Hey Everybody,(in the back of my head. I hear you all saying "hey Dr. Nick")
It's time for the second post I owe you all (I swear I'm not trying to make the backlog of posts a recurring theme) I don't have much to say to lead up to this so I'll… Just get to it.
Braised Eggplant Szechuan-style
two medium eggplants trimmed.
4 tablespoons sunflower oil.
1 1/4 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 red chili trimmed seeded and minced
1 sweet red pepper poured seeded and chopped
sea salt and black pepper.
2 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal.
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds to garnish
chop the egg plants into 5/8 inch slices then halve the slices to give half moons
for the sauce, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat a large pan and add half of the oilTip in the ginger, garlic, onion and chili and stirfry over medium heat for 4-5 min., until the onion begins to soften. Stir in the red pepper and cook for another minute before adding the remaining oil and the eggplant pieces. Season lightly and cook turning frequently for 3 to 4 min.
give the sauce a stir and pour into the pan stir well, then turn the heat to low. Simmer for 8 to 10 min. or until the eggplant is just tender, giving the mixture a stir every now and then
transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle over the green onions and sesame seeds serve over bowls of steamed rice or Asian noodles.
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The replacements I made to this recipewere fairly subtle.(kinda) First I replaced the eggplants with yellow squash. Considering the size difference. I just put in a few more squash and eggplant. Not needing to cut the discs in half. Similar to the fact that I do not like raw tomatoes I can't stand eggplants, they're way too squishy and slimy for me every time I've eaten them. it was a simple switch in my head to exchange the eggplants for yellow squash and I'm glad I did. The other not so obvious switch in the recipe was instead of using sunflower oil for frying up. I used toasted sesame oil since toasted sesames would be eventually placed on the recipe as well. I figured it would be a subtle and permanent addition to the flavor and wouldn't be overpowering considering sesames aren't that strong to begin with.
This recipe is good, the first time. in my opinion it rapidly lost its appeal after I reheated the dish. And I do not know if that is because I didn't put sesame seeds on it the second time or I didn't add the green onions on top, but what I do know is it wasn't as good the second time around. Maybe that is just me and the fact that I'm not really a big fan of squash or squashes, but I wasn't too ecstatic about finishing leftovers in the long run.
Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Mac'n Plus
Hey all,
again, it seems I owe you several posts at once. I'm on it as fast as I can. First let me start with a wonderful (and probably obvious) casserole dish.
Veggie Mac
2 teaspoons butter.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup asparagus, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes.
1/2 cup trimmed and halved snow peas.
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Cook the macaroni according to package directions until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and transfer to a 2 1/2 to 3 quart casserole dish
3. Warm the oil in a saucepan. Add green onions, garlic and bell pepper and cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft but not browned, 2 to 3 min. Add the basil, oregano, cumin, asparagus, tomatoes and snow peas cook for another 2 to 3 min., stirring until the asparagus and snow peas are tender but not overcooked. Mix the cooked vegetables with the macaroni in the casserole.
4. Melt the 2 teaspoons butter in a saucepan and stir in flour and cook for 2 min. Gradually add the milk and cook, whisking until the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan cheese and pepper. Stir the sauce into the pasta and vegetables.
5. Bake uncovered for 25 min. or until lightly brown and bubbly.
---
The first things I should mention I what I replaced. The obvious things that I replaced were the flour the milk, and of course the cheese. the other less obvious things that are placed were the snow peas and the asparagus, which were replaced with regular green peas and green beans. All these replacements didn't seem to change the entire recipe much. Even considering the state flour milk and cheese that I used. my best guess at the difference not having made this from regular would be that the white sauce made with the cheese, milk and flour would be a bit thicker (or thinner, its thickness is in question). The main reason for this conclusion is that the recipe at the top mentioned that you can easily mix and match vegetables to suit the taste of the young ones who may be eating this dish.
With that all said, this dish is wonderful. It's a bit heavy on the vegetables to noodles ratio, but that really doesn't matter. It tasted great. I think one of the best things about it. Besides the fact that my fake cheese worked wonderfully in it was the difference in textures between the vegetables and the noodles.. But, the sauce was great as well. At times it seemed like the whole dish needed a pinch of salt, but looking back to the whole recipe salt would maybe have harmed the final product and if it needed salt I should have added it when the vegetables were cooking. All in all, this dish was wonderful and well worth the more than considerable time it takes to prepare and make.(I was getting really hungry within the last 5 min. of baking )
Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!
again, it seems I owe you several posts at once. I'm on it as fast as I can. First let me start with a wonderful (and probably obvious) casserole dish.
Veggie Mac
2 teaspoons butter.
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup asparagus, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes.
1/2 cup trimmed and halved snow peas.
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Cook the macaroni according to package directions until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and transfer to a 2 1/2 to 3 quart casserole dish
3. Warm the oil in a saucepan. Add green onions, garlic and bell pepper and cook over medium-high heat until the vegetables are soft but not browned, 2 to 3 min. Add the basil, oregano, cumin, asparagus, tomatoes and snow peas cook for another 2 to 3 min., stirring until the asparagus and snow peas are tender but not overcooked. Mix the cooked vegetables with the macaroni in the casserole.
4. Melt the 2 teaspoons butter in a saucepan and stir in flour and cook for 2 min. Gradually add the milk and cook, whisking until the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan cheese and pepper. Stir the sauce into the pasta and vegetables.
5. Bake uncovered for 25 min. or until lightly brown and bubbly.
---
The first things I should mention I what I replaced. The obvious things that I replaced were the flour the milk, and of course the cheese. the other less obvious things that are placed were the snow peas and the asparagus, which were replaced with regular green peas and green beans. All these replacements didn't seem to change the entire recipe much. Even considering the state flour milk and cheese that I used. my best guess at the difference not having made this from regular would be that the white sauce made with the cheese, milk and flour would be a bit thicker (or thinner, its thickness is in question). The main reason for this conclusion is that the recipe at the top mentioned that you can easily mix and match vegetables to suit the taste of the young ones who may be eating this dish.
With that all said, this dish is wonderful. It's a bit heavy on the vegetables to noodles ratio, but that really doesn't matter. It tasted great. I think one of the best things about it. Besides the fact that my fake cheese worked wonderfully in it was the difference in textures between the vegetables and the noodles.. But, the sauce was great as well. At times it seemed like the whole dish needed a pinch of salt, but looking back to the whole recipe salt would maybe have harmed the final product and if it needed salt I should have added it when the vegetables were cooking. All in all, this dish was wonderful and well worth the more than considerable time it takes to prepare and make.(I was getting really hungry within the last 5 min. of baking )
Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!
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