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This evening I went on a walk. I was in the midst of writing an article for work, the sun was just beginning to set, and I needed a break. I’ve always called this time of night the gloaming, and loved it for its glowing light and sinking shadow.

A few deer watched as I passed them on the side of the road; blackberries filled the bushes, ready to pluck. I wore a pair of yellow sandals, which I could see in the periphery of my vision whenever I took a step. They matched the golden patches of grass that stand dry on the side of the road.

I listened to Miles Davis as I walked and I let thoughts ricochet about my mind. I thought about Alice Waters, who sat gracefully at a long garden table for an event I covered on Saturday afternoon. I thought about my mom and her boyfriend, who just left after a lovely wine-soaked visit. I thought about Matt in Paris and Russia in Georgia. I thought about reporting: in a small town, in a large city. I thought about an almond cake I recently made, the blackberries I picked before breakfast, and my landlord’s chihuahua Louis. I thought about my transition to this new place, one filled with quirks and conundrums and truly excellent cheese.

I miss writing for myself; I’m going to try for more.

Caponata

Back when I lived in Brooklyn there was a restaurant we would frequently go to called Joe's of Avenue U. It's very casual Sicilian fare that was inexpensive and delicious. This is where I tried Caponata (sometimes called Caponatina) for the first time and fell in love with it. The best way for me to explain what Caponata is, is by calling it an eggplant stew. It is prepared in the same manner that one would use to make beef stew. The veggies are sauteed in oil and liquid is added to simmer them in. However, this does not take hours to make like a meat stew would, so that makes it even better for me.

The recipe I used belongs to Steve's grandmother Rose. I have never met her but I'm sure she would be happy to know that someone is making her caponata. There are many variations of this dish, some include zucchini or peppers but this one is very simple. I think the next time I make it I will add pine nuts (pignoli) and raisins. I am almost positive that those two ingredients were in the first caponata I have ever had at Joe's. Since then there have been new owners and they do not use the nuts or raisins and it's still good but I love the sweetness that the raisins give the dish. A lot of Sicilian recipes use sweet and sour ingredients together.


Grandma Rose's Caponata

2 lb unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1” cubes
½ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3 ½ oz. tomato paste
1 cup water
1 lb green olives, salted and pitted
2 oz jar of capers, unsalted and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1 heaping tsp. sugar
¼ cup wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and celery, cook until almost tender. Remove ions and celery and place in a bowl. In same skillet, sauté eggplant until light brown. Remove. In same pan, over med flame, cook tomato paste and water, stir until dissolved. Add olives, eggplant, capers, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to a boil over high flame. Lower flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and vinegar. Stir and cook for ½ minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Makes 2 quarts. Sterilize jars before using. Cover tightly.
Keeps in refrigerator for 6 weeks.


There are only a few very minor changes that I made to this recipe.

~ I used canola oil instead of olive oil because the eggplant absorbs the olive oil too quickly. Then have to keep adding oil and you end up with oily eggplant. Just use whatever oil you would normally use for frying.

~ I added a little more sugar and vinegar than the recipe called for. I'm sure Steve's grandmother, like Nanny, didn't use standard measuring cups so the measurements that we have are just a guess. Nanny's measuring cup was a mug. So it's very difficult to get exact measurements but all you need to do is taste and adjust. Not a problem.

~ I also cooked the eggplant at the end for a little longer because either I cut the eggplant too big or the time given was just an estimation. Again, just taste it and you can tell if the eggplant is cooked all the way through.

This dish is best served cold or room temperature with a couple of pieces of good Italian bread for dipping.

Enjoy!

The award goes to....

Many thanks to my new friend Lucy from Sweets, Savories, Etc. for nominating me for the Brilliant blog award!


As you know I'm brand spanking new to all the ins and outs of blogging but I've learned that there are some rules I need to follow regarding the award. Sorry Lucy, that it took me so long to post this...I'm slow...but I'm learning! :-)

Here are the rules...(taken from Lucy's blog)

1. Add the logo to my blog.
2. Add a link to my new friend who gave me the award.
3. Nominate other blogs.
4. Add links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message on their blogs to let them know they have been tagged!

There are so many blogs that I've started reading and they are all so great! I want to pass this on to everyone, however, I will stop at three!

I am tagging...

Shane from Culinary Alchemist - He's the Alton Brown of Bakespace!

Sophie from Flour Arrangements - Her blog is the first I ever read!

Jonny and Nikki from Sunday Sauce - Their blog makes me think of home!

Breakfast of Champions

When I was a child there were mornings when I woke up and just wanted to be in Nanny's company. Even before I was old enough to understand why, I knew that Nanny was special. There were days that I'd pretend to be sick so I could stay home from school and hang out with Nanny. That meant special food all day long. One of the special things Nanny made for breakfast was french toast. I bet you're thinking that french toast is not that special. Well, her's was different and that's what made it special to me, my brother and my sister. The main difference in Nanny's French Toast was that you didn't put syrup on it. Nanny never had syrup in the house. There were many "American" things that we liked but Nanny would never touch. Syrup was one of them. Her topping for french toast was the same as her topping on her zucchini flowers. Granulated Sugar. These days since we are always watching our fat intake, a sugar topping just isn't practical. Today though, we are honoring Nanny so this is what she did and this is what I did.

Nanny usually used some white italian bread (loaf style sliced bread with some seeds...never wonder bread) but if she had some leftover bread like I did today, she would use that too. Mix in an egg with some milk, cinnamon, a little sugar and vanilla. I had a leftover round Italian bread from Whole foods and I cut two thick slices. I used two eggs since the bread was thicker. When the bread absorbed most of the egg mixture I fried it in a nonstick pan. Normally, I'd use Pam nonstick cooking spray or if I'm feeling like being indulgent I'd use a little butter. But Nanny never touched either of these things. Butter was a forbidden ingredient in her kitchen. It was very rare that she would use it. She claimed she was allergic but we all know she wasn't. She just didn't like it. Nanny used oil a lot. For most dishes she used Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I guess this is why her skin was always so soft. She never worried about her weight...she used a ton of oil but never had any issues with clogged arteries or high cholesterol. I guess this what they call the Mediterranean diet. So back to the french toast. I fried the french toast in a little bit of canola oil until it was a nice golden color. Sprinkle that with some granulated sugar and you're all set! I figured with all that thick bread I should balance it off with a sunny side up egg. Afterall, Nanny did like the combination of sweet and savory!

From the Pantry Dinner - What can YOU come up with?

It's been a long week and I'm truly exhausted. In fact, I have no idea how I'm awake and typing up this entry. Anyway, today is Friday...in our house that means pizza night. Growing up Friday was always my Mother's day off since she cooked dinner the other 6 days of the week. We usually ordered a pizza, brought home some Chinese food or in the wintertime we made our own pizza. Sorry to disappoint you but this is not a blog about pizza. I just wasn't in the mood for pizza tonight so I threw together a few things I had in the fridge and pantry and we had a delicious pasta dish. So delicious in fact, that I ate enough for two people...two very large people that is. :-)

So here is what I made. This isn't an exact recipe since things were just thrown together. I hope this will inspire you to come up with something new out of your pantry staples!

Saute 1 sliced onion in extra virgin olive oil. Add 3-4 cloves of sliced garlic. Let garlic lightly toast being careful not to burn it. Add crushed red pepper and italian seasoning. Add two chopped tomatoes that have been seeded. Let them soften. Add 1 can of tomato paste (I used some that I had in the fridge, about 3/4 of a can)and a handful of chopped mushrooms (use as much as you like. I had about 4 shitakes) deglaze pan with about 1/2 cup of white wine. Stir to combine. Add 1 can chicken broth a little at a time to create sauce. Add in one can of drained artichoke hearts (in water not oil) and some sliced kalamata olives. Throw in some torn basil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Let cook while spaghetti is cooking. Don't bother to drain pasta, just pick it up with tongs and add to saucepan. Any water left on the pasta will help make a nice sauce.

That's it. Simple and delicious!

Something tells me that Nanny would definitely approve. Wish she was able to taste it!

Bakespace Challenge 3 - French Onion Salisbury Steak

It looks like we have a new favorite salisbury steak recipe!!!

Things worked out very well for me and challenge number 3. The idea was to find a recipe that was popular the year you were born or around the year you were born. I looked it up on the internet and I found that Nouveau cuisine was popular. Not something I was too keen on recreating. Then I found a website that mentioned meatloaf and I started to think about some American dishes my mom made when I was growing up in the 80's. Salisbury steak was one that popped up in my mind. It was great for us kids because it was like eating a hamburger with gravy and it was easy for my mom to make when she came home from work. The recipe I found is very different from the traditional salisbury steak I've made or my mom has made. I found it while looking through some old cooking magazines. This is from the April 2005 edition of Cuisine at Home. Great magazine by the way. I should probably renew my subscription.

French Onion Salisbury Steak

Makes 4 Steaks; Total Time: 45 Minutes

1 1/4 lb. ground chuck
1/4 c. fresh minced parsley
2 TBS. scallion, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 TBS. all-purpose flour
2 TBS. olive oil
2 cups onions, sliced
1 tsp. sugar
1 TBS. garlic, minced
1 TBS. tomato paste
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup dry red wine
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
4 tsp. minced, fresh parsley
4 tsp. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cheese Toasts
4 slices French bread or baguette, cut diagonally (1/2" thick)
2 TBS. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
Pinch of paprika
1/4 cup Swiss cheese, grated
1 TBS. Parmesan cheese, grated

Combine chuck, parsley, scallion, salt and pepper. Divide evenly into 4 portions and shape each into 3/4"-1" thick oval patties. Place 2 TBS. flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 tsp. flour.

Heat 1 TBS. oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add patties and saute 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.

Add onions and sugar to pan; saute 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; saute 1 minute, or until paste begins to brown. Sprinkle onions with reserved flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth and wine, then add the salt and thyme.

Return meat to pan and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Serve steaks on Cheese Toasts with onion soup ladled over. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan.

For the Cheese Toasts

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Place bread on baking sheet.

Combine butter, garlic and paprika and spread on one side of each slice of bread. Combine cheeses and sprinkle evenly over butter. Bake until bread is crisp and cheese is bubbly, 10-15 minutes.

This was the recipe as printed in the magazine. I made a few slight changes. I had to buy two packages of ground beef so that gave me a little over 1 1/2 pounds of meat and I got 5 patties out of it. The scallions at shoprite have been looking pretty funky lately so I substituted red onion. I don't think it changed the flavor at all though. The only other change I made was that I used shredded mozzarella instead of the swiss. I've had french onion soup with both types of cheese so either is good for me! Everything else I did the same and I was very happy with the results. Steve really liked it as well. There are only two slight changes I would make in the future. First I would drain the fat from the patties after they are browned. I usually do this with my ground beef but I thought that the flour would absorb more. Turned out to be a little more greasy than I would have liked. The other thing is that I would use half the amount of dried thyme. It is very strong and too much can be very overpowering. I had to add a little water to try to dilute that. Other than that this recipe was great and I would definitely recommend it!



I forgot to take a picture of the meat mixture so I took a picture of the patty instead.



Patties dredged in flour.



Patties in my favorite all clad pan. (I'm such a kitchen label whore! lol)



Sliced onions and tomato paste.



Broth and patties returned to the pan.



Voila! Doesn't that look yummy?

It's not too late to join in the latest bakespace challenge! I believe it runs until August 15th! If you don't want to do the challenge but you are curious about bakespace come check it out at www.bakespace.com. You will find me there in the forums!

Bakespace Challenge 2 - Ratatouille Lasagna

For our second bakespace challenge we had to recreate a dish from a movie of our choice. We were asked to put our own unique spin on it. This proved to be a difficult challenge since I could not find a movie right away. I really wanted to use Under the Tuscan Sun but there wasn't any close ups of the dishes or any discussions of what she made. I did finally decide on a movie that I could work with...Disney's Ratatouille. Ratatouille is a french vegetable stew that usually uses eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. There seem to be many versions of this dish which is great for using whatever you have on hand.

To make my own spin on the dish I decided to make a lasagna layered with strips of zucchini and eggplant. I wouldn't call this a vegetable lasagna but I guess it could be considered that. I know vegetable lasagna to inclue spinach or broccoli but either way, I used veggies and it's lasagna. So call is what you wish! I didn't use ricotta in this dish because I wanted to concentrate on the flavors of the squash and not have it muted by a lot of cheese. Peppers are found in most recipes for ratatouille and I wanted to include them but not layered in the lasagna. This turned out to be my biggest problem. I rememeber seeing Rachael Ray make a roasted red pepper sauce and I thought that would be a great way to include the peppers. The idea sounded good but...nope...not so great. I used her recipe as a guide and used a jar of roasted red peppers. The result was a very tangy sauce that I really didn't care for at all. I think if I used my own peppers to flavor the sauce, it would have been much better. I love the flavor that peppers give the sauce when I make my mom's recipe for stuffed peppers (I'll have to share that with you soon.) I think the idea was good, the vegetables were tender but the sauce was a flop. If I had a chance to do it all over again I would make a marinara sauce and do everything else the same.

So the first thing I did was make the sauce. Here is a link to Rachael Ray's recipe if your curious. I used an onion instead of a shallot and I used three cloves of garlic instead of two. Basically, I made my regular sauce just added in some white wine and a jar of roasted peppers that I chopped in the food processor.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/gemelli-with-roasted-red-pepper-sauce-recipe/index.html

While the sauce was cooking I sliced the zucchini and eggplant on a mandoline. I used the 1/4 inch setting and made long slices. I also squeezed the juice and seeds from two small tomatoes and those I sliced by hand.

Next, I fried the zucchini and eggplant in vegetable oil and then drained them on paper towels.



I let the vegetable get lightly browned on both sides.



The next part was very easy if you've made lasagna before. I layered the vegetable between layers of no boil pasta sheets. Sauce on the bottom, sprinkle of romano cheese, three sheets of lasagna, more sauce, romano, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella. That was the first layer. It's important to use a lot of sauce because this is what actually cooks the noodles. Next layer was the same but I used the zucchini on this layer. Next layer was the top layer. On top of the pasta I added sauce, romano and mozzarella. I added the tomatoes here and sprinkled them with cheese.



Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 1 hour.



When I sliced it you can see that it's not as thick as traditional lasagna. That's because it didn't have the ricotta. It still looked pretty on the plate and the vegetable were nice and tender.



So even though the recipe wasn't perfect, I'm proud of the way I put it together. Like I said, I would absolutely try this again without the roasted red pepper sauce.