Cooking
I've been wanting to try a recipe from Niki's in quite a while. She keeps up her fantastic blog, Esurientes - The Comfort Zone - from (from me) far, far away Melbourne, Australia. Only problem - if you can call it that - was that a lot of the recipes I've bookmarked from her site turned out to be cakes. Now how could that have happened? ;-) It's probably all natural - Niki's a great baker, and her tastes in cakes correspond very well with mine! And did you know she has an entire index page exclusively with CHOCOLATE recipes??
The problem was (or is) - and you might think it silly - that I need to make more everyday recipes. It's seldom a problem for me to figure out what I want to bake, but ask me what I'm making for dinner tomorrow night and I'm sure all you'll get from me is a face looking like a question mark! No problemo though, 'cause there was plenty of bookmarks for savory dishes too, one of those being something she just made recently: Eggplant Rollatini. Just look at that picture - if it doesn't make you drool, I don't know what will!
So on a busy Tuesday night, I ran through the supermarket, getting the needed ingredients for making them. At home, I turned on the tv, and in between watching an episode of The Simpsons, I prepared the eggplants and the filling, then in the commercial break, rolled things up, covered it all with passata, and put it in the oven. A breeze. 15 minutes later, I had a nice, warm and filling dinner.
The recipe makes enough food for 8 persons(!) I reduced all amounts "by feel" to make it fit the slices made from one eggplant. I had it with some crusty bread to mop up the sauce, which, as Niki mentions, will of course be of another caliber, should you choose to make it yourself. I did like the convenience of the passata though. The crusty topping and olives Niki has on her version looks good too, and would provide some nice textural contrast (my breadcrumbs had gone stale, hence the lack in my version) I know I'll be making this dish again during winter - it's warm and comforting, but still has a summery feel to it. Yum.
And PS: You could have this for dinner, and then with good conscience try one of her cakes too - just to make up for lost calories, you know ;-)
Don't forget to check out what Cathy's been up to this week!
- Mondays With Maida - Florida Cream-cheese Squares
Page 93 in the old book / page 136 in the new book You know, the whole time I was making these and up until just a few minutes ago, I was thinking they were the cookies Niki had made a month or so ago. Since my cookie dough came out crumbly and hers...
- Niki's Jam & Memories Of Breakfast In Vermont
A few weeks back I received a tasty little package from Niki at Esurientes - The Comfort Zone: candy (yay - I finally got a taste of Violet Crumble!), crackers, the cutest little platypus pin, a bookmark featuring a picture of Wattle (Australia's...
- Borrowing And Adapting
A few weeks ago, Niki of Esurientes made a gorgeous tarte tatin, playing with the recipe to give it a distinctive Middle-eastern flair. Normally, Matt won't touch pies, especially fruit pies. But, it turns out, he really likes apple pie. So I grabbed...
- The Everyday Conundrum
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } On a day to day basis, I think it's safe to say that I do most of our grocery...
- Dining With The Bloggers - April 20th
Ahem. It really couldn't have been me that suggested this weeks theme should be a cake. Why, I never bake, - do I?;-) Okay, so I do. On my recent trip to Berlin, I almost spend more money on cake tins, than on clothes (okay, almost - not entirely!)...
Cooking
Dining with the Bloggers - September 14th.
I've been wanting to try a recipe from Niki's in quite a while. She keeps up her fantastic blog, Esurientes - The Comfort Zone - from (from me) far, far away Melbourne, Australia. Only problem - if you can call it that - was that a lot of the recipes I've bookmarked from her site turned out to be cakes. Now how could that have happened? ;-) It's probably all natural - Niki's a great baker, and her tastes in cakes correspond very well with mine! And did you know she has an entire index page exclusively with CHOCOLATE recipes??
The problem was (or is) - and you might think it silly - that I need to make more everyday recipes. It's seldom a problem for me to figure out what I want to bake, but ask me what I'm making for dinner tomorrow night and I'm sure all you'll get from me is a face looking like a question mark! No problemo though, 'cause there was plenty of bookmarks for savory dishes too, one of those being something she just made recently: Eggplant Rollatini. Just look at that picture - if it doesn't make you drool, I don't know what will!
So on a busy Tuesday night, I ran through the supermarket, getting the needed ingredients for making them. At home, I turned on the tv, and in between watching an episode of The Simpsons, I prepared the eggplants and the filling, then in the commercial break, rolled things up, covered it all with passata, and put it in the oven. A breeze. 15 minutes later, I had a nice, warm and filling dinner.
The recipe makes enough food for 8 persons(!) I reduced all amounts "by feel" to make it fit the slices made from one eggplant. I had it with some crusty bread to mop up the sauce, which, as Niki mentions, will of course be of another caliber, should you choose to make it yourself. I did like the convenience of the passata though. The crusty topping and olives Niki has on her version looks good too, and would provide some nice textural contrast (my breadcrumbs had gone stale, hence the lack in my version) I know I'll be making this dish again during winter - it's warm and comforting, but still has a summery feel to it. Yum.
And PS: You could have this for dinner, and then with good conscience try one of her cakes too - just to make up for lost calories, you know ;-)
Don't forget to check out what Cathy's been up to this week!
- Mondays With Maida - Florida Cream-cheese Squares
Page 93 in the old book / page 136 in the new book You know, the whole time I was making these and up until just a few minutes ago, I was thinking they were the cookies Niki had made a month or so ago. Since my cookie dough came out crumbly and hers...
- Niki's Jam & Memories Of Breakfast In Vermont
A few weeks back I received a tasty little package from Niki at Esurientes - The Comfort Zone: candy (yay - I finally got a taste of Violet Crumble!), crackers, the cutest little platypus pin, a bookmark featuring a picture of Wattle (Australia's...
- Borrowing And Adapting
A few weeks ago, Niki of Esurientes made a gorgeous tarte tatin, playing with the recipe to give it a distinctive Middle-eastern flair. Normally, Matt won't touch pies, especially fruit pies. But, it turns out, he really likes apple pie. So I grabbed...
- The Everyday Conundrum
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } On a day to day basis, I think it's safe to say that I do most of our grocery...
- Dining With The Bloggers - April 20th
Ahem. It really couldn't have been me that suggested this weeks theme should be a cake. Why, I never bake, - do I?;-) Okay, so I do. On my recent trip to Berlin, I almost spend more money on cake tins, than on clothes (okay, almost - not entirely!)...