by Paula D.
on February 1, 2021 7:58 am in Recipes
I’m in Key Food and I spot these gorgeous, bright purple Chinese eggplants. I had to buy them simply for their beauty. I had no recipe in mind but I knew I’d figure something out. Oftentimes that’s actually how I shop. I pick the best produce by sight and touch. It’s a fun little challenge too – figuring out what recipe to make with my random purchases.
I unpacked the groceries and snapped a picture of the lovely eggplants for Instagram. I captioned, “What should I make with these?” Several people responded. My friend Kevin Kushner, (who is an excellent cook and grill master btw), suggested a recipe from pickledplum.com, classic and easy Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce. “It’s incredible.” He said. Incredible and easy was enough to convince me.
Most of us think eggplant equals Italian food. Or at least that’s what us Italians think. Eggplant is believed to originate from India and has been cultivated in southern and eastern Asia since prehistory. The first written record of the plant is found in Qimin Yaoshu, an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 C.E. In the middle ages, melanzana (Italian for eggplant) was widely grown in Arabic countries and the Mediterranean.
There are countless cultivars of eggplant in different sizes and shapes. Japanese eggplant and Chinese eggplant can be hard to distinguish. They have a similar elongated shape. The difference is, Chinese eggplant is bright purple, whereas Japanese eggplant is darker purple or ink colored. And sometimes Japanese eggplant is longer.
The fleshy texture of all eggplant and mild flavor makes this fruit perfect for meals with rich sauces. Other favorites made with eggplant besides eggplant parmesan are, BBQ grilled, stir fry, stuffed eggplant and smoked roasted eggplant dip or baba ganoush.
Chinese Eggplant With Garlic Sauce
Ingredients:
2–3 long Japanese or Chinese eggplant, sliced in half lengthwise and chopped
2 tablespoons peanut oil
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
2–3 Chinese dried red chilis, chopped
4 scallions, finely chopped on the bias
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon chinkiang vinegar
1 tablespoon shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Note: I couldn’t find chinkiang vinegar, a good substitute is rice vinegar. I also couldn’t find Chinese dried red chilis so I used a half fresh chilli pepper. Double the sauce amount if you’re serving with rice or another starch.
Directions:
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Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl and set aside.
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In a large pan over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and eggplant. Stir fry for a few minutes (about 5 minutes) until the sides are golden brown and the center is tender.
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Transfer eggplant to a plate and add remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil to the pan. Add garlic, ginger, red chilis and cook for 1 minute.
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Add eggplant and scallions, toss and pour the sauce. Stir fry for 1 minute, until all the vegetables are coated.
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Turn the heat off and serve with white, brown rice for low carb tofu.
This was my first time making Chinese garlic sauce so I followed the recipe closely. The main takeaway is adding the sauce at the very end to avoid soggy eggplant. And make sure your pan is hot. It was very easy to make and only took 30 minutes from start to finish.
To my excitement, it tasted like … real Chinese food – salty, sweet and sour, yet it felt less “heavy” than Chinese takeout. The garlic was strong and I like heat so I added a nice amount of the chili for that good ol’ punch! As an accompaniment, I bought bean threads (thin noodles) because they looked interesting and it ended up working really well.
Give this one a try, it won’t disappoint!
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggplant
by Paula D.
on January 25, 2021 10:56 am in Recipes
On New Year’s Eve I made a decadent tray of ziti. I put the cheesy videos on Instagram stories. Several people messaged me asking for the recipe. I gave them some quick pointers because I don’t have a recipe written down.
To elaborate, I want to share my secrets to a delicious ziti here. And I’ll say, it’s more about these tips than it is about following a recipe to the measurement.
The Sauce: It’s easy to make a good sauce if you throw a piece of pork or sausage in the pot. The true skill comes with traditional vegetarian marinara. Colavita extra virgin olive oil is one of my secrets. Start the garlic and onions in that (and use a lot of everything). Make sure the pot is hot first (2-3 min.) Many home cooks forget that starting off with a high temperature is key to prevent sticking and burning.
I like a little texture in my sauce – I use two diced cans of Sclafani and two puree.
It’s all about the spices – fresh sprigs are preferred but use what you have especially now in the winter. Here’s what I do – salt, black pepper, red pepper, oregano, basil, thyme. If I have it in, I’ll add capers (and use less salt). I add red wine and/or sugar to taste. Some form of sugar is important to cut the bitterness. I add lots of Pecorino Romano. The block of cheese somehow tastes better than the pre-grated. And this is my big secret – black cured Moroccan olives. It gives the sauce meaty richness.
The Pasta: Al dente! The ziti must be a little hard because it still has to cook in the oven. A common mistake is over cooking pasta and it becomes too mushy, breaking apart in the tray. Always salt the water.
The Cheese: Use plenty of cheese and never use part-skim. You’re making ziti – it’s not a low calorie meal, so just go for it. For one tray (1 pound pasta) I use one 16 oz. Polly-O mozzarella. I put chunks of mozzarella mixed in with the pasta and sauce and layer the rest on top. For the top layer, cut the cheese thin and add many layers overlapping. Also add, three heaping scoops of Polly-O ricotta. And again … a bunch of Pecorino Romano. Make sure the mixture of cheese/ pasta / sauce is very fluid. The pasta will absorb this mixture and if you don’t use enough of everything, it will dry out.
The Oven: Don’t overcook the tray. My oven, which is a convection, gets very hot, fast. I cook the tray of ziti for 30min covered with tin foil. Take off the foil for the last 5 min. to get a little crispness on the edges. If you’re unsure of the time, just open the oven and take a peek at the cheese. It should be melted and bubbling only a little bit.
Serve: I mention “don’t overcook” because when you take the tray out of the oven, the pasta and cheese is still cooking. Wait 5 minutes before serving. Drizzle additional olive oil on the top of the ziti before bringing it to table. So important – always have extra sauce and Pecorino when serving.
Follow me on Instagram for the day-to-day in the kitchen – @theglorifiedtomato
by Paula D.
on January 25, 2021 10:51 am in Memories
Tomorrow is my 40th birthday. I’ve been using the line “I’m pushin’ 40” for the past two years because it’s hilarious. You can essentially say any off-the-cuff or inappropriate comment followed by, “I’m pushin’ 40” and somehow it makes anything okay, and provides a nice jeuje to almost any joke. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. If you’re in your mid to late 30s, I highly recommend you try it. The only thing that bothers me about turning 40 is that I can’t say “I’m pushin’ 40” anymore.
A few weeks back, I posted the magic one-liner on Facebook for the pure joy of typing it out for one of the last times. Within an hour, I’m receiving these “words of wisdom” responses:
“Welcome to the other side.”
“It’s not so bad cuz.”
“Wow that’s big kid! Good luck with labor!”
“U got this chica!”
“Same here. It’s terrible.”
“Don’t sweat it, I’m pushing 63 and have a great life.”
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. To me, it is just a great line — I hadn’t been sweating it at all. Only two of my friends understood the gag. I thought “Anyone who truly knows me must know I don’t give a [insert profanity here] about getting older.”
Why is getting older in our culture a negative? 98% of my friends and family that commented on FB assumed I was upset about hitting the milestone birthday. Instead of getting a laugh, it messed with my head. It backfired for the first time in its history. The more I thought about the responses, the more I realized there are only a few people in this whole world that truly know and understand who you are.
This brought me further down the rabbit hole, thinking about the pandemic and Covid-19. Whose lives have we sacrificed for our need to continue our leisure activities and comfortable lifestyles? The elderly and weakest of our society, yes? I’ll leave it there.
I’ve written about aging a few times. To reiterate in short … there’s no stopping the clock, we’re all getting older. Let’s take the ride with a positive mind and embrace each new phase of our journeys. There have been people in my life that have died young. And around my birthday I think of them with love, as I pass the age of their passing further and further. This is a reminder to me, to be grateful for every year this universe allows me to live.
The average life expectancy for men in the U.S. is 79, women 81. This means our mid-life crisis is around 40 years old. Who made us believe it was in our 50s? I guess TV. To celebrate my mid-life crisis milestone birthday, I’ve decided to shave the side of my head. Think Rihanna cirica 2012. I’ve always wanted to do it and what better time than now. It’s also a lot cheaper than buying a fancy car or getting Kybella.
So my good friend Keith came over and helped me out, buzzing my head on the front porch. It was exhilarating! And I think it looks pretty good.
If you’re approaching a milestone birthday my unsolicited advice is to embrace it. Don’t post anything weird on Facebook. Do something silly, winter swim in the ocean, get botox, shave your head – anything that makes you smile. We’ re all so fortunate to be breathing on this planet earth, in NYC, in our special oceanside community.
Anyway, I got to wait a few more years, but I’m already looking forward to peppering off-color comments with “I’m pushing 50!”
by Paula D.
on January 16, 2021 8:58 am in Family
Since reading the article in The Wave two weeks ago about Annie McMahon, I’ve been thinking so much about my cousin Tommy, who also suffered from Cystic Fibrosis.
In the beginning, everything seemed normal with my cousin growing up. My godparents never let on to all the troubles and pain they lived with.
Tommy was my cool, older cousin, always messing around and being nutty. I remember the block parties in Brooklyn, on Herbert street where my great aunt lived. I’ll never forget the time I was running down the street screaming for dear life. Tommy being 8 years older than me, easily caught up, grabbed the back of my shirt and poured a bucket of ice water down my back. I think I was laughing and crying at the same time!
At family parties we would have eating competitions – meatballs, hotdogs, chicken wings or whatever was in the sternos. All the cousins would chant for their favorite. The excitement grew as some of the kids visibly slowed down and the winner became apparent. It was always Tommy or my cousin Steven who won.
I was around 10 or 11 years old. The phone rang in the middle of the night. It was the call. My Mom woke the kids up to tell us the news. Tommy was getting lungs! I remember feeling excited and happy. Before I went back to bed though, I saw my mom sitting at the kitchen table with her rosary beads.
I think we visited Tommy once or twice in the hospital. I don’t remember much about his recovery. We were blessed, his new lungs were not rejected. And things got back to “normal”.
Tommy and my sisters would go out to the city to the Limelight. And he took Maria to her first concert, Nirvana… oh I wish! As I got older we’d also go out to bars, Halloween parties or just hang out at my mom’s house or Tommy’s apartment.
I’m so glad my cousin got to know my husband Matt. Tommy came to his band’s shows sometimes in Brooklyn. I remember once we were driving to Galapagos. We took two cars, I guess there were a lot of us. I turned on a yellow and he followed and got pulled over. He was mad, but didn’t let on too much.
He knew so much about music. And he was hilarious. I swear he could have been a famous radio personality or podcaster. I remember so many times laughing so hard my stomach hurt. He had that gift.
Tommy was at my wedding, this was 2009. He didn’t get up from the table. He was pretty sick again at this point but I know he wanted to be there for me.
I remember once Tommy telling me something to the effect of, “I can’t stand when people complain about being hungover, I’m sick all the time and I can’t do anything about it.” I know he was angry about his circumstances. I think of this a lot, at times when I drink too much. What a waste of time and health.
I participated in Annie’s plunge in 2011, after Tommy passed away the month before on January 21st. People were taking shots to warm up beforehand. I didn’t partake. The adrenaline rush of plunging into 35 degree water was better than any high alcohol could have given me that day. I raised $2,300 and I still feel proud of that.
Tommy was only 38 years old when he passed away. Now that I’m older than he was, it feels so surreal. He was too young. It drives me crazy when I hear people talk about ignoring a birthday or saying negative things about getting old. I always think of my cousin when this happens. I’ll make a light comment, “Well, I’m glad I’m just here on planet earth!” But it’s not a joke. We should be grateful for every day we have. They are so precious.
Diseases like Cystic Fibrosis have a ripple effect on families and friends. I’m thankful to share only a little bit about my cousin with you. There is so much more!
Annie’s has a story too. If you missed this article published a few weeks back, here.
