My friend Bella came over for dinner last night, and I taught her how to make eggplant provolone sandwiches. It's pretty much the same thing as Eggplant Parmesean except with delicious provolone cheese!
We documented our cooking with lots of pictures, but for some inexplicable reason, when I tried to upload the pictures they were GONE....wiped clean from the memory card!!! I'm really irritated about it. The sandwiches were soooooooo good and photographed really well. But anyway...please try to use your imagination. The recipe is still worth writing about. This recipe makes 6 sandwiches, and we ate them all between 3 of us!!
Ingredients
1 medium eggplant cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt & pepper
6 slices provolone cheese
1 cup marinara sauce, heated (I used Ronzoni's Tomato & Basil, which is my favourite jarred sauce)
6 large fresh kaiser buns, split
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet at medium heat.
Set up 2 plates - one with beaten egg, and the other with breadcrumbs mixed with basil, salt and pepper.
Coat both sides of eggplant rounds in egg and dredge in breadcrumbs.
Fry eggplants in hot skillet until golden brown on both sides and soft in the middle (about 4 minutes per side).
Place 1 or 2 rounds of breaded eggplant on kaiser bun, top with cheese and marinara sauce.
We also added my homemade "La Bomba" Antipasto hot sauce to the sandwiches which gave them and extra flavourful spicy kick.
Showing posts with label Cooking with Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking with Friends. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Pavlova
Dessert for tonight's home church meeting was pavlova. It's such an easy and yummy dessert. I first had it in Montreal made by one of my Grandma's friends who was from New Zealand. I'll never forget my first crusty chewy pillowy bite of the delicous merengue topped with cold whipped cream and fresh kiwis. I made the pavlova last night as the recipe said that it could relax all day in a dry oven. I got the recipe from Joy of Baking.
Sarah came over before home chruch and helped prepare and assemble the toppings.
Et voilà!
Since we have a lot of people at home church, I added an extra egg white and sugar from what the original recipe called for.
Ingredients
Pavlova:
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Topping:
1 cup whipped cream (could have used more)
1 pint each of strawberries and blueberries macerated with sugar and vanilla
4 kiwis, peeled and sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
Beat egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.
Slowly mix in the icing sugar 1 tbsp at a time until well blended.
Add vinegar and cornstarch and fold in with a spatula.
Put some parchment paper on a large baking sheet and mound mixture into the shape of a circle. I like to create a big well in the middle of the circle with the edges slightly higher to create a space for the whipped cream and fruit.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the pavlova is slightly golden and crispy on the outside
Turn off oven, keep the oven door ajar and leave the pavlova inside to dry overnight.
(You can also remove from the oven and cool if you are serving sooner)
Once the pavlova has cooled, fill the well with whipped cream and fruit.
Sarah came over before home chruch and helped prepare and assemble the toppings.
Et voilà!
Since we have a lot of people at home church, I added an extra egg white and sugar from what the original recipe called for.
Ingredients
Pavlova:
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Topping:
1 cup whipped cream (could have used more)
1 pint each of strawberries and blueberries macerated with sugar and vanilla
4 kiwis, peeled and sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
Beat egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.
Slowly mix in the icing sugar 1 tbsp at a time until well blended.
Add vinegar and cornstarch and fold in with a spatula.
Put some parchment paper on a large baking sheet and mound mixture into the shape of a circle. I like to create a big well in the middle of the circle with the edges slightly higher to create a space for the whipped cream and fruit.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the pavlova is slightly golden and crispy on the outside
Turn off oven, keep the oven door ajar and leave the pavlova inside to dry overnight.
(You can also remove from the oven and cool if you are serving sooner)
Once the pavlova has cooled, fill the well with whipped cream and fruit.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Epic Trifle
I love collaborating with Sarah for desserts to make for our home church. She's so much fun to cook with! Tonight it was an 'epic trifle' layered with homemade chocolate cake, custard, cream, strawberries, mangoes and kiwis.
Ingredients
Sarah's homemade chocolate cake cut into cubes
1 package of instant custard prepared (or you can use Jello instant vanilla pudding)
2 cups whipping cream, whipped with sugar and vanilla
2 pints strawberries sliced and macerated with sugar
5 kiwis sliced
1 can of mangoes in syrup (reserve syrup too!)
Directions
In a large glass bowl, create layers of chocolate cake, custard, fruit, syrup and whipped cream. Allow to soak in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve into bowls.
YUM!!
Ingredients
Sarah's homemade chocolate cake cut into cubes
1 package of instant custard prepared (or you can use Jello instant vanilla pudding)
2 cups whipping cream, whipped with sugar and vanilla
2 pints strawberries sliced and macerated with sugar
5 kiwis sliced
1 can of mangoes in syrup (reserve syrup too!)
Directions
In a large glass bowl, create layers of chocolate cake, custard, fruit, syrup and whipped cream. Allow to soak in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve into bowls.
YUM!!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Pizza Party!
I LOVE to share food with others, and even better if we can cook together! Anita and I made 2 types of pizza tonight, and had a lot of fun doing it.
While Anita rolled out the dough, the boys 'helped' out in the background.
Pizza # 1:
Quatro Stagione (For Seasons) Pizza
Ingredients
Artichokes
Olives
Mushrooms
Prosciutto
Mozzarella
Pizza sauce
Directions
Layer the pizza with sauce, cheese, artichokes, olives and mushrooms, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 450 F. Once the pizza is removed from the oven, top with proscuitto.
Pizza # 2:
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza
Ingredients
6 strips of bacon crumbled
3 onions sliced into rings
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
pinch of saffron (we were feeling decadent)
salt and pepper to taste
mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce
Directions
1. In a hot skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
2. Drain bacon fat, but leave browned bits in pan. Melt butter.
3. Add onions, thyme and rosemary and cook until they turn brown and become caramelized (the key is not to stir them too much)
4. Remove from heat and let cool for a bit.
5. Top pizza dough with sauce cheese, onions and bacon (we also added artichokes) and bake for 20 minutes at 450 F
*If you are baking 2 pizzas at once in the oven, rotate between upper and lower rack halfway though.
Et voila!
While Anita rolled out the dough, the boys 'helped' out in the background.
Pizza # 1:
Quatro Stagione (For Seasons) Pizza
Ingredients
Artichokes
Olives
Mushrooms
Prosciutto
Mozzarella
Pizza sauce
Directions
Layer the pizza with sauce, cheese, artichokes, olives and mushrooms, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 450 F. Once the pizza is removed from the oven, top with proscuitto.
Pizza # 2:
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza
Ingredients
6 strips of bacon crumbled
3 onions sliced into rings
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
pinch of saffron (we were feeling decadent)
salt and pepper to taste
mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce
Directions
1. In a hot skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
2. Drain bacon fat, but leave browned bits in pan. Melt butter.
3. Add onions, thyme and rosemary and cook until they turn brown and become caramelized (the key is not to stir them too much)
4. Remove from heat and let cool for a bit.
5. Top pizza dough with sauce cheese, onions and bacon (we also added artichokes) and bake for 20 minutes at 450 F
*If you are baking 2 pizzas at once in the oven, rotate between upper and lower rack halfway though.
Et voila!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Dinner & Dessert Crepes
Today Sarah and I got together before home church and made a batch of crepes. We made savoury crepes for ourselves for dinner and then served sweet crepes to our home church for dessert.
It was a lot of fun cooking together, and since Sarah is an experienced professional pastry chef, she was able to delicately flip the crepes easily with her fingertips! I almost burned myself twice, but she made me try it anyway! I love how she is so tactile with her food. There is something much more loving about using your hands instead of utensils as much as possible when cooking (and eating!)
Ingredients
1 cup flour
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally.
Strain the batter through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Let batter rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat and pour a small amount of batter in the centre and swirl around to coat the skillet.
When the crepes start to get golden around the edges, carefully flip the crepe.
Stack crepes on a plate and cover with foil to warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Top with your favourite ingredients...either savoury or sweet.
Ham, Asparagus, Mushroom and Havarti Cheese Filling
Ingredients (for 3 crepes):
1/2 small onion diced
9 small button mushrooms sliced
9 asparagus spears cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp dried thyme
9 slices of Havarti cheese
3 slices of smoked ham
Directions
Saute diced onion, mushrooms and asparagus spears in butter until softened. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
Put filling in centre of crepe, top with smoked ham and Havarti cheese, and roll.
For an extra French twist, you can top the crepes with a simple bechamel sauce, but we ate our crepes just as shown below (but rolled up) and they were still delicious!
We tried to make some smaller crepes for dessert, but it was difficult to swirl in such a large pan, so we ended up with 'abstract shaped artistic crepes.'
For the dessert crepes we topped them with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, dulce de leche, sliced strawberries and bananas.
As you can see...our home church really loved them!
It was a lot of fun cooking together, and since Sarah is an experienced professional pastry chef, she was able to delicately flip the crepes easily with her fingertips! I almost burned myself twice, but she made me try it anyway! I love how she is so tactile with her food. There is something much more loving about using your hands instead of utensils as much as possible when cooking (and eating!)
Ingredients
1 cup flour
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally.
Strain the batter through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Let batter rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat and pour a small amount of batter in the centre and swirl around to coat the skillet.
When the crepes start to get golden around the edges, carefully flip the crepe.
Stack crepes on a plate and cover with foil to warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Top with your favourite ingredients...either savoury or sweet.
Ham, Asparagus, Mushroom and Havarti Cheese Filling
Ingredients (for 3 crepes):
1/2 small onion diced
9 small button mushrooms sliced
9 asparagus spears cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp dried thyme
9 slices of Havarti cheese
3 slices of smoked ham
Directions
Saute diced onion, mushrooms and asparagus spears in butter until softened. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
Put filling in centre of crepe, top with smoked ham and Havarti cheese, and roll.
For an extra French twist, you can top the crepes with a simple bechamel sauce, but we ate our crepes just as shown below (but rolled up) and they were still delicious!
We tried to make some smaller crepes for dessert, but it was difficult to swirl in such a large pan, so we ended up with 'abstract shaped artistic crepes.'
For the dessert crepes we topped them with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, dulce de leche, sliced strawberries and bananas.
As you can see...our home church really loved them!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Baked Salmon with Vegetables in parchment paper or Salmon en papillote
Look familar.. :)
Thank you Kimmeh for showing me this wonderful recipe on one of the most memorable nights of my life.
This dish will always remind me of that and for that I feel grateful. I felt nostalgic making this tonight and missed you.
xoxoxo
For my dish:
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets
- 1 red pepper julienned
- 1 yellow pepper julienned
- 1 cup of sugar snap peas
- 1 cup of asparagus spears
- Lemon slices
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
You can also add onion too.
To cook:
- Preheat oven to 400f
- Lay two large sheets of parchment paper on a baking sheet and place salmon in the centre.
- Arrange vegetables around the salmon, creating a square.
- Top with lemon slices, olive oil and salt and pepper
- Fold up sides of paper to make a package
- Cook for 20 minutes, depending on thickness of fish. You'll know its done because the packages gets puffy and brown.
Creamy orzo (sans creme)
My secret ingredient with cooking orzo is leaving the pasta water in! By not draining it and leaving the orzo once you turn the heat off, the orzo sucks up all the water and becomes so creamy!
So, cook the orzo, turn off the heat, leave it in the pot for about 10 minutes and you are guaranteed creamy goodness!!
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