Eggplant Roulades with Mushroom, Spinach and Rutabaga Risotto over Lentils

This was dinner on Sunday night, and you can't see it this photo, but the eggplant rolls are sitting on a bed of Puy lentils...the rice sort of covered them up.

Puy lentils are my favorite kind of lentil, they may take slightly longer to cook than green lentils, but they hold their shape and cook up so nicely into stew, and they are very tasty and satisfying.

For the lentils, I didn't write down exactly what I did at the time...but suffice it to say that I sauteed some celery, onion, garlic with a bay leaf and some oregano in some olive oil. Then, I tossed in some tomato paste, and let it brown a bit. When all this had cooked up into a nice base, I added the lentils, several cups of water & veggie stock, parsley, salt and pepper and let it simmer until cooked...a splash of red wine near the end adds a nice dimension. Here's a similar rendition I posted a while back.

You can see the lentils in this shot:



For the rice, I made it risotto-style, rather than a pure risotto. I didn't have any arborio rice, so I used paella rice instead. (I called it risotto in the title because it just sounds so fancy and yummy.) I'm convinced most short grain rice would work. Ideally, I would have used short grain brown rice, but was out of that as well. Again, no real recipe, but that's ok, this is really more of a guide or idea.

I wanted a really savory, earthy flavor from the rice, so I began by sauteing 1 medium rutabaga that was chopped into 1/2-inch chunks, then added 1 finely chopped onion, and 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic. When the rutabaga, onion, and garlic were all getting tender, I tossed in about 2 cups of medium-chopped crimini mushrooms and let it all saute for another minute. Then, I tossed in a generous cup of dry paella rice, stirred it through the mixture, and added 1 cup of dry white wine and 1 cup of water and let it come to a simmer.

As the rice cooked down, I added warm mushroom stock in 1/2 cup increments. I didn't stir it constantly, but rather added liquid, stirred, let it cook down, then added more liquid, stirred, and let it cook down, etc., until the rice was al dente...paella rice works nicely this way at any rate. Towards the end, I added 2 generous handfuls of julienned raw spinach. The whole rice process took about 30 minutes.

While the rice and lentils cooked, I oven-roasted some thinly sliced eggplant. To put it together, I rolled some rice into each eggplant slice, set them on a bed of lentils and more rice and sprinkled with more fresh spinach.

All in all, it was a hearty dinner with a satisfying panorama of autumn flavors and toothy textures. To finish it off, a lovely balsamic reduction would have been lovely, but somehow, that part didn't happen in this instance. It was delicious nonetheless.

And on a completely different note, meet Francine. Here she is playing in a tomato plant that is still lingering on my sun porch. To me, she looks like she's saying in her best New York accent:  "Hey, what's the big idea?":

Francine is the cat we're fostering from our local animal shelter. She's recovering from an upper respiratory infection and staying with us until she's infection-free. She's pretty close...as you can see her playfulness and energy are in good form.

Francine is energetic, fun, mischievous, and such a snuggle-bunny. After playing in the tomato tree, she then proceeded to nap in a pot. I wanted to get a shot of her napping, but of course she had to wake up when I came up to snap the photo:

James Beard Parsnip Soup

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not a good photographer. With that being said, I couldn't get a good photo of my parsnip soup. Instead, I thought I'd post this gorgeous photo of the Empire State Building on the night of Thanksgiving.

I found this recipe on the James Beard House's email blast and stumpled upon it as the summer was drawing to a close. This soup is great for fall and would be a great way to start Thanksgiving. While the soup has the velvety texture of a butternut squash soup, it has a taste uniquely of its own. The roasted parsnips yield a subtle, yet sweet taste. I enjoyed, hope you do too! The recipe called for a spice oil, but I don't have time for spice oils....

Mary Cleaver's Parsnip Soup

Makes 8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 ½ pounds parsnips, peeled and diced

1/2 cup olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

10 cups vegetable stock, warmed

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Preheat oven to 450 F. Toss the parsnips with ¼ cup of the olive oil, salt, and pepper in an oven proof roasting pan. Add 2 cups of the stock, cover, and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes. Uncover and roast until the liquid is absorbed and the parsnips are a deep golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Heat the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes, then add cumin and coriander. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the spices are fragrant, then add the remaining 8 cups of warmed stock and the braised parsnips to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully puree the soup in a blender and blend until smooth, in batches if necessary. If a more silken texture is desired, pass the puree through a fine sieve. You may need to add more liquid if the parsnips are particularly starchy and the puree is too thick. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Cashew Crusted Butternut, Cannellini Bean, and Leek Stacks

These stacks were our vegan main dish for Thanksgiving dinner. They take a bit of prep, but once that's done, they're easy to put together and bake off in about 20 -25 minutes.

Open-ended baking molds work well for individual-size portions, or you can use spring-form pans to make larger stacks.


The bottom layer is a herbed cashew crust, followed by a layer of butternut squash...any sturdy winter squash should work...then a layer of cannellini beans and porcini mushrooms, topped with thick rounds of  leek.
















Squash Layer

Note: I was a little disappointed with the squash layer; I found it a bit bland. Next time, I think I'd make a squash mash instead and incorporate more flavors into it, but this is how I did it this time, so I'll post it as such.

Slow roast the squash in a preheated 325 F oven:

Peel and slice a large butternut squash lengthwise into 1-inch slices. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, drizzle with olive oil and allow to roast slowly until just tender--about 40 minutes in a 325 oven.

When the squash is tender, remove from oven and allow to cool. If you're using individual-sized molds, use them to cut out mold-size peices of squash after it has cooled. If you run out of full-sized peices for the cut outs, just slice and dice as needed.
















While the squash is roasting, you'll have time to prep the rest of the ingredients.

Cashew Crust
(Makes enough to fill the bottom of two 8-inch spring-form pans)

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon Earth Balance
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups fresh, sprouted grain bread, made into coarse crumbs
( I blitzed about 3 slices of fresh Genesis Bread  in the food processor)
1 cup raw cashews, chopped medium
fresh chives ~ 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped (to taste)
fresh parsley ~ 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste.

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil and Earth balance until tender. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients with the sauted garlic/onion mixture until well incorporated. It should look something like this:

Bean Layer

Note: I didn't measure the amounts when I put the bean layer together, so this is just an estimation of what I remember doing. I recommend using this as a guide and subbing any flavors or proportions  according to tastes.

3 cups cooked cannellini beans
1.5 cups porcini mushrooms, chopped medium (I used  reconstitued dried ones)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, finely chopped (~ 1/2 cup chopped)
splash of sherry vinegar,  ~ 1-2 tablespoons (depending on how much acid you like)
fresh thyme to taste
fresh oregano to taste
any other herb of preference  to taste
salt and pepper to taste

If you're using dried mushrooms, reconstitute them in some warm water or warm white wine. Saute the celery, shallot and garlic in the olive oil until tender, toss in the mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes. (If you use reconstitued mushrooms, be sure that the mushrooms are well drained and aren't harboring too much liquid. ) Add the beans and the rest of the ingredients and saute for another minute or so, stirring well to mix in all flavors. Remove from heat and set aside. It would be a good idea to taste the bean mixture at this point  and adjust flavorings as necessary.

pictured above: reconstituted porcini mushrooms

Leek Layer
2 large, fat leeks, sliced into 1-inch rounds
olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup veggie broth
1/4 cup dry sherry

Drizzle some olive oil in a large pan, and heat to medium-high, lay leek flat in the pan and allow to sear off for about a minute. Keeping heat on med-high add 1/4 cup of the veggie broth, and allow to simmer vigorously for 10-15 minutes, until the leek is just tender, adding more broth as necessary. After 10-15 minutes, you want all the cooking liquid to be evaporated, so don't add too much broth. When leeks are just tender, but still holding shape, and all the broth is evaporated, deglaze the pan with the sherry. Remove from heat and set aside.

Assembly

Line a baking tray (if using molds) or spring-form pans with parchment paper. Set the molds on the baking tray and spoon in the cashew crust patting it in gently to make a 1/2 - 3/4 inch crust. Stack the squash layer on top of the crust, followed by the beans, then the leeks.

When the molds/pans are filled, bake in a 375 F oven for 25-30 minutes. You want the crust to bake off and get nice and crunchy. After removing from the oven, allow to set for a few minutes before serving.

The molds were easy to handle; I was able to pick them off the parchment in one peice and put them on the plate before removing the molds.

Individual molds assembled, before baking:

Spring form pan assembled, before baking:

Out of the oven:

Roseann LaPonte

Rosanne Tobin

Soaring to Pulau Tioman - Day 1

A 3 days 2 nights vacation was sponsor by my brother-in-law, appreciate for his kindness. Still remember my first visit was ten years back.

We drove ourself to Johor, Mersing. The we took ferry to our expected pretty island.

Wonderful color of the beach

We were at the upper deck, breathing with the ocen sea

Waiting to get get down from the ferry

Berjaya's private jetty

Warming pick up from Berjaya's shuttle. Passing by local village. Berjaya, I'm comiing!!!

Lobby's outlook : Recipetion counter, recreation corner and souvenir corner

Entranc of Sri Nelayan is a coffee house which serving local and international food

It was a late noon and our stomach start to yelling since long time ago.Hurry order our 1st meal

While waiting fo lunch, enjoying the facilities provided seround

Beef Burger with Fries

Due to extremely hungry, i think this is the best selection to fullfiled my stomach

Club Sandwich

Another smart selection, thick sliced of chicken meat and eggs covered up by the crispy toast

Nasi Goreng

The pricing a bit higher if compare with normal nasi goreng. Dont forget how much you paid, how much you get. A special nasi goreng accompanied with satay and fried chicken

Interior capacity in wooden style

An aged man will never ended with kid's attitude

See, how enjoyed of them. My sis and brothe-in-law

After meal always best time to take a nap under a lazy afternoon

New modeal for sunglass??

a twilight at part corner side of hotel

Pahn Thai

A modern, fusion restaurant serving authenic thai cuisine

Two type of seat : normal table seat and tatami style

Two couple on this vacation

Unit menu with homemade drawing

Pickle Vegetable with Popiah Skin

Shredded cucumbers, onion, peanut, lime juice, cili padi. Appetite starter

Deep Fried Fish in Thai Style

Fresh fish was bought from Chef Law in the morning from jetty then bring it to restaurant special cook

Green Curry Chicken

Tender chicken meat with a bit of curry. Slurrpp...

Stir Fried Asparagus with Mushroom

I love the sos go with rice

Prawns in Thai Style

Actually i can't recall back the dish name,but this is HIGHLIGHT of the night. It was so delicious with curry (not too hot) and cooked with egg. Must try this and i still miss this dish till now

Tom Yam in Thick Coconut Cream

Too much coconut cream for me

Seafood Tom Yam Soup

A must soup when dine in thai restaurant

A belated birthday for Chef Law

This birthday cake was recall back our childhood memory

Ti me to gossip

Beach Bar

Thanks for Dinner

Just a long post about our meal the other night (Thanksgiving). We went to my mom's place and while she did the starters and all the side dishes, I brought the dessert and the main course.

Here's what we had:

Starters



For an appetizer, mom made this fabulous crostini with roasted eggplant, roasted red peppers and capers, splashed with a bit of salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil...Pure Magic.



She served it with a tray of pickled peppers and olives. She made these pickled peppers from some of the miniature ones I grew in my garden this year:



These were served in the living room, and we tarried over them for quite some time, chatting and drinking wine.

Mains



I did the main course, which was a squash and bean stack with leeks and a cashew crumble crust. It was tasty, but I still have to tweak the flavors; I was a little disappointed in the squash layer being slightly bland. I'll do a separate post on how I put this together.



It did look nice though and went nicely with traditional sides, which brings me to the side dishes and overall effect:

Sides



The star of the side dishes was my mom's sweet and sour red cabbage...I could eat this stuff every day and never tire of it.



I decided to be merciful and not post individual pictures of all the sides, so here they all are: a golden beetroot and baby spinach salad with red onion, roast sweet potato (no sugary stuff), cranberry orange sauce, mashed potato, and a bread stuffing with walnuts and cranberries.

Here's the table laid out...what a spread!



Here's what it looked like moments before being devoured:



Afters are posted about here--we had vegan pie.

After all that, we looked through some old photo albums. Check out the glamor, here's my mom circa 1945:



And here are my mom and dad on their wedding day in 1945:



Taking a break from the glamor for a moment, here's a pic of my gooney brothers sometime back in the early 70's:



Finally, my maternal grandmother, circa 1912. She was a seamstress and sowed the clothes she's wearing in the photo, which has always "wowed" me.



We do have a lot to be thankful for, indeed.