Lebanese Style Stuffed Eggplant

(image and recipe via smitten kitchen)

I was in the mood for something different for dinner one night, so I went searching on my favorite cooking blogs. I stumbled upon this one on smitten kitchen and thought it sounded great, so I decided to give it a try. It was definitely more challenging than I'm used to mostly because of the amount of steps involved, but the steps themselves were simple enough and the dish was relatively easy to recreate. It took more time than I'd typically spend on a weeknight, but it was pretty darn tasty, and I felt like I really accomplished something. That's right, I'm moving on up in the cooking world.

Lebanese Style Stuffed Eggplant

6 (5- to 6-inch long) bambino (also called Baby Bell) eggplants (about 6 ounces each)
1/2 cup long-grain or jasmine rice
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (14 1/2-oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
3/4 lb ground lamb or beef chuck (not lean)
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Hollow out each eggplant with a melon-ball cutter, working from bottom end and leaving about 1/3 inch eggplant flesh along interior walls. Rinse rice in a sieve under cold water until water runs clear. Drain well.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Fry pine nuts, stirring frequently, until golden, about 3 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Sauté onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup onion mixture to bowl with pine nuts. Add stock, tomatoes, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to skillet and simmer, uncovered, while stuffing eggplant.

Add rice, meat, allspice, one teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to bowl with onion mixture and mix well with your hands.

Stuff eggplant with meat mixture, being careful not to pack tightly (rice will expand during cooking). Transfer stuffed eggplants to skillet with tomato sauce and simmer, covered, carefully turning once, until rice is cooked through, 50 minutes to one hour (cut one in half to test). Check in on your dish periodically so that your sauce doesn't burn.

If sauce is watery, transfer eggplant to a plate and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, 3 to 5 minutes, then adjust seasoning if necessary. Return stuffed eggplant to sauce. Squeeze lemon over dish and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Blueberry Muffins

When I woke up this morning with a hankering for blueberry muffins my mind went instantly to the one and only, Martha. I didn't even bother searching for recipes, I simply goolged "blueberry muffins & Martha." I knew she wouldn't steer me wrong, and she didn't.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.
4. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins on their sides in their cups, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I didn't use the entire 1/4 cup of sugar in the last step before baking, just used several pinches. But that's the only thing I changed.

Dill Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Dill Relish

I found this recipe on my handy dandy Epicurious IPhone app. Yes it is bit summery. In fact, each bite is like a burst of summer in your mouth. But as I've already mentioned I live in San Francisco and the seasons here are a bit mixed up. So if you have a hankering for a little summer during your fall, give this recipe a try. The dill really makes this dish great. Fresh herbs have a way of doing that. It was incredibly easy to make and incredibly easy to eat. I will definitley make it again.

What you need:

• 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped dill (must be fresh)
  
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

What you do:

Turn the grill on medium-high heat. (I used the grill, but you can also throw the chicken in a pan with a little oil.)

Pound chicken 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin.

Whisk together oil, dill, shallot, mustard, and vinegar in a large bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then add to dill mixture, turning to coat.

Toss tomatoes with reserved dill mixture and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Grill chicken, turning once, until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes total. Serve topped with relish. (If you use a pan, cook over medium-high heat, turning once, 5 to 7 minutes total.)

Good n' Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's a big day for the Cardboard Club, this is our first sweet tooth feature. What can I say? I was in the mood for some straight-up good ol' fashion chocolate cookies over the weekend. So I found a recipe on another one of my iPhone apps - big oven. It's perfect for when you know exactly what you're looking for, because you have to find recipes using a search field. There are tons of recipes, the but the reviews make it easier to figure out which one to use. So without further ado, here is the recipe I chose for chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown and white sugars until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough, then drop 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake 15 to 17 (I had to bake more like 20) minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly browned. Check the cookies afer 7 or 8 minutes and rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completley. Store in an airtight container. And as always, enjoy.

Sausage and Summer Vegetable Saute

While I realize most of you are experiencing what we call "fall" at the moment, we San Franciscans are enjoying our indian summer. So, this is the recipe I tried last night from Epicurious via my iPhone app. I'm an idiot and forgot to take a picture, so here is what our plates looked like after dinner. It's a shame because this meal was quite lovely with the yellow corn and green dill. I'll take a photo next time I make it and update this post, but for now you'll just have to imagine it in your heads. It was a big hit in my house and incredibly easy to make.

Here's what you need:

4 fresh pork sausages (I used chicken sausage)
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes (5oz)
2 ears corn (I used 2 cups of frozen corn)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped dill (don't cheat, has to be fresh)


Here's what you do:

Prick the sausages a few times then simmer in water in a 12-inch heavy skillet, covered, over medium heat 7 minutes. Uncover and cook, turning occasionally, until water has evaoprated and sausages are well bronwed and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes more. Transfer the sausages to a plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet if neccessary. (Since I used chicken sausages I really had no fat and had to add a little olive oil.)

In the same pan cook onion, fennel, and tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper over medium heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until onion and fennel are crisp-tender and tomatoes are soft and beginning to burst, about 7-10 minutes. Add corn and dill and saute 2 minutes.

I served the sausages whole with the vegetables on top.

Epicurious

I downloaded this great iPhone app from Epicurious to help me out with my dinner nights. So far so good, last night was a big hit. On my way home from work I browsed through the "Weeknight Dinner" recipes until I found what I was looking for. Then I ran into the supermarket and about 45 minutes later - dinner. If you're someone like me who needs a recipe in order to cook anything resembling food, it's perfect.

Chicken Tacos

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Here is the link. When I made it I cut the recipe in half, but that's the only thing I changed. It's really quick and easy to make, and it's a plate cleaner every time.

Shredded Chicken for Tacos

Serves 6 to 8

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
1 large white onion, peeled and quartered
5 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ancho or other mild dried chili, optional
Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and add water to cover chicken. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, and skim any foam that comes to the surface. Partially cover and adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cook until meat is very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from liquid and cool.
2. Shred meat with fingers. Taste and adjust seasonings; use within a couple of days

Salsa Fresca

Makes about 2 cups.

2 large fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large white onion, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon minced raw garlic, or to taste
1 habanero or jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper.

1. Combine all ingredients, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
2. Let the flavors marry for 15 minutes or so before serving, but serve within a couple of hours.

Assembly

For the assembly, I like to set everything up as a build your own taco system, starting with fresh, soft corn tortillas. Toppings - salsa fresca, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, fresh lime, and whatever else your heart desires.