Crazy Englishwoman Cooks!

Continuing my newfound adventures with eggplant, I received another one in my CSA basket last week. This time it was a white eggplant.

I found a recipe for a beef eggplant pie online and tweaked it a little. Here are the results.

You need:
2 cups diced eggplant
1/4 cup butter
3/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup onion
1 rib celery with the leaves
1 clove garlic
2 large tomatoes
1 tbs parsley
1 tbs dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 pastry shell

Saute the eggplant in butter for about 5 minutes, until tender.

In a separate skillet, cook the turkey, onion, celery and garlic until the meat is no longer pink. Add the eggplant, the diced tomatoes, and herbs. Season to taste.



Put in a pie dish lined with the pastry shell. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for another 10 minutes. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

We ate ours topped with a little sour cream and hot sauce. The recipe calls for an 8oz can of tomato sauce which I didn't have so I substituted tomatoes. Next time, I would try it with the sauce to give it a bit more tomatoey cohesion.

Biggest surprise of all? Nic loved it!

It has been a crazy week of house repairs, dying computers, and more,and it's about to get crazier with family visits. But I do have a few recipes to post for you.

The first is something I'd decided to try making before my parents arrive next week. I came across a recipe for Guinness Wholegrain Mustard in Saveur magazine which, by the way, is an excellent read. I didn't have any Guinness handy so I used Beamish Stout.

You need:

1 12oz bottle of Guinness or other stout
1 - 1.5 cups brown mustard seeds
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbs salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Put all of the ingredients in a glass bowl (NOT plastic or metal). Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 days to let the mustard seeds soften.



After 2 days, move the mix to a blender and blend for about 3 minutes. The seeds will grind down and... voila... mustard! (Incidentally my husband was completely transfixed by the transformation in the blender).

Put in jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.



When I took the lid off the blender, this was some potent stuff. Straight up the nose! Apparently the flavor will mellow over time but I have to say, it tastes great as it is right now.