A Great Eggplant Recipe

One of the best vegetarian recipes that is full of flavor. It is also quite beneficial for the health. Here the eggplant is cooked with mushrooms, bell peppers, onions and garlic and flavored with vinegar, chives, tomato sauce, red wine, oregano, salt and pepper to make a gourmet sauce. This is excellent for pasta shells or even rice. These vegetarian recipes can be included in your weekly family menu as it makes a light and healthy meal. This colorful and delightful dish is best enjoyed with a good glass of the perfect wine companion the red wine like Merlot of Pinot Noir.

In this healthy recipe, various flavors meld together to make an unforgettable tasting dish. The tanginess of the vinegar enhances the tomato sauce. The sweet peppers are the ones that balance the tart. To make your mouth water chives, onions, garlic and hot peppers give the dish just the right amount of spice. Mushrooms, on the other hand, give delicate and earthy flavor and a wonderful texture in the palate. It is the wine that gives a depth flavor and exquisite aroma. The wine also deepens the color of the red sauce and makes the dish look elegant. The eggplant, which is the star of this dish, turns silky, sour and sweet that makes this dish a memorable experience.

The eggplant turns sweet when cooked especially when combined with the peppers and the onions. When it comes to how the eggplant is cooked, some like their eggplant firm and with some texture. Others like it really cooked almost to the point of melting. In this recipe, the eggplant is cooked until soft so that it melts in the mouth. The pasta is cooked separately. It is then combined with the sauce later on. You can peel the skin of the eggplant to make it even silkier. But the skin contains substantial nutrition so it is also good to keep them on the eggplant. It is the skin that adds texture and body to the sauce.

Ingredients

2 cups pasta shells

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

1 large sized, peeled and cubed eggplant

1 finely chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1 chopped green bell pepper –

1/2 cup chives - chopped

2 tablespoon garlic - finely chopped/minced

1 each tomato - medium sized, chopped

4 tablespoon tomato sauce

4 tablespoon oregano

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1/4 cup red wine

1. Cover pasta shells in water and cook in a saucepan according to package directions.

2. Add water and vinegar in a separate saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Then add chopped eggplant, onion, chives, garlic, green peppers, and mushrooms. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

3. Drain when vegetables are cooked then add to the cooked pasta along with tomato sauce, oregano, salt, pepper, and red wine. On low temperature stir and heat gently.

Foie Gras On A Rosette Of Caramelized Apples

Foie gras fried in butter and served on a bed of flambéed apple rosette, surrounded with curly endive salad and seasoned with a veal stock flavored with Medeira and Calvados, this healthy recipe by Chef Johann Lafer of the famous Johann Lafers Stromburg is a delightful appetizer that will please the most sophisticated of palates. The rich and creamy foie gras is browned to perfection and perfectly complemented by the sweet and tart apples. The refreshingly crisp salad cuts into the richness of the foie gras and the veal stock with Calvados and Medeira adds an exquisitely savory element.

Foie gras is quite a delicate ingredient and should be cooked perfectly or the perfect texture will be ruined. The best way to cook foie gras is quickly on high heat just like searing steaks. The foir gras is seared on both sides, flipping only once and cooking each side just until the exterior turns a beautiful golden brown color. This gives the foir gras a subtle crunch while keeping the interior soft and melt-in-your-mouth decadent. Now the only thing to think about is choosing the right wine for this dish.

The presentation of this dish and the way the ingredients are arranged on the plate is a very important component for the full gustatory enjoyment of your guests. The thinly sliced apples are arranged like a rose blooming, also known as a rosette. For best results, the apples should be sliced the same size and thinness so that it looks impeccable when arranged. Layer them gently one over the other like a fan that opens into a full circle.

Make the veal stock ahead of time using veal bones and meat or carcass. For a flavorful stock, simmer the bones overnight or half of the day and diligently skim off the foam from time to time. Never let the stock boil to concentrate the flavors and use a heavy bottomed and thick saucepan or Dutch oven.

Ingredients

2 apples

1 ½ tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cane sugar

4 slices foie gras (goose liver, 2 to 2 1/2 oz. each)

walnut oil

1 tablespoon veal fond with Madere Calvados apple brandy

½ lb. salad (rucola, roquette or curly endive)

grilled pine nuts

olive oil

white balsamic vinegar

1. Peel then slice apple thinly. Melt some butter in a frying pan and gently heat the apples. Sprinkle some brown sugar. Add a few drops of calvados. Using a kitchen blowtorch, glaze the sugar over the apples. Set aside when cooked.

2. In a separate pan, fry two slices of foie gras in butter. When done, place on some paper napkins to remove excess oil.

3. Heat up the veal stock with Medeira and add some calvados.

4. Arrange the apple rosette on a serving plate. Surround the rosette with a few leaves of curly endive salad to decorate. Sprinkle the leaves with fine nuts, Greek olive oil, and white Balsamic vinegar. Arrange the foie gras on top of the dish. Pour some heated veal stock. As a final touch, sprinkle some veal stock around about the edges of the serving plate.