This is the Kleinette, reporting from the Big Bear Cafe, an Eckington haunt that serves delicious coffee to a crowd of vaguely hipster-esque laptop users. More typically, I turn up here after going to the Bloomington Farmers market (believe it or not, Farmers Market prices can be shopped around the city, but that is another report for another day) but as it is 45 degrees and raining, we thought that a visit would be a nice way to spend the afternoon. Their espresso alone is worth the trip, it is full of coffee flavor yet not bitter at all.
Last night as temperatures began their dip into the cold into "you don't want to go outside" levels, the Kleinette and the Kleiner decided to host a group of friends from the Kleinette's hometown for a delicious vegetarian dinner (as the Kleiner is a recent vegetarian, and the Kleinette is extremely veggie friendly, most of their cooking will be vegetarian).
I don't really like to cook 100% from recipes as most of the time they are not simple enough for my needs but do often have ingredients that are easily replaced. Plus, a good way to learn to cook ad lib style at home is to constantly read recipes and then edit them for your own uses. Last night, with much assistance from sous-chef The Kleiner, I made a roasted Eggplant and Zuchini Lasagna accompanied by a spinach salad with blue cheese and tomatoes. Here are the recipes (they are big enough for 6-8 people) :)
Eggplan and Zuchini Lasagna (including homemade sauce):
3 packages no boil lasagna noodles [in the future, I'd consider buying the boiling variety, I was time crunched]
1 eggplant, sliced into 1/3-1/2 inch circular pieces
1 yellow zuchinni
1 zuchini
32 ounces crushed tomatoes
3 onions
3/4 cup baby carotts
fresh basil
fresh parsley
salt/pepper
garlic paste
tomato paste
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons flour
2.5 tablespoon butter
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound mozarella cheese
5-7 tablespoons dried italian seasoning
1/4-1/2 pound parmesan cheese [the best you can afford] to grate
1 cup panko crumbs
1 egg
First Step:
Slice eggplant into thin slices and layer between two paper towels. Set aside with a pot or pan on top to weigh it down for 30 minutes. Its important to follow this step whenever you cook eggplant to get the water and bitterness out of the vegetable. After this, chop your three onions and chop or food process the carrots.
Second Step: "make the tomato sauce"
In a large pan, sautee the onions and carrots in olive oil for 5-6 minutes. Add salt, or seasoned salt to taste. At around 6 minutes, add 3-4 tablespoons tomato paste and sautee for two more minutes. Also add your balsamic vinegar, sautee until it is reduced and begins to turn into a glaze. Next, add your crushed tomatos and bring almost to a boil to bring it all together. Add about 5-8 tablespoons of dry italian seasoning. Then reduce to low and let simmer. Towards the time you become ready to use the sauce, add fresh parsley and basil.
Third Step: "roast your eggplants"
This is the step that makes this special, roasted eggplant. Preheat the oven to 400. Make a plate with one egg, mixed with a fork and another plate with the panko bread crumbs. Feel free to add whatever seasonings you'd like to the panko, usually, its classic to always add salt and pepper. I like garlic seasoned salt. Dip each eggplant, both sides in the eggs, then in the panko and set on a pan to roast. Also, chop your zuchinni into small 1/2 inch peices. You can also put these on a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to roast at the same time as your eggplant, or not, if you want them to keep a little crunch in your lasanga. Roast for 25 minutes.
Step 4: "The secret is in the bechamel!"
Normally, I like ricotta cheese, but last night, I forgot to buy it and had on hand everything to make a Bechamel sauce. I grabbed this recipe from foodtv.com.
In one pan, melt the butter and mix it with the flour to form a roux. In another pan, heat the salt and the milk until it is nearly boiling. Once the roux has formed, combine the milk and the roux by whisking for about 8-20 minutes. This should result in a thick dairy sauce. At the very end, add your nutmeg.
At this point, your sauce is made, your veggies are roasted, and you are ready to assemble the lasagna!
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Step 5: "Let the building begin"
First layer - Sauce
Second layer - Noodles
Third layer - Bechamel sauce
Fourth layer-Eggplant
Fifth layer - Mozarella
Sixth layer - Parmesan
Seventh layer - tear fresh basil leaves for flavor
Eighth layer - cover in sauce :)
[at this point, you should be careful to ensure that your no boil noodles are fully covered in a sauce so that they will soften as you cook]
REPEAT two more times.....the last layer should be full of as much cheese and tomato sauce as you've got left for extra deliciousness.
Bake for 40-45 minutes.
Garlic Bread:
1 baguette
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garlic paste
leftover mozarella and parmesan cheese
Melt the butter and combine with the garlic paste. Drizzle over peices of cut up baguette. Top the butterest peices with the mozarella and cheese and bake in a 300 degree oven for 5-10 minutes.
Spinach Salad-
1 bag preashed spinach
1/2 container of cherry tomatos, halved
2/3 container of crumbled blue cheese
Combine all of this and offer with creamy balsamic dressing (I love Trader Joe's Tuscan Balsamic). Its simple, and GOOD.
***
The Kleiner and the Kleinette, like many Americans share a distinct love of ice cream. In particular, double churned, whichever brand between Edy's and Breyer's is on sale. Typically, we go for Cookie Dough, but, we also tend to buy whatever new Edy's limited edition has been produced just to see. Last night, we had Pumpkin Double Churned by Edy's for desert,and it was delicious. Basically, it seemed to be pumpkin pie filling, sugared and frozen. MMMM. We have also recently tried hot chocolate double churned, which was merely whelming. It tastes like a frostie with real marshmallows.
The group settled in to enjoy the lasagna with muted AMC on TV and a combination of Stevie Wonder (great party music, btw) and Ratatat. The Delta Force came on, and all were amused :)
-The Kleinette
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