Dinner and A Movie

Tomatoes, eggplant, tomatillos, onions.  All that produce from the Farmers' Market still waiting.  Hmmm.  A day in the kitchen is a happy day for me, and yesterday was a good day.  I happen to enjoy eggplant.  That is a good thing.  Having grown up with meatless Fridays, aubergine (love that word) was served often.  I tried with my Kids and have dozens of recipes, but there isn't one who doesn't gag at the mention.  Evidently a taste for eggplant is not hereditary.  The cooking marathon began with fresh tomato marinara.  A minute in simmering water and a quick dip in an ice bath makes peeling tomatoes a snap.  While the sauce bubbled, I moved on.

I've made raw tomatillo salsa many times, but tried a new technique I'd seen by roasting the tomatillos, onions, and jalapenos before processing.  I wasn't really happy with the results; roasting brings out a sugary sweetness and I'd expected the almost-tart, citrus-like flavor of tomatillos.  The jalapenos mellowed and I had to add sriracha to give a little kick.  Edible, but not great.  One of those ideas that was great in theory but not so great in practice.

Ingredients on hand, eggplant Parmesan was the plan.  Crusted with homemade bread crumbs and grated cheese for added flavor, the golden-brown slices of fried eggplant were layered with marinara, mozzarella, and shaved Parmesan and baked.  It was everything I'd hoped for.

 Camille is a vegetable nut like I am, and accepted an invitation for dinner.  She brought a movie (Argo) to watch while we ate.  My house is such a disappointment for Honey.  Younger by years than Bessie Anne, Honey really wants to play and tries hard to get Bess to romp.  Bess looks at Honey and says, "Get away, kid, ya bother me," and lies by my feet.  Ralph has no fear of the big German shepherd, and teases her by rolling and stretching and peeking around corners.  (Celeste does her Houdini escape act and is never seen.)  Honey would like to play tag with Ralph, but he'll have none of that.  When Honey has tried every way she knows to get someone to play to no avail, she gives a "rowr, rowr, rowr" of disgust and goes to sleep.  She thinks I have a household of duds.

The evening was a success for everyone but Honey.