Stuffed Boats (Sausage-Stuffed Eggplant)

My husband came over by the stove and asked, "So, what did you put inside these boats?" He referred to these as boats the remainder of the night and so I decided to call them stuffed "boats." I got the recipe from Lidia Bastianich's cookbook, Lidia's Italy in America. I changed up the recipe a bit to make a lesser amount and I changed the meat from beef to sausage.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3/4 pound ground sausage

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cup cubes of day-old french bread

1/2 cup milk

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh to make a shell about 1/2 inch thick. Finely chop the flesh and set aside.

3. Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss in the onion and cook until it begins to soften, just a few minutes. Add the sausage and crumble it using your cooking utensil. Pour the wine over the meat. Cook, breaking up the sausage until the meat releases juices and then they cook away, about 7-8 minutes. Add the bell pepper and chopped eggplant and season with salt. Cook until vegetables are tender, about ten minutes. Scrape into a medium or large bowl to cool.

4. Pour the milk over the bread cubes in a small bowl. Once the bread has softened, squeeze out the excess milk and put the bread in the bowl with the meat mixture. Add the grated cheese, parsley, and tomatoes and mix well.

5. Put the eggplant shells in a large baking dish and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with some salt and toss to coat evenly and thoroughly. Fill the eggplants with the mixture and arrange snugly in the baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake until eggplant is tender, 40-45 minutes. Uncover and bake until top of filling is browned and crispy, about 10 minutes.

Serves 4. 

Homemade Buns

I used these buns for yummy grilled hamburgers, but they can be used for any type of sandwich or even as plain rolls. I got the recipe from another blog, so if you would like the recipe, click the link for the Light Brioche Burger Buns.

Enjoy!

Okay so my burger was totally not as pink as it looks in this picture! I am so ready to get a new SD card for my Canon so I can use it again. I will say, though, that this Samsung Galaxy camera is pretty amazing for a phone camera. 

Chocolate Anise Biscotti

These delicious cookies are a creation of Giada de Laurentiis and come from her cookbook, Giada's Family Dinners. 

I suggest serving these with hot coffee; they are great for dunking!

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, room temp

1 teaspoon ground anise seed

2 large eggs

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar and anise seed in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined, scraping sides of bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. Form the dough into a 16- inch-long, 3-inch-wide log. Transfer the log to the baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 25-30 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes. You may want to leave the oven on!

3. Place the log on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the log on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices. Arrange the slices cut sides down on the baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer biscotti to a rack and cool completely. 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

This is another recipe of Lidia Bastianich. These are small, moist cookies that are refreshing and easy to make. 

Ingredients:

1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of kosher salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

4 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese, drained

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Glaze:

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes or so. Reduce the speed to medium and add egg, beating well. Add ricotta, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined, but do not overmix.

Spoon rounded tablespoon sized balls of dough onto a baking sheet. You should have right about 15 cookies. Bake until puffed, golden, and cooked through, about 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. 

When the cookies are cooled, make the glaze by combining the lemon zest, powdered sugar, and lemon juice, whisking to make smooth. The glaze should be thick enough to stick to the cookies when dipped. Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze and let dry on a wire rack until all are done. Let dry for two hours before storing. 

Whole-Wheat Pasta with Pesto

This simple dish is terrific alongside grilled chicken breasts. You can also freeze the remaining pesto for a quick meal another day.

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for pasta pot
1/2  9-ounce bag fresh spinach, stems trimmed
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (as long as they are skinned)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 box whole-wheat thin spaghetti noodles
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta.
2. Meanwhile, pulse the spinach, basil, almonds, garlic, and salt in a food processor or blender. Pour in 3/4 cup of the olive oil in a SLOW steady stream. Process to make a smooth paste, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides.

3. Pour the thin spaghetti into the boilinh water, and cook until al dente, according to the package timing (possibly adding a minute). Drain all but 1 cup pasta water and return pasta to the pan with the water, off of heat. Drizzle the pasta with the tablespoon of oil and coat with half the pesto. (Use more or less to taste. I just like to barely coat the pasta.)

Toss with the cheese, if desired and serve.
Freeze the remainder pesto in a zip-lock baggie and when ready to use, thaw in fridge.

Fresh Flower Bouquet Tips

I am not a florist, but I love flowers and fresh bouquets and have discovered some things that seem to keep the flowers fresher longer. A few of these tips I have just stumbled upon through experience, but many of them I read about. One of my favorite books for finding tips about gardening, outdoor entertaining, and recipes for using fresh herbs, flowers, and vegetables is a Gooseberry Patch book, For Bees & Me. These sweet book is full of cute stories and helpful tips and some of the things I list in this post I learned from reading this book.

1. If you are the one who will be out cutting the flowers from the ground (or maybe your children are helping out!), take a pitcher or bucket of water with you to put the flowers in immediately after you cut them. The water should just be lukewarm, no need for cold water!

2. When you are cutting the flower, cut as close to the ground as you can so you will have the longest stem to work with later when it is time to put them in their vase. Always cut the flower, never pull or twist it because it can close up the stem and less water will be available. Cut flowers need as much water as they can get.

3. If you are putting bought flowers into a vase, cut the bottom of the stems at an angle. Even if the stems are already cut at an angle, making a fresh cut can open up where the other one may have closed up. If you are cutting the flowers from the field, do the same thing: cut the stems the length you want, making sure the bottom is cut at an angle. The picture below should help to illustrate what I mean by "angle."

4. A drop or two of bleach in your vase mixed with the water will keep your flowers fresh longer! I had picked a bouquet of daffodils in February and added bleach to the vase and they lasted a solid two weeks. I picked another bouquet a week or so later and did not put bleach in the vase and they were deteriorating after about three or four days.

5. Daffodils secrete a slimy substance when they are cut that can quicken the downfall of other flowers in a bouquet. If you are mixing daffodils with other flowers, you can take a small piece of cotton ball soaked in water and place it in the "tube" of the daffodil stems. This way, water still gets to the flowers, but the slimy substance won't come out as quickly and hurt the other flowers.

Some flowers just naturally aren't as good for cut flowers as others, and won't last very long no matter what you do. I hope this helps when you are out picking all those great spring flowers!

I love this book!

3 Easy Ways to Use Raffia!

Apart from the commonly used method of wrapping raffia around wrapped gifts (which I love to do!), here are just three more ideas.

1. Wrapped around a napkin.
This sounds so simple, and it is! It's nothing super-creative, but if you are tired of using the same napkin rings over and over or just want something a wee bit less formal, it works!
You can roll the napkin, fold the napkin, or even just bunch it up and tie it. Easy.

2. Tie it around your candle holder. I have a pair of these glass hurricanes from Williams-Sonoma that are great for tying ribbon around. I used plain raffia in the picture below.

3. Spruce up your glassware! You can tie this around any shape of glass, but since mine had these neat little round stems, I was able to create a cute crisscross pattern around it. Fun!