EGGPLANT, ZUCCHINI AND TOMATO BAKE

I don't buy eggplant all the time though I do like it.  I bought two eggplants the other day at one of the local grocery stores.  I decided to make a simple vegetable casserole with eggplant, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, celery and red pepper.  You can also add sliced mushrooms if you wanted.  The following pictures show the layering I did with the vegetables and parmesan cheese.  I used more of a shallow dish but if you used a deeper dish you could layer the eggplant, zucchini and tomato mixture and then repeat these layers topped with parmesan cheese.   The dish was delicious and it was not overly tomatoey like a lasagna.

After baking.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp high temperature cooking oil, e.g. avocado or grape seed
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red pepper, diced
3 medium size tomatoes. chopped
1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced into rounds, about 1/4 inch thick
1 large zucchini, sliced in half, and then sliced lengthwise, less than 1/4 inch thick
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

In a non stick pan, heat the oil on medium high heat.  Add the onions, celery and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes.  Add the red pepper and tomatoes, reduce heat to medium and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the italian seasoning and combine with the tomato onion mixture.  Remove from heat.

Using a 13 inch baking casserole dish which I added coated with a little bit of oil, layer the eggplant, followed by the zucchini.  Then add the tomato onion mixture and speed it over the zucchini slices.  Top with the grated parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

KOREAN BEEF SHORT RIBS

I use my slow cooker throughout the year, it is a cooking tool that I use even if it is a warm sunny day.  Some foods taste better in a slow cooker than on a barbecue.  I bought a package of boneless beef short ribs to make for a Sunday supper meal knowing that I could probably get another one to two meals from it to have during the week.  When buying packages of meat at Costco I don't buy the largest package nor do I always buy the smallest package, I settle on something in between.  What I like about these boneless ribs is that the fat has been trimmed and they still have marbling but not excessive amounts of fat that I would feel the need to trim away.  They are also long strips of meat which I cut in half to make it easier to searing and cooking.

In thinking about recipes I decided to look at a new cookbook I recently bought by Michelle Tam and Henry Fong.  The name of the book is 'nom nom paleo'.   Michelle Tam has a good website and I knew about her recipes and style of cooking before I bought the book.  The cookbook has great illustrations and it also provides information on basic cooking techniques.  I decided to try this recipe in her cookbook based on a few things.  I liked the sauce you poured over the beef short ribs and I happened to have an Asian pear that is used in the sauce.  You don't need to use an asian pear, you can also use a regular pear and if you didn't have a pear I would use an apple.  The recipe is based on six pounds of bone-in beef short ribs.  I had a smaller amount of boneless ribs, 2.3 pounds so I decreased the amount of each of the ingredients by two thirds but I added the whole Asian pear.  I didn't add the broth as I thought the sauce would provide enough liquid.  One of the ingredients is coconut aminos which is used instead of soy sauce.  I have coconut amines and when I opened up this new bottle it looked like it had fermented.  Instead I added Dr. Bragg liquid soy seasoning which I use instead of the regular soy sauce.  The recipe also calls for fish sauce which I didn't have so I left it out.  I used a shallot instead of scallions called for in the recipe ingredients.  If you can sear the meat before putting it in the slow cooker it adds to the flavour.  I seared the meat in a large cast iron frying plan on top of the stove.  Another option is to broil the meat in the oven for five minutes on each of both sides of the strips of the ribs.  Slow cooking the ribs for 7 to 7.5 hours was enough cooking time.

Once the ribs finished cooking and it was plated, I asked the DH if he liked it - he said they were pretty good.

Seared ribs wedged in on the bottom of the slow cooker with the sauce starting to be added.

Strips of boneless ribs piled on a serving plate.

Baby potatoes served with ribs. 

The flowing link to the recipe on Michele Tam's website is where you will find the recipe - slow cooker korean beef short ribs.