Saugatuck Sojourn............

Look who's heading to Saugatuck. Why should that Travelocity gnome have all the fun?

Rare one-legged paper bag turkey-known to be feisty

Just love a road trip, don't you?

Hmmmmmmmm Bella Vita Suites.......pretty nice digs

niceeeeeeeee--high thread count--goose down?

Turkey tub??

Birds of a feather?  wassup Rex?

I'll have the hummus, fried pita and a pint of porter, thanks

Which one's the turkey??

Cozy Curry

It has been raining on and off all day. It's a good day for a nice bowl of curry over brown Basmati rice.

Cozy Curry

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium eggplant, cubed
1 onion, chopped
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 yellow squash, cubed
2 tablespoons raisins
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
10 ounces spinach (I forgot to add this, but I meant to!)

Directions

In a large Dutch oven place sweet potato, eggplant, and onion, and three tablespoons oil. Sauté over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over veggies and add garlic, turmeric, curry powder, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and sauté over medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add the garbanzo beans, yellow squash, raisins, can of tomatoes and 1/2 can of water. Simmer 20 minutes, covered.

Add spinach to pot and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve over rice with Sara's Sauce (recipe follows) and chopped almonds.

Sara's Sauce

1 small container Greek non-fat plain yogurt
1 t minced garlic
some red pepper flakes
1/3 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped small
A couple slices of onion chopped small  (also good if you have scallions-I didn't)
1 T dill ( I didn't have fresh but good anyway)
salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
a couple T of apple cider vinegar
Mix all that together and put in fridge. Good to make several hours ahead.

Eggplant Parm Plus

A while ago I made an eggplant Parmesan and I made the same thing last night except I added a bit of ricotta cheese and it was so good! It made the dish a lot richer so we had it again tonight with grilled flank steak and sautéed spinach and mushrooms. Here's the recipe again with the added ricotta:

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium eggplant
Parmesan cheese
3 large egg whites
Garlic powder
cooking spray
1 cup ricotta cheeese
1 jar Trader Joe's pizza sauce
1 pkg of low fat mozzarella

Peel eggplant, and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Whisk egg whites in bowl. Dip eggplant slices into egg whites and the Parmesan cheese and place on baking sheets that have been coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle garlic powder on eggplant slices.

Bake for 20 minutes in 400 degree oven, then flip and bake another 10 minutes.

Layer in small casserole,: eggplant, sauce, cheese and ricotta-- ending with  mozzarella cheese.

Bake 20 minutes at 400--let sit a good ten minutes before cutting into it.

Catfish!

Here is a great way to make catfish: easy and tasty. I have included yet another version of a remoulade sauce which the catfish really doesn't need, but is a nice touch anyway :-)

Blackened Catfish for Two

1 lb catfish (2 nice sized fillets)
1 T paprika
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t thyme
1 t garlic powder
1/2 stick of butter, melted

Mix the spices together. Dip the fillets in the melted butter and then cover (on both sides with spices)
Heat a cast iron skillet and then cook the fillets for about 4 minutes per side--drizzle any leftover melted butter over the fillets while cooking.


Serve with remoulade sauce:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped cornichon (tiny French dill pickles) or good dill pickle relish
1 teaspoon finely chopped capers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard or grainy Dijon
1/4 teaspoon dried leaf tarragon
dash hot sauce, or to taste
Mix all together and refrigerate for several hours.

Cabbage Lasagna? Who Knew?

OK, so there's the deal: I bought a GI-normous head of green cabbage at the Farmer's Market and a person can only make so much slaw, so I was cruising around on the web looking for cabbage recipes and lo and behold came across one for lasagna! Of course, I didn't have all the same ingredients that they had but I did indeed have CABBAGE so there you have it. Now, just because you CAN make a certain recipe, doesn't necessarily mean that you SHOULD! However, I'm here to tell you that the final product was mighty tasty, so go figure. I guess I will draw the line at some concoctions like let's say, marshmallow lasagna?? ha ha oh well..........possibly not?

Need an 81/2 X 11 baking dish
Enough cabbage leaves to make two layers--don't worry if they're not big or perfect
3/4 lb. ground beef (could use turkey or chopped mushrooms instead)
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
Italian seasoning (or just use oregano and basil) 1 big T
Red pepper flakes ( I basically put these in everything!) a kitchen staple IMHO
1 pkg. of reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tub ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese

Make sauce:
Brown ground beef and salt and pepper the meat, then add onion, green pepper, garlic, cook for five minutes then add the tomatoes, sauce, spices, red pepper flakes and cover and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Steam the cabbage in the microwave about five mutes so that it's cooked and limp.

Preheat over to 350

Assemble the lasagna:  put a little bit of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, then a layer of cabbage, then 1/2 the meat sauce, then 1/2 the mozzarella, then 1/2 the ricotta, then a cabbage layer, meat, mozzarella,  ricotta and top it all with Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, then remove foil and cook maybe 5 or ten more minutes--you can run under the broiler if you want to brown the top more. Let this dish sit for at least 15 minutes as it's easier to cut and actually tastes better too when not scorching hot.