Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce

Eggplant:

• 2/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 6 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano

Heat up the oil in a large saucepan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until nicely brown. Drain off as much oil as you can and discard it -- the safest way to do this is to scoop out the eggplant to a plate using a slotted spoon, then pour off the oil into a bowl before added the eggplant back in. You can save the oil to fry lamb chops or eggs in tomorrow.

Add the tomato paste to the pan and stir with the eggplant. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano and cook for a further 5 minutes to get a deep-flavored sauce. Set aside; warm it up when needed.

Polenta:

• 6 ears of corn
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons butter, diced
• 7 ounces feta, crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper 

Remove the leaves and "silk" from each ear of corn, then chop off the pointed top and stalk. Use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels -- either stand each ear upright on its base and shave downward, or lay each ear on its side on a cutting board to slice off the kernels. You want to have 1 1/4 pounds kernels.

Place the kernels in a medium saucepan and barely cover them with the water. Cook for 12 minutes on a low simmer. Use a slotted spoon to lift the kernels from the water and into a food processor; reserve the cooking liquid.

Process them for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry to process.

Now return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid and cook, while stirring, on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to mashed potato consistency. (Be aware that if you have a lot of liquid left in the pan, it can take a while to cook down the polenta, and it will sputter. Consider holding back some or all of the liquid. Alternately, if you like the consistency after processing, you can skip to step 5.)

Fold in the butter, the feta, salt and some pepper and optionally cook for a further 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serves 4.

VERDICT:  This was kind of a pain in the ass, despite having very few ingredients.  The polenta was worth it; the eggplant, not so much.  (Note: the amount of oil seemed excessive, so I cut it down to 1/3 cup, and it seemed fine.)  Keep 50%.  

Squash and Tomato Gratin

Toss 1 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs with 1/3 cup grated Parmesan and 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 sliced large tomato; cook, tossing occasionally, until juices are bubbling, about 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Top with 2 thinly sliced large summer squash and breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 350° until squash is tender and breadcrumbs are golden brown, 20–25 minutes.

Serves 4; 290 calories.

VERDICT:  I made this to use the zucchini from Katrina, and added in a yellow summer squash from the farmer's market.  I was afraid to put the new skillet into the oven, so I transferred the tomatoes and squash into a baking dish.  This was a total failure--I think the dish was too deep, as the squash didn't cook.  I also think the tomato to squash ration was a little scanty.  Also, it reheats quite poorly.  Toss.

Chai-Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Bars

• 1 stick butter, softened
• heaping 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp cloves (or sub pumpkin pie spice)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup jumbo mixed raisins

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
Carefully pour flour, salt and baking soda into a sifter and sift over wet ingredients. Add spices and stir. Then add oats and raisins and stir once more.

Chill the dough for 5-10 minutes. Then scrape into a buttered, lightly floured OR parchment lined 8×8 metal or glass dish and flatten until smooth.

Bake for about 25-28 minutes or until nice and golden brown on top and the sides pull away from the pan.

Let cool in the pan and then slice and serve. Store covered or in baggies to keep fresh.

Serves 12; 181 calories.

VERDICT:  From the Minimalist Baker.  I made these for our neighborhood's National Night Out party.  I used 2/3 all-purpose flour and 1/3 whole wheat.  They were good enough to take, but I overbaked them a little at 28 minutes (they hadn't pulled away from the pan!), and the spices were not as prominent as I'd like.  Toss.

Zucchini Bread

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
• 1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips or a combination thereof (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour two 8×4 inch loaf pans, liberally. (See those pictures of the cakes inside their non-stick pans? Yup, they’re pretty much hanging out in there for the time being.) Alternately, line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.
Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using.

Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans.

Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Serves 32; 288 calories.

VERDICT:  Not bad.  The loaves did, indeed stick inside the pan, but the thing itself is pretty good, standard zucchini bread.  We opted for both raisins and walnuts.  Raisins=genius.  Walnuts=eh.  It's possible there is no better zucchini bread out there, but toss.  I can think of a lot of things I'd rather make.

St. Germain and Ruby Red Cocktail

• 1 ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur
• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce Ruby Red grapefruit juice
• 1/2 ounce cranberry juice
• lemon peel for garnish

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the St. Germain, gin, and juices. Shake well. Strain the drink into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with lemon peel. Serve.

Serves 1.

VERDICT:  From The Merry Gourmet.  Quite delicious, even without a lemon peel garnish.  Keep.

Genever Sour Apple

• 1 1/2 shot Bols Genever
• 3/4 shot Bols Sour Apple
• 1 lime wedge
• Sprite

Build in a long drink glass with ice.  Top with Sprite and garnish with squeezed lime.

Serves 1.

VERDICT:  This recipe was suggested to us by the magic video bartender at the Schiapol (i.e. World's Best) Airport.  It took us nine months to make it, which is a shame--it is the perfect drink for skiving off work early and having happy hour in the back yard.  Keep! 

One-Pan Farro with Tomatoes

• 1 cup semi-pearled farro
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 9 oz. cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• up to 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Few basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Place water and farro in a medium saucepan to presoak (I find just 5 to 10 minutes sufficient) while you prepare the other ingredients. Adding each ingredient to the pot as you finish preparing it, cut onion in half again, and very thinly slice it into quarter-moons. Thinly slice garlic cloves as well. Halve or quarter tomatoes. Add salt, pepper flakes (to taste) and 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan, and set a timer for 30 minutes. Bring uncovered pan (no lid necessary) up to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. When the timer rings, the farro should be perfectly cooked (tender but with a meaty chew), seasoned and the cooking water should be almost completely absorbed. If needed, though I’ve never found it necessary, cook it for 5 additional minutes, until farro is more tender.

Transfer to a wide serving bowl. If there’s enough leftover cooking liquid to be bothersome, simply use a slotted spoon to leave the amount you wish to behind. Drizzle farro lightly with additional olive oil, scatter with basil and parmesan.

Serves 4 as a side, two as main.

VERDICT:  The recipe notes to adapt if "your package of farro gives you a different recommended water level or cooking time."  I had ten-minute farro from Trader Joe's, so I simmered the whole thing with a lid for twelve minutes and let it sit for five, as instructed on the package.  It turned out beautifully risotto-like, with surprisingly deep flavor for the amount of time and effort involved.  Genius recipe--keep!