Tag Archives: parmesan

A Short Stack of Grilled Deliciousness…

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My husband came home after a 2 week trip for work.  I thought our two dogs were going to burst with excitement.  Leaping about like dolphins.  Needless to say my husband was missed.  By all of us.   The kids will be back today and we get to have our family dinner before a school concert.  It’s nice to get back to normal.  And to have help walking our Murphy dog during the walks.  During his anxiety he got a bit much the other day and I had to carry him for a distance.  When he gets picked up he calms down immediately but I must have been quite the sight carrying a 50lb dog down the street.  Such a dope but he’s our dope.

Earlier this week I wanted to make a light dinner for the kids and I.  As my husband wasn’t here I thought I’d do some eggplant as he’s not the biggest fan of it.  But the kids and I enjoy it particularly on the grill.

Grilled chicken and eggplant 1 2014

I did up a quick marinade for the chicken using olive oil, lemon, and garlic with salt and pepper to taste.  I drizzled the eggplant with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Fire up the grill and cook both ingredients until done.

Grilled chicken and eggplant 2 2014

While this was cooking I did up the dressing with the lemon and olive oil.  Stack the chicken on the eggplant then add tomato and basil.  Add the dressing and some freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Grilled chicken and eggplant 3 2014

It looks like a small meal and it is but it was surprisingly filling.  And we enjoyed it.  🙂

Eggplant-Aubergine-Al Badinjan Parmesan

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Words fascinate me.  With all the different languages one thing can have many different names.  Take eggplant.  Which is a strange thing to call it as the common ones are large and purple.  But various countries in Europe called it eggplant because they used to be the size of a goose egg and even whitish.  In the UK using the word aubergine shows a bit of the French influence on our language but if you continue back the roots are found in the Arabic word al-badinjan.

Years ago when my mum and I would work together we had a little game we’d play.  This was when the internet was new to us and I would look up the word of the day and try to test her.  It would always be a big word or something really obscure and she would have to try to come up with the definition.  I think I tripped her up a small handful of times.  She has an excellent vocabulary and because she took Latin she could figure out the root of the word.  I may not have the vocabulary she does but I love the history of words.

I asked the kids what they would like for dinner this week and our daughter piped up with eggplant parmesan.  As I’ve never made it before I thought why not?  And really it’s not very difficult to make.  The only time consuming bit is the homemade pasta.  For the tomato sauce I used our homemade base and added our usual group of veg and a bit of red wine.

Eggplant parmesan 1 2014

Slice the eggplant about 1/4″ thick or so and remove the skin.  I then sliced them in half so it is more manageable.

Eggplant parmesan 2 2014

Dip them in egg and panko bread crumbs and pan fry in oil until browned then turn them over.  On the browned side I seasoned with salt and pepper and grated fresh parmesan cheese over the eggplant.

Eggplant parmesan 3 2014

After both sides are browned finish off in the oven to complete cooking.  Toss the pasta in the sauce.  I prefer the Italian way of just letting the sauce coat the pasta rather than have the pasta swimming in the sauce.  Grate more fresh cheese over the dish and serve.

Eggplant parmesan 4 2014

Super easy to put together and the kids loved it.  And hey, any time the kids ask for a veg based dish I won’t be saying no!  Though we are lucky, they love their veg.  🙂

Lovely Cheesy Pinwheels

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Stephane seems to be a bit of an inspiration this week with fellow bloggers as I also am blogging about something he posted.  On Monday I came across his mini appetizers as I was planning my dinner.  I wanted something to go with the mushroom soup I was making.  As I had different ingredients in my pantry than what was in Stephane’s recipe I came up with these cheesy pinwheels.  It was perfect for using up the last bit of puff pastry I had in the freezer.

cheese pinwheels 1 2013

I grated some Jarlsberg, Cheddar, and Parmesan Cheese.  You want enough to cover the puff pastry once it is rolled out.

cheese pinwheel 2 2013

Roll the pastry firmly all the way lengthwise.  If you have time chill in the fridge to make it easier to slice.  If you don’t have time then just use a sharp knife and nice even cuts.

cheese pinwheels 3 2013

Have the pinwheels about 1/2 inch to an inch thick.  Place evenly on a cookie sheet and pop into the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes.

cheese pinwheels 4 2013

Once they are golden brown they are ready to serve.  You can make these ahead of time but they are so quick to make that they are great right out of the oven.

Sausage Rolls

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Whenever we head back to England for a couple of weeks I always have a list of food to eat.  All the foods we can’t get stateside.  Fish and chips, cornish pasties, chocolates, pork pies, and sausage rolls!  Not to mention the crumbles my MIL makes.   Surprise, surprise I usually gain a few pounds and then have to Zumba like crazy.  But it’s worth it.  🙂

We had friends over a few nights ago and I made sausage rolls as finger food.  I don’t make it often because there are only so many Zumba classes I can take!  But these are super easy to make and very yummy.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

To start with chop half an onion and saute in melted butter.

Once the onions are soft let them cool a bit.  In a mixing bowl add about a pound of ground pork, some fennel seeds, salt and pepper, oregano and basil.

Freshly grate parmesan cheese.  About 3/4 cup will do and add to the bowl.

Add the onions then mix.  Don’t be shy dig in with your hands!  They will clean up.  🙂

Roll out some puff pastry.  One of these days I’ll learn how to make it from scratch but until then store bought it is.  Place a line of sausage onto the pastry.

Roll it once to surround the sausage and then use a knife to cut the pastry.  Cut the roll in half and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and flaky and the sausage is cooked through.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

I’ll be on the road this week so it will be a bit before I do my next post.  See you soon!

 

 

Cream and Butter Sauce

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One of my favourite cook books came from my good friend Corrie.  She and I have spent many a time over the years sharing good wine and food.  The feasts we’ve had!  For our wedding she bought us the “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marchella Hazan.  There are some wonderful recipes in this book and a great one is cream and butter sauce.  Also known as Alfredo sauce.  I usually make this with our Homemade Pasta.

However it was a crazy day so I used mushroom ravioli instead.  🙂

I did deviate from the recipe in the book a little so here is my version:

1 cup heavy cream

2T of butter

1 cup freshly grated parmigian-reggia

Pepper to taste.  (her recipe calls for salt.  I love salt but I find that the cheese adds plenty of saltiness as a good base.  I usually add a bit of salt at the table.)

A few shakes of ground nutmeg ( her recipe calls for whole nutmeg to be freshly ground)

Melt the butter in a small pan and add the cream. Heat slowly and stir with a whisk frequently.  Do not whisk so hard it becomes thick.  This is not a thick sauce but a lovely creamy sauce that coats the pasta.

While the sauce is warming up I saute mushrooms and garlic.  This time we had bacon left over from the Bacon Crostini  so I used a bit of that.  As the bacon starts to crisp up I add a bit of white balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan.

I add the cheese to the heated cream and butter and stir thoroughly as it melts.  I then add the pepper and nutmeg.  Adjust the seasoning as needed.  At this time the pasta is cooking.  Just as the pasta is done I add the sauce to the mushroom mixture and then the pasta.  Toss and serve.

Grate some fresh cheese and enjoy!  This is an uncomplicated dish that takes less than 30 minutes to make if you aren’t making fresh pasta and the flavours are amazing.