Veggie


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Garden Fuck-Up: Vine-Ripened Fail

In today’s installment of Garden Fuck-Ups I present to you the idea of the vine-ripened tomato.

I’ve been eye-balling that sucker for a week now in all its juicy green glory, waiting for the right time to pluck it off the vine, slice it, and enjoy it with some fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil. Who knows, I might even get crazy and drizzle it with a bit of pesto. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?

I went into the garden the other day and saw that said tomato was just showing the slightest hint of turning from green to red, but barely enough to notice. It was growing, and I stood there admiring it like a proud parent thinking of how far it had come. They grow up so fast, don’t they? I’d leave it for one more night to allow the color to turn just a bit more, since vine-ripened tomatoes taste sooooo good. It was going to be awesome.

The next day I approached the garden, basket in-hand, and smiled as I went to pull my prize from my tomato plant. I could already taste the caprese I had mentally sliced up and drizzled with oil. I reached around the fruit—and was suddenly bitch-slapped by Mother Nature. Apparently some unidentified garden pest had other plans for my tomato:

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Indian Eggplant Parm

Editor’s Note: New contributor Prof. Fusion, an English professor, kitchen dabbler and Dora the Explorer antagonist, joins ES with pretty much our favorite thing…a new sandwich!

This is basically your classic Italian eggplant parm sub, gone Indian—although there’s no Parmesan inhabitant on this blissfully delicious breaded island, just Provolone. The inspiration behind the Indian eggplant sub spawned from  the Food in My Beard’s chicken crispy masala. When I first made this, I made a few adjustments to Dan’s amazing recipe (i.e. how I breaded and fried the chicken—dusted with salt and curry powder), and this salaciously cheesy dish quickly became my wife’s favorite dinner option. One night, I planned to do the same thing to eggplant, when my food muse spoke to me in a garlic-infused whisper, “Why not make this into a sub?!”  And there’s our causal chain, people.

Note: if you’re not a big fan of eggplant (my pal Russ hates its texture, whereas Caitlin finds it tolerable—she’s far too polite), then use chicken instead. I really dig the fusion of Indian/Italian flavors; these yield great pairings when using Indian spices instead of Italian ones.  And what can honestly go wrong when there’s tomato sauce and cheese involved?

Indian Eggplant Parm

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in Cheese / Recipe / Sandwich / Veggie 0 comments
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This Week at the Farmers Market: June Strawberry Salad

I spent Father’s Day weekend with dad at my parent’s country house near the Adirondacks, mowing, weeding, trimming overly eager tree branches, sweeping out the cobwebs, vacuuming the pool, and generally sprucing the place up in anticipation of summer. After our hard work we treated ourselves to a some fresh produce from the neighboring farms… not sure if you’ve heard but strawberry season is in full swing and THANK GOD, because strawberries are one of those fruits, like melons and blueberries (coming soon!!), that are basically bland and tough in the off-season. But holy mother, in June there’s nothing better.

Of course, juicy strawberries are superb on their own, topping off ice cream, boiled down for homemade jam, or baked into a pie. This weekend it was effing hot and I didn’t feel like turning on the oven, plus I wanted to try something a bit more savory to go with our dinner of grilled salmon. The farm stand down the road also sells local cheeses, meats and greens, so we picked up a bag of big, leafy spinach, and a small wheel of goat cheese, wonderfully named “Purple Haze,” and this salad was born.

June Strawberry Salad with Goat Cheese, Fresh Spinach, and Lemon Vinaigrette

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in Cheese / Now Simmering / Recipe / Veggie 2 comments
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100 Ways to Use Beer in Food and Drink #8 and #9: Black and Tan Beer-Infused Garlic Pesto

To all you naysayers out there: you lose! Yet again I  accomplish both #8 and #9 of my quest to use beer in 100 different dishes. This time, I wanted to make something versatile, that could go with various meals, so I opted for a pesto that is amped up with flavor of a black and tan beer….plus beer-infused garlic, so I knock two items off the list.

Hopefully you realize that black and tan is a reference to a mix of two tasty and contrasting beers. The mix of beers varies depending on where you get it and from whom, but is generally a dark beer with a pale ale or lager. This time, I used Yuengling’s version: a mix of their porter and their premium beer. I was hoping the porter part of this would bring out the nutty flavor of the pine nuts, but because it’s only half porter, wouldn’t turn the pesto dark.

The black and tan did bring out the pine nuts, while also giving the pesto a bit of the bite when mixed with the garlic. I put one slice of sun-dried tomato in the mix and it lent a very subtle taste that again, I believe was brought out by the beer. I served this as a snack on toast, topped with a slice of sun-dried tomato. Then, for dinner we put it on our burgers, along with the beer-infused ketchup! OR you can make an open-faced tuna sandwich and top it off with some pesto (see above). You’re welcome.

Beer-Infused Garlic

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Artsy Photo of the Day

Garlic scapes: a garden bonus this time of year. I am in love with their curly shape. Quickly sauteed with olive oil and tossed with pasta, these are sublime.

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The Endless Road Trip — San Diego’s Top 10 Eats: 4. The Veggie Burger Comes Full Circle

Once upon a time, veggie burgers were merely a last-resort option for lonely vegetarians at BBQs or meat-centric restaurants that didn’t have a single other flesh-free entree. As we know, they’ve come a long way since then. Now, faux burgers are less likely to be be a poor man’s meat substitute, and more often something inventive enough that even a human carnivore would want to eat.

My second San Diego food truck stop took me to MIHO Gastrotruck. I had heard good things about their carnitas tacos and pork belly bahn mi, but one particular thing on the chalkboard menu caught my eye:

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in Bacon / Food Travel / Pig / Sandwich / Veggie 3 comments
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