Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-Tomato Sauce: An Acceptance Speech

My fellow Americans,It is with great pride and a few extra green peppers that I, Cooking Light’s Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-Tomato Sauce, accept your nomination for Best-Ever Eggplant Dish on CHG.Yes, the contest has been mighty. Baba Ghanouj, Ratatouille, Roasted Eggplant Spread, Broiled Eggplant Japonaise, Eggplant Mini-Pizzas, Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce, and of course, Cheesy Eggplant Bake … you’ve been noble, wonderful competitors, and I salute your staying power.But … was it ever really in doubt?My thick, hearty substance …My deep, rich flavors …My truly welcomed hint of cheesiness at the end…These are qualities – AMERICAN qualities – that must be gained through learning, effort, and an hour in the oven.There were changes,...

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Posted in: Mains,Vegetarian

Veggie Might: When Did I Falafel in Love?

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.For Christmas, from my dear friend Miss T, I received Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Embarrassingly, I’ve only used it a few times. That thing is overwhelming. Most cookbooks are to me, which is why I rarely use them.It’s hard for me to envision, while flipping through a 907-page tome (sans index), what’s in my pantry/fridge, whether my tiny kitchen can accommodate the gadgetry, and if I have the skills to pull of the recipes. These are the reasons I tend to improvise.That said, I love to make things from scratch. Gone are the days when I would cobble together a meal from a box of this mix of, a can of that sauce,...

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Posted in: Mains,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

CHG Favorites of the Week

A quick word before we get to this week’s FotW: the comments on yesterday’s post have been GREAT. Thank you guys so much for chiming in with suggestions. I’m already planning an Advanced Life Skills Class for next week’s article, so keep ‘em coming!Food Blog of the WeekSimply RecipesElise has been at this for 60,000 years now, and it shows – beyond the enormous catalog of back recipes, she’s mastered the art of the Food Blog Post. It’s pretty pictures, good writing, and great dishes as far as the eye can see. Well worth an afternoon of browsing.Food Comedy of the Week“Foux de fa fa” by Flight of the ConchordsIn which New Zealand’s fourth-most popular comedy folk duo use elementary French to parody Gallic pop songs. Worth it for Bret’s riff on “baguette” alone.Food Organization of the WeekWorld...

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Posted in: Links

Life Skills 101: A Curriculum for Food, Finance, and Other Real World Basics

“They didn’t teach this in high school.”How often do you spit out that phrase in frustration? Monthly? Weekly? Minute…ly?What are you doing when it happens? Are you struggling with scrambled eggs? Trying to make sense of your paycheck deductions? Wondering why your kid’s Transformers Underoos suddenly turned Barbie-pink? Puzzling over how your parents could afford a two-story colonial in their mid-20s, when you can barely make rent?Sure, Mom and Dad were supposed to teach us basic survival skills growing up, but in many cases, they didn’t have the time, resources, or background to prepare us for everything. So … what if schools picked up the slack? What if they expanded curriculum beyond reading, writing, and 'rithmetic to include cooking,...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Cooking,Frugality,Health,Organization

Skillet Chicken Fajitas: The Reckoning

Three brief points before today’s recipe:-Pa and I were perusing his local CostCo on Sunday, when my old parish priest dragged his humongous shopping cart into the supplement aisle. I had never seen Father T. off the altar, much less wearing shorts, sneakers, and buying 250-count bottles of vitamins. As he pulled away, we wondered what else clergymen might obtain at bulk stores – vestments? Hymnals? Laminate siding for the pews? That place really does have everything.-Whatever candidate you’re voting for, it can’t be denied that Michelle Obama was wonderful last night. Bright, beautiful, and ten feet tall, she’s everything I ever wanted in a First Lady. Henceforth, I’m calling her Michelle DaBomba (...sorry) and ordering stock from her dressmaker.-I...

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish

Monday Megalinks: Can This Recipe Be Saved?

After flubbing a savory zucchini quickbread earlier this week (thus rendering it un-postable), I was all set to present this Pancetta-Wrapped Peaches recipe from Yumsugar this morning. I made it last night at the last minute, figuring (perhaps stupidly) that stone fruit + pork + basil = couldn’t possibly go wrong.Alas - ENNNH. Thanks for playing. Please try again later.What I expected to be a new addition to Mount Appetizemore instead turned out to be a slightly bitter dish with a strange, lingering aftertaste. When solicited for opinions, five of seven visiting friends gave it a resounding, shruggy “meh.” (Note: the other two were a vegetarian and a baby.)Don’t get me wrong: there were good aspects. Though I broiled rather than grilled the...

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Posted in: Links

Buttermilk Cucumber Soup: Weird, But Good

Between the summers of 10th and 11th grade, three friends and I discovered an awful, wonderful secret – one that never dared make itself known to humanity, lest we be overcome by its sheer power and general lunacy. I choose now to disclose it here, as I believe that the ensuing 15 years has prepared us for just such a revelation.So prepare yourselves, dear readers, for you are about to be shocked (and perhaps terrified) by a disclosure so grand, you just might be driven mad.It’s …It’s …It’s … Tostitos dipped in vanilla icing.“EW!” you might say. “That’s DISGUSTING! I’d rather eat HAIR. What the crap were you doing?”But we were young, see. Our metabolisms were working overtime, and summer nights afforded us the opportunity to experiment with...

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Posted in: Soups and Stocks,Vegetarian

Veggie Might: Sesame Rice with Burdock - Take a Walk with the Wildman

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.There are New York legends of all stripes: athletes, entrepreneurs, politicians, activists, socialites, artists, criminals, and freaks. You hear about them and wonder if the stories are true. I’m not sure how I first heard of “Wildman” Steve Brill, part activist, part criminal (see the section on his website about his arrest), and part freak, but he is the real deal.Steve Brill is an environmental educator, naturalist, and expert on wild things you can put in your mouth—and those you can’t. For the last twenty or so years, he has led foraging tours in the city parks and has developed a reputation for being knowledgeable, intrepid,...

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Posted in: Mains,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

CHG Favorites of the Week

Food Blog of the WeekStart CookingI haven’t looked at this site in a little over a year. It was good then, but it’s gotten way better. (It might have been subscription-only then. I forget.) Highly suggested for kitchen beginners in general, there’s an entire series of bright, expertly-produced how-to-cook videos mixed in with a super-helpful blog and massive recipe index. Sublime.Food Comedy of the WeekEddie Murphy on ice creamClassic bit from Eddie Murphy’s 1983 concert film Delirious. He was 22-YEARS-OLD when he did this. I couldn’t find matching socks at that age. (Rated R for language.)Food Organization of the WeekBread & LifeA Catholic food charity based out of Brooklyn since 1982, B&L’s mission is “to bring food to the poor and accompany them on their journey to wholeness by...

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Posted in: Links

The Presidential Plate: Obama and McCain on Food

With November 4th looming ever closer, we Americans are being bombarded with political articles, ads, and (god awful) e-mail forwards, attempting to swing our vote one way or the other. The sheer quantity of information is mind-melting, and rarely very helpful: who’s more patriotic? Who wears nicer pants? Whose wife bakes better cookies?Who cares?I want to know the facts, man. I want to know what John McCain and Barack Obama have planned for my country, without all the obfuscating fluff. I want to know what they think about the economy and the war and well ... food. Insofar as this blog is concerned, especially food.With that in mind, what follows is a brief guide to each potential president’s views on food issues. Obesity initiatives, agricultural...

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Posted in: Do-Gooding,Health

City Kitchen Chronicles: Eggplant Mini Pizzas for One Sad Poor Little Girl

City Kitchen Chronicles is a bi-weekly column about living frugally in Manhattan. It's penned by the lovely Jaime.It’s been a rough week around this City Kitchen here. When I started this column, part of the premise Kris and I worked out was that it would be my personal take on my personal quest to live cheaply and well in this very expensive city, chronicling my cooking *and* financial adventures as I try to pay off my credit cards and not subsist on ramen.This weekend my mother asked, “Are there any better-paying jobs you could have?”“Tons,” I answered. “But I want to work in theatre.”Later in the same car ride and conversation I said, “I’m kinda having fun, actually, learning how to cook healthy and cheap.”And it’s true. But sometimes I...

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Posted in: City Kitchen Chronicles,Desserts and Snacks,Mains,Sides,Vegetarian

Tuesday Megalinks

Associated Press/USA Today: Recession? Eat, drink, smoke and be merrySin is in, ladies and gents. While lots of businesses are having gigundo problems staying afloat, the makers of cigarettes, booze, and candy remain pleasantly recession-proof. Bring on the cocktails, I say. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)Culinate: On board - A closer look at your knife’s best friendNifty, extensive piece on the importance of purchasing a decent cutting board. It doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal, but really, it will save good knives some major wear and tear.Daily News: City supermarkets are dying commodity500 NYC supermarkets have gone kaput over the last decade, and local unions attribute the trend to competitions from CostCo-esque big-box stores. This...

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Posted in: Links

Stuffed Peppers and Michael Phelps (a.k.a. How I Spent Last Thursday)

If y’all get the chance this afternoon, head on over to this post at Gawker. They’ve set up a Michael Phelps compliment-a-thon (a la Chuck Norris Facts), and the 1100+ comments are pretty dang funny. Some samples:“Michael Phelps can run a marathon in four miles.”“Sliced bread is the greatest thing since Michael Phelps.”“Michael Phelps' original cut of Howard the Duck was widely considered the greatest film ever made.”“Contrary to popular belief - the songwriting team of Lennon-McCartney was really Michael Phelps. In fact, he wrote the White Album while doing a leisurely backstroke.”Like these commenters/everyone else on Earth, I’ve developed a slightly unhealthy obsession with Phelps. I mean, c’mon, man - the kid’s got it all: a duffel bag...

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish