Sicilian eggplant pizza: light meal from a gorgeous farm market vegetable

A slice of Sicilan eggplant bakes into a soft, tasty base for individual pizzas. We topped with marinara and Asiago cheese.Sicilian eggplant at Scotch Plains Farmers Market. Prepared in old-fashioned ways, eggplant dishes can be full of sodium from the salting and weighting that squeezes out excess moisture. 

They can be full of fat because eggplant's spongy texture soaks up a lot of oil when fried.

We recently found globes of spectacularly gorgeous purple and white Sicilian eggplant at Scotch Plains Farmers Market and decided to try using half-inch slices in place of a bread crust for home-baked individual pizzas.

We had previously baked slices of the regular type of eggplant with good results. So, we placed the eggplant slices on a pan brushed with olive oil. No foil or parchment lining is needed. The exposed eggplant tops also were brushed with oil.

After 20 minutes of roasting at 425 degrees, the eggplant was tender. We flipped the slices, spooned marinara over the tops, sprinkled on shredded Asiago cheese and returned to the oven 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

The flavor and soft texture reminded me of eggplant rollatini -- with less cheese and without the breading or fried oiliness.

The flavor of the Sicilian eggplant was slightly sweet, and it seemed lighter. It was a quick and easy way to enjoy fresh eggplant.

Here's the recipe we'll start with for real-deal rollatini.

Chocolate banana muffin-top cookies

Chocolate banana muffin-top cookies

Chocolate banana muffin-top cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup mashed overripe banana

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Click to read more ...

Julia Morgan: An intimate biography of Hearst Castle's little-known architect

Hearst Castle, the estate architect Julia Morgan designed for William Randolph Hearst at San Simeon, in California's coastal mountains. Photo by Alexander VertikoffIn 1919, a 47-year-old woman began work designing one of the world’s most impressive estates, a sprawling compound at a 1,600-foot elevation about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Architect Julia MorganWhen architect Julia Morgan died in 1957 at age 85, she had designed an estimated 700 structures — schools, churches, office buildings, hospitals, stores and residences -— most notably La Cuesta Encantada, William Randolph Hearst’s home on “the Enchanted Hill.” More than a century later, what came to be known as Hearst Castle continues to draw throngs of tourists to California from across the globe. Yet many visitors never learned that for nearly three decades a female designer was the planner who oversaw every detail of the estate’s evolving landscape.

It wasn’t until 2014 that Morgan’s lifetime of work was recognized by the American Institute of Architects with its Gold Medal. With the posthumous award, she became the first woman to join the ranks of such revered architects as Charles McKim, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbsier.

In “Julia Morgan: an Intimate Biography of the Trailblazing Architect” (Chronicle Books, $32.50), author Victoria Kastner offers keen insights into Morgan’s life, her career, and the friendly working relationship that shaped Hearst Castle and other properties of the newspaper tycoon; his mistress, Marion Davies; and his mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who attempted in vain to rein in her son’s extravagance.

In addition to his structures and gardens at San Simeon, Hearst installed an extensive zoo, for which Morgan designed bear pits, a giraffe house, open-air shelters and quarters for an elephant called Marianne.

Click to read more ...

Recipe: Savory apple relish

Try apple relish as a cranberry sauce alternative. Chopped apples and apple cider vinegar are blended with onions and peppers. With ribs and seeds removed, the jalepeno only adds a mild kick. The savory-sweet result complements turkey breast roasted in a bacon wrap to help keep it moist.Savory apple relish

(6 servings) 

Ingredients

2 cups chopped apples, such as Macoun or Cortland

1/2 cup diced red  bell peppers

1/2 cup diced yellow bell peppers

1/3 cup diced red onion

1 small jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely diced 

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

4 strips crisply cooked bacon (optional

Instructions 

Toss all ingredients except bacon in a large bowl to combine. If using bacon, keep it crisp by adding it to individual portions just before serving.

Photo and adapted recipe courtesy U.S. Apple Association

Hot sauces more often being made in New Jersey

Photo courtesy Princes Farm StandAn increasing number of New Jerseyans are bottling and selling their own unique hot sauces.

There’s even a fall hot sauce show, Saucetoberfest, in Flemington. We found three Jersey-made hot sauces at Prince’s Farm Stand in Mountainside. Among the farm store’s jars of fiery pickles and milder salsas, there are hot sauces from Hunterdon and Passaic County. One maker is in nearby Fanwood.

Lorne Graham started experimenting with tongue-scorching sauces after having received gift plants of intensely hot Scotch Bonnet, Ghost and Carolina Reaper peppers. Before bottling his Hot Graham sauces last year, he consulted other craft makers in New York, New Jersey (he knows about a dozen here) and elsewhere. He got valuable pointers that helped bring three blends to market. They’re mild to hot. One uses beets.

“My wife and I are both professional musicians, and being musicians, our whole thing is just improvising,” he says. This extends to how his pepper sauces are used. The Warm Up, his mildest, is good in smoothies or with apple pie, he says. Even outside the social-media driven landscape of extreme food combinations, this sounds feasible — since the formula involves roasted pineapples, ginger and cilantro with gentle jalapeño heat.

Click to read more ...