Pasta Alla Norma

According to tradition, this pasta will only turn out, if you are listening to the beautiful Bellini aria
Norma. A glass of wine from Catania his birthplace is in the mix too. The opera starts out deep in the forest within a sacred grove, the Druids gather around an alter and pray to their god for strength against the Roman armies. The high priest, Oroveso, leads them in their prayer. After they have said their prayers, they leave the forest. Moments later, Pollione, the Roman, arrives with his centurion, Flavious, telling him that he no longer loves Oroveso's daughter, Norma (even though she broke her vow of chastity and gave birth to two children). Pollione has fallen in love with one of the virgin temple priestesses, Adalgisa. When the bronze temple ....

2 eggplants about 1 1/2 pounds
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 pinch of red pepper flake1 small onion minced
4 large tomatoes peeled and diced
ground pepper
1 pound of rigatoni
1/2 cup basil torn
1/2 cup grated ricotta salata

Traditionally the eggplant is seasoned with salt, garlic, and left to dry in the sun. Will as we do not have the pleasure of the warm Mediterranean sun; slice the ends of the eggplant and remove the skin. Cut the eggplant the size of your rigatoni and place in a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle with kosher salt and leave for a couple of hours. Then rinse with cold water and drain for another hour.

Heat a large frying pan with one tablespoon of olive oil and cook eggplant for about 10 minutes until golden brown. While frying the eggplant, place a large pot of boiling water over high heat. Salt the water until it tastes like sea water. When the water comes to a rolling boil; you will cook the rigatoni for about 10 minutes.


Now remove the eggplant from the frying pan and drain on paper towels. Add the remaining oil to the frying pan and add the onion. Cook until the onion has some color. Now add the garlic and pepper flakes and saute for a minute or two. Now add the tomatoes and decrease heat and simmer.

Now pour the drained cooked pasta into a large serving bowl and top with tomato sauce, eggplant, basil and grated ricotta salata.

Please note that you can use any kind of grated cheese. Smoke mozzarella, Parmigiano Regiano and Pecorino Romano are all good. I added smoked mozzarella & capers to mine. Although these are nontraditional.

Now turn up the music and find out what happens to Norma.

 

Peanut Butter & Apricot Jam Banana Bread

Warning this is not a low calorie recipe, but a really tasty banana bread recipe ! It is also a great use for all those over ripe bananas. I used raw peanuts and lightly toasted them to add to the batter. I found this recipe in a Better Homes & Gardens Fall Baking Magazine. I tweaked it like I always do; with ingredients that I like. Great for a cold fall winter snack and for kids that are not allergic to peanuts.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and then toast 1/2 cup of raw peanuts and set aside to cool. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

In a mixer blend 1 1/2 cups of ripe bananas, two eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of melted butter, 1/4 cup of peanut butter and 1/4 cup of the roasted peanuts chopped.

In a separate bowl, whisk 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger.

Now make the streusel nut topping. In a bowl mix 2 tablespoons of flour, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 3 teaspoons of very cold butter. Mix until the mixture is a coarse crumb. Now add the remaining nuts. Set aside.

Now add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in your mixer. Mix only until it comes together and then add it to the prepared pan. Take the 1/3 cup of apricot jam and swirl it into the batter and top with the streusel mixture.

Bake for about one hour. A wooden toothpick into the center should come out clean. You will  need to cover the loaf pan with foil about half way through to prevent over browning of topping. The recipe says to wrap the loaf and let stand overnight.

 

Red Curry Prawn Rice

You must cook shrimp shell on in this dish. The stock & shrimp will get the wonderful flavor from the shells. Just remove the vain by slicing through the back to remove.

Red curry paste has lemongrass, red chili pepper, galangal, kafir lime and Thai ginger in it.

Galangal root is also known as blue ginger, and is part of the ginger family. Galangal's flavor is a little bit different from regular ginger and I encourage you to try it; as it helps Osteoarthritis.

Serve this dish with sliced limes on the side.

1 1/3 cups of basmati rice soaked in cool water
1 1b extra large raw shell on Key West Pink Shrimp
1 large onion diced
1 clove of garlic minced
2 1/3 cups of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil in a thick Dutch oven on medium high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté for 12 minutes and then add the minced garlic. Cook for a minute and then add the shrimp shell on with vain removed. Now add the ground spices and shrimp paste. Cook the raw flavor of the spices out for a minute or two. Now add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the drained basmati rice and bring up to a boil. Cover the rice, turn down to very low and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the rice. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Granny Smith & Cranberry Bran Muffins

I like moist bran muffins. Adding shredded tart apples adds a lot of moisture to a healthy muffin. This muffin recipe has 1 and 1/2 cups of wheat bran. The added tartness of the dried cranberries makes this a tasty healthy choice in the morning.

1 1/2 cups of unprocessed wheat bran
1/4 cup of room temperature butter
1/2 cup of boiling water
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 granny smith apples grated
2 tablespoons of dried cranberries
sliced almonds to top muffins

Mix the boiling water and the wheat bran and let stand until cool. Now in a mixer cream the butter and brown sugar. Mix  in the egg and now add in the bran mixture. Add in the dry ingredients and the  vanilla & buttermilk. Then stir in the grated apple and dried cranberries. Fill a muffin tin with the batter and top with sliced almonds. Bake the muffins in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.