Eggplant Milanese

3 Jul

I have to be in the mood to eat eggplant…  I like it, but I have to be in the mood for it.  However, I am ALWAYS in the mood for fried eggplant.  It could be the Latin in me that gravitates to anything fried.  But that’s the truth…

Ever since my friend Tania returned from her first trip to Paraguay, she and I have both been in love with her fried eggplants.  She always saves me a batch every time she makes them at home. When she makes them at the yoga center, they’re the only thing on my plate.

She learned them from a woman in our yoga center there, in Coronel Oviedo in Paraguay. And on that side of the world, they call MILANESAS anything that is breaded and fried.  Talk to any Argentinean, Chilean, Uruguayan, etc. and they’ll call milanesa what I called growing up empanadas… and the most common thing to “empanar” was a chopped steak.  Now that we’re vegetarians, we need to “empanizar” something else… and these Eggplants Milanese are truly SOMETHING ELSE!!!

 

EGGPLANT MILANESE

3 small eggplants, I like to pick the lightest eggplants possible = less seeds
3 tbs of tamari 
1 tbs ume plum vinegar
About 1 tbs  + 1 tsp of garlic and herbs seasoning, divided
2 cloves of garlic, minced finely
3 cups of cornstarch
¼ cup of milk
3 cups of quick-cooking oats, ground as finely as possible in a food processor
Canola Oil for frying

 

  1. Peel and slice the eggplants using a mandolin slicer.
  2. Place eggplant slices in a glass container and season with tamari sauce, vinegar, minced garlic and 1 tbs of the garlic and herbs seasoning.  I drizzle the tamari over the eggplant slices little by little using a measuring spoon and massage the slices to cover – like giving the eggplant some color.  It may seem like there’s not enough tamari to season, but the salt in it will allow the eggplants to purge and the end product will be a lot of water in the bottom of your glass container.
  4. Cover the container and marinate the eggplants in this mixture for at least 2 hours.
  5.  After the marinating time has elapsed, prepare a breading station using 3 containers, 2 larger and 1 smaller one.  In the first larger one place the cornstarch, in the second smaller hand place the milk and season with the 1tsp of remaining garlic and herbs seasoning. 
  7.  And in the third larger container, place the ground oatmeal.  Also, set a cookie sheet covered with foil or parchment paper to set the eggplants after breading.
  8. And using your right hand for the dry stuff and your left hand for the wet stuff (hey, I’m a righty, but you can switch if it works better for you), we start to bread…  take an eggplant with your right hand and place in cornstarch to coat.  With your left hand pick it up and dunk into seasoned milk.  Place it in the oatmeal dish with that same hand.  With your right hand, cover the eggplant with more oatmeal and pat the oatmeal so it sticks to the eggplant well.  After wards, press on the eggplant to make sure the oatmeal breading sticks well.  Place on the cookie sheet waiting for it to be fried.  Repeat the process until all eggplant slices have been breaded.

Here you have 3 options:

  • Store in plastic freezer bags for frying at a later time – you can store these in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for about 3 months.  Mine never last that long there.

To Store:

Place a piece of parchment or even wax paper in the plastic freezer bag. Place as many breaded eggplant slices as you can in a single layer, without any overlaps or touching.  Place another piece of paper and keep on stacking.  I can usually make three layers of eggplant per bag.  Store in fridge or freezer flat so the eggplants retain their shape.

 

  • Fry away to eat immediately – following we’ll show you plating and serving ideas for this
  • Fry away to eat in another dish tomorrow – I’ll share this in a later post we’ll call Eggplant Gratin…

For Frying: 

  1.  
    1. Just take a small skillet with about ¼ inch of canola oil.  Bring to temperature for frying, which I usually measure by inserting the end of a wooden spoon in the oil and making sure there are bubbles around the spoon.
    2. Place a few slices of eggplant in and fry a few minutes on both sides until golden.  These eggplants are sliced so thin you don’t need to cook them for a long time.  If you fry them until they’re light brown, usually they’re be too cooked on the inside.  So err on the side of caution and not let it go too far.
    4. Take them out of the oil and place them onto a plate covered with paper towels to absorb all the excess oil.  Allow them to cool off a bit before serving.

 

I love serving these next to a nice garden salad with a few wedges of lime, or even a yellow lemon.  I learned to eat empanadas with lime or criollo lemons and to me they cut a bit some of the greasiness of the frying.  These are crispy, crunchy and kind of creamy inside.  They’re awesome…

I have also used them in sandwiches, in pastelones and shortly you’ll see my take on an Eggplant Gratin dish…  really tasty.

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Healthy Lifestyle Change for JULY – Eat whole grain brown rice

1 Jul

Keeping with the theme of consuming more whole grains… it’s better to eat whole grain brown rice than the regular polished white rice because:

  •  It has more nutrients – Vitamin B1, B3, Iron and Magnesium naturally found in the hull of the rice grain
  • It has more fiber – helping you of any constipation issues
  • It is very flavorful
  • It comes is a variety of formats – Basmati, short grain, long grain… just like white rice.

 

All these benefits, yet you prepare it basically the same way you make white rice – you just need to add a bit more water.

 Here’s a few tips:

  • You can purchase whole grain brown rice at any major supermarket – I buy frequently Uncle Ben’s or Mahatma Brands of brown rice.  Lately I have also been purchasing Texmati brown rice, available at health food stores or at Costco.
  • To me it’s easier to make rice in a  rice cooker – but if you are used to making rice in a regular pot, all you need to do is follow these measurements:
    • 3 cups of water x 1 cup of rice
    • When you make more than 1 cup of rice, you add 1 cup of water for each cup of rice + 3 additional cups of water  SEE TABLE
BROWN RICE WATER
1 cup 3 cups
2 cup 5 cups
3 cup 6 cups

 

  • If you’re using a rice cooker, my rule of thumb is to add ALMOST twice the water you would need for regular white rice.
    • Something about Texmati rice… it only needs a bit more than the water you would need for regular white rice.  So it cooks faster than other brown rices.
  • You can make any rice dish you usually make with white rice using whole grain brown rice.

Here a few recipes you can try:

 Provencal Rice

 Arroz Provencal

Spinach Asparagus Casserole

 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Cheese Rice Burritos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

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Incredible India all over again – Sweets

29 Jun

In my trips to India I have learned Indians love their sweets…  they have great sweet treats for special occasions and for the everyday.  I was only familiar with carrot burfi, something my friend Rosani taught me how to make.  But sweets and desserts in India are very regional, and in my three trips to India, I have yet to encounter a carrot burfi.

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Let’s go from the mundane to the special…  but then again, mundane vs. special is all a matter of taste and perspective.

Something I learned to eat in my first trip to India was rasgulla.  I ate a LOT of these…  These are small balls made from milk and served with sweet syrup.  They’re spongy, chewy and sweet but not overwhelmingly sweet.  We saw many versions of ragulla during our trip – some are pale but some are browned, as if they were fried before they were immersed in the sweet syrup.  Some people loved them to top vanilla ice cream.   I preferred them on their own…    I was also told these can be bought in a tin at any regular supermarket to be brought home – a nice memento from your Indian trip. 

Something we saw quite frequently on our buffets was Halvas – this particular one was Suji Ka Halwa, made with semolina flour.  I loved these because they’re like a dry-out cream of wheat with sugar and spices.  We had several versions that included lentils and other legumes… but they tasted really good and not savory at all.  I searched some recipes on the internet and I am sure my friend Tania and I will be making a few versions of these soon at the Yoga center.

 

Mangoes are abundant in India… when you want a nice boxed juice to cool off, mango is the flavor of choice in India.  Writing this I realized you don’t see them fresh in the streets to be sold.  Hum… something to explore if I ever visit some other time.  And with as much mango juice you see in the streets, this was the first time we ran across a mango sweet treat – aamras.  We had this in Indore – a puree of mango to be eaten alone or, like I did, on top of vanilla ice cream.   This is something we can certainly replicate in any western kitchen… no?

 

We were fortunate enough to celebrate a few special occasions while in India – Annie Mariel’s birthday and the engagement of a young couple in Varanasi our tour guide was friends with the bride’s side.   The staff at our hotel treated Annie Mariel with Gajar Ka Halva, apparently the India version of a birthday cake.  This is made with carrots and nuts  and it was delicious…  I had it with chai masala tea on the side and the piece given to us was so big, some of it made it home to Puerto Rico. 

For the engagement, we were given as a memento Soan Papdi – a flaky dessert with almonds and pistachios.  It looks flaky and when you put a bite in your mouth it just dissolves.  Really good…

 

Hope this gives you a nice glimpse into the vast world of Indian sweets… and when you visit India or just go to a Indian neighborhood you will be adventurous enough to try some of their sweet treats.  Namaste!!

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Very Berry Sorbet

23 Jun

This week summer started officially, according to the calendar, because in Puerto Rico summer started since April, during Holy Week/Easter.  We have been feeling the heat for weeks…

To celebrate the “official” start of summer, our friends at Serious Eats encouraged us to share with them our favorite frozen treats in a feature Ice Cream Social.  I am a social person… and I have been meaning to make a berry sorbet for the longest time, so what better excuse than to share it with all my Serious Eats friends.

The cool thing… it only has 4 ingredients if you count the water and you only need a food processor and a freezer to make this sorbet.  I do not have an ice cream maker because my kitchen is so small I do not have the space for another gadget, so just like Alton Brown we need to multitask.  And nothing beats this in the natural and refreshing department – it only has berries and agave nectar…  Take that Häagen Dazs!!!!

 

VERY BERRY SORBET

8 frozen strawberries
24 frozen blackberries
¼ cup of water
1/3 cup of agave nectar
 

 

  1. Dissolve the agave nectar into the water.
  2. Place the frozen berries in a food processor.  I cut the strawberries in quarters to make them more even in size with the blackberries.

  1. Pulse your food processor a few times to start mashing the berries.  After a few pulses, let it process normally and pour the water and agave nectar mixture through the chute on the top.  You’ll see how the berries will turn into a slushy.
  3. If you’re not fond of sorbet with seeds, pass the mixture thru a sieve to remove as much of the seeds as possible.  If you don’t mind them, skip this step.
  4. Place in an airtight container and freeze for about 2-3 hours before serving. 

 

This recipe made about 2 cups of sorbet and it is super easy and super refreshing…  I use frozen berries I buy fresh and freeze them myself.  It’s super convenient to make smoothies at home and certainly to make this frozen treat.

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Simpler Popeye Pizza

21 Jun

This Popeye Pizza has become a real pizza staple flavor in my house… even for my friend Annie Mariel, this is our go-to pizza flavor we prepare at home now.  It’s the perfect midnight snack… 😉

But I have never made this pizza recipe for anyone at the yoga center, so I thought it would be a perfect flavor to enter into the Pizza Contest we were having a few weekends ago.  I would just have to simplify it that same way we had simplified it for our midnight snack raids – because at 2AM, I am no fan of taking out 3 different cheeses and grate by hand  to make pizza.  Here is my simplified version with no compromising on taste…

SIMPLER POPEYE PIZZA

1 flatbread
A handful of Italian Cheese blend of shredded cheeses
Parmesan Cheese, grated – hey ,I buy it pre-grated and sometimes I use the green can too…
A super mound of baby spinach, about 2-3 handfuls
Salt and Pepper to taste
A drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

  1. Pre-heat your toaster oven to 450F.
  2. Place the flatbread on a cookie sheet…  I use the small cookie sheet from my toaster oven.
  3. And top with the topping in this order – first place the Italian cheese blend, enough to cover the bottom of the flatbread. Then sprinkle the parmesan cheese.  Top with the mounds of fresh baby spinach.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and finish with a small drizzle of olive oil.   
  4. Place in oven for about 5-10 minutes, until most of the spinach wilts and the cheese on the borders gets some golden brown flecks.
  5. Slice it and enjoy. 

 

I love this pizza, Annie Mariel loves it, Jonathan loves it, my mom loves it…  I am telling you it’s a real hit.  And after a night of partying 😉   – it really hits the spot…

 

 

Do you think I could have won with this Popeye Pizza at the Pizza Contest??    I wouldn’t doubt it…

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