Growing up, whenever I heard we were having eggplant for dinner my mood would darken in anticipation of that tough disc of chewy-yet-slimy eggplant hidden under formerly friendly elements like tomato sauce & parmesan cheese. God bless my mom, and I sure do miss her and REALLY appreciate all she did for me (‘specially now that I have kids!) but I don’t think eggplant was her specialty. Is that wrong to say?

This recipe takes care of all the problems: the tough/chewiness, the slime & the sheer mass of the slices. It also lets the eggplant do its job: soak up all the flavors! I love this recipe! It’s basically an extra special baked ziti that’s easy to make!

Btw: it got really dark out when I was shooting my ingredients. I’m ’bout to run to OSH for a clip lamp tomorrow but since Bea’s asleep, let’s overlook the imperfections! This recipe is totally worth it.

Here’s (mostly) what you need:

You’ll notice I have only 1 eggplant in the picture – but the recipe calls for 2 LARGE eggplants and I recommend you use that amount if you can! While I was shopping for some of the ingredients, my kids were hollering for those little Horizon chocolate milks that I buy so they can take a sip or two before squeezing it up and over their hair/shirts/shoes/my purse & the shopping cart. I said no causing one of them to scream so loudly she peed her own pants IN the shopping cart. So I bought only 1 eggplant by mistake.

Use 2 large eggplants for best results! And quit blaming your kids for all your problems!

INGREDIENTS:
2 large firm eggplants (each about 1.25 lbs)
2 TBSP coarse salt (plus more for pasta & sauce) – You can really use regular salt if you don’t have coarse but you’ll need less.
6 TBSP olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced
(1) 35-oz can peeled Italian plum tomatoes, lightly crushed in their juices
1 tsp crushed hot red pepper
1 lb ziti
1 c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 c fresh basil leaves, shredded
1/2 lb (1 c) ricotta cheese
8 oz Fontina cheese, sliced thin

A note before I start: this dish can be served as a hot pasta dish from a bowl OR you can go right ahead and bake it. The Fontina cheese is for the baking option. It’s delicious both ways!

First, cut the stems off the eggplants. Then peel 1″ wide strips of skin off the eggplant leaving about half the peel intact. In other words, peel 1″ then leave 1″ then peel 1″ etc. so it looks like it has stripes going down it longways.

Then dice the eggplant, toss with 2 TBSP coarse salt (or about 1 TBS regular salt) in a medium bowl (SAVE THE BOWL!! You can use it again before washing.) and drain in a colander for an hour. Rinse it under cool water & pat dry.

Preheat oven to 400. Using that same bowl you SAVED, toss the eggplant with about 3 TBS olive oil & spread on a baking sheet in an even layer.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until browned. Turn with a spatula as needed (or don’t if you forget!) When eggplant is done, just set it aside.

Next, do two things at once:

1. Set your pasta water to boil in a large pot. You’ll be combining all your ingredients in here in about 15 minutes so make sure it’s large enough. I always start the water unsalted with the lid on as it boils faster. Then I add the salt. You see, the salt slows down the boiling.
2. In a large skillet, heat your remaining 3 TBS olive oil.

Can you handle the multi-tasking?

While your water is heating up, add the garlic slices

to the olive oil for about 3 minutes, until golden. Be sure to move/stir them every so often.

Add the tomatoes. Note Ralphs’ moxxi re: the knock-off San Marzano tomatoes. Well done, Ralphs!

(In re-reading this, I just realized that is an inside joke between me, myself & I. You see, the original recipe advises you to use San Marzano tomatoes if possible. Well, Ralphs didn’t have them and I’m not the type of person to race off to Whole Foods or Bay Cities JUST for that!! Anyway, I laffed a little to myself when I saw this label.)

Snooty!

Incidentally, it was only a 28 oz can so I had to supplement with some from another can. Don’t let these things worry you a’tall!

Add the red pepper flakes, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally. Add salt if needed – mine didn’t.

Your water should be hot now! Add the ziti, stir & add the salt of you haven’t done so already. Set timer! I like mine al dente so I set it for 1 minute under recommended cooking time.

It’s all coming together!

Drain the pasta & return it to the pot.

Pour in all but about 1/2 cup of sauce (unless you don’t plan to bake it) & toss lightly.

Yes, the original recipe asks you to save 1/4 c but I think you need a little more.

Stir in 3/4 c of the parmesan cheese.

And the basil.

Gently stir in the eggplant. (Of course I did this in the wrong order but through the magic of computers I am switching the order for your benefit.) There is a reason for the order!

Add heaping spoonfuls of the ricotta.

Stir minimally into the pasta. The point of this is to heat the ricotta, not combine it completely as you’ll want little pockets of ricotta to remain in the end product!

Now: you can serve it as is OR you can bake it. I baked it this time.

If you want to bake it, pour it into a 13×11″ baking dish.

Doesn’t this look so good?

Arrange the slices of fontina across the top.

Add the remaining tomato sauce atop the cheese slices, then sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake until the edges are bubbling and cheese is lightly browned. About 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

From Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen, by Lidia Bastianich

Now a lot of people (‘specially on the East Coast) are going to be playing the ol’ air violin for me when they read this but yesterday our pilot light went out on our old gas heater. I am flying solo this weekend as G is back in the blue grass of Kentucky and I count on him to do manly things like light the pilot light when it goes out. The house was cold, cold, cold yesterday & never seemed to heat up! What’s a girl to do when the house is cold, the baby’s asleep and M and I are hostages inside, freezing to death? Bake a hot, buttery, COFFEE CAKE!!!

This heated the house and the bellies up thereby improving sour moods on a gray Saturday. Yay for coffee cake!!

The best part (except for the cake which is THE best part) is you probably have all these ingredients (‘cept maybe the pecans which you can always replace with walnuts or omit entirely!)

INGREDIENTS
For the Cake:
1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 c scant sugar
3 c flour, sifted
4 tsp baking powder, sifted
1 tsp salt, sifted
1-1/4 c milk
3 eggs whites, beaten until stiff

For the Crumble:
1-1/2 stick butter, softened
3/4 c flour
1-1/2 c brown sugar
2 TBSP cinnamon
1-1/2 c pecans, chopped

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside.

I used to forge on painfully with my hand sifter until I saw The Pioneer Woman use a strainer. SO much easier! I’m not sure what the great pastry chefs would say but this is my new technique. Thanks Ree!

2. Beat egg whites (Although I’ve been phasing out eggs, I used egg whites in a carton because I had them in my fridge for a longggggg time and they are going to expire end of the month. I am not sure what the substitution is for egg whites but it’s probably just the same egg replacer.)

3. In a LARGE bowl, cream butter & sugar. (A large bowl because this is the bowl all the ingredients will end up in eventually.)

4. Take turns adding flour mixture & milk until just combined.

5. Grease a 9×13″ baking dish. I just save the butter wrapper & use that.

With a rubber spatula, fold in egg whites until just combined. Dump batter into the baking dish.

6. In a medium bowl (I tried this in a small bowl which is why I recommend a bigger bowl!), combine the CRUMBLE ingredients with a pastry cutter or your clean fingers!

Somebody gave me this pastry cutter – I never knew what it was but I’m so glad I have it! (Was it you, Nina?)

Sprinkle crumble mixture on top & pop it in the oven for 40-45 minutes.

Who’s going out the dog door?

Bea, those jeans make your butt look big!

Delicious on a cold Sunday morning! (Or Sat. afternoon…)

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

It’s hard to believe January’s almost half over and I haven’t posted my Christmas pictures yet. Actually, that’s not that hard to believe. The only resolution I’ve accomplished was canceling my gym membership. Ciao (for the 4th time), 24 Hour Fitness! You know I can’t stay away for long & will always support you! (Financially, that is.)

Also, I had hoped to have my new blog “theme” up to make the recipes more easily searched etc. but alas, I no longer have any free alone time now that I always have a child with me. Therefore I’ll need to enlist professional help. Stay tuned for my new blog & URL “Real Housewife of Santa Monica” hopefully out in 2012!! Seriously, hopefully up in February.

I love the idea of enchiladas but wanted to make them without that jar of red/brown sauce they’re usually swimming in. Not that I don’t LOVE that sauce & pretty much all sauces but every once in a while I like to make something a little lighter, fresher & more easily visually discerned. What the *@#$% am I talking about?

We were heading out to a friend’s birthday “Under the Sea” birthday party so I made all the components before we left. Our friend, Katarina (remember her from the alphabet wall post?) wowed us with all the details!

Maddie dressed herself for the party.

We were the first to arrive so I took some quick snaps before anyone else got there. Don’t you hate the guests who arrive RIGHT ON TIME?

A watery wonderland!

Fishing pole licorice imported from Sweden in person by a helpful brother.

Starfish honeydew!

Floating jellyfish.

Make a fish station.

Starfish PJBs.

Shimmery fishy background.

The CAKE!!!!!!

This cake was not only cuteness overload but also REALLY DELICIOUS!!! (Katarina: if you are reading this – please tell us what kind of cake it was in the comments section below??) I know it had chocolate and a fruit jam layer…YUM!

An adorable party thrown by our friends! Phew – that was a ton of work.

When we got home, we assembled & baked the enchiladas. These are easy, appealing (despite poor photography skills) & tasty.

Adapted from Whole Foods.

Here’s what you need:

Chopped veggies.

Corn (fresh or frozen.)

Diced tomatoes, black beans & tortillas.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
3 TBS favorite salsa (OPTIONAL)
2 tsp cumin
2 TBS chili powder
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 ear corn (or 1 c frozen corn) removed from cob
cilantro to taste (I totally forgot to buy cilantro)
ground black pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes (or Rotel if you want some spice!)
3/4 c Mexican shredded cheese
8 corn tortillas (makes 4 enchiladas)

We were getting ready to go to a friend’s birthday party so I didn’t take pictures of each & every step but I know you get the idea of sautéing the veggies… Here we go:

1. In a medium bowl, mash the drained & rinsed black beans. Add 2 TBS cilantro, half the cumin & half the chili powder.

Add the salsa to the black bean mixture if you have it! Combine.

2. Sautee onions in olive oil for about 4-5 minutes being sure to stir to coat with oil. Add minced garlic for another minute & stir to coat.

3. Add corn, stir & cook for about 2 minutes. Add zucchini & red pepper & stir to coat. Cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes to mixture along with the remaining cumin and chili powder & cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. (Option: I pureed my tomatoes in a blender. This is only recommended for the PICKIEST of eaters. They will never know there are tomatoes in this dish now.) If you blend them, add to the onion/veg mixture at this point!

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I am a huge fan of this stuff now. You all probably use it all the time but I just started using it and it saves on REALLY bad dishes when you’re done cooking. But I digress… place 4 tortillas on the baking sheet. Using half the bean mixture, top each tortilla. Then top that with the tomato/veggie mixture. Finally, sprinkle about half the cheese on top of the tortillas. Now add your 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th tortillas on top (think “lasagna.”) And repeat the process, using the rest of all your ingredients.

First (bottom) layer complete!

You probably noticed 6 stacks in my pix. That’s because I planned to make extras. I started making the first layer and soon noticed I must’ve only had 10 tortillas to begin with. You do the math(s). Anyway, I decided to make two open-faced ones.

Mmmmmm…jalapenos!!! I LOVE THEM!! I can’t help myself.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Top with remaining cilantro, lemon wedges & sour cream if desired!

These are really tasty & good the next day too!

It has been warm here all week. Like in the 80′s. But I didn’t let that stop me from making a vegetable barley soup with homemade rustic bread! In LA it cools down at night anyway so even people from So. Cal. can snuggle inside…

Here’s what you need:

Btw: you can change out the veggies according to what’s in season near you, what you have in the house, what you like etc.

INGREDIENTS:
2 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
4 carrots, shredded
1 zucchini, chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can garbanzo beans
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
freshly ground black pepper to taste (or pre-ground!)
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste based on the salt content of your broth & diced tomatoes)
fresh ground pepper to taste

First chop your onion. People, I want to share how I chop onions. I am not a chef or anything so, if you already have a great way, or a way you learned at Le Cordon Bleu etc. just go on by. Otherwise, after years of the most inefficient chopping, I’ve been using this technique.

Here we go:

First, cut off that useless end. By useless, I mean the end that was never connected to anything. AKA the “tunic.” (NOT the roots.)

Now, place that cut side down & cut the onion in half through the root.

You have two halves. Take the skin off both of them. Place one of the halves on its side.

and cut very thin slices. (Unless you need chunky pieces!) I have been conditioned by my family to make onions DISAPPEAR so I cut them pretty thin. Once you’ve made all your slices, rotate the onion (keeping it together) and slice them thinly the other way.

You should have some pretty small pieces.

Prep all the vegetables first. I do it the night before when the kids are asleep… I decided to grate the carrots because they cook a lot faster and are more challenging for the kids to pick out. It’s fun to watch them try!!

Now we can start cooking!

1. Heat a large pot (this makes a lot of soup) using medium heat. Add oil & when it’s heated, add onions, stirring to coat. Cook for about 4-5 minutes or until onions are translucent.

2. Add garlic, stir & cook for another minute. Add celery & stir to coat. Saute another 1 minute.

3. Add zucchini & carrots, stir to coat. Cook another 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I threw the bay leaves at this point, then took them back out. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention…

4. Add spices & sugar and stir to combine evenly.

Try to collect your thoughts while this is going on.

I don’t know why everyone is in the kitchen?

Take away breakable dishes from the 1 year old.

5. Add tomatoes & garbanzos.

Mmmmmmm…

6. Add barley, broth & bay leaves.

7. Bring to a boil. Then turn down & simmer on low for about 45 minutes or until the chick peas & barley are soft.

Add black pepper to taste & serve with the easiest homemade rustic bread in the world. Or with store bought rustic bread!

The stars must’ve aligned because both my kids liked and ate both the soup & the bread. Amazing!

Adapted from AllRecipes “Beaker’s Vegetable Barley Soup.”

If you’ve never made bread before, this is the recipe for you! Get on over to the baked goods aisle of your neighborhood Ralph’s, Safeway, Publix, Stop & Shop, Grand Union, Path Mart, oh or Wegmans (how could I forget Wegmans?) and get you these ingredients in your re-usable hemp bag:

1. Bread flour (OR all purpose flour)

2. Fleishmann’s Active Dry Yeast (you can buy in little packets if you don’t want to commit to bread-making yet)

3. Salt (surely you already have salt???)

4. Parchment paper (this will be near the wax paper but is NOT the same as wax paper)

BIG TIP: Make the dough the night BEFORE you plan on eating the bread! You’ll see why…

(I have whole wheat flour in the ingredients pic too but you don’t need it! I’ll tell you the whole wheat option at the end of the post if you’re interested & have it.)

INGREDIENTS:
3 c bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1.5 c lukewarm water

This is SO easy you won’t believe it. Get out a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Also, fill a measuring cup with 1.5 cups lukewarm water.

Here we go:

1. Mix flour, yeast & salt together.

Add water & mix the whole dang thing with a wooden spoon

until it starts to “come together.”

Your dough will look sort of rough, or, rustic, if you will. If it looks that way, you are doing a kick ass job with this bread!

Now, dump it unceremoniously into a large mixing bowl, cover with saran wrap and place in a warm part of your kitchen if such an area exists. On top of the oven is usually warm b/c of the pilot light. **Update: I now leave it in the bowl I mixed it in to save on dishes!**

Leave it for 12-20 hours!

Check on it obsessively all the next day.

Or be normal and go to work or take care of your family while thinking about more important issues like social security, healthcare, the environment & Newt Gingrich. Ew, maybe not Newt as we are going to be eating soon…

Give yourself an hour to bake this if you need it with dinner. Here’s the last & STILL EASY part!

Find a good solid pot with lid that can withstand a 450 degree oven. Some of those Le Creuset pots etc. that I don’t own, by the way, might be good. I have my grandparents’ old pot which I use for everything. No plastic parts on it. Possibly loaded with lead & mercury but what, me worry?

Line the pot with parchment paper.

Throw away the mess you made cutting that out.

And put the scissors back. My new year’s resolution – to put things away this year. But only for ONE year.

Using just enough flour on your hands to GENTLY remove the dough from the bowl, carefully place the dough onto the parchment paper in your pot.

Put lid on pot

and place pot in COLD oven.

Turn oven on to 450 and set timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take lid off and set timer for another 30 minutes.

Take pot out of oven, take bread out of pot & let it “rest” for 5 minutes before slicing.

Holy gluten, Batman!!! There is nothing like homemade bread!!

If you try it, I’d love to hear how it went in the comments section below…