Eggplant "Sandwiches"

Since I was unwell, my Mom-in-law sent me some fried eggplant. I love it so! I decided to make little eggplant "sandwiches" with the pieces with provolone in the middle, the idea from my friend Melissa at "I Was Born to Cook". I had never thought of making these delicious little packages of love before & what a treat! My mom-in-law made the eggplant the same as IWBTC & I would... I just added the provolone & broiled. So DeLish!!!!
<3 Lishie

Eggplant "Sandwiches"
adapted from I was Born to Cook

• 3 eggs
• water
• 2 c Italian bread crumbs
• 3/4 c Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, divided
• 1 eggplant, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
• s & p
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 lb. provolone slices

Crack eggs into a bowl & beat with a bit of water.  Place bread crumbs on a flat plate, add a bit of Parmigiano Reggiano, & mix.  Dip eggplant slices in egg, one at a time, letting excess egg drip off before coating both sides with bread crumbs.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add eggplant & brown on both sides, sprinkling with a bit of s & p.  Remove & place on paper towel-lined plate.  Repeat process until all eggplant is cooked. 

Heat up the broiler. Take a broiler pan & place eggplant on bottom.  Top each slice with a few slices of provolone.  Top with eggplant & sprinkle Parmigiano Reggiano on top. 

Broil for 10 minutes, until cheese is melted.  Top with more Parmigiano Reggiano, if desired.  Serve.

Makes around a dozen "sandwiches".

Garden Tomato–Zucchini Tian

We love fresh veggies & always have an abundance of them (never mind the fact that my father in law grows them too!!!) And herbs ~ a Summer Bounty! So I am always looking for ways to make them to showcase a variety at the same time outside of a salad... Tian's are perfect because they are so pure~ the cooking process simply brings out the intense, true flavors of the veg & allows a few different varieties to marry in the baking dish. I recently saw this recipe from Saveur which, along with my father-in-law's gorgeous tomatoes, plus,  reminded me to make one... It was delish! Use it to top some pasta & you have a delicious vegetarian meal or go ahead & have it as a side.

Saveur promises: 

"This beautiful dish "speaks" summer, using vegetables just plucked from the garden. Fresh herbs enhance its simplicity."

& delivers!

Tomato–Zucchini Tian

Adapted from SAVEUR

• 1 medium eggplant, peeled & sliced 
• Salt
• 1 large onions, peeled & sliced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled & minced
• 1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally
• 1 medium yellow summer squash, sliced diagonally
• 2 ripe large tomatoes, sliced
• 4~6 fresh basil leaves 
• 1⁄2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano (optional)

1. Cut eggplant in 1" slices, sprinkle with salt, & place in a colander. Drain for 30 minutes, then pat dry.

2. Cook onions and garlic in 3 tbsp. of the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium baking dish. In the same skillet, cook eggplant in 2–3 tbsp. of the olive oil until tender and slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, and stir into onion mixture.

3. Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange zucchini, squash & tomatoes in layers with eggplant. Place in the basil, on the sides, drizzle with remaining oil, season with salt & pepper, and bake 30–40 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, if using, and serve.

BTW~ Have I mentioned that if a recipe even mentions cheese as "optional", it's always a must for me? ;)

Enjoy!

<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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Meatless Eggplant Balls

It's Lenten Friday again folks & I am constantly trying to think of "meaty", meatless ideas that do not necessarily involve fish or tofu. I got the idea of making stuffed shells with roasted eggplant (will make it in the near future) but then happened upon this idea of Sauteed Eggplant "Meatballs". My recipe is loosely based on it. Funny thing? I didn't use any OLIVE OIL at all! HA!

And these were so flavorful & delicious that I felt a heavy red sauce wasn't needed. HA!

Balls of veggie goodness!

Meatless Eggplant Balls

• 1 Large Eggplant
• 1/2 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 3 TBSp shredded Mozzarella, approximately
• 1/4 cup Parsley, chopped
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
• S & P

Roast the eggplant either on your gas burner flame until the outside skin becomes blackened ~OR~ in a hot oven (400 degrees) for 1 hour. Allow it to cool then cut it and scoop out the pulp. Mix the eggplant pulp, breadcrumbs, both cheeses, parsley, egg, garlic & S &P together in a bowl, gently. Place the mixture, covered, in the refrigerator for an hour to get it to "stick" together. 

After chilled,  form the eggplant mix into rounded "meatball" shapes. It depends on your eggplant/stuffing but my yielded 8.  Place the eggplant balls on a parchment-lined or cooking-sprayed baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until slightly browned.

I served them over buttered noodles with freshly grated parmesan cheese. YUM.

These are so yummy they can be served as appetizers. The ideas to use them are endless- same as regular meatballs! Subs, in sauce, etc.

Stromboli!!!

Well I thought I knew what the difference between stromboli & calzone was but I didn't. I thought it was obvious; it wasn't. Calzone had solely cheeses (mainly ricotta & mozzarella) & NO sauce, whereas stromboli could have anything in it, including sauce, right? Nope, that is not the thing that distinguishes the two. Apparently, the main difference is in the SHAPE. A stromboli is a considered a turnover whereas a calzone is an Italian "stocking" or "trouser". I was scared when I read this because I am notsogood with the dough, hence why I don't make my own! Whatever, they never have to look great when they are home made, juse TASTE great, right?! Anywhichway, they were PLEN-TY TAS-TY so here's my take on two kinds of Boli:

Stromboli

• 1/2 eggplant *(see below) 
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

• AP Flour (enough to sprinkle to roll out the dough)
• 1 bag of Pizzeria Dough 
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese 
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 meatballs
• 1/4 cup leftover sauce
• S & P
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Spray a baking pan with olive oil spray. Prepare the eggplant first. Slice the half of eggplant horizontally into round pieces & place the pieces on the pan. Brush the top sides of the pieces lightly with olive oil  & then sprinkle some bread crumbs on them. Finish off by grating parmesan cheese on top of each eggplant slice. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. 

While waiting for the eggplant, prep the dough. Sprinkle out some flour on the counter or pastry board & spread out the dough with a rolling pin. Work it out into a large rectangle. Then slice this dough in half with a pizza cutter or pastry cutter.

Delineate a half of one of the halves :) In other words, take one of the rolled out squares & find it's center. 

In one, the "eggplant boli" I placed: 

1) eggplant (5 pieces) 

2) chopped pieces of meatball (3 TBSp) 

3) ricotta cheese (3 TBsp)

4) mozzarella (2 TBsp) then topped with 

5) sauce (3 TBsp). 

In the other, the "meatball boli" I placed:

2) chopped pieces of meatball (2 whole meatballs) 

3) ricotta cheese (3 TBsp)

4) mozzarella (2 TBsp) then topped with 

5) sauce (3 TBsp).

Then comes the wrapping up or turning over of the stromboli. Take one, with it's mixings placed. Pull the dough over the fixings to blanket them length-wise. Roll it a little to seal. Tuck/fold the two outer, smaller edges. Repeat with the second stromboli.

Place the 2 on a sprayed or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Poke some holes in the top to release steam while cooking. Then brush some olive oil on top of each & finish by grating some parmesan cheese onto the oiled stromboli.

EGGPLANT BOLI: Pocket-full of eggplant/meatball/cheesy goodness!

MEATBALL BOLI: Ooozing with cheesy-meatball goodness!