Happy New Year!

So, I've been slacking.  I prefer to think of it as resting and pondering my next post.  Hahaha!

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year.  I know we did.  We had several little get-togethers, but kept it very simple.

This year, one of my resolutions is to do a better job menu planning and include either a meat-less meal or a fish meal once a week.  It's a trick, because my kids need protein, or they're starving early in the morning.  Here's our favorite meat-less meal...and yes, every single one of my kids loves it...and my go-to fish meal (it's super simple).

EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Use kosher salt when salting the eggplant. The coarse grains don't dissolve as readily as the fine grains of regular table salt, so any excess can be easily wiped away. To be time-efficient, use the 30 to 45 minutes during which the salted eggplant sits to prepare the breading, cheeses, and sauce.

Eggplant

2 pounds globe eggplant (2 medium eggplants), cut crosswise into ¼” thick rounds

1 tablespoon kosher salt

8 slices high-quality white bread (about 8 ounces), torn into quarters

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Tomato Sauce

3 cans (14½ ounces each) diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 generous tablespoon)

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ cup fresh basil leaves chopped

8 ounces mozzarella, shredded (2 cups)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)

10 fresh basil leaves torn, for garnish

FOR THE EGGPLANT: Toss half of eggplant slices and 1½ teaspoons kosher salt in large bowl until combined; transfer salted eggplant to large colander set over bowl. Repeat with remaining eggplant and kosher salt, placing second batch in colander on top of first. Let stand until eggplant releases about 2 tablespoons liquid, 30 to 45 minutes. Arrange eggplant slices on triple layer paper towels; cover with another triple layer paper towels. Firmly press each slice to remove as much liquid as possible, then wipe off excess salt.

While eggplant is draining, adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions, place rimmed baking sheet on each rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees. Pulse bread in food processor to fine, even crumbs, about fifteen 1-second pulses (you should have about 4 cups). Transfer crumbs to pie plate and stir in 1 cup Parmesan, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; set aside. Wipe out bowl (do not wash) and set aside.

Combine flour and 1 teaspoon pepper in large zipper-lock bag; shake to combine. Beat eggs in second pie plate. Place 8 to 10 eggplant slices in bag with flour; seal bag and shake to coat eggplant. Remove eggplant slices, shaking off excess flour, dip in eggs, let excess egg run off, then coat evenly with bread crumb mixture; set breaded slices on wire rack set over baking sheet. Repeat with remaining eggplant.

Remove preheated baking sheets from oven; add 3 tablespoons oil to each sheet, tilting to coat evenly with oil. Place half of breaded eggplant on each sheet in single layer; bake until eggplant is well browned and crisp, about 30 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets after 10 minutes, and flipping eggplant slices with wide spatula after 20 minutes. Do not turn off oven.

FOR THE SAUCE: While eggplant bakes, process 2 cans diced tomatoes in food processor until almost smooth, about 5 seconds. Heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and garlic is light golden, about 3 minutes; stir in processed and remaining can of diced tomatoes. Bring sauce to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes (you should have about 4 cups). Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

TO ASSEMBLE: Spread 1 cup tomato sauce in bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Layer in half of eggplant slices, overlapping slices to fit; distribute 1 cup sauce over eggplant; sprinkle with half of mozzarella. Layer in remaining eggplant and dot with 1 cup sauce, leaving majority of eggplant exposed so it will remain crisp; sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmesan and remaining mozzarella. Bake until bubbling and cheese is browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; scatter basil over top, and serve, passing remaining tomato sauce separately.

FISH

Tilapia fillets (2 per person, since they're usually pretty thin)
Butter
Seasoned salt (I use Nature's Seasons)

Melt some butter, place tilapia fillets in, sprinkle with seasoned salt.  Cook till white on that side, flip and season.  Cook until easily flaked.  Delish!

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

I know I haven't posted lately - I'm sure you haven't missed me, as I bet you've been busy too!


I hope you have a tremendously blessed Christmas. Christmas is a time to remember Christ’s birth and look forward to His triumphant return!  God created the world, and it was perfect…but we rebelled and there is a penalty for that.  We were separated from God.  But because God loves us SO much, He sent his son, the man Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ sinless life, death on a cross, and glorious resurrection is the key to our restoration.  “Christ died once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”  You have a choice.  You can trust in Christ and have a personal relationship with the God of the universe.  Or you can be eternally separated from God.  I pray that you choose Christ!


See you next year!


Love you all,
Erin

Spinach Dip

So we had a little get-together tonight, and I made spinach dip.  There's NONE left - the bowl was just about LICKED clean!  So....here's the recipe.  I guess it's good.  <grin>

Spinach Dip

Makes about 1½ cups; I serve it with bread (pumpernickel or rye are always yummy) or wheat crackers.

Partial thawing of the spinach produces a cold dip that can be served without further chilling. If you don't own a microwave, the frozen spinach can be thawed at room temperature for 1½ hours then squeezed of excess liquid. The garlic must be minced or pressed before going into the food processor; otherwise the dip will contain large chunks of garlic.

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach

½ cup sour cream

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons thin-sliced scallions, white parts only, from 3 medium scallions

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill leaves

½ cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 small clove garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)

¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

½ teaspoon table salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ medium red bell pepper, diced fine (about ¼ cup)

Thaw spinach in microwave for 3 minutes at 40 percent power. (Edges should be thawed but not warm; center should be soft enough to be broken apart into icy chunks.) Squeeze partially frozen spinach of excess water.

In food processor, process spinach, sour cream, mayonnaise, scallions, dill, parsley, garlic, hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper until smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to medium bowl and stir in bell pepper; serve. (Dip can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 2 days.)

Rolls & Garlic

All right, garlic first.  My family LOVES garlic.  Even the kids.  I love to feed it to them, because it's so good for you.  Sometimes, though, I'd like to have a little less harsh garlic flavor, so I roast it.  The problem is, roasting takes about an hour and I always forget to do it ahead of time.  Besides, who wants to start up the oven for a couple little heads of garlic?

There are two solutions for this.  First, you can roast your garlic in a crockpot.  I have a teeny one that fits two heads, but I would imagine you could follow the same process in a larger crockpot....perhaps you could just cook up a bunch of heads.  Second, you could toast them in a skillet.  I'll put both methods here.

Crockpot Roasting

Remove all the papery skins, but keep the head together.  Chop off about the top quarter of the head (you want all the cloves to have a little of their inside exposed).  Place in the middle of a piece of foil (my teeny crockpot holds two, so I do two), drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pull the corners together, pinch closed, stick in the crockpot and let cook one hour.


Skillet Toasting

Remove all the paper skins and break apart all the cloves.  Put in a skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes, shaking OFTEN.  Burnt garlic is YUCKY!!  When all the cloves are nice golden brown, remove from the pan and let cool until you need it!


I also wanted to share the recipe I use for my Thanksgiving rolls.  It's from www.urbanhomemaker.com.  They're pretty healthy (you can always adjust the recipe by using more whole wheat and increase the fiber content), and they taste yummy!  If you halve the recipe, you can use your mixer or bread machine to do the kneading for you.

For those of you that grind your own wheat, I have made this recipe successfully with all whole wheat, but my family finds them a bit heavy...so I modified.


Fantastic Whole Wheat Rolls

Halve the recipe for a small batch.

2 1/2 Cups warm water
1/2 Cup honey
1/2 Cup dry powdered milk
2 TB yeast
2 eggs
3-4 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Cup oil
melted butter

Combine warm water, honey, powdered milk, and yeast in mixing bowl. Allow yeast to activate.

Add eggs and 3 Cups flour (1 1/2 cups each kind). Stir until thoroughly mixed; dough will resemble cake batter. Let rest until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Add salt, oil, and remaining flour. Knead for 6-10 minutes or until dough is soft and pliable. Grease baking sheets.

Pour out onto a lightly greased surface. Pinch off 2-inch round portions, and roll out to an 8-inch rope. Tie rope in a knot. Place in rows on baking sheets, cover, and let rise until double. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter if desired, and remove to a cooling rack. Makes 2-3 dozen.

Thanksgiving!

Here we go - the beginning of the holiday season.  It is SO easy to get overwhelmed.  Stop now.  Take a breath.  These holidays are to be enjoyed.  Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks to God for His many blessings.  You have a ton - even if you don't think you have any, you do.

Now....try to make your day easy.  One way I make it easy is using Stove Top stuffing.  Yes, I know, I know.  Don't judge me.  LOL.  It takes five minutes and VOILA.  :-)  Here's the rest of my menu.

Turkey (duh)
Mashed potatoes (I do mine in a pressure cooker - it's quicker)
Gravy (I can make part of it ahead of time and add it to the pan drippings from the turkey)
Stuffing (Stove Top - lots!  It takes five minutes!)
Peas (required - Tim's request)
Green bean casserole (trying a new recipe this year - crockpot)
Rolls (making ahead of time)

My mom is bringing turnip (I LOVE turnip)

Dessert (always the biggest part of the meal!!)
Pumpkin pie (made ahead because Tim doesn't like it warm)
Pecan pie (made ahead because I can)
Pudding pie (one of the kids can make ahead of time)
Apple pie (that's a new request from Peter - he's making that!)

Cranberry sauce (from a can - DUH!)

Apple cider
Water
Milk
Coffee & tea

Wow - putting it all down shows me that I really don't have that much to do the day of....cool!!!  Just watch the parade and then the football games!!

What do you have for Thanksgiving?  What food makes it "officially" Thanksgiving for you??

Homemade Pastrami on Rye

Okay - now before you all freak, please realize that this is SO much easier than it sounds.  


The rye bread is so easy, you're going to be surprised.  It does take some forethought, though.  The pastrami is a little more complicated, requires more time, but not much hands-on time.

Almost No-Knead Rye Bread

An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best results. Use a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser (mild non-alcoholic lager also works). The bread is best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days.

1 5/8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 ounces), plus additional for dusting work surface

1 1/8 cups rye flour (7 ounces)

2 tablespoons caraway seeds

¼ teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast

1½ teaspoons table salt

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces), at room temperature

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons mild-flavored lager (3 ounces)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1. Whisk flours, caraway, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

2. Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

PASTRAMI

A later batch with a bit more fat

This is a LOT less specific, so just be patient with me.  The recipes call for brisket.  I wasn't so pleased with it - it was quite lean.  If that's what you're looking for in a pastrami, then that's perfect, but I was looking for something with a bit more fat.  The spices are going to be very personalized, so I suggest you follow the recipe the first time, then play with it.  This recipe and technique came from the forums at E-Gullet.

A later batch with a bit more fat

You must have saltpeter or Tender Quick (by Morton) in order to cure it.  This recipe is for a 7 lb piece of meat, so you'll have to play with the amount of spices depending on how big your piece of beef is.  The amount of Tender Quick is not up for debate.  Use the amount specified on the package.   

3lbs coarse kosher salt

2lbs peppercorns
½lbs sugar
½lbs coriander seeds
3 Tbs whole cloves
10 whole bay laurel leaves
2 Tbs saltpeter or Tender Quick amount specified on package

Grind all these spices in a coffee grinder.  Rub the meat with raw garlic, then coat with this combination of spices.   Put in a container and refrigerate for three days, turning every 12 hours.  (Mine was turned every day - who can remember every 12 hrs?? - and was in the fridge for about 5 days).  Rinse well, then soak in cold water for 3 hours, changing the water every 1/2 hour.  (Again - I think I remembered every hour, then it soaked for a day in the water because my day got away from me).  Coat with a combination of 2 parts peppercorns & 1 part coriander seeds (cracked/ground), and refrigerate overnight.  Smoke for one - five hours, or until the internal temperature is 165F (Seriously - who has a smoker? I grilled it on low!).  Stick in a container in the fridge for one day.  Steam the meat (the whole thing) for one - three hours, or until warm all the way through.  Put back in the fridge for a day.  Slice thinly, across the grain, and steam to rewarm.  Serve on your yummy rye bread.  And a beer.  <tee hee>   

Celebrations

I love celebrations.  Doesn't matter what kind, I just like any excuse for throwing a party!  I have some tips for throwing your own celebration - and having fun at it yourself.

I firmly believe in "tradition".  Tradition is not only fun to pass down to the kids, but helps you immensely as you plan.  For instance, we have certain things that MUST be done to make birthdays "just right".  We have the "birthday chair".  It's just the chair that the child will be sitting in on their birthday, decorated with streamers and balloons..  We have streamers going from each corner of the dining room into the middle light fixture, two balloons in each corner, a home-made cake of the child's choosing, and a pinata.  I'm not EXACTLY sure how we got into the pinata thing, but I'm not allowed to omit it!  Yes, it might seem repetitive, but I always know that I need balloons, streamers, and newspapers (for the pinata).

Make lists....and try not to lose them.  The very best thing is to have a notebook for all your lists.  Just some random $0.10 notebook that you can pick up before school starts, and you're all set.  Get a big Sharpie and write CELEBRATIONS on the front and voila - a list book!!

I make lists for everything.  Who's invited, what I'll make, EXACTLY what I have to do to prepare the house, shopping lists, thank yous (with columns for "required" and "completed".  Do what works for you, but write it down.  Then you'll know when you're done and won't have a nagging feeling about what you've forgotten to do.

Finally, get as much done ahead of time as possible.  Make the day of the event fun and relaxing for everyone, including yourself.  If you'll have to plate items, get those plates and utensils out and put them where your guests can help (someone always asks to help).  If you have to scoop ice cream, do it ahead of time into little cupcake wrappers, place on a baking sheet and freeze so you just have to serve.  Making punch, but it has to be last minute?  Make sure it's all in the fridge, cold and ready to be poured.

You CAN enjoy parties.  You have to choose to not stress over what's not perfect, and enjoy your guests.  Invite people you care about, have a glass of wine, and enjoy your day!!