Fried Mozzarella & Eggplant Parmesan

This meal was probably the hardest that I have made so far. The eggplant Parmesan took a long time to assemble. It was really good though. I added a pound of lean ground hamburger to the dish. I am glad I had done so. You just add a layer of cooked hamburger when you are layering the ingredients into your baking dish.

For the fried mozzarella you will need:

- 1 3/4 cups mozzarella cheese
- oil for deep-frying
- flour seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, for coating
- plain dry breadcrumbs, for coating

1. Cut the mozzarella into slices about 1/2 inch think. Gently pat off any excess moisture with a paper towel.

2. Heat the oil until a small piece of bread sizzles as soon as it is dropped in (about 360 degrees). While the oil is heating beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Spread some flour on one plate, and some breadcrumbs on another.

3. Press the cheese slices into the flour, coating them evenly with a thin layer of flour. Shake off any excess. Dip them into the egg, then into the breadcrumbs. Dip them once more into the egg, and then again into the breadcrumbs.

4. Fry immediately in the hot oil until golden brown. (You may have to do this in two batches but do not let the breaded cheese wait for too long, or the breadcrumb coating will separate from the cheese while it is being fried.) Drain quickly on paper towels, and serve hot. Serves 2-3.

Below is the finished product, it was really good, but can fill you up fast!


For the Parmesan you will need:

- 2 lbs. of eggplants
- flour for coating
- oil, for frying
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, sliced very thinly
- salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the tomato sauce:

- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 lb tomatoes, fresh or canned, chopped, with their juice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- a few leaves fresh basil or sprigs parsley

1. Wash the eggplants. Cut into rounds about 1/2 inch wide, sprinkle with salt, and leave to drain for about 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion, and cook over moderate heat until it is translucent, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the tomatoes (add 3 tbsp of water if you are using fresh tomatoes). Season with salt and pepper. Add the basil or parsley. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Puree in a food mill or a food processor. This was the tomato sauce looked like in the pan:


3. Pat the eggplant slices dry with paper towels. Coat lightly with flour. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan (preferably non-stick). Add one layer of eggplant, and cook over low to moderate heat with the pan covered until soft. Turn, and cook on the other side. Remove from the pan, and repeat with the remaining slices.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a wide shallow baking dish or pan. Spread a little tomato sauce in the bottom. Cover with a layer of eggplant. Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of Parmesan, season with salt and pepper, and cover with a layer of mozzarella. Spoon on some tomato sauce. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up, ending with a covering of tomato sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Sprinkle with a little olive oil, and bake for about 45 minutes. Serves 4-6.


"Cooking is one of the oldest arts and one which has rendered us the most important service in civic life." - Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)

Rib eye

So I was going to cook fried mozzarella, and eggplant parmesan today, but I was very tired today and had one hell of a weekend. So when we were at Walmart today we saw these rib eye steaks and figured I would just grill them! All I did was rubbed in some lemon pepper, and ground garlic salt into the steaks. Then I put them on the grill for approx. 8-9 minutes each side. They turned out FANTASTIC!! I will make the eggplant parmesan and fried mozzarella next weekend. I promised A.W. lol.

CHICKEN KIEV

Tonight I made chicken kiev, the cheesy kind!! It was more difficult than the recipe says about rolling the chicken breasts into rolls. It says roll like a jelly roll, well guess what, I've never made a jelly roll lol. Long story short, 2 out of the 4 breasts did not stay rolled up ha ha....

PREP: 20 MINUTES CHILL: 1 TO 24 HOURS BAKE: 15 MINUTES AT 400 DEGREES

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound total)
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
- 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 of a 1/4-pound stick of butter, chilled
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil

1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place each breast half between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Pound lightly into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Remove plastic wrap. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine green onion, parsley, and garlic; sprinkle on chicken.
Note: I used a little more garlic than calls for, since we love garlic!!

2. Cut chilled 1/2 stick of butter into four 2 1/2x1/2 inch sticks. Place a stick of butter in center of each chicken piece. Fold in sides; roll up jelly-roll style, pressing eges to seal.
Note: I used sticks of cheddar cheese instead of the butter...



Stir together egg and water. Coat rolls with flour, dip in egg mixture, then coat with bread crumbs. Cover and chill for 1 to 24 hours. (Longer the better.)

3. In a large skillet melt the 1 tablespoon butter; add oil. Add chilled chicken rolls. Cook over medium-high heat about 5 minutes or till golden brown, turning to brown all sides. Transfer to a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes, or till chicken is no longer pink. Spoon drippings over rolls. Makes 4 servings.

Below is the finished product, and yes the cheese sorta melted all over, but hey it still tasted good! I also made some long grain and wild rice to go with it.



"To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living." -- Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and host of No Reservations.

Moms Shepards Pie

I have decided to make shepard's pie tonight for dinner. It is my favorite! My mom would always make it for me on my birthday when I was growing up. Even though I love it so much, I have never made it before, because I thought it was really hard to make. Turns out that its not hard to make, just really heavy when you have everything into the pan lol. Here you go...

INGREDIENTS:

- Mashed potatoes (at least 6 servings worth)
- 1 can of corn (drained)
- 1 can of green beans (drained)
- Shredded cheese (any kind you like)
- Hamburger (1-2 lbs)
- Large can of Cream of Mushroom, or Cream of Chicken soup (your choice)

You will start by making the mashed potatoes, just follow the directions on the box. You can use any flavor of potatoes, I used butter and herb, and made 8 servings worth. I wasnt sure if 6 servings would be enough. I ended up using all the potatoes in the end. If I were you, just use 1 cup of milk and no more than that. You dont want the potatoes runny. Set aside.

Brown the hamburger. I seasoned the hamburger with lemon pepper, and garlic sea salt while it was cooking in the skillet. I used lean hamburger, and 2 pounds of it. Drain the hamburger.

Once the hamburger is drained, add the soup to the skillet and cook them together until completely mixed. I used cream of chicken soup, and used the entire can. If you dont want it as creamy, use 1/2 can.

You will then place the hamburger mix into a 13x9 glass/metal pan. I used a glass pan, and sprayed some olive oil on the bottom just to make sure nothing stuck too bad to the pan.

This is optional, but I added shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top of the hamburger mix. You will then add the drained vegatables on top of the hamburger. On top of the vegatables, you add the already cooked mashed potatoes. Finally, add a layer of shredded cheese to finish it off!

Place the pan into a 325 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes. Just until it is nice and hot and the cheese has melted. Enjoy!!



"We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are." - Adelle Davis

TRIPLE-CHEESE STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Okay my very first post! I'm excited!! Tonight as the title reads, I tried my culinary skills at cheese stuffed chicken breasts. The recipe states to cook it until they are no longer pink, I have a thermometer which states that for poultry the inside heat should be at least 170 degrees. I cooked it for about 70 minutes, since I had larger chicken breasts then what the recipe calls for. The recipe is as follows:

PREP: 20 MIN BAKE: 45 MIN OVEN: 375 degrees

INGREDIENTS:

6 medium chicken breast halves (about 3 pounds total)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 teaspoons snipped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1 teaspoon snipped fresh oregano or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon olive oil or cooking oil


1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. With your fingers, gently separate the skin from the meat along rib edge.

2. For stuffing, combine cheeses, basil, oregano, and lemon-pepper seasoning. Stuff a little less than a 1/4 cup of the stuffing between the skin and meat of chicken breast. Place chicken, skin side up, in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Brush chicken lightly with oil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or till chicken is tender and no longer pink. Makes 6 servings.

Instead of the 6 medium breasts, I got 4 larger ones, so of course I had more cheese stuffing than needed, but its me and I LOVE cheese so I stuffed as much cheese as I could get in all 4 of the breasts. The cheese, when mixed looked like this...



Here's a picture of when I was stuffing the chicken breasts, fyi.. use a spoon like the recipe says to stuff the chicken. It is a lot easier then your fingers!



The recipe did not say to spray the bottom of the pan with olive oil, but I did anyways since I have issues with things sticking to my pots and pans. A.W. and I hardly ever use vegetable oil, instead olive oil cooking spray. This of course is a healthier option for everyone.

For the side dish, I just cooked up some packaged yellow saffron rice, which by the way, is my favorite new rice! The finished product looked really good, and oh tasted amazing!! The chicken breasts were really juicy, and I did find that you may want to add just a sprinkle of salt either to the cheese mixture before you put it in the chicken, or on the chicken before you put them in the oven. The finished meal looked like the following, sorry it is a little blurry!!



"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." - George Bernard Shaw.