Baba Ghanoush ("eggplant hummus")

I would describe Baba Ghanoush as "eggplant hummus".  The base of hummus is chick peas, whereas Baba Ghanoush is mostly eggplant, but the spices and extras are about the same in both.  Baba Ghanoush is a great dip for football games and parties, especially because it's pretty healthy, and it's a great way to use your extra eggplants.

Baba Ghanoush

1 large or 2 medium eggplants

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro or parsley

2 tablespoons tahini (Sesame seed paste- in the ethic or middle eastern section of your grocery store.  Available in bulk at the East End Co-op)

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

Remove the stem from the eggplant, stab a few times with a fork, then wrap in foil and cook in oven until mushy (about 1 hour at 400 degrees, alternatively put it in the oven when you're cooking something else, and if it's a lower temperature just cook it longer).  Let the eggplant cool.  Remove the eggplant pulp from the skin and add to a food processor.  Add all the other ingredients to the food processor as well and process until smooth.  Serve with pita bread or pita chips.  For homemade pita use the recipe from my lamb souvlaki post (shown on the right).

Vichyssoise (creamy potato leek soup)

Vichyssoise (apparently pronounced vish-ee-swaze) is one of my favorite soups.  The only difference between Vichyssoise and potato-leek soup is that it has a little bit of cream.  I made an especially good batch last night and I'm going to give credit to the fresh, local ingredients.  I bought the potatoes and leeks at the East Aurora farmers market (outside of Buffalo, NY) while I was visiting the area.  I must admit that that farmers market has a much bigger selection than the ones in Pittsburgh (although they have less "organic"/pesticide free).  Anyway, here's the recipe:

Vichyssoise

6-8 large servings

Total time: 45 minutes

6 medium leeks

3 tablespoons butter

6-8 large potatoes (about 1.5 pounds)

5-6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth (enough to cover potatoes)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

1 cup of cream (or 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk)

First remove roots and green part of leeks (some green part is okay, just remove the really thick stuff).  Then remove the outer layer and rinse, as there tends to be some dirt stuck here.  Then chop into thin slices.  Saute chopped leaks in butter for about 15 minutes (until tender but not brown).  In the mean time peel potatoes and chop into thin slices.  Once leeks are tender add potatoes and enough broth to cover them.  Also add the salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 25 minutes).  Then add cream and blend until smooth.  An immersion blender is a great tool for this, but a regular blender works fine too (just be prepared for a mess).  Alternatively the soup can be mashed (I know people who prefer it a little chunky).  Garnish with chives (optional).  Serve hot or chilled.

Preserving Peppers

I planted just a few Thai pepper seeds this year (from Seed Saver's Exchange) and I have way more Thai peppers than I can use right now.  They're small peppers (only about 2 inches long) so they can dry whole.  I used a needle and thread to string them together to hang in my kitchen to dry.  They look great and I'll be able to use them for months!

Five-Spice Beet Soup

We got a lot of beets in our farm share for the past few weeks and I don't think it's cool enough to store them in the basement yet.  Instead I made some Five-Spice Beet Soup (recipe from epicurious.com).  Definitely a healthy soup, but I wouldn't recommend it for a meal.  I served myself a big bowl, and I stopped enjoying it towards the end.  It would be good for an appetizer, but I think I like roasted beets better.

Two-hundred Tomatoes

A few weeks ago I ordered a bushel of tomatoes from Dillner Family Farm, and I received way more tomatoes than I expected.  There were over two-hundred Roma tomatoes (I wish I took pictures of the boxes).  So Mark and I spent six hours peeling, removing seeds and cooking down the tomatoes for pasta sauce, tomato soup and curry.  Although it was a lot of effort the pasta sauce we made turned out fantastic!  We added some ground beef and pork italian sausage from Burns Angus Farm, as well as some onions and garlic from Dillner Family Farm.  A little Italian herb mix from Penzey's and a few bay leaves gave it some extra Italian flavor.  I will definitely plan to do it again next year!