Eggplant and Potato Curry

Eggplant and Potato Curry (adapted from Indianfood.about.com)

5-6 baby eggplants, cut into halves or quarters

2 potatoes, cut into quarters

1 onion, chopped

3 tablespoons oil

Fennel

Coriander

Cumin

Tumeric

Cayenne Pepper

Cinnamon

or

Curry Powder

Cilantro

Water

In a deep pan, heat the oil on a medium flame until hot.
Add the onions and spices and sautee until soft and transluscent.
Add the eggplant and potato and mix well. Sauteefor 2 minutes.
Sprinkle water on the vegetables and mix all well.
Cover the dish and cook untilthe vegetables are almost done. Check occasionally.
Remove the cover from the dish and stir. Cook until done. You may need to add more water.
Garnish with chopped, fresh cilantro leaves and serve with hot Naan -- we buy pre-made frozen Naan at an Indian store. It's really good and it saves a lot of time.

Beef Tips Cabernet

The inspiration for this recipe came from Katie over at Good Things Catered. And, as she mentioned in her post this recipe is "FULL of flavor". I opted to cook mine in a crock pot rather than a dutch oven.

I prepared this recipe for two servings only. It can easily be adjusted to serve more.

1 lb. beef sirloin, trimmed and cut into cubes
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 package mushrooms, dusted and quartered
Fresh Rosemary Sprigs ( I used two)
Fresh Thyme ( I used two)
2 Bay leaves
1 cup cabernet sauvigon
1 cup beef broth
flour (for thickening)
salt and pepper (to taste)
Olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in frying pan. Add beef and brown for 2-3 minutes. Remove beef from the pan and place in crock pot. Add wine to the pan to deglaze. After deglazing add wine to crockpot along with beef broth. Add mushrooms and herbs to the crockpot. Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours. Before serving thicken w/ flour and water mixture.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

My mashed potatoes

4 large potatoes, peeled and halved
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
Butter ( I usually add 1/2 a stick)
Milk (A few splashes until I reach the desired consistencey)
Sour Cream (2-3 tablespoons)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring potatoes to boil in stockpot, boil until potatoes are easily pierced by a fork. Remove potatoes from heat and drain. Add garlic, butter, milk, sour cream, and salt and pepper to potatoes. Mash with potato masher or hand blender.

Green Beans and Red Potatoes

This is quite possibly one of my favorite comfort meals, and most fitting to my "Cooking in the Heartland" theme. My grandma always seemed to have a big pot of green beans and red potatoes with bacon during the summer. Such a simple combination. When my mom and dad visited last weekend they brought me a big bag of garden fresh green beans. Of course, I had to make green beans and red potatoes. I omitted the bacon because Jake and I were too lazy to go the store. I plan on using the leftovers to make a green bean stew similar to this recipe from Good Things Catered, I'll use beef in place of the lamb.

The recipe is simple...

Fresh out of the garden green beans (use as little or as much as you want), snapped and washed

Red potatoes (use as much or as little as you want), washed and cut

1 small onion, chopped

Fresh Cut Bacon, sliced into smaller pieces

Salt to taste

Place green beans,potatoes,onions,and bacon into large pot of water ( I used chicken broth and water). Sprinkle salt into water and bring to boil. Gently boil for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain water and serve.

* Arlo, our bird really enjoyed the green beans, too. :-)