There isn’t that much new here. I’m still teaching, except teaching even more these days and teaching courses I’ve never taught before, which is a challenge.

Gardening’s been a bust, thanks to the weather. The record cold of last winter and record heat of last summer wiped my gardens out, except the peonies and everything I’ve planted for the bees and butterflies, and the fennel. Lemongrass and raspberries didn’t survive, however, which has been somewhat catastrophic for me. I depend on them. Although I now have rosemary and basil growing in one of the bathrooms in winter and moved to the sunroom when it warms up.

And cooking’s about the same, with some twists. I’m now *all* about coconut oil. My new favorite quick and easy dinner is a baked sweet potato with coconut oil, chipotle and whatever catches my fancy.

I’m also now *all* about Malbec wine. Drink it every night, have been cooking liver and chicken and pasta sauces and everything else in it.

Oh, yea, and mushrooms. I’ve always loved them, but I’m totally and completely all about them these days. And eggplant.

And I’ve finally figured out how to make a killer hummus at home.

I won’t talk about the bursitis that’s now migrated into both hips. Damn …

So what about you? How are you doing? What’s new, old friend?

This is another Lidia recipe out of her “Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy” cookbook with a little change from me. I added some herbs and changed the cheese to something I had. I liked the addition of oregano and thyme in the topping and chives and garlic chives in the eggplant – you can’t have enough herbs with a little restraint. Out of one large eggplant you can get enough rounds to make eight servings. I made a spaghetti and tomato sauce ‘bed’ for the eggplant. This makes a good presentation for a dinner party. Perfect and tasty and keeps well for later (if you have any left over). Guess the only thing to keep an eye on is the seasonings – taste it and adjust to your taste.
I am sad today. I lost a friend a few days ago to melanoma and she was/is an artist, horsewoman, strong optimist, beautiful person. I will miss her in this world!
Be good to those you care about! AND even those you don’t!

BAKED EGGPLANT WITH FRESH TOMATOES, CHEESE & HERBS

Serves 6-8
Equipment: Pyrex 9″ X 13″ pan

Preheat oven to 400

THE CASSEROLE:

1 medium to large eggplant
1 T + kosher salt
1 lg yellow onion, peeled and sliced in 1/2″ rings
4 large garlic cloves peeled and smashed
1 1/2 lb. fresh red tomatoes, chopped in 1/2″ dice and drained, save the juice
2 T chives & garlic chives, diced
1 C fontina & mozzarella cheese in 1/2″ cubes
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh olive oil

THE TOPPING:

1 C dry bread crumbs (I used whole wheat, white, zucchini and apple-cheddar bread I had left over)
1 1/2 T flat leaf parsley, diced
1 T fresh thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 C Pecorino cheese, grated
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 T olive oil

Cut the top and the bottom off the eggplant and peel stripes off the sides, then cut in 1/2″ discs. Salt well and place in a colander and weight down with a plate and some cans. Let sit to drain the bitter juice out of the eggplant for 20-30 minutes, then wash and pat dry well.
Toss the diced tomato with the chives & garlic chives, cheese, red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt.
Oil the pyrex dish with olive oil and layer onion, sprinkle the garlic over, drizzle with some olive oil, layer eggplant, sprinkle the tomato/cheese mixture over and pour the tomato juice over all.
Mix the topping by adding all the ingredients together in a medium bowl and mix very well. You want the olive oil well distributed throughout the mixture.
Distribute topping evenly over casserole and tent with aluminum foil. Place in the oven for about 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for about 30 minutes or until the topping is browned and crispy. Take out and place on a cookie rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Serve.
This dish keeps well and heats up in a toaster oven or a regular oven really well. Heating in a microwave, not so well. It gets a little mushy.

We’ve been sailing and having family visit. It’s been a fun September and now into October….and it’s not over yet. The brother is coming tomorrow!
Here are some pictures of our adventures on the water.

Beautiful wooden boats.

Mt. Rainier and Seattle from the water. See the Space Needle on the right? See how BIG Mt. Rainier is (14,411 ft.) He’s about 60 miles from Seattle!

The first mate at the helm…he usually does radar.

THE BISCUIT IS BACK!!! GLORY! GLORY! GLORY! Now, we’ll get the lowdown on the painting, the college intrigue, partying, the garden, mowing, and the gardener/carpenter/roofer/general handyman…..hummm? Oh, yeah, I’ve been involved in that IRS thingy……
Missed you, my dear.
And I have a wheat thing to post ….

SPICY CHEESE SHORTBREAD

I have developed this recipe over a few years. You can make it hotter or not as you will….:-) Make them small or medium size, I would not make them very large. Cook them slow (325) or a little faster (350) – the thing is to watch them as they are baking. I cooked them on a top end cookie sheet on parchment and they really came out wonderful. I think the parchment is the key. (And only $5 for a roll at Cost Plus) You can use one piece for all the baking at one time.

SPICY CHEESE SHORTBREAD

1/4 lb. butter, room temp
1/4 lb. shredded white cheddar cheese (you can use white, yellow cheddar, jack, jalapeno jack, or whatever combination you want)
1 C unbleached white whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur)
1/4 tsp dried oregano (homegrown)
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne (it was really hot!)
1/4 C toasted chopped pecans (if you like a different nut, use that-or no nuts at all)

Have everything at room temperature and mix, first with a spoon and then with your very clean hands. Squish everything until it is mixed really well. Cover with cling wrap or place in a sealed container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 to 350 depending on how thick you are making the shortbread.
Either roll out the dough and cut with a small biscuit cutter (makes thinner cookies) or roll into small balls and flatten with a smooth bottom glass (makes thicker cookies) and place on the cookie sheet. Thinner at 350 and thicker at 325.
Cook until golden brown and crisp-about 15-25 minutes. Watch it!
Place on cookie rack until cool.

In New Orleans, a funeral means celebration: delirious, upbeat brass music–here played by the renowned Eureka Brass Band–and a cakewalk parade from the burial. This mix of mourning and joy might seem dissonant. But co–executive producer David Mills tells me as we watch the scene being set up that it’s the heart of Treme, a drama about musicians and other residents rebuilding their lives three months after Hurricane Katrina. “It’s about a city that’s been dealt a horrible blow,” he says. “But it’s not about the horrible blow. It’s about the getting back up and moving forward with life with your spirit intact.” (Poignantly, Treme would soon feel a blow itself: Mills, a veteran TV screenwriter who penned two episodes, died March 30, stricken by a brain aneurysm while on set at Café du Monde. He was 48 years old.)

Treme (Sundays, 10 p.m. E.T.)

And tomorrow night, Among the Righteous on PBS:

Did any Arabs save Jews during the Holocaust? That’s the question author Robert Satloff had in mind when he set out to discover the lost, true stories of survival, courage and betrayal in Arab lands during World War II. The history of the Holocaust in Europe is well-documented, but the history of what happened to the Jewish people of North Africa has been mostly forgotten, even in the very towns and cities where it occurred. The truth is remarkable: not only did Jews in Arab lands suffer many of same elements of persecution as Jews in Europe — arrests, deportations, confiscations and forced labor — but there were also hopeful stories of “righteous” Arabs reaching out to protect them.

Ingredients:
12 medium tomatillos, cut in half and cored
2 poblano peppers, cut in half
2 ancho peppers, cut in half
2 jalapeño or cayenne peppers, cut in half
2 fresh hatch chilis, cut in half, or 1 can (4 oz.) fire roasted hatch chilis
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped.
6 large cloves garlic, crushed and minced
6 tbs EVOO
1½ cups chicken broth
¼ C cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 tbs ground cumin
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Putting it together:
In a large glass baking pan, place the tomatillos and peppers cut side down and drizzle with half of the EVOO. Place in a 350 deg oven and roast for 30 minutes or until the skin is releasing from the peppers. Remove from the oven and place the peppers in a paper bag to complete the releasing of the skin, then peel.
 
In a medium skillet, add the remainder of the EVOO and the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until soft.
 
Place the tomatillos, chilis (if you are using the canned Hatch chilis, add them now), onions, garlic, and cilantro, along with the liquid from the roasting pan, in a food processor with a steel knife. Pulse until the mixture is chunky.
 
Place the processed tomatillos and chilis, broth, and cumin in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning, and cool to room temperature.
 
Use the sauce warm, refrigerate for later (lasts about two weeks), or freeze.

So, what are plantains

Plantains are a member of the banana family. They are a starchy, low in sugar variety that is cooked before serving as it is unsuitable raw. It is used in many savory dishes somewhat like a potato would be used and is very popular in Western Africa and the Caribbean countries. It is usually fried or baked. Plantains are native to India and are grown most widely in tropical climates. (…) This vegetable-banana can be eaten and tastes different at every stage of development. The interior color of the fruit will remain creamy, yellowish or lightly pink. When the peel is green to yellow, the flavor of the flesh is bland and its texture is starchy. As the peel changes to brown or black, it has a sweeter flavor and more of a banana aroma, but still keeps a firm shape when cooked. The plantain averages about 65% moisture content and the banana averages about 83% moisture content. Since hydrolysis, the process by which starches are converted to sugars, acts fastest in fruit of higher moisture content it converts starches to sugars faster in bananas than it does in plantains.

Since we will be making the savory tostones, we need the green variety like these hanging from the “tree” in my front yard:

Preparation can be quite an ordeal for the un-initiated, so I suggest you give it a try a few times before you invite the neighbors over for an afternoon snack of tostones. Before I do anything, I wash my hands with the juice of a lemon to reduce the stickiness that inevitably results from cutting and peeling the fruit. Get a sharp knife and just pierce the surface skin lengthwise from end to end once without cutting into the “fruit”. I also recommend you chop off the tip at either end, since this facilitates the peeling:

The peeling will test your resolve, so approach it carefully. I dig both thumbs into the center of the cut until I reach the surface of the fruit and begin prying the peel off carefully so as not to break or chip the fruit. The peel is brittle when green and won’t come off in one whole piece, so chip away at it the best you can (with time, you will become an expert):

Once you have them peeled, dice each plantain into segments of one and a half inches in length (some people put them in salted water once peeled, but I don’t see a need for this):

Fill a pot with enough oil (I use oils that can withstand high heats like canola and grapeseed oils) that it reaches about half way up each plantain segment when you put them in for the initial fry (three quarters of an inch). Put the burner on high and bring it almost to smoking. Carefully deposit the mini-barrels of plantain into the pot until the pot is full (see below). DO NOT FRY EACH SIDE FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE OF MINUTES. You want to cook only the outer portion of each plantain segment, so you fry one side for two or three minutes and then turn each one over and do the same for the other.

Disclaimer – This is my way of doing it. Everyone has their own way and, of course, EVERYBODY’s way is better than yours. So they say! So figure out what is best for you. Just remember that you DON’T WANT TO COOK IT THROUGH AT THIS STAGE, so brevity of time is of the essence!

Remove each one and place on a napkin to drain until cool. After they have cooled, flatten them with a large tea-cup. There are many methods to use to flatten them. Nowadays, you can buy a plantain press. I use a large tea-cup with a slightly cupped bottom. You can see how mine come out (stacked like pancakes), below:

They look like little mini pancakes or corn biscuits.

Next, you fry each one a second time in a frying pan (not a pot). Make sure the oil is hot but not too hot (I usually start out with the burner on high and once I put in three or four tostones in the hot oil [careful, as they will spatter!!], I bring it down to half). WATCH THEM CAREFULLY SO THEY DO NOT BURN! Remove them from the oil and place to drain on a couple of napkins. They tend to soak up quite a bit of oil, so you will need to renew the quantity in the frying pan, especially if you are making a lot.

Another option, at this stage, is to store them. After stacking them [as in the above photos], I wrap them in aluminum foil and freeze them until I want to use them. Then I just remove them from the freezer and fry them individually as explained in the “second fry”, above. [note: Although I don't intend this to be a plug for any brand, you can actually buy the frozen tostones ready-made to fry, thereby saving yourself the arduous task I have just outlined here!]

Now that you have a platter of hot tostones, you will want to season them up. You can simply add salt or any of a variety of sauces. Some people put a garlic/lemon dressing, vinaigrette or hot sauce on them. A lot of folks just shower them with catchup.

As I alluded to, you can substitute these for your french fries the next time you have a hamburger. Since I stay away (as much as possible) from red meat, I usually have them with fish. They are very filling, by the way, so don’t eat too many.

Tonight I made a poached salmon (poached in white wine, water, salt, bay leaf, pepper and saffron) and piled on a salsa verde from one of Claudia Roden’s cook-books. Accompany the fish with Maracatu’s West Indian tostones dipped in an oil and lemon dressing. You could opt to put the salsa verde on the tostones, but I didn’t quite like the combination.

To wash down your tostones and salmon in salsa verde, what better than an exotic tall thirst quenching glass of dovyalis hebecapa. What?, you exclaim! Here I have a few for you to make a drink that will vaguely resemble cranberry juice. The plant on the left in the pot is a very young dovyalis hebecarpa, also known as “Ceylon gooseberry”:

Or you can have lemonade (as my tree is full, see below). I included a sample of this year’s over-abundant avocado crop (try smothering some avocado on your tostones before bathing them in the lemon/garlic dressing! Yum!!) However, I’ll wager that most of you have never seen (let alone tasted) that oblong yellow berry-like fruit I placed in the center of my cutting board. They are yellow mombins, or hog plums. We call them jobillos and they’re delicious, if you can get over them being used as cattle feed.

I dedicate this diary to my late mother, whose birthday is today. She made a fabulous Piñón de Plátano Maduro [a sort of "lasagna" with sweet fried plantains in the place of the pasta], and would be pleased to see what is growing in her garden today. So what are you having for dinner?

Ethel’s Pimento Cheese

3 C shredded cheese – you can use colby/jack or some medium and some sharp cheddar or cojack and pepper jack – just make it to you liking (let sit at room temperature and then shred)
1 tsp sugar or Splenda
1-2 T cider vinegar (I used equal parts white balsamic, brown rice and red wine vinegar, more interesting, no?)

few grains fine sea salt to taste
1/2 C oil infused pimentos or roasted red peppers, diced with the oil*
1-3 T unsweetend mayonnaise

Gently mix and let sit for a while. Refrigerate overnight.

*When my Mom first started making this you could get pimentos in oil; now you can’t. The oil infusion adds something special to the cheese that you just cannot get in a commercial product. I buy roasted red peppers or pimentos in water (all you can get) place about 1/2 C drained in a bowl and add some olive oil. Let sit for at least a day or two and use that in my Pimento Cheese. It is the closest I have come to my Mom’s recipe!