gluten free cooking

Spicy Baby Eggplant and Pasta Stew

This post is for my friend Diane, the queen of eggplants!  We have been friends for a couple of years and share garden space at the church garden.  She really knows how to grow eggplants, dozens on a single plant both years!

baby eggplants

This recipe is for dealing with those small eggplants you find yourself with when the frost strikes and all delicate plants die in the frosty fall air.  I pick them no matter how small and this is how we use them!  Yes, the eggplant recipe fest continues!

This stew is very suitable for the slow cooker although you could do it on the stove top, I used to cook them in a big pot and watch over it until the eggplants are tender but I really love being able to put it all in my crock pot and walk away for four hours.  No worries on burnt bottom of the pot syndrome when you use the slow cooker.

If you don’t have baby eggplants I think you could use Japanese eggplants cut into workable lengths.

I used to make it rather bland but I really enjoy this spicy version!

Spicy Baby Eggplants and Pasta Stew

Ingredients

7-12 small eggplants from tiny up to about six inches long

1-2 ounces hard parmesan cheese

1 32 oz can of tomato sauce

½ cup baby carrots

1 medium carrot diced

½ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp. red pepper flakes (more or less to your personal taste)

½ tsp. sea salt

1 large garlic clove, smashed

½ cup oil cured black olives

1-2 tbsp. capers

Directions:

Cut the Parmesan cheese into tiny wedges.  Trim off the top cap of the eggplant.  Cut 3-4 slashes in the side of each eggplant going in the direction from the cap to the bottom.

Put a wedge of cheese into each deep slash.  I only put 2 slashes in tiny eggplants, 3 in bigger ones and 4 in the largest eggplants.  Put the eggplants into your slow cooker. Top with the chopped onion and carrots.  I cut my carrots in half as they were kinda large. Top with the herbs/spices. Pour the tomato sauce over it all. I used a quart of homemade tomato sauce out of my freezer. If you use a can of plain tomato sauce you might want to add 1 tsp. dried basil and same amount of oregano.  Top with the garlic, olives, and capers.  Cover and cook in your slow cooker on high for 4 hours.

2914-10-31 007

Cook gluten free ziti, enough for how many people you are serving, and drain it one minute before the package directions say it will be done. Put it back in the now empty pot and add the eggplant mixture out of your crock pot.  Cook a minute stirring it all around the pot.  This allows the ziti to soak up some of the sauce and get a great authentic flavor.

2914-10-31 009

Serve in a low wide soup bowl with a good grating of Parmesan cheese on top.  If you have some gluten free rolls or fresh bread – heaven with this stew!

I like this stew leftover for lunch served over a microwaved baked potato. I use a knife to coarsely chop up the baby eggplants before heating them and pouring over the hot potato.

Note I used olives with pits but if you can find them pitted, all the better! If you are an olive hater, leave them out but they really add to the flavor.  Add more salt if you leave them out.

Red Beans and Rice, So Nice and So Easy!

Yesterday I got a strong hankering for red beans and rice.  Deciding not to wait I started a batch last night.  Since I worked all the next day from morning until dark my crock-pot became the preferred method for cooking this old school delicacy.  I put a cup of dried beans on to soak overnight.  I didn’t have plain red or kidney beans.  What was in the cupboard was a mixture of four beans including white navy beans, black beans, red kidney beans and some pink speckled kidney beans.   Image

This morning they were swollen with bean water but needed to be cooked so I rinsed them off well and tossed them in the crock-pot set on high to warm it as well as some onion chopped, a bay leaf, ½ a pound of bulk sausage chopped up and about 4 cups water.  Since I had not used the andoulle sausage the original recipe called for I added some extra seasonings: ½ a tsp of paprika, a garlic clove, a pinch of red pepper, a scant ¼ tsp smoked paprika, and ½ tsp. hot sauce specifically some green sauce.  I turned it to low before leaving at 8.

When back home eight hours later I added 2/3 cup raw brown rice and a ½ tsp of sea salt, and a few grinds of pepper.  I left for my second job at the library. Four hours later on returning I added a touch more salt and stirred it up well.  Image

Heavenly; creamy just like all the reviewers of the recipe I started with were longing for.  It was as good a creamy beans and rice as I have ever eaten. I think mine got extra creamy from the long slow cooking I gave it all day.

If you make it feel free to use what you have and modify as necessary.  But, be sure to wait to add the salt as it can make the beans tough.

Below is the recipe I had originally located on food network and modified to make today with a few additions I plan to make from now on. I didn’t have time this morning to chop celery and fresh red pepper. I think they will be great additions next time I make this Hispanic classic. If you use the andoulie sausage you can cut back on the hot sauce and spices. I made a bit less than this recipe; see my measurements above if you want a smaller amount.  Since I didn’t have the spicy sausage it is a bit different flavor wise. My modified recipe made 2 big servings plus a quart I put in the fridge for future meals. If you want more; use the proportions below.

It is naturally gluten free and a fantastic accompaniment to a number of classics from enchiladas to tacos.  So easy and tastes authentic without any fancy effort or ingredients. Enjoy!

 

Slow cooker red beans and rice

Ingredients

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 celery stalk chopped

1/3 red pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp paprika

¼ tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp. hot chili powder

1 bay leaf

Pinch crushed red pepper

½ tsp hot sauce
1/2 pound smoked Creole seasoned sausage ( andouille), cut into small pieces
2 cups dried red beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 quart water
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hot cooked rice (about 3 to 4 cups)

Directions

In a slow cooker, combine the onion, garlic and sausage. Stir in the beans and water and season, to taste, with pepper. Cover and cook on low heat until the beans are tender, about 7 1/2 hours (on high it takes between 3 1/2 to 4 hours). Remove 1/4 cup of beans from slow cooker; mash until smooth, then sir them stir back into slow cooker, add salt. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes on low or 15 minutes on high. Remove the beans from the cooker to a serving bowl. Serve over cooked rice and enjoy!

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/slow-cooker-red-beans-and-rice-