Farmersgirl Kitchen

Saturday, 7 September 2013

Aubergine Parmigiana - Mac N Cheese Book Review and Recipe

Macaroni and Cheese is very popular and seen as a real comfort food. Until I was about 7 years old I refused to eat cooked cheese and wouldn't touch mac n cheese or cauliflower and cheese, much to my Mum's frustration. She used to sneak grated cheese into some dishes like scrambled egg to get me to eat it, but the turning point came when I went for tea at my friend, Anne's, house. There it was on the plate in front of me...macaroni and cheese, now back then you NEVER refused anything placed in front of you when out visiting, so I had to eat it. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed it, and learnt always to try everything before deciding that I don't like it. However, I can still remember sitting at that table looking at the mac n cheese and wondering how I would get through the meal.

Laura Washburn's book "Mac 'n' Cheese" is a celebration of this store cupboard staple. You don't have to use macaroni, you can make the dishes with other pasta shapes, but as it is the ideal shape for holding cheese sauce, I went out and bought some Marshall's Macaroni, the brand that I grew up with.

About the Author

Laura Washburn was born in Los Angeles but studied at university in Paris. She went on to train at the prestigious Paris cooking school Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne and work with Patricia Wells, best selling author of a Food Lover's Guide to Paris. She is now based in London, where she works as a cookery teacher and food writer.

The Contents

Introduction: contains information about the pasta, the sauce, the cheese and some cooking tips. Most important it features the Classic Macaroni and Cheese which forms the basis for the other recipes in the book.

Vegetables: recipes include Roasted Asparagus and Pecorino, Butternut Squash and Sage, caramelised Onions and Smoked Cheese, Jalapeno, Tomato and Monterey Jack, the gourmet Truffle and Cheese and Aubergine Parmigiana.

Fish: recipes include Crab Gratin, Tuna and Mushroom, luxurious Lobster Thermidor, and Smoked Haddock and Spinach

Meat: recipes include Spicy Beef, Greek Lamb, Chorizo, Sweet Pepper and Manchego, Ham Hock and Mozzarella, BBQ Chicken and Two Cheeses and Serrano Ham, Smoked Paprika and Spanish Blue.

Aubergine Parmigiana Serves 6-8

A handful of coarse sea salt (I didn't use this much)

500g/1lb macaroni

4-5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1tsp dried thyme

1tsp oregano

1tsp dried rosemary

3 garlic cloves

1x 400g/14oz can chopped tomato

1 medium Aubergine/eggplant, sliced

125g/1 cup shredded mozzarella

leaves from 2-3 sprigs fresh basil, coarsely torn

50g/1 cup breadcrumbs

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Bechamel sauce

50g/3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

60g/6 tbsp plain/all purpose flour

625ml/2 1/2 cups milk

1tsp fine sea salt

100g/ 3/4 cup Fontina cheese

100g/1 and 1/4 cups grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the coarse sea salt, then let the water return to a rolling boil. Add the macaroni stir well and cook according to the package instructions until very tender. Stir periodically to prevent the macaroni from sticking together. When cooked, drain, rinse well under running water and let drip dry in a colander.

2. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saute pan with a lid. Add the onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until just golden. Stir in the herbs and garlic and cook gently for 1 minute, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt and simmer very gently for 20-30 minutes until very thick.

4. Arrange the aubergine/eggplant slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle over the remaining oil Roast for 15-20 minutes until tender and just charred. Remove, season lightly with salt and add to the tomatoes. Simmer gently while you prepare the bechamel sauce.

5. Preheat the grill/broiler to medium.

6. Prepare the bechamel sauce: Melt the butter in a a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minutes. Pour in the milk in a steady stream, whisking constantly, and continue to whisk for 3-5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Season with fine sea salt. Remove from the heat and add the cheeses, mixing well with a spoon to incorporate. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

7. Put the cooked macaroni in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the aubergine/eggplant mixture. Pour over the hot bechamel sauce and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer the macaroni mixture to a baking dish and spread evenly. Top with the mozzarella, the basil leaves and a good grinding of black pepper and sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the top.

8. Grill/broil for 5-10 minutes until the top is crunchy and golden brown. Serve immediately

Who is it for: It would be a great gift for someone who loves Mac n Cheese or for those who cook for hungry hordes of starvng teenagers and want to ring the changes.

Pros: as the book concentrates on one type of dish, it's a book that you can turn to for inspiration when you want to jazz up your Mac 'n' Cheese or if you are simply looking for a tasty supper dish. There is a full colour photograph for every recipe and the recipes are easy to follow, with ingredients listed in both US and European measurements. Each recipe also has a short intro with serving suggestions or other tips.

Cons: this is not a low fat, low cal book, so these recipes are special comfort treats.

Ease of Use: Although there are quite a few steps, none of them were particularly difficult

The Verdict: The Aubergine Parmigiana was delicous, creamy and tasty. The recipe made two large dishes which served about 8 generous portions and the book is full of great ideas for variations on Mac n Cheese. My only concern would be the fat content and it would have been nice to have some lighter versions that could be made and eaten more frequently.

Mac 'N' Cheese by Laura Washburn
Photography by Steve Painter
Published by Ryland Peters & Small
RRP £9.99

Many thanks to RPS for providing me with a copy of Mac N Cheese to review. I was not paid to write this review and all opinions are my own.

Posted with Blogsy

Labels: Aubergine, basil, Bechamel, Cook book review, Eggplant, Fontina, Laura Washburn, Mac n Cheese, macaroni, parmesan, Ryland Peters and Small, tomatoes

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Romanian Sweet and Sour Eggplant - Street Food!

STREET FOOD

I had never heard of Susan Feniger until I was asked if I would like to review her book, Street Food. It turns out that she is one of the original Food Network cooking stars. Susan opened her first solo restaurant, STREET, in Los Angeles in 2009 and in this book she shares 83 of her favourite recipes adapted for home cooks.

What does Street Food mean to you? I was fairly horrified realise, how few street food opportunities we have locally, perhaps it’s just the very rural area that I live in and a climate that doesn’t encourage outdoor eating! Thinking about my own memories of street food, they do seem to be from holidays in the sun, I remember eating crepes in France, at 12 years old , and roast chicken never tasted better than the pollo roti eaten on a Spanish beach, but when I think of street food, it is the food we ate in Malaysia, we ate from street stalls almost every day for three weeks.

With my sister-in-law, eating Satay in Taiping, Malaysia

This is a book for the adventurous cook. Someone who is willing to seek out unusual ingredients and try new techniques, not the comfortable, recognisable classics with a twist that many chefs produce. You may recognise a few of the dishes, like Thai Drunken Shrimp with Rice Noodles, but there are many more that I had certainly never heard of; "Any one for Tatsutage Fried Chicken with Spicy Yuzu Mayonnaise?"

The book has a well written introduction, where Susan Feniger talks about her love of Street Food and how she wants to re-create the ‘magical’ street experience. There is also a useful chapter called ‘Organizing the World’s Kitchen’, which takes the reader through the myriad of ingredients and explains which ingredient goes into which category:

THE SALTS; THE SOURS; THE SWEETS; THE HOT AND SPICY and THE MELLOWERS AND COOLERS.

The Contents are divided into:

Starters and Small Bites including Coconut Curry Caramel Corn, Spiced Millet Puffs and Lamb Meatballs with Date and Carob Molasses

Salads including Heirloom tomatoes with black garlic and basil vinaigrette, Baby Beet Salad with Kumquat, Mint and Coriander and Indian Puffed Rice Salad

Vegetables and Grains includes Cactus Relleno with corn and Arbol Salso, Romanian Sweet and Sour Eggplant, Cheese Grits with Three Pepper Relish

Land and Sea including Picadillo Chilli Dog with Mustard and Relish, Uruguay Chivito Steak and Fried Egg Sandwich, Malaysian Black Pepper Clams

Curry & Tofu & Noodles including Coconut Curried Mussels with smoky Chorizo, Chilled Soba Noodles with Spicy Orange Sesame and Tofu, Anatolian Ravioli with Chickpeas, Feta and Brown Butter

Chutneys & Pickles & other condiments including Tamarind Date Chutney, Japanese Pickled Vegetable Ribbons, Jamaican Ginger Hot Sauce

Basic Spice Mixes and Pastes including African Spice Mix, Thai Curry paste, Tamarind Puree

Sweets including Danish Black Licorice and Cherry Biscotti with Buttermilk Koldskal, Croatian Sour Apple Fritters, Turkish Doughnuts with Rose Hip Jam

Elixirs & Tonics & Lhassis including Canton Ginger Kick, Honeydew Cucumber Cooler, Salted Lhassi with Cumin and Mint.

In addition to the recipes there are four Travelogues, taking you in words and pictures to Vietnam, India, Turkey and Mongolia. Susan Feniger summons up the sights, sounds, smells and particularly the tastes of the places she visits and the food she eats. I enjoyed reading these sections, they help to contextualise the culture and landscape of the original recipes.

Pros

I enjoyed the variety of the recipes and found the different techniques and ingredients really inspirational. I can see this book being a jumping off point for all kinds of cooking experimentation.
The photographs are clear and the recipes well laid out.
There are useful hints and tips, with photographs introducing particular ingredients and, sometimes, offering alternatives

Cons

There are no metric ingredients measures and no conversion chart, as with many US publications.
Some of the ingredients would be extremely difficult to source e.g. Cactus Paddles!!!

Romanian Sweet and Sour Eggplant

Makes 4 Cups

Serves 4-6

Here is what Susan says about this recipe: There’s a very traditional dish made in home kitchens all throughout Romania and south eastern Europe that’s typically called “eggplant salad”. I toyed with different ways to highlight the key flavours of the original recipes which seems underplayed. I like to make a green salad with watercress, olive oil and lemon, top it with a scoop of this sweet and sour eggplant, and serve it with a slice of toasted sourdough bread topped with goat’s cheese and roasted red peppers.

2 large eggplants (aubergines) about 2lb

3 tbsp plus ½ teaspoon kosher salt (rock salt)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

10 cloves of garlic

2 bunches of scallions (spring onions), white and green parts, roughly chopped (1/4 cup)

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Canola oil

1 (14 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped

¾ cup cider vinegar

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

Cut off and discard both ends of each eggplant, and cut them lengthwise into ¼ inch thick slices. Lay the slices out on a baking sheet, and sprinkle both sides with the 3 tablespoons of salt. Set aside for 20 minutes so that he salt will draw out some of the water from the eggplant. Then pat the eggplant dry with a dish towel.

Put the olive oil, garlic, scallions, parsley, cayenne and remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor,and puree until a smooth paste forms (it will resemble pesto). Spread liberally all over both sides of the eggplant slices.

In a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat, heat 2 tbsp canola oil. Add enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom of the pan, and cook until they are browned on both sides and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the eggplant to a platter or plate. Repeat this process with the remaining eggplant slices, adding 2 tablespoon oil for each batch. Cut the cooked eggplant into 1 inch wide strips.

In a saucepan set over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, vinegar and brown sugar. Stew for 12 minutes or until the tomatoes begin breaking down. Add the eggplant strips and stir together. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has been cooked off. Remove from the heat and serve or chill. This dish may be served warm or cold.

We enjoyed the Romanian Sweet and Sour Eggplant, it's bursting with flavour and can be made ahead. There is nothing particularly daunting about the recipe as long as you have a food processor to make the 'pesto'. I think it would be a great dish to include in a tapas/mezze style meal.

I doubt if I would have picked up this book in a book shop, but I would really have been missing out on an enjoyable reading experience and an excellent cookbook. It is some time since I have felt inspired to take a cookbook to bed to read, high praise indeed! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try some new flavours and and regain their cooking mojo! Be inspired to try some STREET FOOD.

Street Food by Susan Feniger with Kajsa Alger and Liz Lachman

Published by Random House, USA

Distributed by Grantham Book Services for Publishers Group UK

RRP £18.99, available at popular online book store for £12.15

Thanks for to PGUK for the opportunity to review this book

Labels: Aubergine, Cook book review, garlic, Malaysia, parsley, Romanian Sweet and Sour Eggplant, satay, Street Food, Susan Feniger, tomato

Monday, 14 May 2012

Make it Moussaka!

I seemed to have a lot of bits and pieces of food left over after my visitors had been. I had also bought two aubergines which were on special offer, so I decided to make a sort of moussaka.

Here are the ingredients I had, but you could use any combination as filling between the aubergines:

2 aubergines

2 rashers of bacon

1 tin of tomatoes

Left over chilli

Left over shepherd's pie

400g mushrooms (half a family pack) sliced

4 grilled tomato halves

small quantity of cooked mangetout peas

200ml soured cream

1 egg

olive oil for brushing

Switch on your grill to full heat. Slice the aubergines lengthways and lay out on a baking tray, brush with olive oil.

Put the tray of aubergines under the grill and gril until golden brown and soft, turn and brush with more oil. Do this until all of your aubergine slices are cooked.

Fry the bacon in a little oil in a large pan, when it is cooked, add the sliced mushrooms and saute gently until soft. Add the left over chilli mixture and shepherd's pie. Add a tin of tomatoes and heat through, mixing the ingredients together.

Place a layer of the mixture in the base of a large baking dish, then add a layer of aubergines, another layer of the meat and tomato mixture and then put the remaining aubergines on top.

Mix together the soured cream and egg together and season, spread over the aubergines.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Serve with crusty bread and a salad.

Labels: Aubergine, chilli, Moussaka, mushroom, soured cream, Tinned Tomatoes

Thursday, 5 April 2012

Prawns in Black Bean Sauce

In my quest for thin-dom, or at least thinner-dom, I have been cooking with minimum fat and maximum vegetables. No need to lose out on taste or to feel hungry!

This recipe was inspired by a Rosemary Conley recipe, but I have changed some of the ingredients and used more of a casserole technique rather than stir fry. So pretty much all that is left is the name and even then I have used prawns which were not in the original! If you don't eat fish or meat, this would still be good without, just add a few more vegetables, perhaps courgettes or deseeded cucumber.

Prawns in Black Bean Sauce

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

200g raw tiger prawns

3 small aubergines

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped into large pieces

2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp soy sauce

Jar of blackbean sauce

2 tomatoes, chopped

seasoning to taste

1. Gently saute the onion and garlic in a tsp of oil until soft. Add the diced aubergine and cook for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook slowly for about 30 minutes until the aubergine is cooked and soft.

3. Add the raw prawns and cook for a few minutes until they turn pink.

4. Serve with rice or noodles.

Labels: asian, Aubergine, black bean sauce, Food Bloggers Diet, prawns

Saturday, 15 August 2009

Moussaka

I made Moussaka the week before last, I was making a 'three portion' dish for my friend to serve to her sister and BIL and the rest I froze for our own consumption. As I was at the hairdressers today, and knew I wouldn't be back till after 4pm, I left this out to defrost. The recipe I used comes from the Good Housekeeping 50h Anniversary Edition, The Cooks Classic Companion.

60ml (4tbsp) sunflower oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
450g(1lb) minced lamb or beef
400g (14oz) can chopped tomatoes
1.25ml (1/4 tsp) ground cinnamon
5ml (1tsp) dried oregano
salt & pepper
900g (2lb) small or medium aubergines (eggplant) sliced
50g (2oz) butter
50g (2oz) plain white flour
600ml (1 pint) milk
25g (1oz) Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
1 egg yolk
30 ml (2tbsp) fresh breadcrumbs

Aubergines, onion, minced lamb, rather battered old Le Creuset Casserole dish!

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan, add the onion and fry gently for about 10 minutes until soft.

Stir in the meat and cook until evenly browned stirring from time to time to break up the meat.

Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano and seasoning. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile brush the aubergines with oil and grill until softened and golden brown on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper

3. Melt the butter In a pan stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to the boil, stirring and cook, stirring for 3 - 4 minutes, until thickened and smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then beat in half of the cheese and the egg yolk: season. (NO PICTURE)

4. Arrange half of the aubergines over the base of a 2.8 litre (5 pint) shallow ovenproof dish. Spread the meat mixture on top and cover with the remaining aubergines. Spoon the suce over the top and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and reamining cheese.

Bake in the oven at 180C (350F) Mark 4 for about 45 minutes until golden. Serve accompanied by a crisp salad.

Labels: Aubergine, Eggplant, entree, lamb, main, Moussaka

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