Creamy Eggplant Sauce
When my little sister was a child, we asked her about the things she disliked most in the world and she scrounged up her face and thought long and hard. Then she ventured: “War and eggplant”.
Luckily, she’s reconsidered as she’s grown older (about eggplant I mean, not about war). I say luckily, because eggplant is a favourite of mine. It’s one of the most beautiful fruits or vegetables produced by nature, it’s cheap, versatile – and they always have it at my local store. The latter is not the least important factor when deciding what to have for dinner.
My favourite way of cooking eggplant is to grill it and then chop it – like you do in a Greek melitsanosalata or a baba ganouj. This produces a rich and creamy sauce that can be used on pasta, with bread or as dipping sauce for virtually anything.
Of course, once you take it out of the oven it’s not so pretty anymore…
In this case, I made a variety that is meant to be served with spaghetti, but it would make a good side dish with grilled meat too, if that’s your fancy. The good thing about this dish is that it’s excellent to make in advance. In fact, it’s designed to be made in advance and just heated in time for dinner.
You’ll need:
1 middle-sized eggplant
5 cherry tomatoes or 1 regular (if you use the regular, remove the seeds before using it)
3 tbsp crème fraiche (yes, low fat is OK)
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
15 green olives stuffed with lemon
1 tsp forest spice blend
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
a handful of roaste pine nuts (optional)
- Heat the oven to about 220 °C ( 425 °F).
- Clean the eggplant and cut away the top. Prick it with a fork a few times.
- Let it roast for 30 – 40 minutes, until it’s soft (like in the picture above).
- Let it cool.
- Put it in a food processor along with the spices, the olives, the tomatoes and the crème fraiche and blend it until almost smooth (there should still little ‘chewiness’ to it).
- Put it in the refrigerator and just heat it in the microwave before serving it with pasta.
- A few roasted pine nuts sprinkled on top of the dish will make it perfect!
Choco Toffee Coffee
This is something I invented when I had some condensed milk the other day. It was perfect considering it was on of those days when icy autumn storms roared outside the windows and I felt I deserved something sweet.
For you and a friend:
Two shots of espresso
3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp milk
a lump of dark chocolate (I had these special chocolate dippers for dipping in coffee, but even though that’s pretty snazzy, it’s certainly not necessary)
Blend the milks and heat them (in the microwave, preferably). Add the coffee, pour into cups and add some chocolate to each cup.
Yum!
Wonton Ravioli w Sweet Potato
I made these with the intention of making some sort of dumplings. However, they turned out pretty much like ravioli (probably because I cooked them instead of steaming them), which made me rethink the whole thing.
Instead of serving them with the apple sauce, as intended, I tossed them with a little cream and served them sprinkled with pistachio nuts. I guess the combination of wonton, ravioli and sweet potatoes make it a sort of Chinese-Italian-American crossover dish (with Middle Eastern overtones, no less). The cream actually mellowed the rich and sweet filling, and the nuts added a little chewiness so I was very pleased with my sudden improvisation. I actually thought I’d made remarkable discovery in that you could use wonton to make ravioli, until I found this recipe and realized I’m not the only one.
When are you ever?
But I’m still putting it down among great discoveries, because I don’t think making my own pasta is something I’ll ever do. This way, I can still experiment with making my own ravioli.
You need (for about 4 people):
1 package of wonton wrappers
400 g of sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
- Mix the spices into the mashed sweet potatoes.
- Put about 1 tsp of filling on each wonton wrapper. Put a little water around the edges and fold it over the filling into a little triangle. Make sure you press the edges very firmly or the filling will leak out and it’ll all be a big old mess. You’ll be doing this a lot so you have lots of time to get the hang of it. By the end of the batch, you’ll be a regular wonton master chef!
- Cook the little dumplings in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Once they’re done, make sure you separate them, because they’re really sticky (a lot stickier than regular ravioli).
The day after I tried them tossed in a little butter and which, simple as it was, was actually very nice too.
Spicy Sweet and Sour Apple Sauce
I was shopping for a few apples the other day. The man in charge of the fruit stand didn’t seem to get “a few apples” though. He insisted that I’d get “just few more, for the same price”.
How could I resist?
I used about half of them for making this sauce. I was inspired by the Chinese plum sauce, only I used apples instead. It’s reminiscent of the plum sauce, but not quite. It goes excellent with any pork based dish or as dipping sauce for springrolls. The sweet spiceness also makes it a great companion with cheese – try a dollop along with some brie for instance. But, depending on the individual chillies, it might be pretty spicy so check that before you heap it onto your plate!
You need:
500 g of apples, peeled and cut into tiny pieces
2 red chillies, cut in half and with seeds removed
1 tsp of grated ginger
1 cinnamon stick
6 tbsp of rice vinegar
6 tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup water
Put all the ingredients in a pan and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and mix it smooth using a food processor or stick blender.
Spinach Feta Filo Wrap v 2.0
I made a new version of an old favorite of mine the other day. I must admit I think they weren’t just the new, but also improved version.
I used (for three wraps, which was just right for 2 people):
9 filo wraps
1 clove garlic
200 g feta cheese
200 g defrosted frozen spinach
50 g of butter (I didn’t use all of it, though)
- Mix the garlic, spinach and feta cheese in a food processor.
- Melt the butter.
- Put three layers of filo dough on top of each other, brushing each layer with melted butter before adding the next.
- Put a couple of tablespoons of filling on each and fold into a roll.
- Brush the wraps with a little butter and put them in the oven at 175 ° C (325 °F) for about 20 minutes.
Creamy Almond Covered Apples
This is a dessert that combines some of my favorite things; crisp apples, spicy sweetness and lovely creamy soft filling. They were a spur of the moment invention, but I’ll surely make them again – they took a minimum of effort too…
You need:
1 apple per person
1 tsp of cinnamon
3 tsp of sugar
1 – 2 tsp sweetened condensed milk per person
a piece of almond paste per person
- Peel the apples and cut them in halves. Remove the seeds and such and make a hole in the middle of each half.
- Mix sugar and cinnamon. Turn the apple in the mix so that it’s coated in sugar and cinnamon.
- Put the apples in an oven-proof dish (not to big) with the holes up. Fill the holes with condensed milk.
- Take the almond paste and flatten it into a rather thin patch big enough to cover the apple. Put it on top of the apple.
- Bake in oven at 180 °C (350°F) for app 20 – 25 minutes. Serve hot as is or with a little whipped cream.
