Feta Salad
This is a GOOD salad. The amounts of all the ingredients don't really have to be exact, so I'll just kind of explain how to make it. Cook about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cooked orzo, drain, and rinse with cool water. Let all the water drain from the pasta. Meanwhile, chop up some olives, basil, spinach, tomatoes, and roasted red bell peppers, and mix them all with the orzo. Also mix in a couple of handfuls of crumbled feta cheese. For the dressing, whisk together 2 TBS of olive oil with 1 1/2 tsp of cider vinegar and some black pepper. Pour that over the salad and mix. The salad is the best at room temperature. It's important that the pasta is cooled so it doesn't melt the feta cheese.
Barquinhos de Beringela (Eggplant Dinghies)
This is a Brazilian recipe from a cookbook that Jordan gave me that has recipes from all around the world, along with information about all of the countries and their culinary cultures and traditions, AND suggested ethnic music to go along with the meal.
2 large eggplants
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 14-oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes
12 scallions (green onions), chopped
Bunch of parsley, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Slice the eggplants in half vertically. Scoop out the center of each half, making 4 little boats, or "dinghies". Sprinkle the halves and the scooped out part with salt and set aside. Saute the onion in 2 TPS of olive oil, and when nearly clear, add the cloves of chopped garlic and saute until transparent. Drain the can of tomatoes and chop, then add them to the onion-garlic mixture. Add just a little bit of water to the pan so that the vegetables can simmer for about 5 minutes. Wipe the eggplants halves and insides with a paper towel. Cube the reserved eggplant and add it to
the tomato mixture. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Add chopped scallions, parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer again, for about 5 minutes. Transfer the filling into a bowl, wipe down the pan, heat a little olive oil in it, then saute the eggplant halves for about 2 minutes on each side. Fill them with the tomato filling mixture and continue to cook, covered, for about 3 minutes. Let stand, covered, for 15-20 minutes, and serve warm.
(Just sauteing the eggplant halves didn't cook them very well. Next time I might try roasting them in the oven before filling them.)
Raspberry Cheesecake
I'm not going to write the recipe for this, because cheesecakes are really Jordan's specialty. But it was sure delicious! We made it together on our anniversary.
2 comments:
You guys should open your own little bistro and call it "Jordash" or "Ashjor" or "AJ's" (well, that sounds kind of trucker-ish), or "Danley's" or "Jash" or . . . okay, I'll stop. You two are definitely in the running for the "Next Food Network Star!" Looks so yummy!
I am going to try the eggplant boats sometime! It does sound like the halves would need to be roasted. I guess it wouldn't take too long if you roast them while you are cooking the filling (assuming you let the salted eggplant sit awhile before starting anything). Or maybe it's better to bake them after putting the filling in?
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