Article
November 11, 2011
by Stefanie Paulson

Quick and Easy Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant is everywhere here these days. Neither Tyler nor I would have expected eggplant to be a local produced item here, but it is and it is cheap and delicious! So, we have taken to eating a lot of eggplant these days, mixed into pastas, roasted, on a sandwich, you name it. One of my favorite dishes is eggplant parmesan, but the way I generally make it is a bit time consuming. The breading and the frying and then baking takes a bit too much time for my med student schedule when my hopes are to come home from class and get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or so if I can. So I invented a quick and easy version that tastes almost as good as the real thing.

What you Need:

Eggplant
Fresh Basil
Tomato Sauce
Parmesan Cheese
Mozarella Cheese
Dried Thyme
Ground Pepper
Sea Salt
Olive Oil

So what I do is just chop up the eggplant into some bite-sized pieces and saute in a really hot pan with just a touch of olive oil. Eggplant tends to absorb oil and get mushy or oily fast, but I found that a really hot pan with just a touch of oil and some salt and pepper. I found the the eggplant gets crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. Then coat a baking dish with some pasta sauce, add some freshly chopped basil, add eggplant, add more basil, cover in sauce, then top with cheese and pop it in the oven. I generally shoot for an oven somewhere around 350 degrees. After about 20 minutes and the sauce is all bubbly and the cheese golden brown, it is ready for some eating. Serve over some pasta for the perfect quick dinner. Enjoy!

**Sorry I don’t have any photos of the making, my camera battery charger got shot in the move and I didn’t have my new charger yet. It is okay, trust me, it looks and tastes amazing!

Article
October 12, 2011
by Stefanie Paulson

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken ParmesanI know I have mentioned I am sure dozens of time about the local produce markets, but really – I just love them. We went this past Saturday and I was looking for some green onions. As I am now a pro stand shopper, I scoped out a lady on the street who had the best pickings and went to her. I bought two bunches and as she handed them to me I could just smell all the fresh herbs tied up with my onions. I feel as though I have mentioned this practice before, but I really think it is awesome that they do this. It is like fresh herbs for free. When we got home I was taking things apart to store, and noticed that in addition to the typical thyme, there was so much fresh basil and some celery and some other savory leaves that I don’t even know what they were. You can read what I did with the celery and such here. So with my new acquisition of so much fresh basil, I was inspired to try my hand at making one our favorite Italian dishes, Chicken Parmesan, here in Grenada.

What You Need:

2 chicken breasts
fresh basil
1/2 jar pasta sauce
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
thyme
oreganogarlic powder
bread crumbs
flour
1 egg
olive oil
salt and pepper

You start off with a simple breading of your chicken.  I add some pepper into my flour mixture and then add the dried thyme, oregano, and garlic powder to my bread crumbs. Then pat chicken breasts dry, dip in flour and shake off all extra, dip in egg, then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Then saute the chicken breasts in a pan with a little olive oil until golden brown. Then, take a baking dish and cover the bottom with a layer of pasta sauce. Then add lots of fresh basil leaves. Then place your chicken breasts in, top with some more pasta sauce and more fresh basil leaves (and a little sprinkling of thyme if you wish) then top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Place the whole thing in the oven (around 400 degrees) for about 15 or 20 minutes until warm and bubbly. And that is all it takes. I usually serve it on top of some angle hair pasta (or spaghetti or linguine – whatever you like) and of course some garlic bread which is a favorite of Tyler’s when I make it with fresh chopped garlic pieces.

It was quite a delicious meal. We have decided that for the next time we get some basil, we might make this dish again and check out the wine shop and see if we can find something suitable there.

Enjoy!