Spicey Eggplant and Yoghurt

Whether this dish is Indian or Middle-Eastern i do not know, all i do know is that this combination tastes brilliant and can be eaten with naan. Especially of the afghan variety. If you don't have Iranian and Afghani bakeries down the street as i fortunately do, regular Indian flat-bread will suffice. Heck, you can even eat it on toast, still tastes awesome!

Ingrediants:

For Eggplant-
4 medium sized purple eggplants
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

For yoghurt sauce-
1 teaspoon of oil
500ml of plain yoghurt
2 medium sized red oinions - chopped
1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder


Method:

1. Slice eggplant and arrange on a greased or non-stick tray.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the slices.
3. Drizzle generously with olive oil.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes
5. Turn the slices and bake again for another 15 minutes or until soft. [If its still hard, its still raw]

6. In a pan, stir-fry the onions, then add the chili powder and cumin powder.
7. When cool, stir into the yoghurt in a bowl.
8. In a seperate dish, make layers alternating between the yoghurt and slices of eggplant.

While i did not layer this time around, most people do. [ I wanted to make some toasted sandwiches =D ] In the picture above, i placed a dollop of salsa on each slice halfway through the baking process to give it an extra kick, but that's only because it was on hand.

Banana Nut Muffins!

These not so un-healthy chewy chunks of wholesomeness are great for breakfast! Credit for the recipe goes to the wonderful Cassie Baker of HTEAC. Seeing as how im not a very big fan of dried fruits, i completely avoided using raisins or dried cranberries, which im sure many people love. So go right ahead and chuck em in. Also having run out of toasted walnuts, i substituted it with cashew nuts and almonds.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 medium bananas)
1/4 cup chopped almonds and cashewnuts.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease with butter/oil.

2. In a large bowl, beat milk, oil, egg, and mashed bananas with fork or wire whisk. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in the nuts. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

3. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

4. If baked in greased pan, let it stand for about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm if desired.

These taste awesome with peanut butter and jam...just saying!

Could it be???

A Betty Crocker Contender???
hmm...

God bless the bicycle, which lets us know the joys of a hearty appetite, notwithstanding, all the decadent and decayed who dream of chlorosis, consumption and boils in the name of the ideal art! Let us go out, out into the open air, into the free-flowing, healthy air! It reddens the blood and strengthens the muscles! Let us not be ashamed, therefore, to eat the best we can and return gastronomy to its rightful place. In the end, even the tyrannical brain will be the better for it, and this nerve-wracked society will finally understand that, even in art, a discussion on how to cook eel is every bit as worthy as a disquisition on the smile of Beatrice.

- Lorenzo Stecchetti (1845-1916)


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Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Drying tomatoes without the sun!!!

In winter you can use your oven. Don't bother doing this for just a few tomatoes, you will be wasting a gastronomical amount of energy and your electricity bill will sky rocket...

Sun-dried tomatoes are great for adding that gourmet touch..plus if you make them like I do, they should explode flavour into whatever recipe you pop them into. They taste marvelous in pastas, biscuits, bread,pizzas, salads or simply with toast topped with greek yoghurt.

A few facts worth noting:

- If all the tomatoes are uniform in size, they will dry at the same rate.

- If you want to use fresh herbs or garlic, you'll need to refrigerate after.

- This recipe works best with Cherry or Roma Tomatoes.

- A jar of these gorgeous deep-red delicacies, make an excellant gift!

Ingredients:

2 kilos of Cherry Tomatoes

Mixture:

Olive oil
Cracked black pepper

Salt

Chilli Flakes

Mixed herbs ( Dried oregano, thyme etc. )

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. The higher the temperature, the faster they will dry and the more you will have to check up on them.

2. Slice the tomatoes lengthwise (Dont forget to remove the stem).

3. Using your fingers or a spoon, scoop out the seeds and jelly, leaving only the flesh behind. ( To seed or not to seed, is up to you completely)

4. Place on a rack for a slighty crispy product, or on a tray lined with a cookie sheet for a more soft result.

5. You can brush the surface of the tomatoes with the mixture. I preferred to toss them in a bowl with the olive oil concoction to ensure maximum flavour ^^

6. Line them up, so they are not touching each other.

7. Stick them in the oven for 5-6 hours. Watch them closely. ( The time depends on the water content of the tomatoes and how well air is circulating around them )

Storage:

Many people freeze them in zip lock bags, but seeing as how they get used up pretty fast in my house, packing them in seasoned oil, and refridgerating them is also an ideal option.

Oil pack them in a jar, especially if you have used fresh garlic and herbs. Ensure all the tomatoes are covered with oil.

Chocomalt Squares

The best thing about Fridge Cakes is how simple they are to make. It’s great for kids to try out and there's never any baking involved!

This recipe can be tweaked and messed about with according to the maker’s predilection. [ See how I threw that big word in there ;) ] So feel free to toss in some nuts or cashews if you’re feeling health conscious…but the taste in this case, revolves around the Maltesers.

Ingredients

100 g Butter
250 g Chocolate (Dairy Milk)
3 tbl spns Golden Syrup [I used Maple Syrup since it was ready at hand]
225 g Crushed Digestive Biscuits
225g Maltesers

Method

1. Melt the first three ingredients together. You can use a water bath so the chocolate does not burn as result of heat directly applied.

2. Add the crushed biscuits and maltesers (Use a rolling pin carefully to crush.)

3. Pour mixture in a tray (press down to slightly level it out) and place in Fridge to set.

4. Cut them up into squares!

Golden Syrup is made from sugar cane, while Maple Syrup is derived from the maple leaf and is somewhat sweeter. You may want to score the mixture prior to placing in the fridge, to make the cutting-up easier.

Welcome to Joey's Food Blog!
It gets pretty busy in my world, however, being quite passionate as far as food goes, i will try to update as often as i can =D