Eggplant Confessions

I don't remember ever eating an eggplant, although I'm sure I have before...So I was a little nervous about dinner: Roasted eggplants with a tomato garlic glaze (Pg. 62).

I sliced the eggplant slightly thin, set the slices out on wax paper and salted them, then let them sit for 30 minutes. After which I rinsed them off and dried them on a paper towel. The glaze is made with tomato paste, sugar, olive oil, garlic finely chopped, and I added onion powder, salt & pepper. Then into the oven at 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes, or until crispy.

I'm not sure why, but they didn't turn out crispy except around the edges. They were still slightly mushy...but you know...since the flavor was there...it didn't really matter....they were still amazing! I love the way they taste, you wouldn't think eggplant would sound good...but it is actually incredibly delicious and flavor filled! I will definitely be using them again! I think next time i will bake them first and then on the stovetop...maybe then they will get crispy and still have that roasted flavor. Anyways..we both liked them!

I also made Cheese scones, from the baking section of the book (Pg. 204). They took about 15 minutes to prepare, roll out, and cut into shape. They had to rest for 15 minutes before putting them into the oven and then baked for 15 minutes at a 450 degree F. oven. They were wonderful! They weren't hard like scones often turn out, and I learned something new:

The secret of making scones is not to overwork the dough. If you overwork the dough, they often turn out hard and not delightfully fluffy. Cheese scones are best served if warm. According to my husband: they were wonderful :)

You would think that that was enough food right? lol...well as a main course we ate pasta with a sun dried tomato alfredo sauce. That was not made from scratch...just pasta...and pre-made sauce :) ...it was still good though.