Recipe: Simple Eggplant Parmigiana

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From Denny: How about a simple recipe of Eggplant Parmigiana? Light foods like this are great in this summer heat, easy and faster to digest than heavy meats.

Did you know that tomatoes are cooling for your liver? Why is that important? Cool your liver; cool your body! A win-win in this summer heat!

Same goes for foods like cucumbers and vinegars. A little (like about 1/2 teaspoon per large glass of water) white or red wine vinegar in your glass of water helps your liver handle the hot weather.

Eggplant Parmigiana

From: “Savannah Collection” by Martha Giddens Nesbit

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

2 small eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch circles

Salt

2 cups cottage cheese

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, squeezed through a press (if using commercial spaghetti sauce)

1/2 cup olive oil, approximately

2 cups tomato sauce (recipe follows) OR commercial meatless spaghetti sauce

10 ozs. grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Salt sliced eggplant and allow it to drain for about 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

2. In small bowl combine cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese and parsley. I used commercial spaghetti sauce so I squeezed 1 clove of garlic through a garlic press into the cheese mixture for added flavor. Set aside.

3. In large, nonstick skillet, heat oil and fry eggplant until lightly browned on both sides. At first the eggplant will soak up the oil, but as it cooks, the oil will release. When browned, drain on paper towels.

4. Use a 9x13-inch shallow baking dish for making a one- layer casserole or an 8x8-inch dish for two layers. Begin by spreading the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the dish, all of it for single layer casserole or half the remaining ingredients if you’re making two layers.

Layer cooked eggplant slices over sauce then spoon cottage cheese mixture over eggplant, spreading it out as evenly as you can. Top with grated mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, beginning with tomato sauce if making a double layer and ending with mozzarella.

5. Bake in 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Tomato Sauce

From: Recipe is from “Savannah Collection”

Makes: about 4 cups of sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced (I love a lot more!)

2 (16-oz.) cans Italian plum tomatoes

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cleaned and chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add other ingredients.

2. Cover and cook, stirring often, for about 30 minutes. Use in eggplant dish, or freeze for later.

Video: Learn How to Make Professional Chocolates by Hand

From Denny: Before there were automated machines to make chocolate in factories check out how they still do it by hand for mass production in The Netherlands: impressive and so tasty looking! Good thing they don't have "smell-a-vision" like chef Emeril Lagasse chuckles or we would all be on the first plane to this chocolate factory. They also give lessons to people so they can learn how to do these awesome chocolates as professional as a big company.




how to make chocolates, The Netherlands, food video

Recipe: Lime Pie with a Twist - White Chocolate!

See how tiny these key limes are? Intensely flavored and tart! Image by m kasahara via Flickr

From Denny: In the heat of this summer (which it seems you have heard me endlessly whining about - grin) and to be enjoyed after a good garlicky seafood dish is a citrus flavor to cut the oils, salt and heat.

We adore Key Lime Pie here in Louisiana! Louisianians often visit the Florida beaches and golf courses where we were introduced to such a sweet treat as to what they like to create with Key Limes! (We also love their soft shell crabs - yum!) Here is another twist on the classic recipe by using white chocolate.

Easy Key Lime Pie with a Twist

Yield: one (9-inch) pie

Ingredients:

1 cup whipping cream

1 (11-ounce) package white chocolate morsels

1 tablespoon Breakstone's sour cream (you can use another full fat brand)

1 teaspoon grated Key Lime rind (these things are tiny to grip; if you have a microplane it's easier to grate them)

1/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (these tiny little limes are awesome!)

1 (9-inch) pre-baked chocolate graham cracker crust (I prefer a chocolate crust as I find the plain just a little too bland but you can choose whatever you enjoy!)

Garnish: lime slices

Directions:

Over low heat in a medium saucepan you want to combine the white chocolate morsels and the whipping cream.

Cook 5 minutes or until white chocolate melts; stir constantly. Remove from heat and now add the sour cream, lime rind and juice; stir well. Note: The reason you remove it from the heat is that you don't want the sour cream to separate or the white chocolate to seize up on you.

Note: Variation - Before you pour this mixture into the crust you can add some zing with another variation: spread a thin layer of sour cream on the bottom of the crust. You could also spread a thin layer of melted semi-sweet chocolate here too! I've even placed finely chopped butter-roasted pecans here.

If you want to just proceed with the basic recipe and skip the variations, go ahead and pour the sour cream-lime mixture into crust. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Garnish, if desired with more whipped cream, finely chopped butter-roasted pecans and lime slices for beautiful presentation! Dare I say it? Lip-smacking good! :)

Feel free to subscribe to Comfort Food From Louisiana just click on the orange feed icon next to the feed count right hand side at the top of the page! Thanks for visiting!

Funny Illusion Photo: The Art of Hiding Well

From Denny: This funny photo showed up on Digg yesterday so I'm passing it forward for the rest of the world to enjoy! This is truly the art of hiding well. Look closely... Don't you just love the art of illusion? Especially when it is right in front of you and in real life! :)

Quote: "This demonstrates the value of not being seen." - British comedian John Cleese


odd photos, funny photos, Digg, animals, pets, humor, dogs, monkeys

Recipe: Fast Easy Chocolate Truffle Pie

From Denny: Bakers Chocolate of Kraft Foods often posts very easy simple and fast recipes and this one is no exception. This pie would be an awesome addition to the holiday table and it's never too soon to start thinking about and planning ahead for the holidays. Who wants to be stressed at the last minute trying to rack your brain for a new recipe to excite the crowd and you just don't have a lot of time to find the recipe let alone bake it? Recipes like this one are real life savers! :)

Chocolate Truffle Pie

From: Bakers Chocolate

Serves: 10

Prep Time: 15 min

Total Time: 50 min

Ingredients:

1-1/4 package (10 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup whipping cream

4 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (or real whipped cream)

Directions:

HEAT oven to 325°F. Microwave chocolate and cream in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir until completely melted. Cool.

WHISK in eggs, sugar and flour. Pour into greased 9-inch pie plate.

BAKE 35 min. or until edge of pie is puffed but center is still slightly soft; cool. Top with COOL WHIP.

Kraft Kitchen Tips for this recipe:


Size-Wise

A portion of this special-occasion dessert is all that is needed to provide big chocolate flavor.

Special Extra

To add a decorative powdered sugar garnish, place stencil on top of cooled pie. Use wire mesh sifter to sprinkle powdered sugar evenly over stencil. Carefully remove stencil to reveal the show-stopping garnish on pie.

Make Ahead

Cover cooled pie and freeze up to 1 week. Thaw in refrigerator before serving.

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Thanks for visiting, everyone! Have a great day!


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