The harvest in its abundance is upon us as I write this first blog for the Locally Delicious web site. For the past few weeks I have been in a near state of rapture cooking vegetables and fruit from my garden and the many gifts from Suzanne “Brandywine” Simpson’s huge Willow Creek Garden. I’m not sure if it’s the colors of the vegetables, the smell in the air or the fact that I’ve had a little more time to rediscover my home kitchen after spending many hours in the commercial kitchen preparing for summer weddings.
The Locally Delicious website seems like an appropriate place to blog about all things local concerning food; the food it self, the folks who grow it and the folks who cook it. While preparing the Locally Delicious cookbook I discovered how much fun it is to photograph food in both their raw and their prepared form. Food styling has become as much a passion as actually cooking it has. The blog will mainly focus on all things grown or raised locally, but on occasion I’ll diverge to something stumbled upon while traveling outside of our Emerald Triangle, something local to another region.
Blog # 1 finds it’s inspiration in the form of the green heirloom tomatoes still hanging in the greenhouse, white globe eggplants draped over their pots, bright green basil needing to be snipped almost daily and the medium sized red onions pulled from their warm raised beds in the garden. Our first recipe is a delicious tomato and eggplant stack, baked until the layers are crisp and the sauce bubbles and drips all around the edges.
Eggplant Autumn Stacks
2 eggplants of a fatter variety, washed and sliced into ½ inch rounds
2 tablespoons salt
On a baking sheet covered with a clean dish towel, place the eggplant rounds and lightly salt them. Leave to sweat out the moisture for 30 minutes minimum. Set aside until you can easily wipe off the sweat with a towel or paper towel.
2 green tomatoes or ripened tomatoes, washed and sliced into ½ inch rounds
1 medium red or yellow onion sliced into thin rounds
1 cup Panko flakes or fine bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon Italian herb of your choice or a combination of a few
Olive oil
1 cup tomato sauce
Grated mozzarella cheese (optional)
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Coat a cookie sheet with the olive oil. Preheat oven to 350.
Mix Panko flakes and Italian herbs together on a small plate.
Place eggs in bowl wide enough to hold the slices of eggplant with flat side down.
Dip the eggplant rounds first into the eggs and then dreg on both sides in the Panko flake mixture and place on the prepared pan. Bake until crisp on the outside, approximately 30-45 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Prepare a glass cooking dish with olive oil or cooking spray. Spoon in ¼ cup of tomato sauce and spread evenly. Lay the eggplant rounds in first followed by the tomatoes and onions on top. Spoon more sauce over and repeat until all vegetables are used.
Top dish off with the cheeses and bake for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling. Remove from the oven and enjoy.
