The Silky Sicilian Eggplant.

 eggplant isn't just eggplant .There are so many different kinds. Yes, there's the American, long a deep grape purple and earthy but there;'s also the Italian, Chinese and Japanese. Then there's the Sicilian. a smaller round version of the Italian, it's has a sweeter flavor  and silkier texture that you can use in all eggplant recipes.

I just discovered this thanks to my local farmer's market. It is the same as the American and Italian versions a, deep grape -y purple. 

It's in the back there , the same size as a beefsteak tomato. As you can probably guess all of these are going into one of my favorite summer dishes - stove top ratatouille. This is just cutting allthese veggies up and sauteing them in a mix fo olive oil and I Can'r Believe I'ts Not Butter. (I use generous amounts of this to really give the ratatouille a silky texture).

All the vegetables cooked up nicely and the Sicilian eggplant got tender very fast. It;'s has a sweeter taste than the American and Italian kinds. It's also has a very smooth texture that cooks up well.

This was a very good ratatouille and I think the eggplant added to it. I plan on making air fried eggplant slices with it for a tasty and fun dinner one night this week.

Get your hands on Sicilian eggplant and discover the delicious dishes you can make with it. It;s a lovely alternative to the other types . Try it for a different spin on classic recipes.

Pecan Rice A Fun Side

 Add any kind of nut to a side and it amps up the whole meal. This is true with pecan rice. It';s a tasty mix of this earthy nut and any kind of rice. Serve with with any main meal

I received he recipes in my email and it stood out. what a great side., especially to the portabello mushrooms I had as a main course tonight. It's just toasting a bag of pecans ( I bought the bag at Lidl which has an excellent of nuts for cooking and baking)

 

It';s a low roast at 300 degrees Farenheit for five minutes.I lightly salted them to bring out more of their flavor. It was then tossing them in with a mix of LIdl's garden vegetable  with pepper and plain short grain rice packs

I gave the mix a littlemore zing and moisture with the addition of Lidl's garlic powder and their olive oil.

Use the garlic powder sparingly and only use about a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

After stirring and four minutes in the microwave the dish was ready.

This was very tasty and I know i'll make it again. There are other recipes that have the rice cooked with sauteed onions and then the pecans This is something I may try in the fall with  plant based chicken. I like the idea of adding the pecans to write for a tasty side

Pecans and rice are a wonderful way to amp upa meal. Try it with any main course for a delicious meal.It adds   flavor and crunch.,

My Sister's Deli A Woodland Park Gem

 woodland Park is a beautiful suburb of Paterson ,New Jersey.it has a woodsy , almost upstate new Yoro Vibe thanks to it being located onGareett Mountain.  The area is loaded with all sorts of great eateries 

ONe of these is My Sister's Deli owned by Dorotea and Maria. This is more of a quick place to have a good  hot or cold lunch.You CNA sit and enjoy a sandwich or a hot meal with the kids. Granted the menu shortens on the weekend and you can;t get their tasty soups but the sandwiches make up for it

There are so many choices to choose from along with having customized sandwiches - which I ordered. It's big on paninis and sandwiches filled with fresh mozzarella ,tomatoes and cold cuts. You can get hot or cold of the first and they would feed two people. My sister's Deli also has a wide range of breakfast sandwiches featuring pork roll and cheese along with a wide array of omelets.

I ordered a custom sandwich of grilled chicken and tomato on a Kaiser roll. The chicken was so juicy that it deliciously soaked through the roll, amping up the flavor. The chicken was cut into bits which gave each piece a grilled crispiness. It was perfection. I could have ordered fries or onion rings with it but the sandwich itself was more than enough.I definitely will come back for a second time and many to try their chicken nuggets along with bringing home one of their many flavors of homemade muffins.

My Sister's deli is a great place to get any kind of sandwich  or meal hot ro cold. Head to the beautiful Garrett Mountain to eat here. It's worth the trip.

My Sister's Deli is located at 150 Rifle Camp Road, woodland Park ,NJ. You can reach it either by taking Route 80 west to Rifl e Camp Road or Route 46 West via Rifle Camp Road.

Are You School Ready?

 Even though it;s the steamy days of August it's time to look ahead a few weeks to the new school year? Are you ready for those pre made lunches and dinners on the run? If not , you should be.It'll be chaos in the kitchen if there;s no plan.

Starting any school year can be nerve wracking. It's not just school starting but also soccer season along with continued music and art lessons from the summer. That means quick dinners that are easy to heat up. Should you start making them now? No but you can make up some componies now. Thsi si a great time to use those tomato harvests to make sauces, both for pasta and pizza. Yes you can make a pizza sauce with fresh tomatoes. They're usually Roma tomatoes cooked with olive garlic sauce, sugar , garlic powder and white vinegar. An easy Friday dinner is spaghetti and meatballs or homemade pizzas with a toppings bar. Those tomatoes can also be turned into a delicious homemade salsa using two kinds of tomatoes, namely ROma and any other kind. Fresh onions and jalapenos are also added. Imagine this one fun weeknight supper of brick layer  nachos full of ground beef and bacon along with cheese. You could also freeze zucchini slices or zucchini noodles  - zoodles for dinner later on.This is also true for eggplant slices .Make sure that the zucchini is cooked first and cooled before putting into into the fridge.

What about those older kids heading off to college. Most freshman don;t have kitchens in their dorms so you can get them a microwave. Some schools have what's called a microFridge unit - a small area that contains a fridge, microwave and sometimes a freezer, This does allow students to create nutritious vitamin packed lunches and dinners. Before they head off to college , go food shopping with them. Show them how to create good dinners using healthy and inexpensive veggies and meats. show them how to test for ripeness and what meat cuts offer the best values for the dollar. If the kids are college seniors them they'll probably living in their first off campus apartment. Make sure they have the right gadgets and tools. They should have a good immersion blender for creating soups and sauces. A crockpot is  a must because they can make stews and chilis in the ,morning and have a hot meal when they come home for dinner. Sheet  pans are also ah must have because they can make an easy dinner with all the trimmings just on one pan. These als double as cookie trays if they want to bake.

This is the time to start planning. Make some sauces now. Test your college senior's knowledge on cooking. it'll make for an easy transition into the  new.schhol season

The Perfect Pasta Salad

 Pasta salad is everyone's go to dish in hot weather. No matter how a home chef;s make it it can be soggy and somethings mushy. It can also be boring if it's on constant dinner rotation. what to do ? Create one that exciting and memorable.

Regular Ali Slagles does just that in her article in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday FOod section. Every  home chef has their version of a pasta salad. It's probably a tried and true one that needs some punching up. This is easy to do. Swap out the pasta usually used with gnocchi(!) or tortallini. Sear them in a well oiled skillet until the outsides are golden and crispy for a crunchy bite.Another idea is boiling ravioli or cheese filled tortallini for a bust of creaminess.Orzo and ditalini make for a different kind of pasta salad. For the maximum amount of flavor double or even triple the vegetables used. A big part of  pasta salad is how it balances the pasta';s tenderness switch the fresh greenness of various produce. Add bite sized pieces of quickly cooked veggies like asparagus, green beans and snap peas. quickly boil these with the pasta  for last two or three minutes  . Another idea is fold in some newly sliced veggies like celery ,radishes and red onions for crunch. Also add some mint ,dill basil and parsley for more taste. These can also be added to the dressing for a truly green state. Tomatoes are a vital part of any salad, and that includes pasta. However don;t throw them in immediately after chopping .Let them sit in salt  for fifteen minutes to half an hour.If they're bitter , then add a pinch of sugar too.

How does a pasta salad go from a side to a main course? By adding all sorts of protein. Ms. Slagle recommends adding a milky cheese like mozzarella or ricotta. Add bite size bits of the cheese or an oozing puddle of burrata for a fun surprise. Only add cheese to vinaigrette based salads. Mayo based ones already have given the salad a plushness. Another must to make a pasta salad heartier is adding a can of tuna or beans.Just remember to put these in after the pasta has been tossed with the dressing.If not the tuna will be flaked to a million pieces while the beans turn to mush.Taste and tweak flavors. Don't' serve the salads right out of the fridge. The cold mutes the flavor and everything will taste the same. let the bowl sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Now do a taste test. If it's too bland add a bit of vinegar for brightness.Add a bit more mint or basil or just simple salt and pepper. Ms Slagles gives four salad recipes. One is rich with tuna and tomatoes, another has corn and miso while the third is redolent with extra green pasta salad. The fourth is a simple but flavorful pasta salad with summer tomatoes basil and olive oil.This last can have anchovy filets for brininess and zip.

Create a fun pasta salad with these tips. Make it tasty. Make it fun. Make it the perfect dish for a hot August day.

A Big Scoop Of Homemade Goodness

Nothing says the summer than a big scoop of ice cream. It;sa cool, creamy reminder that life is good right now. Imagine, though if that scoop could become better? How? Make it yourself. Homemade ice cream is a wonderful treat, plain or drenched in chocolate, and fruit.

New contributor and director of the New York Times director for cooking videos Scott Loittsch wrote about this homemade treat in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section.Mr. Loittsch has a good background in making the treat. He used to love making it with his mom and that love led to a professional ice cream course at Penn State's Department of Science. Half the fun, as any home ice cream maker knows is creating your own flavors - ones that you can;t find at the local ice cream shops and groceries.He gives excellent advice for making the perfect scoop. He recommends starting with an unusual and secret ingredient - cream cheese. It has stabilizers in it ,just llke commercially made ice cream/It makes the texture softer  and creamier. This also makes for a more malleable texture, easy to scoop.It does add a slight tang but this will only improve the flavor. Use about four ounces of it when making the base.Keep in mind to add it as the very last ingredient.After the milk has been warmed  pour it over room temperature cream cheese to prevent lumps or curdling. Mr. Loittsch recommends using a fine mesh sieve to break up any lumps if there are any.

Another must is that the ice cream should be well chilled. Set it in an ice bath before chilling will give it a head start .I has to be kept in the fridge for four hours at the very least and at the very most two days. THis allows for th e flavor develop and deepen. A well chilled ice cream also makes for smoother churning .It needs to be stored in a metal loaf pan. Its benefits are twofold By freezing the pan before making the base it insures the just turned mix lands in an ice cold container. This helps minimize how much of the base melts between churning and freezing and as a result how many ice crystals form.Two, the loaf pan makes it easier to add layers and mix ins. Mix ins can be graham crackers and strawberry jam along with more cream cheese for Mr. LOittsch's strawberry cheese cake ice cream. He also gives a basic recipe that can have such as steeped ingredients like mint or crushed coffee beans. Try his peanut butter pie ice cream that has two tablespoons of creamy peanut butter added in a long with bittersweet chocolate and chocolate sandwich ro wafer cookies. 

Happiness is ice cream on  a hot August day. Create your own .Its' a fun delicious  way to keep cool.

Ralph's Ices-A Hasbrouck Heights Treat

 Hasbrouck Heights might have been the epicenter of a recent New Jersey earthquake.It;s also the epicenter of very good food and treats in South Bergen County. One place stands out - Ralph's Italian Ices .This is a taste of the Jersey shore up north.

This was the perfect place to go to after a hot day on the Garden State Park way. I wanted a very cold treat to deal with year another heat wave.Ralph's did not disappoint.

Like Rita's Ralph's is part of a chain that has branches in New York City.It started in Staten Island in 1928 when the original owner and ice maker  Ralph Silvestro . It grew across the island (and attracted even big name Staten Islander's like Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson.)

This is their cherry cola flavor.I'm a sucker for any of the fizzy pop flavors and Ralph's doesn't;t disappoint.It has a puree, cleaner flavor, unlike other ices and doesn't have that cloying aftertaste many ices have. I can't wait to try the root beer.Their cappuccino sherbet looks interesting too and it's probably more of a  gelato.Another plus is that they are generous with their scoops. This is the small cup and it was more than satisfying.

The weather is still steamy. Stop in at the Hasbrouch Height''s branch or any of the other Ralph's in the New York Metro area. The ice is a cool refreshing break from all this heat.