Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Last night, while the Fall Off the Bone Ribs were cooking, I worked on some Baked Eggplant Parmesan.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients:

• 3 eggplant sliced 1/4" thick (you'll need 12 slices)
• salt
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 (8 ounce) box Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
• 1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) package fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Sprinkle some salt on both sides of each slice of eggplant. Layer the slices in a colander and place the colander in your sink. Place a heavy dish or pan over the top to press them down. Allow to sweat for 30 to 45 minutes. Rinse well with cold water to remove salt and blot dry with paper towels.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with cooking spray. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs, pressing crumbs down with fingers if needed to cover evenly. Place in a single layer on oiled baking sheet and lightly spray tops of breaded eggplant with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes then carefully flip each slice and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread just enough marinara to cover bottom of dish. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Cover each slice with a spoon full of marinara, a slice or two of mozzarella, and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Repeat with one more layer. Pour any leftover marinara and around edges of eggplant slices and top with any cheese that is left. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes

Well, except for my really old breadcrumbs, which were the only things that kept the dish from tasting wonderful, this recipe worked out really well. I only needed one eggplant, which, when sliced 1/4" thick, gave me stacks of eggplant 4-5 slices high, I used 4 cups of shredded mozzarella (I love cheese) and probably only half of the required parmesan. This was easy to fix and very tasty.

Fall Off the Bone Ribs

Tonight, I made Fall Off the Bone Ribs again. I made them once before, but they turned out to be way> too spicy, definitely for Tom and even for me!

Fall Off the Bone Ribs
Ingredients

• 1 rack baby back ribs, membrane removed
• Dry Rub:
  • 2 Tbs paprika
  • 1 Tbs black pepper
  • 3 Tbs brown sugar
  • 2 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• BBQ Sauce:
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar bbq sauce
  • 2-3 Tbs honey
• Parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Lay your ribs on a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil.
3. Mix together your dry rub ingredients and rub onto both sides of your ribs and wrap up tightly and place on large baking sheet.
4. Bake in oven for 3 hours.
5. Remove from oven and unwrap.
6. Mix together your bbq sauce and honey and brush on ribs.
7. Place back in oven on lowest rack and broil for about 3-5 minutes, remove from oven and brush with more bbq sauce.
8. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.

Both times I've made this, I used Sweet Baby Rays Barbeque Sauce, but this time I only used half of the rub. This worked out really well for Tom, but I think I need a little bit more rub.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Today, after some yard work, I was able to prepare a delicious meal which culminated in an unexpected Easter egg hunt for Tom. I made a Baked Ham with Pineapple Brown Sugar Glaze, Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallow & Pecan Streusel and Southern Style Green Beans. I enjoyed everything that I prepared, and Tom did, too! The ham wasn't too sweet, the sweet potato casserole had a good flavor, due to the addition of cinnamon and cloves, and the green beans were tender and delicious. I recommend giving those recipes a try.

Ottoman

Tom and I spent the weekend working on re-covering an ottoman, and I must say that I am happy with how it turned out.

Before

After

We got the fabric when we got the recliner and Tom and I disassembled the ottoman and took measurements yesterday, and today we cut and sewed the fabric and reassembled the ottoman. Despite my nervousness, it was relatively easy. There are some ripples where we weren't fast enough smoothing the fabric before the spray adhesive started to work, but we'll put that side closest to the chair.

Life Changing?

So, the other day, Tom and I went to Denny's for dinner. When it came time for dessert, there was an item on the milkshake menu that looked intriguing - Horchata. Our server couldn't explain what it was, so I decided to take a chance and order it. It was delicious. Tom ordered his usual vanilla ice cream, but I convinced him to try the extra milkshake that gets left behind. He loved it and finished what he started. He loved it so much, he went back a few days later to get some more. Then, while at the grocery store a few nights ago, we saw that Weis had a limited edition Cinnamon ice cream, so Tom bought two quarts.
If you're thinking about trying it, I recommend it. It isn't too sweet, but it is really rich. I don't think I'd be able to eat it every day, but not because I wouldn't want to!

Trisha Yearwood's Crock-Pot Pork Tenderloin

I went to Pinterest in search of a recipe for pork loin in a crock pot, and saw many rave reviews for Trisha Yearwood's Crock-Pot Pork Tenderloin,, so I decided to try it. I looked at many of the Pinterest recipes, and they were all the same, except the one from Sparkles of Yum. The quantity of spices were just a little bit different, so I tried it.

Trisha Yearwood's Crock-Pot Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 to 3 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of all visible fat (you can also use a pork loin, and get the same results)
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Season the pork loin lightly with salt. In a small bowl combine the garlic powder, ginger, dried thyme, and black pepper. Rub the seasoning over the surface of the pork loin.
2. In a skillet heat the oil and brown the pork loin on all sides. Transfer the pork to the crock pot. Combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, and soy sauce; pour over the pork loin.
3. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 5. (Instapot cook on normal for 4 hours)
4. After cooking, transfer the roast to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
5. To make the gravy, pour the liquid from the crock pot into a measuring cup. Skim off the fat. Measure two cups of the liquid, adding water if needed. Transfer to a sauce pan reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid.
6. Stir the cornstarch into the reserved liquid, then stir into the liquid in the sauce pan. Heat, stirring frequently, until the gravy is thick and bubbly. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the roast with the gravy.

Now, this is the second time I've made this recipe, and I forgot to blog about it the first time. You see, there was this power outage, so I had to finish cooking it the next day, blah, blah, blah. Needless to say, Tom loved it! And he generally does not enjoy pork. Oh sure, he loves bacon and likes ham, but sit him down with pork chops or pork loin and he does not go crazy. He said he liked it because it tasted like beef. I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but it was good, and Tom does love beef, so I'll take it.
The first time I made this, partly due to the power outage, I cooked it for twice as long as the time required. I also used turkey broth instead of chicken broth (since that's what I had in-house), and doubled the amount of broth, lemon juice and soy sauce - I only had a 32 ounce carton of broth, and didn't want it to go bad after opening it, but twice the gravy can't be bad, right? Well, Tom said "Don't change a thing," but this time, I had to.
First off, I couldn't remember if I had used dried thyme or ground thyme. This time I used ground thyme. I still used turkey broth, but when the time came to measure out lemon juice and soy sauce, I didn't have enough of either for double the amount. So, on the grocery list they go, and the broth/gravy has a little less flavor.

Sour Cucumbers

So, our neighbor, Sally, gave us some vegetables that she had just picked: cucumbers, onions and green peppers. Initially, Tom had turned down the offer of the vegetables, he doesn't care for most of those veggies, anyway, but to be neighborly, I accepted. After some thought, I realized they're just what I need for sour cucumbers, and I could throw the peppers in, too. Now, I've never made them before, so I dug out my mother's/grandmother's recipe and went to work.

Step 1. Slice the cucumbers. Check. I broke out the mandolin, set it to about 1/3 inch, and sliced up the cucumbers and onions. I also seeded the green peppers and cut them into strips. I threw everything into an old Blue Bonnet tub.
Step 2. Salt the cucumbers and let them set for 30 minutes. I salted everything, put the lid on the tub and shook it up, removed the lid, salted everything again, put the lid back on and shook it for a while more. It wasn't 30 minutes, but when everything looked all moist and juicy, I moved on to the next step.
Step 3. Rinse the cucumbers. I opened the tub, ran some water in it and drained it.
Step 4. Add water and vinegar in equal parts to cover cucumbers. I started with one cup of the mixture, but it didn't cover everything, so I added another ½ cup.
Step 5. Add onions. Since the onions (and the peppers) were already in the tub, this step was OBE.
Optional: Season to taste. Grandma likes to add pepper, Mom some sugar. So I added four heaping ¼ teaspoons of sugar substitute. After tasting it, I thought it didn't have the right sweet to sour ratio, so I added another four heaping ¼ teaspoons. I'm not sure how much that equaled, but that's what I did.

Well, I enjoyed it. It turned out well, almost like home-made - wait - it was home-made. What I meant was like Mom makes. It made good use of the vegetables that I was given, and they were a good accompaniment to lunch or dinner, or great just as a snack.