the moderate epicurean

a quest for measured pleasure...

Monday, June 26, 2006

A sweaty, dirty morning, and I loved it. I weeded parts of the yard and then planted several planters of white flowers, as well as a few more pots of lettuces and herbs. Whew! I truly need my daily shower, ha. Nathan took one look at my dirt-encrusted hands and said, you are NOT making my lunch, then proceeded to prepare for himself a hot dog and a green apple (he's on his way to cooking, it's happening, slowly, and I'm so excited...)


For dinner I'm trying a new recipe, from the gorgeous La Cucina Italiana magazine (to which I have a subscription thanks to my fabulous-cook-father-in-law, John), for galette di melanzane, aka eggplant crisps. Basically, eggplant croquettes, served with a quick and spicy tomato sauce. If they're tasty, I'll post the recipe. With the galette, we'll have a big salad with all the lovely greens I have from my pots and my CSA share. I think I'll keep it pretty simple, since the crisps look to be a bit rich. Perhaps a small amount of cheese and/or egg since we're not having meat. It turns out that we're eating salad every single day. And I couldn't be happier about it!

Now for that shower...

Ohhh, shower was lovely, nothing better than taking a long, cool shower when you're hot, seriously smelly, and covered in dirt. Beats the just-out-bed variety by a million miles, I think.

And ohhh, the crispy eggplant, incredible, wow. Wow. Good recipe. Simple too. And absolutely delicious with a salad alongside. Prrr... John appreciated it all mightily, since he didn't eat one other thing the entire day - crazy, I know, but he's an eat-at-the-end-of-the-day kind of guy. Luckily, his wife likes to make dinner... (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

1 Comments:

At 9:24 PM, Blogger Stephanie said...

Fried Eggplant Crisps (Galette di Melanzane)
Adapted from La Cucina Italiana
Serves 4

2 large eggplants
1 tsp. dried oregano
5 slices crusty country-style bread (or French baguette), crusts removed, crumbled
flour for dredging
4 Tbsp. grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
½ tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp. dried thyme
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, and make cross-hatch slashes in the pulp. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and oregano. Arrange the eggplant on a baking sheet, cut-side down, and transfer to the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and scrape the pulp from the skin. In a bowl, combine the pulp with the bread, cheese, and basil, season with salt and pepper, and stir well. Shape tablespoonfuls of the mixture into 12 small pancakes or crisps. Dredge the crisps in flour and set aside. In a large skillet, heat ½-inch of olive oil over medium-high heat. Carefully lower the crisps into the oil and fry until light golden, turning once. Remove using a slotted spoon, and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil, tomatoes, pepper flakes, garlic, and thyme, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and cooked through (about 10 minutes). Season sauce with salt and pepper. Serve hot crisps with tomato sauce.

 

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