Oven Roasted Eggplant

Over the years, my palate has become accustomed to local grown eggplant. When it appears at my local farmer's markets, I will buy, buy and buy more as I have found cooked eggplant freezes well and works nicely in a pizza, a pasta or bean dish or as the eggplant portion of my Eggplant, Meat and Tomato with Spices recipe.

By the time October rolls around, my freezer is stocked with bags of frozen oven roasted eggplant. During the cold days of winter and damp days of spring, the supply slowly dwindles. With only one bag remaining in my freezer at this time, I am reminded that at some point summer will return with its long days and bounty of local eggplant which I will buy roast and freeze for the upcoming winter. 

Oven Roasted Eggplant 
ready to be put in freezer for winter

Oven Roasted Eggplant

6 – 8 cups globe eggplant washed and diced

1 cup olive oil or canola oil

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1. Place oven rack on middle rung. Preheat oven to broiler setting.

2. In a large bowl, combine eggplant, olive oil, onion powder and garlic powder.

3. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil, tucking in ends.

4. Place eggplant on cookie sheet, close together but no higher than one layer deep. 

Eggplant ready to be put

in oven for roasting

5. Place eggplant in oven on middle rack. Cook for 7 – 13 minutes or until largest pieces are easily split with fork. Serve or cool and store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as many times as needed.

If freezing, place cooled eggplant in freezer-safe bags or containers. I use quart size freezer-safe ziploc bags. When ready to use, remove from freezer and thaw on plate on kitchen counter top or in refrigerator for slower thaw. For quicker thaw, immerse three-quarters of eggplant in warm water. Once thawed, add to pizza as you would any other topping, heat to warm or hot if adding to pasta or bean dish. Use as bottom layer in my Eggplant, Meat and Tomato with Spices recipe.

Carrot Cake

I recently picked up carrots from Winter Moon Roots Farm with the objective of making a carrot cake for my mother’s upcoming birthday.  While this recipe calls for only 2 cups of grated carrots, which is approximately ½ pound, it’s a safe bet I’ll always end up with more than this amount.  When the carrots come in a pre-weighed 1 pound bag, I just make a double batch.  Thankfully, this recipe freezes well and is a favorite amongst friends and family and not just my mom.

For some reason, though, this time I purchased the exact amount of carrots without asking the clerk the weight of the carrots prior to purchase.  Truly amazed was I.    

Like my Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread recipe, I prefer to make mini-loaves as this cake freezes well and the small mini-loaf size guarantees a quick defrost when company drops by.  And, yes, as with the Pumpkin Bread, there have been times when slices have been cut from frozen loaves and immediately deposited into the toaster oven with no complaint and complete satisfaction.  For freezing, I suggest wrapping each loaf in plastic wrap and then placing the loaves in a freezer safe ziploc bag.  

I like this recipe because it does not require pineapple, shredded coconut, raisins or walnuts to make a decent cake.  The carrots can be grated 1 – 2 days before baking and then stored in the refrigerator in an air tight container until ready to use.  Outside of grating the carrots this recipe is quick to put together using just one large mixing bowl and less than 30 minutes of prep time.    

While I’ve included the recipe for cream cheese frosting that came with this recipe which I received from my step-Aunt, Debbie, it’s rare this cake is served with frosting or cream cheese. 

Mini-loaf carrot cake 
wrapped in plastic wrap
and ready to be frozen for
later enjoyment 

Carrot Cake   yield - two 8" round cakes, 5 mini-loaves, 12 – 30 muffins

1 1/2 cups canola oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups grated carrots (approx. 1/2 lb. carrots)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 cup chopped walnuts  (optional)

non-stick cooking spray

Place oven rack in middle position.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cake pans with no-stick cooking spray.  If making muffins, line muffin tins. 

In a large bowl, mix sugar, oil and vanilla extract with beaten eggs.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Mix until stiff batter thickens. 

Add Carrots and mix.  Batter will thin as you mix. 

Add nuts and raisins (optional).  Mix.

For cake or loaves, pour equal amounts of batter into cake pans or loaf pans.  Bake 35-70 minutes or until toothpick/cake tester comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack for 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before frosting, serving or storing.  

For muffins, fill bake cups ½ - 1/3 full with batter.  Bake 25-45 minutes or until toothpick/cake tester inserted in center muffins comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely before frosting, serving or storing.  

Cream cheese frosting:  6 oz. cream cheese softened mixed with 3 cups confectioner's sugar.  Add a few drops of milk as needed. 

Almond Biscotti or “Can't they get these in New York?”

As an adult, I developed an allergy to dairy. Now, before you say, “Can't you take a pill?”, “What about lactaid?” it's not that type of allergy. For me consumption of dairy results in sinus congestion, sinus headaches, wheezing, throat congestion. You get the picture.

Therefore when my girlfriend, Sally, developed a dairy free recipe for biscotti and fed me the results, I immediately asked for the recipe.

I would be a liar if I said I didn't approach this recipe with trepidation. Drop cookies and bar cookies are my forte. Where biscotti all seem to have a uniform shape, making these for the first time was a bit nerve-racking for me. The second time was much easier as the mystery of getting these cookies into the right shape was solved.

This has become a beloved recipe amongst friends, family and colleagues from as far as away as New York City. Thankfully, this cookie travels well even if the clerk at the local post office quizzically asks, “Can't they get these in New York?” “Yes,” I reply. “However, they're not as good.”

Almond Biscotti

Almond Biscotti - yield: approximately 18 cookies.

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup almond slivers (I recommend Trader Joe's unsalted, dry toasted slivered almonds)

Place oven rack on middle setting. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

Cover 15” x 10” or larger cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Dust foiled cookie sheet with flour. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, combine sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Add flour, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. When partially mixed, add almond slivers. Continue mixing. Batter should become very stiff.

Halve batter while still in bowl. Roll or shape dough into two logs, approximately 10” long and 1” thick on prepared cookie sheet.

Two logs of biscotti batter, 

ready for baking

Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for up to 10 minutes. Cut logs into ¾-inch diagonal slices, setting each slice on its side. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove biscotti from oven. Turn each cookie on its other side. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool, serve and store.

Cutting log on diagonal 

 Biscotti ready for more baking

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

I love it when I find a recipe where the amount of the canned ingredient is evenly divisible by the number of cans,--for example 15 ounces of canned pumpkin, three 28 ounce cans of kitchen-ready tomatoes, one 19 ounce can of black beans.  You get the picture.  While the unused portion can refrigerated or frozen, I am usually at a loss on what to do with this leftover amount.  Strange, I know, but true. 

Pumpkin bread is a favorite here from the wonderful aromas of pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon which fill the house as this bread is baking to every slice which is toasted, re-heated and slathered with some form of cream cheese, butter or vegan non-dairy spread.

This recipe makes about 5 mini-loaves, 2 medium height 9” loaves or 1 large 10” loaf.  I prefer to make mini-loaves as this bread freezes well and the small mini-loaf size guarantees a quick defrost when company drops by.  Although I will admit there have been times when slices have been cut from frozen loaves and immediately deposited into the toaster oven with no complaint and complete satisfaction.  For freezing, I suggest wrapping each loaf in plastic wrap and then placing the loaves in a freezer safe ziploc bag.  

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

¾ cup canola oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree or 1 ¾ cup pumpkin puree

5/8 cup water

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3/8 teaspoon cinnamon

3/8 teaspoon allspice  
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (optional) 

Place oven rack in middle position.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, eggs and sugar.  Add pumpkin and water.  Mix.  Add the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice.  Stir gently but do not mix too thoroughly. Add nuts or dried cranberries. Once again, stir gently but do not mix too thoroughly.

Pour into greased loaf pan, approximately 5 mini-loaves, 2-9 inch loaf or 1 large 10 inch loaf.  Bake 30-60 minutes or until a straw inserted in the center comes out clean.  Turn bread out of the pan and cool on a rack.