A Fistful of Eggplant Parm

Hey everyone! Last week I didn't find the time to make some scrumptious dish, so this week I'm  trying to make up for that with a sandwich that could feed a whole family. The Italian/American classic : " Eggplant Parmesan "

Some ingredients

Ingredients

- 6 Roma tomatoes

- 2 eggplants

- 1 eschalot

- 2 bayleaves

- a handfull of chopped basil

- thyme

- oregano

- 3 cloves of garlic ( I used smoked garlic )

- marjoram

- rosemary

- parsley

- Parmigiano Reggiano

- buffalo milk mozzarella

- 3 slices of Provolone cheese

- rocket salad

- panko or breadcrumbs (panko tends to be crispier)

- baguette

- 3 eggs

- plain flour

- 1 tbs of sugar

- rock salt

- black pepper

Preparation ( tomato sauce )

Boil water in a pot. While you wait for the water to boil you can start by finely slicing the eschalots and 1 clove of garlic. Cut a cross in the top of the tomatoes and drop them in the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds an cut into small dices. Heat up oil in a pot and cook the eschalots and the garlic for about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, bayleaves, thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, sugar and the chopped basil. Turn down the heat and leave it to simmer for at least 40 minutes. In the end add salt and pepper.

Preparation ( deep fried eggplant )

Start by whisking the 3 eggs in a bowl. Add flour on a plate. Finely slice the parsley, and mix it with the panko on a plate. Cut the eggplant in slices ( about 0.5 cm thick ). Heat up your fryer ( 130 degrees Celsius ) and add 2 cloves of crushed garlic to the oil. Flour the eggplant slice on each side, dip in the eggs and finally put the slice in the panko until each side is covered. Now repeat with all the slices. Deepfry the eggplant until golden brown and put them on some kitchen paper. 

Preparation ( A Fistful of Eggplant Parm )

Cut the baguette in 2 pieces ( put it under a grill first to make it more crispy ). Now the following part is how I assembled my sandwich but you can do it any way you like. 
Cover the bottom part with some tomato sauce
add parmesan
slices of eggplant
tomato sauce
parmesan
provolone cheese
slices of eggplant 
tomato sauce
parmesan
buffalo milk mozzarella. 
Put under a grill, and let the cheese melt. At the end put some rocket salad on the mozzarella and put on the top half of the baguette.

A Fistfull of Eggplant Parm

Music
The music that I chose for this dish was the result of the perfect marriage between Italian and American cinema. The Spaghetti Western. Made famous by Italian director Sergio Leone and composer Ennio Morricone. This is probably the most famous song by Ennio Morricone. Enjoy!

Ennio Morricone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6BQKFs3-VM

Heart Attack American

The motto this week : "Bigger is better"! I wanted to make a typical American hamburger and create a burger that is pure overkill. Two burgers, a lot of cheese, a homemade Jack & Coke BBQ sauce, pickles, onions and lettuce. It's easy, big and very tasty. So let's get started.

Ingredients

Ingredients
- cola
- ketchup
- Jack Daniels Whiskey
- wine vinegar
- 1 eschalot
- rock salt
- smoked paprika
- 1 chipotle pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 large pickle
- lettuce
- 2 slices of Cheddar cheese
- 2 vegetarian burgers
- vegetarian bacon
- hamburger bun
- 1 clove of garlic
- cayenne pepper
- olive oil


Preparation ( Jack & Coke BBQ Sauce ) 

Finely slice the eschalot and the garlic. Heat up some olive oil in a pan and cook the eschalot and the garlic ( about 3 minutes ). Add 1 cup of cola, 1 cup of ketchup, 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar, 1 1/2 cup of Jack Daniels, a tbs of smoked paprika, a tsp of cayenne pepper, and the chopped up chipotle. Stir it until all the ingredients are mixed and leave it to simmer on low heat for about 1 hour. You should get a thick sauce. At the end add some salt to your own taste. Let the sauce cool down.

Preparation ( Heart Attack American )

Heat up oil in a pan ( I used olive oil ) and fry the burgers and the bacon until crispy on the outside. Put a little bit of sauce on the bottom half of the bun, add one of the burgers, top it with a slice of cheddar, and add a little bit of the bbq sauce. Now put on the second burger and top it with a slice of cheddar. Put it under the grill until the cheese starts melting. Also put the top part of the bun under the grill. Take a spoonfull of sauce and put it on the melted cheese, add bacon bits, red onion slices, tomato, pickles and lettuce. And Bob's your uncle!

The Heart Attack American

Music

The music accompanying this dish is a song by one of my favourite bands at the moment. I also stole the tittle of the song for the burger. Heart Attack American by L.A. based band The Bronx. Enjoy the food and the music!

The Bronx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Ej_i2qaH8

The Italian Stallion

Hey everyone! New week, new recipe, at least that's what I'm going to try doing. This week's recipe is an Italian twist on the hamburger. Again, not difficult to prepare but you'll be busy for some time. We're going to make our own hamburger bun, fresh Pesto alla Genovese and a balsamic vinegar reduction. So, here we go.

Some of the ingredients

Ingredients
- yeast (I used wet yeast)
- lukewarm water
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 egg 
- 2 tbs sugar
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- sundried tomatoes
- Pecorino cheese
- 6 tbs freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- vegetarian burger
- Balsamic vinegar
- 1 eschalot 
- Rocket salad
- 1 tomatoe
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 cups basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- coarse sea salt

Preparation ( Sundried Tomatoe & Pecorino Burger Bun )

Take half a teaspoon of yeast and add to a glass of lukewarm water. Mix it and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
Put 2 tbs of olive oil, 1 egg, sugar and the yeast in a bowl. Add the flour, salt, 4 tbs of grated Pecorino, a handfull of chopped sundried tomatoes. Knead the dough and add flour if it stays to sticky. Transfer the dough to a bowl that is slighlty greased with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in buns (depending on the size of your burger).
Roll into rounds and flatten the buns. Put the buns on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Cover with a damp cloth again and let them rise for another 20 minutes. In the meantime preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Brush the buns with some olive oil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Preparation ( Pesto Alla Genovese )

Heat up the pine nuts in a skillet until golden brown. Let them cool down completely. Rinse the basil leaves and gently dry them. Place them in a mortar together with the pine nuts, garlic and a pinch of coarse sea salt. Grind the ingredients against the wall of the mortar until you have a paste. Add 6 tbs Parmigiano and 2 tbs Pecorino. Put the paste in a bowl and in a slow and steady stream add olive oil while you keep whisking.

Preparation ( Balsamic Vinegar Reduction )

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add one finely chopped eschalot and cook for about 3 minutes. Add a glass of balsamic vinegar and reduce the vinegar on low heat until it gets a syrupy consistency.

Preparation ( The Italian Stallion)
Heat up olive oil in a pan and prepare the burgers. Take 1 tbs of pesto and spread on the bottom half of the bun. Place the burger on top of the pesto and add a slice of Pecorino. Place under a grill until the cheese starts melting. Add 1 tbs of the Balsamic Vinegar reduction and spread it on the cheese. Place some slices of tomato and cucumber. Add some rocket salad and put on the top half of the bun.

The Italian Stallion

Music
No stereotype "Godfather-like" song for this dish. But a song by electronic pioneer producer Giorgio Moroder. The Acadamy Award winning soundtrack to the movie Midnight Express. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrPWkIRWY9U