Wednesday, February 23, 2011

eggplant and red pepper panini with gouda and spicy mayo

All I can say is yummmm...drool drool

1/2 eggplant, sliced into one inch thick rounds
1 red pepper
gouda cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs
flour for dredging
1 egg, beaten
olive oil
one clove minced garlic
few tablespoons of mayo
teaspoon of hot chili sauce like sambal oelek
panini bread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Salt the eggplant slices and let drain for about ten minutes. Squeeze out the excess liquid. Coat the eggplant with flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and put the slices in a baking pan drizzled with olive oil. Bake, flipping the eggplant once for about 15 minutes until the slices are browned and cooked through.
Take the eggplant out of the oven and put the red pepper directly in the oven. Broil it for about 10 minutes or until its charred on all sides, then when its cooled run it under cold water to remove the skin, slice it up!

Mix a few tablespoons of mayo with one clove of minced garlic then add the chili sauce.

Toast slices of panini bread with a bit of olive oil if you like. When the bread is lightly toasted, put a few slices of gouda on the bread and broil until the cheese is melted. Take the bread out of the toaster oven and spread on some mayo. Add one or two slices of eggplant and some red pepper.

Squish the sandwich a bit, then enjoy! Would also be good in a panini press.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Avocado Iced Shake

This is a very delicious, very simple shake that Patrick and I first tasted in Indonesia.

The recipe is as such:

1 avocado + lots of condensed milk + 1% milk
blend it together (you can also put in ice if your blender can handle it)
and voila, avocado shake!

I put it in the freezer and stirred it every 1.5-2 hrs. After about 4-6 hrs you have something similar to avocado ice cream. A creamy, delicious, refreshing dessert. Yum.

Monday, February 14, 2011

granola bars

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cups of butter (cold)(1/2 cup of butter plus 1/4 cup of sunflower oil)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup of rolled oats
2 or 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips


Add the flour, sugar, butter and salt together, using a mixer or by hand make a dough. (it may look crumbly or sandy at first but keep mixing it)

Once it form a dough, add the rolled oats.
Press into a pan as thick as you like granola bars.
Then sprinkle and press chocolate chips on the top.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

(Variations: Add 1 cup of toasted coconut to the dough
keep 3/4 cups of dough aside and press dough out and spread raspberry jam on top, then sprinkle the dough you've set aside on top.
use a variety of healthier grains and flours-I'm going to try seven grain cereal,
Use flax seeds)