no-fry eggplant parmesan

Using small eggplants means you don't have to salt them first if you don't have the time / inclination. I skipped the salting and had no problems with bitterness at all.


No-Fry Eggplant Parmesan

4 - 5 SMALL eggplants ( I like the Japanese kind), peeled and sliced length-wise
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp dried oregano
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 box of spaghetti, prepared as per directions
4 cups prepared spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix the bread crumbs, grated Parmesan and oregano.
- Dip each piece of eggplant in the beaten egg and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture, then place in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Cook in 375 degree oven for approximately 5-7 minutes, then flip each piece and cook for another 5-7 minutes until golden brown on both sides and tender through.
- Remove baking sheet with eggplant from oven, but leave oven on.
- Spoon a layer of prepared spaghetti or marinara on the bottom of a 13X9 baking dish and shake dish around to coat.
- Layer into baking dish as follows: eggplant slices, mozzarella cheese, sauce, until you've used everything up, ending with a layer of cheese.
- Cook in a 375 degree oven until golden brown on top, about 10-12 minutes.
- Serve over prepared spaghetti with additional sauce, if desired.

bangers and mash

Mmm, bangers...mmm, mash...mmm, onion gravy. What else do you honestly need to know?



Yummy. I used red potatoes this time, and didn't peel them, just mashed them with the skins on.

roasted chicken

Chickens were on sale, so I bought one and roasted 'er up:



I rubbed the skin with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. It baked at 450 for about an hour, total. It came out pretty good...nice crispy skin and moist meat:



Yes, that's boxed stuffing that I served it with. Stuffing is one of those things that I'm probably always going to be too lazy to make from scratch, and I'm ok with that.

pork chops with mushroom pan gravy

These boneless sirloin chops were on special and looked really nice, so I snapped them up with the intention of trying to replicate my Nana's mushroom pan gravy for them tonight. What I ended up with wasn't quite Nana's pan gravy, but it was pretty tasty all the same. I worked from my treasured copy of Mark Bittmann's "How To Cook Everything" to come up with this recipe. Bittmann has yet to lead me astray in over 10 years. He might not be too pleased with me using boxed stuffing, though...;)



Note: I used boneless pork chops, which take a little less time to cook. Bone-in chops will work great for this...just let them cook 3-5 minutes longer. Also, I used white button mushrooms because that's what I had, but this would also be good with some porcinis added to the mix.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Pan Gravy

4 pork chops
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp dried thyme
1-2 tbsp flour
salt and pepper

Season chops generously with salt and pepper.

Put a large pan on medium heat and allow to heat for 2-3 minutes. Add olive oil, and just when the oil starts to show wisps of smoke, carefully place chops into the pan. Turn heat to high and allow chops to brown, moving around to get good color all over, 3-4 minutes tops. You're only browning, not cooking through yet!

Turn heat to medium, add wine and garlic. Allow to cook 3-4 minutes more, until wine is nearly evaporated, flipping chops once or twice. Add mushrooms, chicken stock and thyme. Turn heat to medium-low and cover. Allow to cook for about 10-15 minutes, until chops are cooked through (about 150 degrees - meat will feel firm to the touch). If the liquid in the pan looks to be dwindling, you can add more chicken stock, wine, or even water, a 1/4 cup at a time.

When chops are cooked through, remove meat from pan and turn heat up to medium-high. Add two tablespoons of butter and stir, allowing to melt. Sprinkle flour over the sauce - start with just one tablespoon, whisking until smooth. Allow to cook down for a minute or two, to desired thickness. If you want the sauce thicker, you can add more flour, or allow it to reduce further. I prefer to just let mine reduce because I like the flavor better.

Place chops on plates, spoon sauce over, and serve. I served mine with stuffing (from a box!! Oh noes!!) and steamed fresh green beans.

ginger beef and broccoli

I'm always amazed at how the taste of ginger can fit into so many recipes - sweet, savory, hot...ginger does it all. It's one of my favorite things.

Tonight's supper was a simple stir-fry that took me all of 20 minutes, start to finish...and that was with prepping on the fly and some futzing around (because I can never just cook...I always futz, too).



I found a really nice-looking steak at the store on sale, so I scarfed it up with stir-fry in mind immediately. I cut the excess fat off the meat, then thinly sliced it on the bias to keep it tender. I put it in a bowl with about half an inch of grated ginger root, three sliced cloves of garlic, and a couple tablespoons of both toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. I added a few good shakes of Tabasco, gave it a stir, and set it aside. I chopped up two crowns of broccoli, half a white onion, and six large button mushrooms. The veggies went into a hot pan with canola oil and were tossed till almost crisp-tender. I then pushed the veggies out to the edges of the pan and dumped in the meat and all the liquid with it. I tossed everything over high heat until the meat cooked through...just about 3 minutes. I garnished it with a little sliced green onion, because I was feeling artsy.

I realized after the fact that I forgot to put brown sugar in my meat marinade, but it was still really yummy without it.

herb-crusted pork roast

I used a loin roast for this, which had very little fat on it. I cut a pocket into it, then let it sit in a salt/sugar/water brine for a couple hours. While the roast was soaking, I prepared the root veggies for roasting. I used one medium rutabaga, four medium red potatoes, two large leeks, half a bag of baby carrots, and ten cloves of garlic. I chopped everything except the garlic into 1" pieces and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. This mixture went onto two heavy non-stick sheet pans and into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, then the pans were rotated and cooked for another 40 minutes.

For the roast, when it was done soaking I rinsed it thoroughly in cold water and patted it dry. I stuffed it with a mixture of fresh parsley, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. Some of this mixture also got smeared on top of the roast. The roast was then topped with a mixture of a little Parmesan, olive oil, and fresh bread crumbs, along with salt and pepper, and a minced shallot. I cooked the roast at 350 degrees for a total of about 75 minutes, until it reached 150 degrees internally. I then tented the roast with foil and let it sit for 10 minutes while I steamed some fresh green beans. Once those were done, we were ready to eat!

I actually messed up the crust quite a lot. I misread the recipe and put about 4 times the Parmesan in it that I should have. It made it fairly salty, but still quite good. The brine kept the meat nicely moist through the long cooking, and the roasted root veggies came out nicely crisp and earthy-tasting. All in all, a really good Sunday dinner.

shepherds pie

Mark has been asking for shepherds pie since the weather got cooler. This is a slightly unintentional twist on it, in that I grabbed ground veal thinking it was ground pork. It ended up being a happy accident.



Shepherds Pie

3/4 lb lean ground beef
3/4 lb ground veal
1 large well-washed leek, chopped (you can use onion instead)
2 large cloves of garlic
2 cups sweet corn (frozen works fine)
4 large russet potatoes
2/3 cup of milk
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Peel potatoes, chop roughly and place in a large pot. Cover with water and set to boil.

Meanwhile, brown the veal and ground beef with the leek (or onion). When meat is almost cooked through grate or mince the garlic and add it, stirring well. Allow to cook a couple minutes more. Once cooked through, remove from heat and drain any fat off. Spread evenly in the bottom of a casserole dish and set aside.

When potatoes are cooked through, drain thoroughly. Return to pot, add half the butter and the milk (you may need slightly more or less milk, depending on the texture you like your mashed potatoes. I don't like mine super smooth...I prefer them a little chunky, aka: Irish style...hah!) and mash. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread sweet corn over meat layer in baking dish. Spread mashed potatoes over the top of the corn. Dot with remaining butter. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until warmed through and top is starting to brown.