Book Expo America~ NYC

Book Expo how I love thee... It is suppose to be work, shhhh... But I find it so fun! How can I not? I LOVE books!!! And Book Expo is the Trade Book Industry's EVENT. THE event. I have blogged about the Childrens book experience I had on art with an archangel... Now I will tell you about the food-type book experiences I had...

Carla.

She was just there. Yes, Chef Carla Hall from Top Chef & The Chew just came by to see what was going on. She was adorable & tall. So very tall) of course I am so short at 4'10" but...) What a sweet, fun person!

 

Some of her friends were at BEA too- TLC's Stacy London, HGTV's Sabrina Soto, Bravo's Tim Gunn...

 

America's Test Kitchen.

Now... I have spoken of my love before for ATK...And my experiences at Book Expo with them :) 

Last year I got: ATK Slowcooker Revolution Cookbook

The year before that I got: ATK Best Lost Recipes

This year I got:

And I am ecstatic! Cannot wait to get a chance to peruse it (I mean devour it...) And start bookmarking!!!

They truly are amazing & you cannot go wrong with their recipes.



Some other things to report:

Ok, so Rachel Ray was also there but I was not about to stand in line forever (sorry) for a book I'd probably not use (sorry) especially when she wasn't taking pictures (why? have to ask her) RR was promoting her book, The Book of Burger... And fellow blogger Bakerella was there. I got her autograph but because everything was signed by her. She makes gorgeous Cake pops & she was promoting her book, Cake Pops Holidays. 

And I got a chance to peruse/meet many fiction & other non-fiction writers. BEA is a book-lover's dream! I very much enjoyed myself indeed! <3 Lishie

"Graceland" Eggplant Panini

Oozing, cheesy goodness!

Today was Book Club Sunday which means lovely ladies, wonderful conversation & a meetup at the local diner. I ALWAYS seem to get breakfast & the same thing for these days. Curious enough though, when I get diner at other times, I crave what is listed on the menu as the "Graceland" sandwich. I don't know why it's called that as it has nothing to do with peanut butter & bananas grilled (Elvis' purportedly favorite sandwich) at all. It's actually grilled- coated eggplant, roasted red peppers & mozzarella & it comes "drippingly" greasy &  delicious with a side of fries. YUM. So since I get breakfast for book club, I thought why not recreate the Graceland at home, for dinner?

Mine begins with the eggplant: 

Eggplant Panini

• 1 Eggplant
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1/2 cup Bread crumbs
• Approximately 3 TBSp Olive Oil
• Italian Sub Rolls or full Italian Bread, sliced into sandwich sizes
• 1 Jar of Roasted, Sweet Red Peppers or 1 Fresh Red Pepper, Roasted
• Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
• Fresh Basil
• Approximately 2-3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Approximately 2-3 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Clean, peel, & slice the eggplant length-wise. Set up a mis en place: Whisked egg in one shallow bowl, Bread Crumbs in another. Heat the 3 TBSp Olive Oil in a saute pan on medium-high heat. Dip the eggplant slice first in the egg then coat the slices with bread crumbs & place in the saute pan. Cook until it is golden, about 2-3 minutes each side. Allow to cool on a paper towel lined plate.
After the eggplant is bread & cooked, assemble the sandwiches... Bread, eggplant, peppers, mozzarella slices, basil leaves (I leave them whole) & finally the splashes of extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar. 
Close the assembled sandwich & cook it either on a panini maker OR on a grill pan with a weight on the sandwich (another pan or heavy plate) until the mozzarella is melted. 


It is DELISH.

Here is the diner's Graceland:

Photo Courtesy of Stacey :)

*Lishie tip- "Panini" simply means "pressed" in the U.S. but in Italy, it means a sandwich customarily made out of a small loaf of bread, pane.


BTW, the month's Book Club read, which I highly recommend, was:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a fascinating story. It's non-fiction & 3/4 of the way through, I got slightly bored with the scientific part (although, written for the layman, me, to understand & it was indeed comprehendible). I wanted more of Deborah than of the actual HeLa cell history but am in awe of what the Lacks family went through. It terrifies me how little we've seemingly come from the '50s too, in many aspects, when Henrietta's cells were taken from her. Makes me wonder what my doctor does with my "bewildering" crohns saga & records.


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