Coming backAs I sit here at my laptop, I think ... "How am I going to do this?" Where do I start? What am I going to talk about? HOW am I going to even begin writing about the journey that I have been on?
Countless times have I started typing and set aside a few words, a paragraph or two, or even a whole page. Though, I never did post. I didn't think I was ready. Thoughts, feelings, insights, etc... entries in my email or journal, in personal texts, on scraps of paper, or swimming in my mind. And I am finally deciding to bring it all together. To share my burdens, my joys, my strengths and weaknesses, my insights, ... my life; this blog is no longer just about food. And if there's an ear out there, I am blessed. And perhaps I can bring truth to your world, as God has brought it to mine. Truth. About our purpose here. Truth. About my struggles. Truth. About my joys. Truth. About health. Truth. About our world. There are so many lies we were born or taught into believing and their manifestations are far beyond UgLy. But when we learn the Truth, we can make the changes we need to be better for our Lord and Savior. The changes that perfect us and make us new. I am becoming new. It is no easy journey and I am certainly not through, but I will no longer let the waiting period dictate the postponement of sharing my story. And so let it begin. This is my story... |
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight." |
Happy almost leap day! Did you know that years divisible by 100, and not by 400, do not contain a leap day? So when 2100 comes around (by which time we are all likely to be dead), we will skip a leap year. And what does this have to do with Rolatini? Absolutely nothing at all - I just thought I would throw a fun fact in there;). Moving on!
Rolatini! The American-Italian dish of a rolled up something, with a cheese filling paired with a scrumptious sauce. The reason I say American is because the Italian word for this dish is, in fact, something else. Can you guess? You better, as it is in the title: Involtini. For the sake of authenticity, I will address the dish as involtini. Typically, you will come across eggplant involtini, but there is also chicken, beef, and pork involtini, as well as a few seafood involtinis. My personal recipe was made with eggplant. The dish itself is really just another form of eggplant parmesan. Being that eggplant parmesan is my favorite dish (and thus I make it fairly regularly), I challenged myself to kick the recipe up a bit… by adding meat. I was able to make a bunch of homemade beef stock by first boiling everything together and then collecting all of the liquid into three mason jars. I then collected any remaining meat from the collection of bone, cartilage, fat, and meat. Now I did not roll the eggplant and meat together, but rather incorporated the meat into a homemade tomato sauce, which I eventually poured on top of my eggplant involtini dish. The pasta sauce was made by sautéing an onion with four cloves of garlic until browned. Once brown, I added perhaps ¾ cup of beef stock and 2 tsp Italian seasoning and further cooked the onion and garlic. I then mixed in my salvaged meat to help soften and flavor it up a bit. I soonafter added two tablespoons of tomato paste and then tossed in a can of diced tomatoes, a large can of stewed tomatoes, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Allowing that to stew itself, I got to work on the eggplant. Now, I did not bread my eggplant, but that would surely bring out a better crust and texture. Instead, I was lazy and baked slices of eggplant with olive oil, salt, and pepper. This softened the eggplant, permitting it to be wrapped around a ball of cheese. CHEESE!! The cheese mixture is simple: ricotta mixed with parmesan cheese and a few dashes of nutmeg. Fresh mozzarella and basil would have seriously enhanced the flavor and would have added a greater freshness, so I will leave it for you to decide (you know, if you decide to make it). Once you have all of your parts (cheese mix, cooked eggplant, homemade sauce), you assemble! All you do is place a small dallop of cheese on one end of the eggplant and then roll. Make a few rows of this and then top with the sauce. You’ll notice that I sliced tomato. I ended up making eggplant-cheese-tomato napoleons. I topped my rows of eggplant involtini with my sauce and then baked at 375 for 20 minutes and then broiled for 2 minutes. All you’re really looking to do at this point is to melt the cheese, since everything else is hot or cooked. And presto! You’ve got your dish. I still have 3 mason jars of beef stock and a large one of the tomato and beef sauce. Not certain how I am going to use these up, but certain that I will. Nevertheless, I encourage you to step into your kitchen and try this! It is too simple not to (and you do not even have to make your own tomato sauce). Comment below with any questions!
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It’s officially Valentine’s day and you’ve still got that bag of candy canes from Christmas sitting on the shelf, staring at you. You’ve no desire to eat 25 candy canes, and yet you’ve not the heart to throw them out. I mean, they are food in some form and can be used for something… but what? Most of us know about crushing the candy canes into bits to coat white-chocolate dipped pretzels, or, similarly, to put them into homemade ice-cream and create a candy cane ice-cream concoction. But it’s sometimes hard to get past the abrasive nature of the crushed candy canes around the gooey cookies. You want that flavor, but not the form. And so there they sit, taking up space on your shelf. I am sure you assume that I am going to post some more candy cane recipes, which is not far off. Actually, there is a better use of candy canes that make them more versatile. Have you ever made peppermint hot chocolate? You have your typical cup of cocoa, but then melt a candy cane into it. See where this is going? Same concept, but 11 more candy canes and simply one cup of water. It’s candy cane simple syrup! A seriously simple and sweet recipe. You boil 12 candy canes in one cup of water for a few minutes so that some liquid can boil off. Do be certain to let it sit and cool. This will allow the liquid to thicken. Once you’ve got your syrup, opportunities are endless. For instance, during this chilly time of year, you can add it to coffee or hot chocolate or even milk (steamer!) to help warm you up. You can create candy cane ice-cream with a minty base, with or without the added crushed candy bits. You can also make cakes or cupcakes, cake pops, candy cane frosting, cookies… The syrup will allow the candy cane flavor to be more infused rather than garnished. I’ve yet to figure this out, but I do know that you cannot completely replace cane sugar with simple syrup. The chemistry of the baked good (i.e.) is off where the thing deflates and hardens around the edges. If you happen to make this or work with it and find a recipe or two that works for you, feel free to comment below! |
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February 2017
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight."
From Pennsylvania to France to Washington DC to Florida, I've had myself many an adventure. Now it's time to indulge in the life of a Floridian. With great food, great friends, and great experiences, I offer you stories and pictures to take you away, into my world at Disney. Categories |