I have been enjoying tomato sandwiches, tomato salad and fresh tomato sauce.
This is a great recipe for some of those tomatoes. A simple soup, with lots of flavor, it is a favorite of mine. So much better than the canned tomato soup of my childhood.
I enjoy it served hot, but this soup can also be served cold. On a hot day, this soup, served chilled, is a wonderful change from a salad with dinner.
I prefer to use fresh tomatoes, but I have used my home canned tomatoes, in a pinch.
If you want a stronger tomato flavor- use a couple extra tomatoes.
Creamy Fresh Tomato Soup
3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
1/4 t. ground cloves
1 small bay leaf
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 t. salt
3 c. milk or half and half
Peel and chop tomatoes. Place tomatoes in saucepan with onion, celery, cloves and bay leaf. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and cover, simmering 15 minutes. Melt butter in a large saucepan then stir in flour and salt. Cook mixture until bubbly. Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove bay leaf. Puree tomato mixture through a strainer, food mill or in a blender or processor. Add to milk mixture and heat through. Serves 6.
Zucchini Pancakes
You can never have too many zucchini recipes. Especially this time of year. This simple recipe uses zucchini to make tender and flavorful pancakes.
They aren’t the type of pancake you would pour maple syrup over. They are wonderful topped with some fresh salsa, though. These pancakes make a nice lunch or main dish meal. They can also be served as a side dish. Similar to potato pancakes. I have been known to have them for breakfast.
I think they taste best when golden on the outside, a little crisp. They will still be tender inside.
So if you have more zucchini than you know what to do with, and you don’t want to bake zucchini bread, here is a recipe you might want to try.
Zucchini Pancakes
2 c. shredded zucchini
1 medium onion, diced
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour- you made need a little more or less depending on how moist your zucchini is
2 t. hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1 t. baking soda
salt to taste
oil for cooking
Combine all ingredients, except the oil, in a medium bowl. Heat oil in skillet and spoon batter in. I used a little over 1/4 cup for each. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned around the edges. Flip and cook until golden on both sides and pancake springs back when touched lightly. Remove to platter and keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with salsa or sour cream. Makes 8.
