Eggplant Steaks

This is an Alton Brown recipe and it turns out pretty well - if you are somebody who doesn't like eggplant, that is fine, but if you are somebody who finds eggplants in their purple rotundity a bit daunting, I encourage trying this recipe. They can be made in the toaster oven and they are fairly easy and turn out pretty good (while being hard to screw up).

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup thick steak sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
8 (1/2-inch) eggplant slices, purged with salt
1 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons chopped parsley, optional

Equipment:

1 oven set to Broil
1 shallow jelly-roll pan
Pastry brush (if you don't own a silicone one already, buy one)
1 small mixing bowl
Paper towels

Procedure:

1. In a small bowl whisk together the Worcestershire, steak sauce, olive oil, honey, and apple cider vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Pat your eggplant dry with paper towels.
   
3. With a pastry brush apply the sauce to both sides of the eggplant.
   
4. Place eggplant rounds onto a sheet tray fitted with a rack.
   
5. Place the tray under the broiler for until eggplant is nicely browned, approximately 2 minutes. Turn slices over and place back under broiler to brown the other side.
   
6. Generously sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan over all of the slices. Place back under the broiler for 1 minute to nicely brown the cheese.
   
7. Serve plain or sprinkle with freshly chopped herbs.

Cinnamon Jumbles

If you are like me, you have trouble when it comes to some types of baking. I have a lot of trouble with cookies. Usually because I don't let the butter sit out until it actually becomes "softened" or I try to make weird and unwieldy substitutions or I just have trouble when it comes to mixing. I do make delicious cakes, and my macaroni and cheese leaves little room for doubt, so I don't worry too much about my cookies.
I do make excellent Cinnamon Jumbles. Those of you who were lucky enough to have a good family friend who gifted you with the Betty Crocker Cooky Book when it was reprinted a few years ago will recognize these as The Best Cookie of 1880-1900. They are easy to make, don't require a mixer, and are fantastic care-package cookies because they stay soft for weeks. They are also a good "on hand" cookie, made from things you should have in the pantry.

1. 4 cups flour (sift if you'd like)
2. 1 teaspoon baking soda
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup butter
5. 2 cups white sugar
6. 2 eggs
7. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk - (I do not keep buttermilk on hand, so I use either sour cream (low fat, not fat free, or skim milk mixed with a bit of vinegar - check a substitution chart for details)
   
9. 1/2 cup white sugar (for topping)
   
10. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (for topping)

Equipment:

1. Mixing bowls
2. Measuring spoons
   
3. Mixing spoons
4. Dredge (optional) for shaking out topping
5. Refrigerator
6. Oven

Procedure:

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Combine vanilla and buttermilk, set aside.
   
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at time.
3. Combine the dry mix with the wet mix alternately into the butter and sugar mixture.
   
4. Cover dough and chill (for at least twenty minutes, or for as long as overnight).
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Generously grease cookie sheets.
6. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Combine the cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle some of the mixture onto each cookie.
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Travel Cooking

My family likes to stay in places where there are kitchens when we travel, both to reduce the cost of food and to be able to make healthy meals. Right now we are staying in a condo in Hawaii with a full kitchen. Last night my sister and I cooked Marlin for the family to enjoy.
The problem with marlin is that it is extremely tough - a "game fish" and the chunks we got of it were very thick - which we did not cut down.
Marlin is not a common fish on the east coast, leaving me blank on how to prepare it - and even my father said he had never had it before - it wasn't terrible, but I won't cook it that way (see the recipe for Salmon) again. Instead, if you are going to cook marlin, I recommend:
1.) Not cooking marlin
2.) Pan frying small chunks of marlin and mixing them with some kind of tropical fruit salsa
as a topping

Waffles!

I've talked before about how everyone should own the Joy of Cooking, and one of the many reasons is because when you wake up in the morning and realize that you're out of pancake mix and you have no internet, you can turn to the pancakes and waffles section and find many many great recipes for waffles, from scratch. This is their classic one, and I've halved it to make the perfect amount of waffles for two people - one and a half each.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2. 1/4 plus 1/8 cups white flour
   
3. 1/2 tbsp baking powder
   
4. 1/2 tbsp sugar
5. 1/2 tsp salt
6. 1 egg
7. 1 egg white
8. 1/4 cup oil
9. 3/4 cups milk

Equipment:

1. 2 mixing bowls - one small, one large
2. 1 waffle iron
3. 1 spatula

Procedure:

1. Plug in waffle iron to heat it up.
   
2. Mix all dry ingredients in the large bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients together in the small bowl and pour into the large bowl.
   
4. Mix all ingredients until combined.
   
5. Pour 1/3 of batter into waffle iron. Allow to cook for ~5 minutes.
   
6. Eat. Enjoy.
   

Equipping the Kitchen

So - lets talk measures. Measuring is important when it comes to cooking, although I've been cooking long enough that I'm able to Rachel-Ray a lot of things and approximate. But for baking in particular, I do like to measure.
My boyfriend and I just moved in together and decided to buy good measuring cups, cutting boards, and a few other good items.
We went with these measuring cups and these spoons, both by OXO. The measuring cups are great because not only do they come with a 3/4 cup and 2/3 cup measures, they have half-measures marked on them, making it particularly easy to halve a recipe, particularly one that calls for 3/4 of a cup of something. They are really good - I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking to upgrade their measuring cups.
We also picked up some bamboo cutting boards - one large, one small. I love a good wood cutting board - because they take the chopping action much better then a plastic one and feel better.
We also picked up a slow cooker at Value Village for $4 - brand new, still with instructions - don't ever forget to look in strange places for lucky finds like that :-).

Calzones

Sometimes I can't make stuff well. One of those things is Calzones. I've tried once or twice to make them, and what happens is well, they don't come out right. Mostly because I like to make them healthier with whole wheat flour. This works really well in pancakes and chocolate chip cookies, recipes I'll post later.
But don't do it with calzones. Otherwise, this recipe will be pretty good - try substituting any of your favorite pizza toppings for the stuff.

CALZONE

PIZZA DOUGH: 1 env. active dry yeast 1 1/2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees) 4 c. all-purpose flour 1/4 c. olive oil FILLING: 2 c. pizza sauce 1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, diced 1 c. mushrooms, sliced 1 green pepper, chopped 1 sm. can olives, chopped 12 sq. slices boiled ham Salt and freshly ground pepper Olive oil Oregano For pizza dough, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup water and let stand 10 minutes. Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Make well in center and pour in yeast mixture, remaining water and oil. Mix with fingers or fork until dough can be gathered into ball. Transfer to floured board and knead until smooth, shiny and elastic, about 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and damp cloth and let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Punch dough down and divide into 6 equal parts. Roll out 1 part at a time (keep remaining dough covered with damp cloth) into 10-inch round. Spread 1 tablespoon pizza sauce over half circle and sprinkle with 1/6 of the cheese and mushrooms. Lay a small amount of peppers, onions and olives on. Cover with 2 squares ham and season with salt and pepper. Fold turnover fashion and pinch edges together to close. Repeat for each calzone. Bake directly on oven racks until nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes. Brush each hot calzone with remaining pizza sauce and a few drops of olive oil. Sprinkle with oregano and serve immediately.

Alas, it has been awhile.

It has been awhile since my last post, but in the meantime I have graduated from College and moved. So, it is justified that it took me so long.
This is an easy, quick and dirty, soup-from-a-can recipe. I recommend using Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper soup that comes in a 32-oz box.
Ingredients:
1 box roasted red pepper soup
1 1/2 cups rice
1/2 block tofu
1 cup frozen peas or other vegetables
salt
pepper

Equipment
Cutting board and knife
Large pot

Procedure

1. Pour box of soup into pot - if you like less sodium, use less soup and add water.
   
2. Bring soup to a boil. Add rice. Cover and allow to simmer.
   
3. Cut tofu into thin strips, add to soup.
   
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
   
5. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Add frozen peas.
   
6. Allow to simmer an additional 10 minutes, or until soup is ready.