It's a wrap

If you come to my house for dinner and you're a vegetarian, it's 10 to 1 I will feed you pasta or eggplant.

Why eggplant?
-it's cheap
-you can roll anything savory in eggplant and it looks and tastes great.

Just slice 1/4 slices of eggplant and roast them in the oven 5-10 minutes or until pliable.

Then put whatever you have kicking around inside.

These have:
mushrooms
spinach
eggplant scraps
brown rice
green olives.

Saute the innards if they're mushy. I consider it essential to include either olives or cheese- gives it a nice saltyness.

You can then bake these, serve at room temp as hors d'oeuvres. They can be kept warm for hours and still taste great as long as they don't dry out. (so cover or add more sauce)

What to do with Phyllo Dough

After a month without a camera charger, and therefore without pictures to make a blog from here is my triumphant return. And nothing says triumphant like a mini muffin pan.

Mac and Cheese Phyllo cups.

Phyllo dough, defrosted.
butter for brushing on phyllo dough
lots of cheese (say a cup grated at least)
chicken stock or milk
flour
lots of butter

First- make phyllo cups (or you can buy them! so much easier!)

1. get out a few sheets of phyllo stacked up. (Leave the rest covered or it will dry out very quickly! )
2. Cut squares of dough just larger than a mini muffin pan cup. brush square on both sides with butter and press into pan.
3. Bake at 350 for five minutes or until golden brown.

Then- make mac and cheese

1. Cook Macaroni til al dente (don't worry if you overcook it, you want mushy macaroni in the end anyway)
2. Make cheese sauce
-mix equal parts of butter and flour (about one tablespoons each for each cup of sauce you make) and cook until it smells nutty and is golden brown, at least five minutes.
-Add chicken stock or milk gradually, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up lumps. Stop when sauce is the consistency you want, about that of a thick chowder
-bring sauce to a boil.
-Add grated cheese, still stirring.

3. Pour sauce over macaroni- you want the macaroni to be completely covered. set aside to cool.
You can add something for color; I added red bell pepper diced fine.

Then put 'em together:

4. Scoop macaroni into phyllo cups.
5. Bake at 350 until macaroni is warm.

Feeling decadent? melt some cheese on top.

Serve warm.

Whole wheat Sourdough bread

2 c high protein All Purpose flour (King Arthur brand is good ) or bread flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c sourdough starter*
1 c warm water
1 Tablespoon salt (if you like salty bread like I do)
1 teasp yeast


This bread was a little less holey than I like, but a firm loaf with a good chew that has proved good for sandwiches.

1. Mix whole wheat flour, starter, water and salt. Mix thoroughly- use a standing mixer if you've got one. (If you have time, let this mixture stand overnight. Your bread will be much better for it.)

2. With mixer going or useful helper stirring, add white flour a little at a time until the dough comes together into one large ball and no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. You are shooting for a dough that is slightly tacky, but not ooey or sticky. For me, that was exactly the amount of flour listed above. For you, it might be more or less. Knead for five minutes with hands or mixer.


2. Let dough rise in something that is the shape of the loaf you want. - I used a bowl lined with a floury cloth. (An old t-shirt piece I completely covered with flour) I am anti oiling the bowl, because then if you want to shape your loaf later, the oily dough doesn't stick to itself.

(2 b preheat your oven to 375, put your pizza stone or cast iron pan in it)
3. In about three hours, gently lift out of bowl using the cloth and set on a peel/cookie sheet with cornmeal on it so it won't stick. Gently poke or pinch parts of bread until it is the shape you want . Slash the top a couple times with a sharp knife or razor blade.

4. Cook it till it's done (it sounds hollow when you knock on it or thermometer inserted into bread reads 190 degrees)


* don't have the energy to write about this now. If you don't have any, I'll send you some of mine.

How NOT to make buttercream frosting

Just Follow this recipe:

six egg whites
1 1/4 c sugar
4 sticks butter
cornstarch
confectioner's sugar
vanilla.

1. Take six egg whites, heat over a double boiler with 1 1/4 c sugar until sugar is dissolved and whites are slightly warmed.

2. beat until stiff and cool, almost 10 min. Beat in 3 sticks of softened butter, two tablespoons at a time.

3. Go to add the last stick and realize that you are in the process of overbeating the egg whites, which have turned into a disgusting, curdled mass:



4. Borrow a food processor from your lovely vegan neighbors. Deveganize it by pulsing your unclean animal product frosting until smooth again.



5. Realize the frosting is too liquidy and frantically add half a box of confectioner's sugar and several tablespoons full of cornstarch.

6. Proceed to make a baller classic greek temple cake despite your hardship.

Sandwich Bread- failure

This is what happens when you're too impatient to finish the second rising- your bread rises quickly in the oven and splits on the side. I know that, and yet I still mess it up.

Seeded bread- Failure!

This was supposed to be one of those German ryle loaves- dark and dense and studded with all manner of seeds.

Well yours truly shot right past dense and hit rock hard.



On the plus side, spray painted gold it might make a nice decorative doorstop.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

-Pre-heat oven to 400
-Cut Potatoes into wedges, rise and then dry thoroughly. (the rinsing and drying is clutch! don't skip that step!)
-Toss in a bowl with two tablespoons olive oil and two teaspoons salt.
-Line wedges up on a cookie sheet
-Bake for 10 minutes, flip, bake for ten more. If wedges aren't done, lower heat to 350 and continue baking until cooked through.