Caponata

Caponata is this awesome Sicilian eggplant dish which, basically, is a cooked vegetable salad. Traditionally, the eggplant is fried first, then stewed in a sweet/sour/spicy sauce (otherwise known as agrodolce) with celery; that's the recipe at it's most basic. From all of the reading I've done, it seems that different areas have different variations on the dish which is part of the reason I love it so much... it lends itself beautifully to experimentation. This version happens to be MY favorite way to prepare it, but again, it's such a forgiving dish and you can adapt it to your individual tastes so easily. Plus, the cooking method is pretty easy to change up as well; I prefer to roast my eggplant instead of frying it (uses so much less oil that way!).

Caponata

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, diced into 1-1.5" cubes
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, diced (I like using shallots here, but didn't have any on hand this time)
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbs. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. dried basil
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
generous pinch of red pepper flakes (of course you can use more, but I've made this dish too hot before and considering it tastes better the longer it sets, consider that the heat level increases the longer it sets)
salt & pepper, to taste
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium yellow squash, diced
1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (you can really use any form of tomato here- and I have- but I have to admit I really liked the consistency of using the crushed)
1 cup broth (veggie or chicken, whatever floats your boat)
3 Tbs. red wine vinegar (use more for a tangier/more sour sauce, or less if you'd rather tone it down)
1 Tbs. brown sugar (again, use more/less as you like to suit your own tastes)
1/4 cup raisins (traditionally, golden raisins are used, but it really doesn't make a difference)
1 Tbs. capers, drained (this is another traditional ingredient, but I don't always have them on hand- it tastes fine without them)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray, spread out the cubed eggplant, and either spritz with more cooking spray or drizzle with some olive oil. Sprinkle on salt & pepper, then bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring at least once, until eggplant is soft and light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium-low heat, cook the onion, celery, carrots, and red peppers in olive oil until slightly softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add in all of the spices, stirring to coat, before dropping in the squash and zucchini. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until the spices are very fragrant, then add in the tomato puree, broth, red wine vinegar, and sugar. Continue to simmer over medium-low heat, until the vegs are softened but not complete mush, about 15-20 minutes. About this time, the eggplant should be ready to come out of the oven and can be added into the stew along with the raisins and capers. If it seems a little too dry after adding the eggplant, you can always add in more broth or even a splash of water to give it room to groove. Depending on what consistency you're after, you can continue to simmer the stew for another 10-20 minutes until the vegs and eggplant have cooked down to practically nothing; or you can shut off the heat, clamp on a lid, and let it cool at this point which is what I do. The eggplant will absorb all that yummy sauce while retaining some of it's texture, the raisins will plump up, and the longer you let it sit, the better it gets. Serve it at room temperature, hot, or cold- it's damn good however you eat it. Serve it as a side dish, over pasta, or my personal favorite is to eat it with meatballs or Italian sausages. This freezes beautifully... if you actually have any leftover. ;)

Enjoy!

(Vegan) Gingerbread Scones

First of all, let me preface this by saying I did NOT enjoy making these scones. Why not? I've been eager to try these for several days now so when I got up this morning, I thought, "What the hell?" and turned the oven on to preheat before I even started my coffee brewing.

That was my first mistake.

The second mistake was in not eating breakfast before undertaking the task of mixing this very sticky dough. If you know me at all, you know that I don't function well in the morning- especially before caffeine- and that I tend to meltdown in spectacular fashion if I don't remember to eat and my blood glucose is too low. Tackling this particular baking project (a) in the morning, (b) before massive caffeine infusions, and (3) without eating first was like a perfect (shit) storm and I'm pretty sure I scared the dog when I started yelling at the dough, throwing utensils into the sink, and hurling the dishtowel across the room. Poor Kailan... he hasn't learned to ignore my ranting like Seamus used to; Kai takes everything personally.

Now, despite my meltdown and lack of enjoyment, the final product was definitely tasty. Will I make them again? I don't see that happening anytime soon.

(Vegan) Gingerbread Scones

original recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets 

by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Ingredients:
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used plain soy milk)
1 Tbs. white distilled vinegar
2 1/2 Tbs. unsulphured molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups AP flour
3/4 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed (I don't see why you couldn't use dark brown)
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup non-dairy butter, cold (I pre-cut mine into tiny cubes)
1/3 cup raisins and/or dried cranberries
2 Tbs. crystallized ginger, diced
non-dairy milk for brushing the tops (again, I used plain soy milk)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a glass measuring cup, combine the milk, vinegar, molasses, and vanilla. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to allow the vinegar a chance to "activate" the milk and essentially turn it into buttermilk.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using 2 knives (or better yet, a pastry cutter!), cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients; it should be crumbly (not pasty) with pea-sized chunks of butter. Fold in the raisins/dried cranberries and crystallized ginger before adding the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir just to combine, being careful NOT to over mix. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Using your hands, shape the dough into a disk, about 9" in diameter and 1/2" thick. Now, this is where I did quite a bit of cussing at the dough because it can either be too sticky or too dry, in which case you need to add more flour (as in my case) or more milk (you'd have to do that before turning it out onto the board), working quickly so the butter inside the dough stays mostly chilled. (I'm pretty sure the molasses was the cause of the ridiculous stickiness, and I ended up sprinkling on another 1/4 cup of AP flour.) Cut the disk into 8-10 slices (like a pizza) and carefully transfer each slice to a baking sheet (mine was lined with parchment paper), giving them room to grow (maybe a 1/2" apart?). Brush the tops with milk, and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick blah blah blah. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before diving in. (The original recipe also included a maple glaze which was drizzled on after the scones were cooled. I found it to be a little too sweet, so I'm leaving that part out of the recipe.)

Enjoy!