Non-Babaganoush, Non-Shakshouky Eggplant Dip

Once a month I hold a stitch-n-bitch in my living room. If you don't know what a stitch-n-bitch is, it's a gathering of knitters/crocheters/other fabric-crafty people that involves working on projects and chatting. And often, wine. My gatherings always include food, both savory and sweet. Who doesn't like a little nibble in the afternoon? The biggest concern is that the food be neat to eat. Nobody wants to have messy fingers while crafting, and I'd prefer folks not drop stuff on the floor or sofa. (Yes, we have a dog, but he's very polite.) I usually end up making a thick dip that more often than not includes eggplant. Why eggplant? Because it's easy, tasty, and thick. I can pick up a big glob of it on the end of a pita chip and shove it in my mouth in between stitches without missing a beat or getting messy.

Though the meetings are only once a month, I don't think my guests want to eat the same babaganoush or hummus every time, so I mix things up. Like I said, eggplant is easy, and it certainly takes on flavors well. I had half a preserved lemon in the fridge that I wanted to get rid of so I could use the jar for a fresh batch and decided to use that as a starting point for flavoring. I added a bit of this and a bit of that until the dip had a balance of tart and sweet flavors with a little nip of heat.

If you don't have preserved lemons on hand, use the juice and finely grated zest of half a lemon.

Lemony Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant
1/2 preserved lemon, chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 roasted red pepper (jarred or fresh)
Extra virgin olive oil
Agave syrup
Salt
Cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise and place cut-side-down on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until soft and collapsed. (Or...skip the oven and cook in the microwave for 8-10 minutes.) Set aside until cool enough to handle.

When eggplant is cool, scrape out the flesh and put it in the bowl of a food processor along with the lemon, cilantro, garlic, red pepper, and a glug of olive oil. Pulse to a puree. Season with agave syrup, a big pinch of salt, and as much cayenne as you care to add.

Enjoy with crudites and pita chips or fresh pita triangles. Also tasty stuffed into a pita with some baby greens and more roasted red pepper. Feta, too, if you have it.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pasta with Sausage and Sauerkraut

On a recent visit to Belvedere Square Market, we checked out Hex Ferments, a local company that makes fermented products like sauerkraut and kombucha, a fermented tea beverage. We sampled a range of things, including three kinds of kraut, pickles, and the kombucha (which wasn't as scary as I thought it would be).

I grew up eating sauerkraut; we had it for every major holiday, with garlicky kielbasa. Hex Ferments owner, Meaghan Carpenter, told us that she likes to use sauerkraut on everything, including pasta. Intrigued, we bought a jar.

I figured the tart sauerkraut would work best if tempered with something fatty and creamy. I didn't want to do the usual Polish kielbasa, so bought the milder-flavored bratwurst instead. A bit of cream sauce also helped temper the tartness, yet not drown it out. The end result was very, very good and rather Eastern European, what with the sour cream and paprika.

Sausage and Sauerkraut Pasta

1 package Roma Natty Boh Brats
1 lb rotelli pasta
1/2 onion, chopped
Olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 jar Hex Ferments sauerkraut, any variety
1/4 cup sour cream
Paprika
Cayenne
Salt and pepper

Par-boil the bratwurst in beer or water for fifteen minutes. Remove from heat and slice. Set aside.

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Remove onions to a bowl and add the butter to the pan. When melted, stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook for a minute or so, but not long enough for the roux to brown. Whisk in the chicken stock. Turn down the heat to a simmer and add the sauerkraut, sliced sausage, and onions. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until sauce is thick. Stir in sour cream. Season with a big pinch of paprika, a sprinkle of cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over pasta.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Grace Garden

We've posted about Grace Garden many times here on Minxeats. It's also the answer I most often give to the question, "what is your favorite local restaurant?" Truthfully, my favorite restaurant changes from day to day, depending on where I've eaten most recently and what I  might be craving at the moment. But Grace Garden remains a favorite, and on days when it's not #1, it's definitely firmly in second place.

A hole in the wall in a strip mall in Odenton isn't always the first place one thinks of for a Chinese feast, but there it is.

We visited in September for my brother's birthday (an annual tradition) and the place was slammed. Thankfully we had made a reservation this year. (Last year we were yelled at for not doing so and urged to hurry though our meal so someone else could get our table. But as far as I can tell, they don't actually keep track of reservations.) There were still several tables available when we arrived, but the carry-out orders were stacking up. One group of three chicks ordered ten items. A father came in with his two noisy children. The kids didn't seem to want anything, so I imagine they'd be enjoying chicken fingers and microwave mac and cheese while Dad chowed down on fish noodles and XO chicken.

There are two dishes we order every time we visit Grace Garden, as the four of us, my picky father included, enjoy them: vermicelli with pork and pepper, and Sichuan pork belly. This occasion was no different. And despite having to wait nearly half an hour for our food (about 20 minutes longer than usual), and hearing the normally mild-mannered-seeming chef yelling in the kitchen (I could actually see him from my seat, and he seemed pissed at something or someone), there was no change in the quality or flavor of his food. Now that's consistency.

Sichuan pork belly with leeks, bell peppers, Sichuan bean paste

Vermicelli stir fried with ground pork and chiles

We also normally order the salt and pepper squid, big slabs of roughly chopped squid coated in a eggy-tasting batter, aggressively seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with fried shallots and slices of raw jalapeno. This dish did suffer a bit from the kitchen chaos; it tasted fine, but it was a bit oily.

Salt and pepper squid

We're always pleased to see new dishes added to the menu. A few years back, we ate some marvelous lamb chops served with lemongrass and scallions at a Chowhound Chinese New Year dinner and made a special request for them from time to time. The last time I called for them, I was told that it's too expensive to make, since they basically have to buy a case of the chops and then can't sell them. Instead, they used the same preparation on some pork ribs and put it on the regular menu. It's basically a variation of the salt and pepper squid, with a crispier batter and lots of deep fried lemongass bits. Yummy.

Pork spare ribs with lemongrass and fried scallions

Another new dish we tried is the house special chili pepper chicken. They do two versions, one a stir fry, the other with deep fried chicken. We chose the latter, which came to the table buried in a mountain of fried chile peppers and a big handful of stir fried Sichuan peppercorns. Pretty much everything on the Grace Garden menu is spicy, and to the newbie, probably incendiary. We don't notice so much anymore. But this dish was crazy spicy. Not so much hot--I didn't really get much impact from all those chiles, but the numbing quality of the Sichuan peppercorns was off the hook. Not really peppers, the dried berries of the prickly ash have an unusual floral flavor and might be off-putting to people not used to them. I normally don't mind them, but this dish was a little over the top. Just as I'd bite into a morsel of lovely fried chicken thigh, a peppercorn would assault my tongue. Eventually I grew tired of fighting and gave up.

Chili pepper chicken

No matter. There was plenty of other delicious items on the table to choose from.





Posted on Minxeats.com.

Happy Halloween