Eggplant Parm

1 eggplant, pealed and slice in 1/4 inch slices
bread crumbs
garlic, minced
salt
egg
parm cheese

After slicing the eggplant, sprinle salt onto both sides and let it sit for awhile, the longer the better. I like at least 1 hour. This removes that weird biter flavor if you buy the wrong sex of eggplant. I can never remember how to properly sex a eggplant. How dirty is that?

Rinse the eggplant slices well. Remove all the salt you can. Dip the eggplant into a beaten egg, then dip it into the breadcrumb/garlic. Shallow fry it in canola oil, 2 to 3 minutes a side. Remove from oil, put onto a paper towel, sprinkle with shredded parm. The eggplant is hot enough that it will naturally melt the parm cheese.

Devour.

Fajitas

Shredded chicken, from the whole chicken I made on Friday
Poblano Peppers
Zavory Peppers (these crazy little guys, look like habanero, taste like them, without the heat....so they are actually fruity)
Fresh Cilantro
Salt and Pepper

Chop and saute everything together with a splash of Canola Oil. Fabulous.

Apple Crisp, Strawberry style

Filling:

• 1 pound of strawberries
• 2 pounds of apples (I used firecrisp - that is right - firecrisp apples)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

• 2 cups oats
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Combine all the filling ingredients, I slice and peal the apples. You don't need to peal. It's up to you. Put the filling into a greased 9 by 13 inch Pyrex baking dish. Combine all topping ingredients, I cut it with a pastry blender. Sprinkle on top of the filling. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Try to let it cool a tiny bit, then serve with ice cream.

Creamy Sweet Squash

Acorn Squash
Butter
Sugar
Kosher Salt
Half & Half

Half the squash, remove the seeds, put a tablespoon of butter in each half. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 for 75 minutes. Make sure the squash is tender, scoop it out into a large bowl. Add a some half and half to making is nice and creamy.

This is crazy good, and I ate nearly all of it in one sitting. 4 hours later, I still felt like there was a lead balloon in my stomach. Everything in MODERATION.

Hot Crash Potatoes

Easy stuff.

• New/Red Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Rosemary

Boil the potatoes in salted water till fork tender. Then, get your potato masher out, and crush the potatoes onto a baking sheet. I always use a Silpat, and I always put olive oil down first. Brush more olive oil on the top of the crashed potatoes, then put lots of salt, some pepper and rosemary on top. Cook at 400 for about 20 minutes. Adapted from Pioneer Woman.

SweeTango Apples

Here it is, the SweeTango apple. Have you heard about these? They were developed by University Minnesota, and are a cross between the Honey Crisp and Zestar! apples. So, it's very sweet, and very crisp. It may be the best apple I have ever tasted. I despise Red Delicious apples, always have. I don't like my fruit "mealy". Anyway, all the praises being said about how fantastic this apple is, still does not make it worth $2.70 a piece. FYI.

This is the first year you can get them, and quantities are EXTREMELY limited, so good luck. I got mine at Hy-vee last week. Hurry if you want them!

On a side note, I find apple trees disturbing. The ultimate in Frankenstein design.

Devil's Food Cake and Pasty Frosting

I used the standard recipe from the Betty Crocker Bridal Edition cookbook. So to avoid plagiarism, go look it up yourself. Con wanted to make chocolate cake, and it was the first recipe I found in my stack of books.

For frosting, I used this crazy recipe I found online.
5 tablespoons flour (AP white)
1 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar

Seemed like you almost start out making a roux, put the flour in a sauce pan and slowly add milk. Stir with a whisk, adding the milk a few tablespoons at a time to avoid the lumps. Continue to whisk (I was having a shit day, so I forcefully whisked) until it thickens. It becomes very thick. I continued to heat and whisk a bit, even after it was thick, to cook out the paste taste. Allow to cool.

After it has cooled, whisk in the vanilla. Add this mixture to a creamed butter and sugar.



OK. So, I am not sure what to think about this. The cake was fab, the frosting was a bit runny, and tasted pasty, and needs salt. I actually sprinkled a bit of Kosher salt on the top. I love my salt though. Con liked it

Garlic

Look at the size of that clove! The garlic head was the size of a normal one you would buy at the grocery store, but there was only 4 cloves on the head, normally there are like 10. Big Garlic = Big Love. I could have ate it raw.

Purple Beans

The beans were actually purple. I swear. It was crazy. When I cooked them, they turned green though.

Tomato Goodness

That is it. I have a new favorite food. I don't even know what to call this.

• Handful of Cherry tomatoes (I had green, red and orange ones)
• Sweet Red Pepper
• Clove of garlic
• Fresh Basil
• Salt & Pepper

Heat some olive oil to medium-low, add chopped garlic clove. Cook for a few moments, add the pepper. At this point, I added some kosher salt and pepper. Cook till the pepper is slighly mushy, I like mushy veggies. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and the fresh basil. Cook till warm. This is so good. I put it on ziti pasta and topped with some shredded parm. Seriously, this is my new favorite food. I had regular slicing tomatoes, that I just used. Removed the seeds, and they worked just as well. This dish is so pretty, I almost feel bad when I am licking the plate.

Sugar- Brookies

So, I'm working on a name still, but it's my own new creation. Brownies on the bottom, Sugar Cookie on top.

Brownie Bottom:

• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup cocoa
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks of melted butter
• Handful of chocolate chips

Beat eggs till fluffy, add sugars. Add the rest of the ingredients, melted butter last. Put into a greased a floured 9 by 13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile

Sugar Cookie Top:

• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup margerine
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Sprinkle of turbinado sugar

Cream butter/margarine/sugar. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Sift together flour/baking powder/salt. Add to mixture.

After 20 minutes of baking the brownies, remove from oven and carefully spread the sugar cookie batter. I used it all, next time I'll use just half. So, keep that in mind. Top with turbinado sugar. Bake for another 25 minutes.