Gaston Alive Magazine

The leaves have turned and family begins to gather. Evenings are spent around fires and mornings carry a chill which keeps us under the covers a bit longer. The sun isn’t up but everyone still needs to be ready to go to either work or school. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I love to have some variety. If you have never worked with sourdough starter this is an easy entry, if you have your own, perfect-it’s a great excuse to get it out and feed it.

Sourdough traces its ancestry back to the early Egyptians, but is more popularly known from the California and Alaska Gold Rush days. Prospectors earned the moniker of ‘Sourdoughs’ and fiercely guarded their particular batch of starter as each one develops a unique flavor. An easy method of starting your own is mixing two cups of flour with equal parts of water, three tablespoons of sugar and a packet of yeast to get the process going. The starter needs to sit out for 2-3 days to get the initial fermentation. Always keep starter in glass or crockery and stir with wooden utensils. Feed a starter a cup of flour and water weekly or store it in the refrigerator. (Many books written on the subject)

Using your starter is easy; feed it the day before and if refrigerated remove two days in advance to warm then feed.

Pancake ingredients:
1 cup Sourdough Starter
1 egg
1⁄4 cup of pumpkin – I used canned pumpkin 100% pure not pumpkin pie mix
1⁄2 cup of milk
1⁄2 tsp Baking Soda
1⁄2 tsp Baking Powder
1⁄2 tsp Cinnamon
1⁄4 tsp Nutmeg
Dash or two of Salt

Topping ingredients:
1 apple – seeded and sliced 1⁄4 cup of brown sugar
1⁄2 cup of dried cranberries 1⁄2 cup of apple cider
1⁄2 cup of Walnuts (Optional)

Saute’ topping ingredients till cider begins to thicken. Then combine all pancake ingredients to preserve some of the bubbling action of the pancake dough. Cook as normal pancakes but these will be thinner (1/4 inch thick) vs. a ‘flapjack’ style (1/2 inch thick) pancake. After topping the pancakes you can drizzle with maple syrup. I used a bit of whip cream to top and dusted with some additional cinnamon.

Ciao, Glenn and Glenn

Is it a Trick, or Treat? What’s that you say; you don’t like eggplant? Maybe you haven’t tried it the right way yet, or maybe it’s the way it looks when served or possibly the consistency. I say try it again, but this time let’s make them more like twice baked potatoes. Mmmmm, your thinking; I like twice baked potatoes, but the calories, not to worry these are healthy!

This interesting vegetable originates from India and is a part of the Nightshade family so it’s related to tomato, potato and even tobacco. It actually contains the highest concentration of Nicotine of any plant, but don’t worry you would have to eat 20 pounds of eggplant to get the nicotine of one cigarette. In addition, the eggplant contains folic acid and potassium and helps to block the formation of free radicals. (Those pesky molecules associated with aging and a slew of diseases from Cancer to Cataracts)

Ingredients:

4 Eggplants – Recommend small ones that fit into your palm like a baking potato
1/2 cup red bell pepper – one whole bell pepper seeded and diced
1/2 cup Ricotta
1/4 cup of Parmesan – Fresh grated is better
1 Tsp of garlic
1 egg
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly pierce the eggplant and place them on a baking sheet. (good safety tip, I actually had one explode while creating this recipe) Bake the eggplant for 40 min or until they start to shrivel. Let cool and slice in half, clean the eggplant flesh from the outer skin gently with a spoon. This recipe only makes six so if you tear a couple of the skins you will still have enough.
Place the baked eggplant flesh, red pepper, Ricotta, Parmesan, garlic and egg in a bowl and mix well, season with salt and pepper to taste. Carefully fill six skins with this mixture, sprinkle with bread crumbs and a bit more Parmesan.
Place back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes more, serve hot. If desired a bit of butter can be served on top, but our taste testers found it was not needed. Serve this treat at your next dinner and you will find that it is a nice little trick on your tastebuds.

Ciao,
Glenn & Glenn

Oh my gosh – I am so late in getting a recipe done this month! It seems once it gets past summer we are in the entertainment mode: trips, vacations, expected and unexpected guests. Everybody need a quick easy meal or noshing that can be put together in a few minutes that makes guests think you have been planning all day. Usually that’s a pasta because the bulk of the ingredients are right on hand and pretty quick to throw together.

Other ideas are bruschetta, or variations, utilizing slices of bread and lots of different toppings either hot or cold. How about a quick idea that you can pick up the ingredients on your next shopping trip, and they last quite a while so you can handle any surprise.

Most folks have heard of ants on a log, so let’s take that simple dish and add a delicious gourmet twist.

Smoked Salmon Bites

• 1 package of cream cheese 1 package of smoked salmon 1 bunch of celery
• 1 red onion
• Capers (optional)

Preparation

Clean the celery and cut off any leaves, mince the leaves (or optional capers) and mix with the cream cheese. Fill the cavity of the celery with the cream cheese and add small pieces of the smoked salmon. Finely mince the red onion and sprinkle across the top.

Cut the prepared celery/cream cheese/salmon/onion into inch long bites and arrange on a nice plate.

It’s quick and delicious- let us know your secret trick and we’ll run the best readers suggestions and ideas for quick entertaining. You can email those (along with a photo if possible) to: info@gastonalive. com There will be a $50 Gift Certificate to a nice local restaurant for the best recipe.

Ciao, Glenn and Glenn

We got this note from our friend Hal Neely about great uses for seasonal fruit and produce-enjoy! –The Glenns

Guys, we were given a couple pounds of ripe figs yesterday and I wondered what to do with them. I had heard about oven-roasting, so I thought I would try that. I cut them in half and placed them on a large baking pan and slow-roasted them at 275 degrees for 3 hours. They turned out great. The natural savory sweetness was intensified. They can be eaten directly as a snack, served as a side with dinner, or used in making other dishes. They are in season now, so your readers may be interested in the oven-roasting idea.

While considering roasting vegetables that are currently in season, I would also recommend roasting Roma tomatoes (aka plum tomatoes) similarly. These will need some seasoning to enhance their flavor. I mashed a couple fresh garlic cloves in extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over the tomatoes, cracked some black pepper over them and added some sea salt, then I dashed them with dried thyme. They roasted in a little over three hours. They turned out with a pleasant sun-dried aroma and taste. I used them on pasta- they could also be used on pizza.

Finally, I’ve had good results roasting whole okra pods that are lightly coated with extra virgin olive oil. You can do it outside on the grill, or inside on a George Foreman grill. It takes only a few minutes to cook the whole pods. The slippery juices are diminished and the light char marks from the grill really bring out the flavor of the okra. This has turned out to be my favorite way to eat okra. Yes, they are better roasted like this than the ‘batter and fry’ method that is a Southern tradition.

The origin of this dish is a bit of a disputed item…

In one version A retired Wallstreet stock broker, Lemuel Benedict, suggested a version on toast as a cure for a hangover. The enterprising maître d’hôtel was impressed and kept it on the breakfast and lunch menus.  In another, Commodore E.C. Benedict, yachtsman and banker was the inventor. And finally, Mrs. Le Grand Benedict, living in New York and a frequent Delmonico’s patron being tired of the usual fare asked the maitre’d for something new. Asking her what she suggested, Mrs. Benedict replied, poached eggs on toasted English muffins with a thin slice of ham, hollandaise sauce and a truffle on top.

Ingredients

• English muffins
• Smoked salmon
• Red onion or shallot
• Tomato fresh home grown if you have them
• Poached eggs
• Hollandaise
• Paprika

Easy Hollandaise recipe

Notoriously difficult, and finicky to make, Hollandaise is one of the five key sauces in French Cooking. The traditional method may produce a richer sauce but I have found an easy and almost infallible way to whip up this delicious sauce in a blender.

The basic ratio is one egg yolk to two tablespoons of butter to ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice. It can be adjusted to taste, and the yolks will absorb more than two table spoons of butter, but I find this ratio to be pleasing and easy.

Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Butter
• Lemon Juice
• Cayenne

Separate the yolks and whites; put the yolks in a blender. Melt the butter and drizzle into the egg yolks running the blender at slow speed. Once all butter is incorporated then add lemon juice as desired to gain proper consistency (Thick or Runny) put in a pinch of Cayenne. Perfect Hollandaise every time.

Chicken Filled Crepes

This is one of my favorite recipes that even my kids will eat.  My original recipe was obscenely caloric, so I wanted to cut down on the calories but keep the flavor. As it turns out it  wasn’t that difficult.  I will tell you that it is a little labor intensive.  So if you want to decrease some of your labor, buy the crepes at the grocery store (Yes, you can find them here in our local stores).

Crepes

2 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

½ tsp Salt

1 Cup Flour

2 Tbs Melted Butter

In a blender beat the eggs, then beat in the milk, salt, flour and butter.  Cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes.  Heat a 7-inch skillet or crepe pan until moderately hot, then very lightly film the pan with butter (I always wipe the excess with a paper towel).  If you want to be a little fancy throw in to the pan some chiffonade of sage (This will add flavor and eye appeal). Using a measuring cup, pour in several tablespoons of batter, and then quickly tilt the pan in a rotation so the batter spreads evenly to make the thinnest possible layer.  Cook until the bottom is lightly browned and the edges lift easily from the pan.  The crepe will loosely slide around the pan, flip it over and cook the other side until pockets of light brown appear.  Stack on a plate and keep warm, for further assembly.  This will make about 12 crepes.

Chicken Filling

Here you can use Chicken or Turkey Breast cut into small bite size pieces (about 1 – 1 ½ pounds)

Flour for Dredging

Salt

Pepper

1 Tbs Fresh Rosemary, Finely Chopped

2 Tbs Butter

2 Tbs Oil

½ pound Mushrooms, sliced

2 Cloves Garlic minced

1 Cup Dry White Wine (or Chicken Stock)

1 Cup Heavy Cream

2 Tbs Chopped Basil

¼ Parmesan Cheese

Chopped Tomato (Garnish for top of crepe)

Dredge chicken in flour, salt, pepper and rosemary.  Melt butter and oil together in a fry pan, add chicken and brown, add the mushrooms and brown, then add garlic, wine and heavy cream.  Cook until thickened and add basil and cheese.

Place about 3 tablespoons of the filling in a crepe, place seam side down, sprinkle with chopped tomatoes.  For this dinner I served with steamed asparagus and carrots.

Bon Appetite!

Glenn and Glenn