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Yay – bread products

In ten minutes there will be freshly baked bread coming out of my oven – and then there will be freshly roasted eggplants and fresh tomatoes going inside.

Yeah, so the bread came in a tube – shuttup.

ETA: MMMMmmmm… tasty sammich all gone.

****
Bad news: No sooner have a gotten rid of the squirrels than I find I have mice.

Good News: My silly, fluffy thinks-she’s-a-person cat *caught* a mouse. Of all the cats my family has had, she’s the first to ever catch a mouse. I’ve been coddling her all day and calling her a mighty hunter.

Okay, so she didn’t kill it, but she got it worn down and paralysed with fear, so it was easy for me to trap it. YAY!

***

I have no idea how I am going to pack for a nine day trip in my suitcase – I’ve managed seven days, but that was a bit of a stretch… and I wasn’t seeing anyone I knew.

Greekish Eggplant

This was a thought experiment. I can’t remember whether I actually made this.

Greek-ish Eggplant (not served at moot)

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants, trimmed, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt
2 medium-size red bell peppers
8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 canned tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

(maybe olives, but in a removable format)

Dice eggplant.

Roast peppers. Peel and seed peppers; cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips and set aside.

Heat 6 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until light golden, about 10 minutes. Mix in garlic. Add eggplant, tomatoes, half of parsley, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon pepper, sugar, oregano, and cumin. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Add bell peppers and olives; cook uncovered 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Chill. Rewarm before continuing.)

Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Baigan Bhartha

Pretty sure this if from Indian Epicure: Classic Recipes from North India by Meera Taneja, but my cat isn’t letting me up to check.

Ingredients:
2 large round aubergines
1/2 lb onions
1 inch root ginger, chopped fine
1t cumin seed
1t salt
1/2t chilli powder
1 green chilli, chopped fine
1lb fresh or canned tomatoes
2-3T oil

Scorch the aubergines under the grill until the skin has charred. Set aside to cool. Peel off the charred skin and chop the aubergines. Chop the onions finely, heat the oil in a deep frying pan, add the onions, green chilli, ginger, cumin seeds and chilli powder and fry until the onions are light brown. Add the aubergines and tomatoes. Cook slowly, stirring frequently. The aubergines will absorb the oil from the onions, so cook until the aubergine, tomato and onion mixture releases the oil slightly – about 15 minutes. Serve very hot. [also good with some yogurt mixed in at the very end.]

Gluten free Hors d’oeuvres

I think these were all based on recipes from Finger Food by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen, but I have a cat lying on my arms, so I’m not getting up to check.

Smoked Salmon Nests on Wild Rice Pancakes

Ingredients:
8oz smoked salmon
3-4T creamed horseradish sauce
fresh chives or dill to garnish

1/2c rice flour
salt & white pepper
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4c milk
1 1/3c cooked wild rice (we’ll probably use red rice instead)
2T chopped chives or dill
vegetable oil for frying

Mix up patties, adding the rice after everything else is smooth. Fry. Top with yumminess.

~*~

Straw Potato Cakes with Caramelized Apple

Ingredients
1T butter
1-2 eating apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1t lemon juice
2t sugar
pinch cinnamon
1/4c thick sour cream

oil for frying
1/2 small onion, finely chopped or grated
2 baking sweet potatoes
salt
finely ground black pepper
flat leaf parsley to garnish

cook apples in butter, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon – set aside.

grate potatoes onto a towel and squeeze dry. Mix in a bowl with onions – season with salt & pepper. [Do other latkes recipes have something binding them together???] Drop Tabelspoonfuls into hot oil, and press flat while cooking.

top with apples and sour cream.

~*~

Smoked Trout in Cucumber Cups

This is the recipe, but I think of it more as a guideline

Mix together in a big bowl:
1/2c cream cheese, softened
2 green onions, chopped
1-2T chopped fresh dill or parsley
1t horseradish sauce
8oz smoked trout fillets, flaked
2-4T heavy cream
salt
cayenne pepper to taste

Make cucumber cups. Fill them.

Eat.

~*~

These recipes below are not from the above-mentioned cookbook

Spinachy Cream Cheese Goodness on corn fritters

Mix together:
16 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dill weed
8 ounces bacon — chopped
1 cup onion — chopped
1/2 package fresh spinach — chopped (Hah! Possibly frozen)
1 cup cheddar cheese — shredded

Corn Fritters

~*~

Crab Dip Wot Does Not SuXXor … recipe found by [Ex – name redacted]

1 medium leek (white part only)
1 medium Vidalia or other sweet onion
1/2 cup drained canned artichoke hearts
1/2 cup thawed frozen chopped spinach
1 pound Brie
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Riesling or other medium-dry white wine
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 pound fresh jumbo lump crab meat
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Tabasco, or to taste

Accompaniment: toasted thin baguette slices

Preheat oven to 425°F and lightly oil an 11-inch gratin or other shallow baking dish (about 6-cup).

Trim and finely chop leek. In a large bowl of water wash leek well and lift from water into a large sieve to drain. Finely chop onion. Rinse and finely chop artichoke hearts. Squeeze dry and finely chop spinach. Discard rind from Brie and cut into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a heavy skillet cook leek, onion, and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden and stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. Add wine and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add cream and simmer, stirring, 1 minute. Add Brie, stirring until it just begins to melt. Remove skillet from heat and stir herbs into mixture.

Pick over crab meat. In a large bowl stir together crab meat, mustard, Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste and stir in cheese mixture. Spread mixture evenly in baking dish and bake in middle of oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden.

from a list of grumpy things + salad

4. And I have food I need to cook before it goes bad, and meals I am aching to try, but I keep getting home around midnight and needing to wake up in the morning and I just don’t have time for food. I ate ramen on Tuesday. Okay, so it was really tasty ramen, but I have eggplant and a spicy stir fry sauce all going to waste. I have chilled chicken and salad mix going to waste. I have baby spinach. I have a cauliflower. I want to make spanikopita and pumpkin bread. Whah!

ETA: Oh, man – I just had a great salad. I used the salad mix I had from the farmers’ market (picking out the frisee (because how is that food?) and the largest chunks of bitter cabbage and adding spinach, YAY!). I had enough to need a BIG bowl. Then I microwaved the grilled chicken, cut it up, and added that. I sliced a purple onion, shredded some cumin gouda, and crumbled bacon on top. Then I dropped some mustard and garlic into the bacon fat, dropped in a pinch of brown sugar, and swirled in some balsamic vinegar and some red wine… and called it salad dressing. So good!

ETAA: All food successfully eaten.