STRIPED EGGPLANT

My favorite eggplant is the striped eggplant. They have a sweeter flavor than usual.

What is a striped eggplant?

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-667-striped-eggplants.aspx

Now that you know a little more about this variety, let me share my simple Italian inspired recipe to cook and serve it.

INGREDIENTS:

2 small variegated eggplants (Caliope)

2 tsp salt

1/3 or more c of olive oil

2 medium size tomatoes (chopped coarsely)

1 big clove of garlic

Olive oil

Fresh basil (about 10 leaves)

Premium olive oil at the end

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Above is the eggplant I sliced and fried.

First cut off the stem of the egg any. Then cut the eggplant lengthwise about 5 slices per eggplant.

Sprinkle the sliced eggplant with salt all over. Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then wipe it well with paper towel.

Heat olive oil a batch at a time and fry the eggplant till golden in each side. Drain and pat well with paper towel.

When all done, mince the garlic and stir fry in a separate pan (I used a wok) till softened beginning to get golden; then,  add the chopped tomatoes.

Stir the sauce till it thickens. 

I keep a pot of organic basil plant over my window so I can cut off fresh basil when I need it.

I mix the sliced basil in the sauce towards the last minute or two.

I take about 3 slices of the fried eggplant and arrange them on my plate. Spoon some sauce on too. Drizzle with top quality extra virgin olive oil (I used the premium one I bought from Spain recently) and garnished it with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

If you want to be a vegetarian for the night, have double servings of this like I did tonight.

I buy my produce mostly from Whole Foods. And no, I am not a paid advertisement for them, I just like shopping at their grocery store because I feel safe that my food do not have harmful carcinogenic pesticides.

What's in my Kitchen Pantry?

The Where is Assam?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam

The information above will tell you about Assam where the tea I brought back from India originates from.

As to what to do with the Assam tea when you bring it back home, here's what I learned how to make the awesome Chai tea:

You can get any brand that says Assam tea. I have both up above that I brought back from India.

You cut some pieces of ginger - smash or slice them and add 2-3 seeds of cardamom.  The fresher looking they are the better.  It has more flavor.  I added a tap of the tea and poured about 1 -1/2 cups of water.  Boil about a few minutes.

Drain in a container.  You can now add sugar or not; and drink as is or add milk. You can also add ice to drink it cold.

Serve it without... Or

With cream. Now you have homemade Chai Tea.

The above recipe is what I learned when I visited India last year.  It does not contain whipped cream.  But you can do that and add your sugar as you please.  Also, it did not have cinnamon - just the cardamom.

Try this and you'll like it!

THINGS IN MY KITCHEN PANTRY

Although I don't have an expansive size kitchen, my compact cabinets do house extraordinary condiments or food.

Today, I share with you:

Black garlic. They taste like Carmelites fruit.  It almost reminds me of the old cold remedy Pertussin.  Closest flavor I associate it with.

Above is smoked garlic.  I'm not sure if it hardened because I did not use it right away.  But it does have a little smoky flavor. I probably need a a more fresh version to appreciate it.

All these were bought from Whole Foods Market at 2 different areas.  I prefer the black garlic.

That's it for today!

Till next time!

For more info on Black Garlic:

http://blackgarlic.com/

 

STAR WARS CHILDREN'S PARTY

  I just found someone who makes white and dark chocolate Lego chocolates.  My daughter-in-law's mother makes the birthday cakes every year.

This time, I thought of contributing to the idea of the cup cakes -

I stuck the dark chocolate Legos on top of the cup cakes that she had made with light sabers.  The dark chocolate looked like Darth Vader.

I also arranged the white chocolate Legos on a black Japanese tray in a row to look like Storm Troopers.

A relative brought a watermelon that they cut like Death Star.

The grapes were strung in sticks to pretend like light sabers. 

To order the chocolate Legos, I ordered them from MacarOn Cafe and requested it from their Baker.  Picked it up from one of their branches near me.

http://macaroncafe.com/

MORNING FRENCH TOAST

Simple Recipe:

1 egg

1/3 c of half and half

2 TB sugar

3 drops of vanilla

Grated nutmeg

Beat the ingredients above together

Dip the 1 inch wide sliced French Brioche bread and fry in butter.

Serve with warm maple sugar and some butter.

I used my old French made brioche bread from Whole Foods with French flour de del butter, organic maple syrup

Batter has a little unbleached sugar, vanilla and nutmeg

Nitrate free bacon, boiled in little water till it evaporates - using a press to keep them evenly cooked.

#WholeFoods

SUCKLING ROAST PIG #1 for me!

http://www.elnortedecastilla.es/segovia/201504/09/jose-maria-patenta-cuchillo-20150409173850.html

Hands down! After 15 years, I recently went back to Jose Maria and their roast suckling pig called cuchinillo in Spanish has stayed as good as I remember!

It's moist inside and the skin is perfectly crisp at any part you get.

Their plate emblem above

I will miss this until the next time if ever.

DIRTY FRENCH #RESTAURANT

TThis is my 2nd time to come to this restaurant.  I love the food here because it is not predictable.  They always do a twist on what the we really know of it.

For instance, tonight, I had the Duck L'Orange.  The duck breasts are done to a perfection presented like 2 thick slices of pork belly without being fatty.  The sauce has a morrocan flavor in the orange sauce. It is just perfect!  I would highly recommend this dish!

Another highlight is their special flavored "nan" type bread or is it again similar to a Morrocan flat bread served with a spread.  This is complimentary and so delicious.

Next favorite of ours was the foie gras.  It's fresh foie gras wrapped in a delicate crepe-like super thin dough with minced chives on top and served on a bed of fruit purée.

Another highlight of the dinner was the dish with slices of mushroom made to look like millefeuille.  Absolutely to die for served with a purée of scallion and chives with some snap pease and slices of pepper for a hint of spice. Just loved it!  I could consider this a fabulous vegetarian dish.

The haricot verte was served in a sizzling plate prepared so deliciously, I loved it as well.

Above, the sea bass with coconut milk sauce was not extra-ordinary.  Although well prepared, we did not find it strikingly original.  It reminded me of an Americanized Thai dish. 

The beignet had an outstanding caramel sauce but a funny tasting doughnut or beignet because I did not know what chicory tasted like and I believe they added chicory in the batter. It tasted like Chinese potpourri that you put in a camphor chest to keep clothes from being eaten up by insects. Hence, we changed our order to the Paris Brest (a firmer version of the puff pastry dough), with peanuts and other filling and a spooned ice cream on top.  It was okay, but we were hoping we could have the Baked Alaska which they did not have tonight.

This dessert seems more American to me than Dirty French.  But maybe that is why it is called Dirty French.

The Manager was so accommodating and very nice to us.  He carefully paid attention to us.  He even stopped the fan from blowing directly onto us which was making us quite cold.  I wish all Restaurant Managers were like him.

We love this restaurant and definitely will be back!

He mentioned their new restaurant near the High Line.  Did you know that they just opened a new restaurant by the High Line called Santina?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=21&ved=0CAsQFjAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.santinanyc.com%2F&ei=IQdxVdzMHIa2sAXj3YHIDw&usg=AFQjCNFzhtwJf7HgDuYgAG-QWxoEitPmog&sig2=jy8BDxjIRh1MH6AujCYvrw

I'm definitely trying that one too!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/dirty-french-new-york

At Ludlow Hotel

180 Ludlow St.,

New York, NY 10002

http://www.dirtyfrench.com/