Eggplant Parmigiana da Lilly

Hi Everyone, and Happy Holidays.  Today I'm going to give you a recipe for my grandmother's eggplant parmigiana.  This dish is very special as it is not the usual eggplant baked with mozzarella cheese, but more of an appetizer served at room temperature.  I can remember my great aunts visiting Grandma and asking, "Lilly, do have any of your eggplant?" She was famous for it.  She kept it in a jar in the fridge and it was never around for long.  She was the only one in her family to make it and I've never had it anywhere else.  When I started making it for my own family, my step-son was so taken he made it for a school project ( he got an A ) and has incorporated it into his own repertoire.  It's now become a Thanksgiving tradition in my family as my daughter-in-law requests it.   A word of caution:  you must be a garlic lover for this one, and you won't stop eating it until it's all gone.  It's a bit labor intensive, but definitely worth the work!      

Eggplant Parmigiana da Lilly:

For this recipe you will need one large or two medium eggplants, a marinara sauce, 5 cloves of garlic chopped finely, grated parmigiana cheese and breadcrumbs. 

Slice the eggplant into thin rounds and fry in hot olive oil until golden on both sides and set aside.  Make sure your oil is very hot when you begin frying.  For the marinara sauce, saute three sliced cloves of garlic in a tablespoon or so of olive oil until golden then add a medium sized can of pureed tomatoes, a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley, salt, pepper and a little sugar to taste and let simmer for about ten minutes.  DO NOT add any onions.  Now you are ready to put the dish together.

In a chafing dish or bowl, line the bottom with a layer of eggplant , then spread on a tablespoon or two of the sauce, sprinkle on some of the chopped garlic, then about a teaspoon of cheese, half teaspoon of breadcrumbs and salt lightly.  Then begin again with another layer of eggplant, sauce, garlic etc. layer upon layer, until you've used all of your eggplant.  Cover and put it in the refrigerator for TWO days.  This is crucial!    Everything must meld together in oder for the dish to become what it is.  Don't be alarmed at the amount of oil in the dish, it's all good. Remove from the fridge and serve at room temperature with a good italian or french bread. Mmmmmmm....... this is so good, my mouth is watering!  Warning:  if you make a sandwich of this for lunch and bring it to work, don't let your co-workers taste it 'cause you might not get it back! 

Enjoy xo

I almost forgot, any left over sauce is a good sauce for pasta.

A Harvest Supper

Hi Everyone, it's harvest time, and I'm enjoying some savory suppers using fresh ingredients from the garden.  Tonight I'm preparing a pasta dish using fresh pasta, romano beans, fresh tomatoes, and fried eggplant.  The combination of the beans and tomatoes makes the sauce particularly luscious and the fried eggplant adds a nice textural quality to the dish.

To make the pasta:

I cup semolina flour

salt (about 1/4 tsp.)

2 eggs

Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle in which to put the eggs.  Sprinkle with salt and stir the flour into the eggs, pulling more flour in from the sides of the bowl until the flour and eggs are blended into a dough.  Dust the dough with flour and set it on a board so that you can roll it out.  Roll it out as thinly as you can, as you would for a pie, only thinner.  I usually only roll out half the dough at a time.  When you have it rolled out sufficiently, roll it up to form a tube and slice it into strips.  I cut the dough into strips about 1/4 inch wide. Unravel the pasta and sprinkle with a little flour so that it doesn't stick.  I cup of flour makes enough pasta for four people.  Extra dough can be frozen.  

Romano beans and tomato sauce:

Gather two handfuls of beans, wash and cut them in half.  Make a sauce by sauteing a couple of cloves of garlic in olive oil and salt until browned, adding the beans, a little water, some chopped parsley, and a couple of ripe tomatoes.  Salt again, and let everything cook down, about 10 t0 15 minutes.   

Cook the pasta al dente.  This pasta will cook quickly and float to the top of the pot.  

Pour the sauce over the pasta and top with fried eggplant slices (recipe from Feb. 16) and grated parmigiano cheese.  This dish is great with a nice chianti.  Mmmmmmmm, so satisfying.

Enjoy!  xo 

Zeppole/sfinge

Hi Everyone!  I was on my way to my favorite cafe in Little Italy last week when I was taken by surprise by the Feast San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples.  Walking by the stalls of frying sausages and peppers really made me wish I still ate red meat.  There were booths with traditional nougat candy, platters of sliced tomatoes with garlic, broccoli rabe and what I consider the ultimate feast food, zeppole.  The first time I ate zeppole I was at a small Italian feast in my neighborhood in the Bronx.  I was about 5 0r 6 years old.  My family called this type of zeppole, sfinge, from the Sicilian dialect which has some roots in Arabic.   I was fascinated by the huge kettle of boiling oil into which the cook was placing pieces of  raw pizza dough.  The dough was turned in the oil until golden on all sides then removed and put into a brown paper bag and sprinkled heavily with powdered sugar.  When my mother handed me one, I could tell it was going to be a treat but, as I bit into it, I fell in love!  It was pure heaven!  Oh, the wonder of fried dough!  Here's how to make your own sfinge, just like at a festa!

Zeppole/sfinge

Heat up some peanut or canola oil in a pot until boiling.  Buy or make enough pizza dough for one large pizza.  Don't try to make the dough wholesome or whole wheat, this is junk food here.

Pull off small pieces of dough and brown on all sides.  The dough should puff up and cook quickly.  Remove cooked dough and put out onto platters with paper towels on them to absorb the oil, and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.  Mmmmmm, a great treat!

I will get back with more garden fresh recipes as the picture implies, but I couldn't resist the delicious memory.  Enjoy!

Fresh Tomatoes and Pasta

Hi Everyone, this has been a hot summer and unlike last summer, an excellent one for tomatoes. I wanted to prepare a meal using fresh slicing tomatoes, as the flavor of a good ripe tomato can stand on it's own, but make it a little more hearty.  I decided to slice and dress the tomatoes and add cooked pasta.  The result was just what I was looking for!  The dish was full of the fresh, rich flavor of summer and heartier than a tomato salad.  Of course, the quality and ripeness of the tomatoes, are what makes this dish.

I hope you've had a chance to eat some Romano green beans this summer.  Boy, they are good!

Fresh Tomatoes and Pasta:

The amount of tomatoes needed will vary due to size etc.  Cut the tomatoes and mix with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a couple or three or four cloves of finely minced garlic, salt, chopped parsley, and a few basil leaves.  Cook your pasta al dente, I used Barilla's whole wheat linguine,  and add to the tomatoes.  You may want to add more olive oil and salt or sprinkle on some parmigiano cheese.  Mmmmmmm, so good.  Enjoy!  Xo

Romano Green Beans

Hi Everyone, today I want to talk about the Romano green bean which is an Italian flat bean.  It is grown like any green bean, either pole or bush.  If you are a gardener, it's not too late to add this delicious variety to you garden.  Romano beans are extraordinary enough to include even if you are already growing green beans.  If you don't have a garden, look out for them this summer, as you only find them in markets during the summer months.  Remember that they are flat. What sets this bean apart is it's succulent and rich texture. Most green beans are crisp and juicy, while the Romano has a meaty quality.  I love them sauteed with olive oil and garlic. They are great over pasta.  A nice hearty pasta dish is sauteed beans with fresh or canned tomatoes, some fresh basil, finished with parmigiano cheese on top.   They're also good sauteed, then cooled and served with a little vinegar or lemon juice as a salad.  I know that once you try them you'll love them!

Romano Beans and Tomato Sauce:

Crush a couple of cloves of garlic and saute in olive oil and salt until golden.  Add about 1/2 lb of clean romano green beans either whole or cut to a size that you prefer, and a little water and let cook slowly.  When the beans have softened, add some fresh or canned tomatoes, a few fresh basil leaves, salt, and cook until the beans are soft the tomatoes have cooked down.  Pour over some pasta that has been cooked al dente and add some grated parmigiano cheese on top.  Mmmmmm, so good!  Enjoy xo.

Pearl Oyster Bar

Hi Everyone,  I was in NYC last week and ate at one of my favorite restaurants, the seafood restaurant, Pearl Oyster Bar.  The restaurant is famous for it's lobster roll, which chef Rebecca Charles has recreated from her memories of childhood summers spent in Maine.  I've never had one, but I can tell you that what I do have is always exquisite!  I always start off with oysters on the half shell.  Here the oysters never disappoint.  Last week the oysters were Chinquoteagues which are from coastal Virginia.  Normally I don't care for oysters form the south or west coast.  I find them too big and not briny, however Chinquoteagues are more like northeastern oysters, small, briny and crisp, just like seawater.  While eating them I began to muse as I do when the oysters are good, that a good oyster is the perfect food!  Then on to fried oysters which are battered and seasoned to perfection.  I also ordered another favorite of mine, salt encrusted shrimp.  In this dish the large, succulent shrimp are cooked in their shell, coated in a crisp, salty mixture.  Fabulous!  That night the vegetable was asparagus, which being in season was perfect!  I recommend sitting at the bar where you can exchange pleasant conversation with the other patrons who are as delighted with their meal as you are with yours.  Wine, beer and champagne are served by a knowledgeable and helpful waitstaff.   People start lining up to get in when the doors open at 6, and if you go later, you can expect a long wait, but is well worth it. Pearl Oyster Bar is located on Cornelia Street in the West Village.   Mmmmmmm, oysters.....xo         

Baby Bok Choi with Oyster Mushrooms

Hi Everyone,  today I have a recipe for baby bok choi sauteed with garlic and oyster mushrooms.  I am fortunate in that I have dried whole lime leaves in my cupboard and the addition of a few of these, used like bay leaves, really brightens up the flavor of this dish, and many others.  They may be purchased at an Asian food market.  However, the dish will still be tasty if you are unable to include them. 

Baby Bok Choi with Oyster Mushrooms:

Slice up a couple of cloves of garlic and saute in a pan with olive oil and salt.  when the garlic begins to turn golden, add about 1/4 lb sliced fresh oyster mushrooms and saute together. Make sure that you have enough oil in the pan.  After about a minute add the cleaned bok choi, salt and 2 or 3 lime leaves.  I like the really small ones (bok choi) because you can cook them whole. Lower the flame and let them cook slowly.  They don't need much time at all so keep your eye on them.  You don't want them to get mushy, just soften nicely.   When done, remove the lime leaves.  A garnish of toasted sesame oil is also a nice addition.   Mmmmmm, so nice and fresh!  Enjoy, xo.