Yep, almost a year later... my zeal for the culinary arts and fervor for creation has simmered long enough!
I had the joy of cooking some wonderful meals with a dear friend of mine last year and absolutely adored it. The most wonderful part was most definitely being able to cook with someone special to me.
I will be broadening my horizons with several new dishes in hopes of acquiring the keen ability to create without a recipe! I am sure that I will have a lot of duds, but I hope to have a few victories that I can share with friends and family (hopefully they will enjoy it and not just grin and bear it)!
The first new creation is a simple Baked Eggplant Parmesan. It turned out surprisingly well! It is neat how you can make a vegetarian meal that can be as filling as a meat protein dish.
I got the recipe from an awesome application on my phone called Whole Foods. It is a super wonderful tool that allows you to browse recipes based upon certain specifications. I found this while searching for vegetarian entrees.
The recipe calls for:
1 large eggplant sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick pieces
2 eggs, beaten with a fork
1 and 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 (25-ounce) jar of pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Method:
1. "Preheat oven with a baking sheet inside to 375 F.
2. Coat eggplant slices with beaten egg and then bread with panko crumbs.
3. Spread oil on the hot baking sheet and place eggplant slices on it in a single layer.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes.
5. Increase oven temperature to 475 F.
6. In an 8x10 inch ovenproof dish layer pasta sauce, eggplant, and top with cheese.
7. Repeat finishing with cheese.
8. Bake until the cheese melts and turns golden in spots (approximately 15 minutes)."
I found this to be a delicious meal! So filling! I also added cilantro and green onions to the layers of tomato sauce, it seemed to add a different dimension to the hearty flavor.
So there it is! Post number one of many more to come!
