Eggplant Rolls--If You Don't Like Eggplants

Eggplants belong to my favorite vegetables. For the first time I ate them years ago when one of my Italian friends made a traditional Melanzane alla Parmigiana. It was absolutely delicious and the most tasty way to be introduced to this vegetables. From all different cuisines the way Italians serve them--with mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, as whole dish in itself or in pastas, is still my favorite. But I also met some surprisingly many people who do not like eggplants at all, as too bland and mushy in texture. Even my Afghan friend, who shared her family eggplant recipe, admitted that herself she did not like them too much.

Some time ago, at a dinner party, I served an eggplants dish. One of my guests, a Scandinavian friend, confessed that unfortunately he did not like them. Although there was choice of many other dishes, being a very sweet guest, he decided to try them. I am not sure why (probably out of courtesy) he took a second helping and said that they were really good and not at all what he remembered. I think it must have been really a traumatic culinary experience of his life, because when we met almost a year later at the other party he announced "You will be forever in my life a woman who convinced me to eat eggplants." So if you belong to that part of the mankind that does not appreciate this vegetable yet, maybe I will be able to get you to try them.

This dish comes from the Italian tradition as it use tomatoes and basil, but because it calls only for the ricotta cheese it is much lighter than other eggplant dishes.

Eggplant Rolls
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
4 medium eggplants, try to chose the long ones,
1 15-oz ricotta cheese, preferably fresh,
4 garlic cloves,
1 medium onion,
1 16-oz can of tomato sauce,
a bunch of fresh basil,
salt and pepper,
olive oil for frying.

Preparation:
1. Wash eggplants and dry them. Cut out green ends. Cut each vegetable alongside into a 1/4 inch-thick slices. Salt the slices and set aside for 20 minutes.
2.Clean up the brownish water that appears on the eggplant with paper towel.
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan (the largest you have) and fry each slice on both sides until slightly brown. Recently, instead of frying them I have been grilling eggplant slices brushed with oil until they are brown; grilled ones absorb less oil than when they are fried.

4. Preheat oven to 400F.
5. In a small pot heat one tbsp of olive oil, add chopped onion, and fry it for about 5 minutes, until it becomes transparent. Pour over tomatoes juice and simmer on a small heat for about 5 minutes.Take from the heat and set aside.
6. Put the ricotta cheese into a medium bowl. Add garlic, chopped basil, salt and pepper, and mix all the ingredients.
7. Spread a tbsp of ricotta on one side of each eggplant slice. Roll each slice up.

8. Pour most of the tomato sauce at a bottom of an oven proof dish and place eggplant rolls in it tight next to each other. Drizzle the remaining couple of spoons of the sauce on top of the eggplants. Cover everything with aluminium foil and put in the hot oven. Bake for about 30 minutes (sauce at the bottom needs to boil briefly).

Serve warm with a baguette and red wine.

Corn Pancakes--A Simply Wonderful Idea

There is nothing that makes me more happy in the kitchen than a good recipe for a desert that everyone will be drooling over, just looking at it, or a vegetarian dish that makes people "wow".

Often times, I cook for people of different nationalities, religions, and of course tastes, and I find myself challenged to respect everyone's preferences. In such situations, I usually end up making a vegetarian dish.

I realize that although I am getting close to 200 posts, I have never shared any corn recipes. Since it is a corn season in America, where corn is particularly tasty, and corn is the mainstay of the American cuisine, it is time to fix what I have overlooked for such a long time.

Typically, I buy fresh corn cobs, cook them or grill them, and serve with butter for dinner as a side dish. I do it often in the summer, especially because this is a vegetable that my son never objects to, but I admit that I have not yet discovered a corn dish that would satisfy my taste. Until recently.

Sometimes I am left with corn extras and then I experiment with them and try in what food combination they would taste best. This way I came up with an idea of delicious corn salad that has been a seasonal hit over last weeks. I serve it with grilled meat and the dinner is ready in no time. I will share this recipe soon, but today I would like to post something different--corn pancakes, which I made for the first time just two days ago. It is a very simple dish, yet interesting in taste, and everyone who tried it praised it. Even my picky son gave it thumbs up and decided that they were almost as good as his favorite Polish potato pancakes.

I have had this recipe in my recipe book for years I can only regret that I have not tried it earlier. It is banally easy to make but tastes surprisingly sophisticated. It can be served as dinner dish, garnished with mayonnaise sauce or as a starter. Please try and judge yourself.

Corn Pancakes
(Makes 15-16 pancakes)

Ingredients:
2 cups (16 oz or 1 lb) yellow corn kernels. It can be grilled or cooked, in the usual way, then cut off the cob. You can also use frozen corn, which needs to be cooked for about 5 minutes.
2 large garlic cloves,
2 eggs,
1/3 cup corn starch,
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped,
1/2 jalapeno pepper,
1 inch fresh peeled ginger root,
1/2 tsp salt and fresh pepper to taste,
vegetable oil for frying (I would suggest grape seed oil or rice bran oil, which are most healthy and least aromatic when fried).

Preparation:
1. Put half of the corn (about one cup) in a food processor. Save the other half at this moment.
2. Add to the corn a piece of ginger, eggs, corn starch, coriander leaves, jalapeno pepper, salt and pepper.

3. Run the engine until all the ingredients turn into purée mixture.

4. Take everything out of the food processor, place in a medium bowl, and add the remaining whole corn kernels. Mix all well.
5. In a large frying pan heat 3 tbsp of oil until hot. Using a soup spoon place small portions in a pan.

6. Fry for about 3 minutes, then turn on the other side, and fry for another 2 minutes.

7. Take pancakes from the pan and place them on a plate lined with a sheet of paper towel, to absorb the unnecessary oil.

Mayonnaise sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise,
juice from half a lime,
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves,
1/4 cup chopped spring onion,
pinch of salt.

Preparation:
Place mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add finely chopped coriander and spring onion, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

Serve pancakes topped with 1/2 tsp of mayonnaise sauce and tomato salad.

Vinaigrette Salad--My Old Summer Must Rediscovered

This salad (which at home we call simply Vinaigrette) comes probably from somewhere in Russia and has been on my family menu for as long as I can remember. My aunt's husband, who studied film making in Moscow, had learned it there and later introduced us to this recipe.

It was very seasonal and made from very typical for Polish cuisine ingredients, which were then available only in summer. It calls for tomatoes and fresh cucumbers, but what made it really Polish was the use of potatoes, which often were dinner leftovers, sour cucumbers (aka cucumbers in brine) and dill.

I probably would not exaggerate by saying that in the summer we made Vinaigrette almost every day. We ate it in the evening with rye bread and a slice of ham on it. Crispy and tasty, sometimes it was the whole meal in itself, especially on a hot day, when we did not feel like cooking in the heat.

I had never made this salad in he US, until about three weeks ago. Cucumbers in brine are the only special ingredient that is needed to prepare it. Either you make them yourself or, if you can buy their commercial versions at almost any food store. The best ones are those made by Manischewitz or another Jewish company (but make sure you buy the salted ones not those pickled in vinegar). They are absolutely necessary for this salad and make this salad very unique and Easter European in taste.

On the Fourth of July, I served Vinaigrette with grilled meats to Polish guests. None of them knew it, but familiar ingredients made it the most popular dish right away and a large bowl of it disappeared very fast. Next time I have my guests (especially foreigners) I will experiment again. And I am sure my German friends, known for their love of potato salads will appreciate it as well.

Vinaigrette Salad
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped sour cucumbers (about 2 medium sour Kirby cucumbers),
1 cup chopped fresh cucumbers, 2 small fresh Kirby cucumbers or 1/3 of a long English cucumber,
1/2 medium onion, chopped,
1 cup cherry tomatoes or 1 large tomato (preferably old fashion heirloom tomato, or beefsteak tomato that are not too watery), chopped,
2 cup cooked baby or finger potatoes (or 1-2 large potatoes cut in cubes),
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill,
2 tbsp olive oil,
1 tbsp of lemon juice apple cider vinegar,
1 garlic clove (optional),
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Peel off the fresh cucumber and cut it into medium size cubes (first, cut it in four alongside and later quarter-inch thick slices). Then cut the sour cucumbers the same way.
2. Cut cherry tomatoes and baby potatoes in half or a big tomato or potato in cubes of similar size as those into which you cut the cucumbers.
3. Place all the vegetables in a large bowl.
4. Chop the onion into small pieces and add it to the rest of the vegetables.
5. Chop dill and add it to the bowl.

6. Separately, in a small bowl, prepare the vinaigrette dressing by mixing salt, pepper, olive oil, minced garlic (when used) and lemon. I would say a tbs of lemon juice or vinegar is enough but the amount I would like to add would really depend on how sour your sour cucumbers are. For instance, when I make them at home, and they are already fully sour, no lemon juice is needed. But if your cucumbers are not so sour (not so salted) you may add some zest to it.
7. Pour the vinaigrette dressing over the vegetables and mix gently. Let all the ingredients absorb dressing for about 10 minutes. Serve alone or with meats.