Roasted Eggplant

The texture and taste of this eggplant is as unusual as it is awesome. The slices of eggplant had a texture similar to the apples in an apple pie and they soaked up all of the flavor of the balsamic vinegar.

This makes a great simple side dish to accompany almost anything although I ended up eating all of it for dinner one night. :)

Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant

1 Eggplant halved and sliced a 1/4 inch thick

4 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

4 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Brown Sugar

In a large bowl mix together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and brown sugar.

Toss in the eggplant and stir around until thoroughly coated.

Put into a 9 inch pie plate and bake at 375 for about 20-30 minutes (until eggplant is softened and the top has started to brown), stirring once of twice. Serves 4 as a side dish.

Sweet Potato Salad

Went for a long ride out to Key Biscayne, about 45 miles total, on Saturday with Emerge (a Miami cycling group) and we had a picnic so I made this salad to take. Everyone loved the taste of sweet and tangy, and the sweet potatoes were the perfect vehicle for the flavors. I made it the night before because I wanted it to chill and marinate, but you could probably make it just a few hours ahead of time too.

The original recipe called for boiling the sweet potatoes, but I baked them instead because I have tried that before. Word to the wise: boiled sweet potatoes are gross. The texture is off and the flavor is weird; overly starchy and still kind of "raw" tasting.

I actually forgot to put in the pecans before I was out the door but am sure they would be a nice addition to the salad.

Sweet Potato Salad (adapted from a Taste of Home recipe)
2 lb. Sweet Potatoes (about 3-4) cubed
1/3 cup dried Cranberries
2-3 tablespoons Orange Juice (use a fresh orange)
1-2 teaspoons Orange Peel
3 Celery Stalks diced
1/2 teaspoon ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/2-3/4 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Pecans chopped
Note: Spices are approximate - I just sprinkled them on the sweet potatoes

Toss cubed sweet potatoes with ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon and bake on a large ungreased pan at 410 degrees (turning over potatoes about 2-3 times so they don't stick) for about 20 minutes or just until the potatoes become slightly soft (not super soft though or they won't hold up in the salad).

Celery and orange peel

While potatoes are cooking mix together orange peel, orange juice, brown sugar, dried cranberries, and celery.

Orange after peel has been grated off

Once potatoes are done toss in with all the other pre-mixed ingredients and add in the mayonnaise. Chill for at least a few hours. Add in the pecans right before serving. Makes about 6 servings as a side dish.

Yogurt Barbecued Turkey Breast

Giant turkey breast

I've always made and used tomato based barbeque sauces but I've read about ones that have different bases and seen chefs make different types on cooking shows. Probably on the food network but I have no idea whose show because I don't have cable and just watch it whenever I am visiting someone who does. Anyway, I thought a yogurt base would be good, tangy, and also tenderizing. This turkey breast came out amazing but the spices weren't super strong, so after I had deboned and shredded the breast I added in some more seasoning.

spices mixed together

Feel free to make your own modifications. I threw this together on a whim after reading about paprika in a cookbook while I was browsing Barns & Noble.

The finished product!

Yogurt Barbecued Turkey Breast
3 1/2 teaspoons Paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons Chili Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Onion Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Greek Yogurt (I wouldn't recommend using regular yogurt for this unless you strain it because it will be too watery)
6 lb Turkey Breast
Mix together spices with yogurt and rub all over the turkey breast. Make sure to separate the skin on the turkey breast and rub the spices under it otherwise you will just be flavoring the skin which doesn't do much good. Bake in a large pot or roasting pan, covered, for about 3 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the turkey breast reads about 170 degrees. Let the turkey cool down (don't wait until it is is really cold though because that makes it harder to debone) and then debone and shred the meat and mix it back in this it's own juices. Use it for whatever recipes you want. I made a casserole, and a pasta salad with mine. The turkey also freezes well so you can save some for future use.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic Cheese Sauce

While engaging in one of my favorite activities, stumbling food websites, I came across this recipe for sweet potato gnocchi on The Noshery, an excellent food blog. I had never made gnocchi before so I decided to try my hand at it. These are truly little bites of heaven. Using sweet potato instead of regular potatoes was a genius move, it makes the gnocchi even richer and gives it a slight sweetness which the garlicky cheese sauce offsets perfectly. Making gnocchi is a time consuming endeavor, I think it took me about two hours to make the dough, cut it up, and boil it. Not to mention the sauce. Definitely a weekend project for a meal that you want to make special, or if you are bored and want to tackle a new kitchen project (that would be me).

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic Cheese Sauce (adapted from this recipe)

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
1 1/2 cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes (about 3 sweet potatoes)
6 oz Low Fat Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
2 1/2 cups (about) Flour
Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork and roast at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until soft. Mash up sweet potatoes and then let cool. Once they have cooled put them in a large mixing bowl and mix in the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and nutmeg.

Sweet potatoes and ricotta cheese

Gradually add in the flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is only slightly sticky and stays together enough to handle. Take dough out and knead on a floured surface, adding more flour as needed until dough is smooth. Divide dough into three sections.

Divided dough

Roll one section into a rope, one inch in diameter.

Rope of dough

Cut the rope into four equal parts and then slice the four parts into about one inch pieces.

The four pieced

Uncooked pieces of gnocchi

Repeat with other sections. Bring a large pot of water to boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water in about three batches (you don't want too many gnocchi in the water). Boil the gnocchi for 6 minutes - once gnocchi are starting to get done they will rise to the top of the pot. The Noshery suggested frying the cooked gnocchi to crisp them up a little and I tried that, it was an excellent idea. Just put a little butter in the frying pan, turn onto medium heat and throw in a few handfuls of gnocchi at a time cooking on each side for a minute or two until lightly browned. The exterior crunch makes the chewy gnocchi center even better.

Garlic Cheese Sauce
2 cups Milk
3 tablespoons Butter
3 tablespoons Flour
1 cup Gouda Cheese
1 tablespoon Garlic minced
1 Onion chopped fine
Salt
Pepper
In a large frying pan on medium heat saute onion and garlic in one tablespoon of the butter until onions become translucent and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn burner down to low, then add in the rest of the butter and melt. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter, onions, and garlic and stir in. Slowly add in the milk, stirring constantly or the mixture will clump. If it starts to clump pull off heat and stir in more milk until mixture is smooth again. Once milk is incorporated continue to cook on low heat until boiling, continue boiling for about 2 minutes (should be slightly thick). Add in the gouda and stir until melted. Pour over the gnocchi and serve. Gnocchi and sauce serve about 3-4 depending on if you have sides and how hungry everyone is.

Caramelized Carrots

These carrots are from the 2007 America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, created by the fine people behind the fabulous cooking magazine Cook's Illustrated. Aside from the recipes, which are always the best, they go through and analyze how they perfected the recipe and what makes it good, what mistakes were made, everything. It is like having a window into a cook's mind - great for someone who is just starting out cooking and wants to understand the mechanics behind what happens in the kitchen. Also, their product reviews are the best - they go through and rank different products by overall best product and best product by price. They always give good reasons for why a product is picked and it isn't always the higher end stuff that ends up being ranked the best.

Anyway, these carrots are super yummy, the sweet glaze caramelizes perfectly in the oven, and the carrots have a nice crunch before the softness inside.

A lovely accompaniment to any dinner. Enjoy!

Caramelized Carrots
1 1/2 lb Carrots cut in 2-3 inch pieces and quartered
1 1/2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Butter melted
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 -1 teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper
Cut ends off of carrots. Cut into 2-3 inch pieces then quarter those pieces (the carrot pieces should be small so that they are crisper and caramelize better). Put carrots into a medium mixing bowl and toss with all of the other ingredients. Spread in a single layer onto a large cookie sheet.

Carrots about to go into the oven

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 475 degrees, stirring once or twice while baking.

Gooey Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the Cookbook "Baking: From My Home to Yours"by Dorie Greenspan, but I actually found the recipe at Kait's Plate. These cookies are exactly what I was looking for, they are thin, chewy, and slightly gooey - exactly the way I like them. They aren't cakey or dry at all, which is something I have been cursed with when making most chocolate chip cookie recipes. I think this one may now be my go-to recipe.

Happy Baking!

Gooey Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Original recipe here)
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) Butter softened
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
2 cups (or about 12 oz) Chocolate Chips (I use Ghiradelli brand, I like the shape and taste better than Nestle)
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat soft butter for a minute or two then add in the sugars and beat for two minutes.

adding in the sugar

Add eggs one at a time beating for one minute after each egg.

After beating the eggs in

Stir in the vanilla. Add in the flour gradually, in three batches, mixing well after each addition, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Raw dough, tasty!

Bake at 375 for about 9 minutes (check after 8 minutes). The cookies will look a little underdone when you pull them out but that is ok, if you don't take them out when they are just starting to brown on the sides they will get over-done and crispy. Made 36 cookies (but it varies a little).

Rows of cookies!

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I made these sweet potatoes for a birthday party potluck on Saturday and got a steady stream of compliments on them. They are just the right blend of spicy and sweet, and quite healthy to boot! If you want a quick side dish this a great recipe to try, because it goes well with pretty much anything.

peeled whole sweet potatoes

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3-4 Sweet Potatoes cubed and peeled
2-3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1-2 tablespoons Chili Powder (depends on how spicy you like your food
Enough olive oil to coat the potatoes
Salt to taste
Spread the cubed sweet potatoes in a single layer onto a large cookie sheet (15x10) and sprinkle on chili power, brown sugar, and salt. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat the sweet potatoes.

potatoes just after sprinkling on spices

Mix together until all the sweet potatoes are evenly covered with the seasonings and oil. Bake at 425 for about 20-30 minutes (time varies due to the size of the potatoes, if you cut in larger chunks it could take more time to cook) stirring once or twice. The sweet potatoes should be slightly crusty on the outside (allow the potatoes to stick to the bottom of the pan while cooking as that facilitates a nice caramelly "crust") and soft on the inside. Enjoy! Calories for entire recipe are about 1050.

Chili

Yesterday I made a huge pot of chili in preparation for the group of friends about to descend upon my apartment. They are all coming down from the great white north (Michigan, where I and my partner are from) for New Years and I am so excited! However, they are all guys and they eat like pigs, hence the chili.

I love chili, it is probably my favorite food with meat in it. It is so spicy and complex, perfect for a cold day. I have been making chili forever and continually tweaking my process - I won't say recipe, since the closest thing I have to that is a list of spices I always put in to it. When I made chili yesterday, I thought about trying to write down the amounts of everything for this blog but in the end I just couldn't. It is one thing I am really not sure how to write a recipe for. It is the kind of food where you start with the base ingredients and then you just add shit in from there. Tasting along the way until its right.

So, I am going to give a partial recipe and let you explore the rest (i.e. the spices) until you find a combination you are happy with. That is pretty much what I do with everything I cook and I really encourage you to do it with any recipe of mine you try because everyone's tastes are different - you may discover you have a favorite spice that you like to see in your cooking that i don't use or something.

Chili
3 lb Lean Ground Beef
2 15 oz cans Kidney Beans
3 15 oz cans Diced Tomatoes
6 (or more) Jalapeno Peppers diced
3 Onions diced
1 tablespoon chopped Garlic
1 bottle Chili Sauce (should be in the isle with ketchup and such)
2 packets Chili seasoning (Consider going with the name brand for this as it usually has less filler)
1-2 teaspoons powdered Mustard (can use prepared mustard instead)
1-2 tablespoons Cumin
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
Couple shakes of Tabasco Sauce
1-2 tablespoons Brown Sugar (it balances the spiciness)
All spice measurements are approximate
Put kidney beans, diced tomatoes and chili sauce in a large pot and put on medium heat. Meanwhile brown ground beef and add chili spice packets to it along with the chili powder, cumin, and mustard. While beef is browning chop up the onions and peppers. Once beef has browned add to the pot then saute the onions, peppers, and garlic until clear and browned; add to the pot. Put in brown sugar, tabasco sauce, and worcestershire sauce into the pot. Taste and modify to your liking. Continue cooking for at least an hour, preferably two or more as the cooking really enhances the flavors and makes a thick chili. FYI, if you decide not to use the spice packets you should add salt, but if you use the packets you don't need any salt as they have plenty.