Oven-Baked Vegetables

Leave a comment

Great side dish! Part 2 of my recipes adapted from Cooking with Loula, Greek recipes from My Family to Yours by Alexandra Stratou. I did change the oven temperature to 400 instead of 350, what the original recipe called for. It might depend on the oven, I would keep an eye on it, in case it dries out.

 

Oven-Baked Vegetables

  • Servings: 4 to 6
  • Print

IMG_0754 2

 

Ingredients

  • 2 small potatoes
  • 2 green peppers
  • 1 large eggplant
  • 1 leek
  • 2 tomatoes
  •  1 onion, sliced in half-moons
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes, optional

 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Dice the potatoes, peppers, eggplant, leek, and tomatoes to roughly about the same size, about 1-inch. Place in a large roasting pan. Combine the onion, whole garlic cloves, and parsley. Add a generous amount of olive oil, about 1/3 cup. Toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper, sugar, and chili flakes. Pour about 3/4 cup of water.
  2. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the vegetables are dark, and no evidence of water.

 

IMG_1137
IMG_0754 2

Advertisements

Beef Stew with Smoked Eggplant Puree

2 Comments

This is a great comfort food recipe! It takes some time to make but well worth it.  Maybe for one of those snowed in days or family Sunday dinners.  Adapted from Cooking with Loula, Greek recipes from my family to yours, by Alexandra Stratou.

 

Beef Stew with Smoked Eggplant Puree

  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

IMG_0752 3

 

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless beef brisket, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 onions
  • 3 whole cloves
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3/4 cup red wine
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 pounds eggplant
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • ground nutmeg [/recipe=ingredients]

 

Directions

  1. Season the beef with salt. Peel one of the onions and stick the cloves into it. Finely chop the other onion. Add about 1/2-inch of oil to a large pot set over high heat. Add the beef and brown on all sides. Set the beef aside.
  2.   To the pot add the chopped onion, garlic, the whole onion. Reduce the heat to medium and cook till the onions are golden. Add the wine and bring to a boil until the alcohol has evaporated.
  3. Add the beef back to the pot, along with any accumulated juices. Add the tomato paste, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and some pepper. Add water barely covering the meat. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer for 1 hour 1/2. Check occasionally and add water if needed.
  4. Add the tomatoes, season to taste and cook for another hour, uncovered., on low heat. Taste, season and add the sugar.
  5. While the meat is cooking, prepare the eggplant. Pierce the eggplants all over, then smoke them by putting them in a broiler. Turn over constantly until charred and soft. Cut in half and scoop out the inside flesh. Place in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl to collect the juices.
  6. Make a béchamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and all the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until it becomes golden. Whisk in the milk and eggplant juices. Cook for 20 minutes infill it becomes a thick béchamel. Remove from the heat and add the cheese and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Chop up the eggplant flesh and add to the béchamel. Season to taste once more.
  7. Remove the whole onion, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf from the meat before serving. Make a mount of the eggplant puree on a platter and top with the beef.

 

 

IMG_1121
IMG_1122
IMG_1123
IMG_1124
IMG_1125
IMG_1126
IMG_1127
IMG_1128
IMG_1130
IMG_1131
IMG_0752 3

 

New York Fashion Week

Leave a comment

My picks from New York Fashion Week.

 

Embed from Getty Images

Lela Rose

 

Embed from Getty Images

Zadig & Voltaire

 

Embed from Getty Images

Anna Sui

 

Embed from Getty Images

Zimmermann

 

Embed from Getty Images

Cong Tri

Country-Style Chicken

Leave a comment

Part two of my recipes from Cuba, The Cookbook by Madelaine Vazquez Galvez and Imogene Tondre.  I adjusted the quantity of the oil to 1 cup instead of of 2.  You can also take the chicken out and place in the sauce instead of pouring the sauce over the chicken, that way you won’t have so much oil in the dish. Otherwise this is very delicious!

 

Country-Style Chicken

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

img_0735

 

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 cup bitter orange juice
  • 5 medium tomatoes
  • 2 large green peppers
  • all-purpose flour for dredging
  • 1 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tablespoons
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 medium white onions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup scallions, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley

 

img_1083
img_1085
img_1086
img_1087
img_1088
img_1089
img_0735

Directions

  1. Combine the chicken, salt, and bitter orange. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut an “x” into the skin at the blossom end of the tomatoes and submerge them in the boiling water. When you see the skin starting to peel away submerge the tomatoes in ice water to cool. When cool enough to handle peel away the skin. Halve, seed, and dice.
  3. Roast the green peppers over flame or broiler until the skin blackens, turning frequently.  Let cool and peel off the skin. Seed and cut into thin strips.
  4. In a large frying pan heat up the oil over medium high heat. Dredge the chicken in the flour and add to the oil. Fry till browned on both sides. Set aside.
  5. In a medium frying pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.  Pour the soffit over the chicken.
  6. Add the wine and let it reduce for about 5 minutes. Add the stock, peppers, and scallions. Cover and cook till the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes and garnish with parsley.

 

 

img_1083
img_1085
img_1086
img_1087
img_1088
img_1089
img_0735

Cuban Salmon and Shrimp

3 Comments

I have made this several times already.  So easy and so delicious!  Adapted from Cuba, The Cookbook by Madelaine Vazquez Galvez and Imogene Tondre, a great read on the  culinary history of Cuba with amazing recipes.

 

Cuban Salmon and Shrimp

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

img_0731

 

Ingredients

  • 1 pound salmon cut into 4 pieces
  • salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 tablespoons butter

 

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the salmon,  1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, garlic, lime juice, wine, and olive oil and let marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Reserving the marinade, drain the salmon.
  2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the shrimp and cook till pink, for about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  3. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the salmon and cook, sprinkling the marinade, for about 8 minutes on each side. Add the shrimp to heat through, for about 2 minutes before serving.
  4. Serve over rice.

 

 

img_1068
img_1066
img_1067
img_0731