Norteño eating

It's New Year's eve, that night of nights when we eat something that will bring prosperity for the year to come. In the south, they will likely be having "hopping john," blackeyed peas and rice with bacon or ham, as their lucky dish. In many parts of the world, carp will be eaten. I'm not holding forth on the culinary miracle that is carp, it's really all about the fact that they have really big scales that resemble coins, and eating carp for New Years and keeping a couple of the scales in your wallet is supposed to bring you wealth. My spouse is Polish, and I am of German descent. For us, essentials for the season are pork and cabbage. Many Polish folks will be eating kielbasa z Kapusta (sausage and sauerkraut) tonight. But we will be having kapusta z kluski, cabbage and noodles. Pork with cabbage is almost mandatory, at least on New Years Eve, Kapusta (which means both fresh cabbage and sauerkraut) and kluski (egg noodles) are eaten year around. Kapu

The ham most of us eat today has only a little in common with the ham that was common at the table a century ago. Yes, it is smoked, cured pork. But today, that ham is typically cured by injecting it with a solution of brine and flavor additives; faster, and it puts the consumer in the position of paying ham prices for water. Look carefully at the supermarket label and you will likely see in small print, "ham and water product" or "10% added water by weight." The country hams of old were a different beast. Pork, yes, and generally pork leg, they would be rubbed down with a mixture of salt, sugar (or molasses) and spices, and left in this for days or even weeks, a process which drew water out of the pork, jump-starting the drying process as it preserved the ham. This was prior to the days of the refrigerator and freezer, and that was the core concept of the ham - by drying the meat out, infusing the flesh with salt and nitrates, and smoking it, the perishable po

OK, this will probably horrify some foodies, but I do occasionally rely on canned or bottled prepared ingredients. I am known to buy bottled spaghetti sauce, and bottled salsa. I do check the labels to make sure I am not being fed weird chemicals. That being said, the following is another non-traditional pasta recipe making use of eggplant and another exotic, the artichoke. Eggplant and Artichoke Pasta 1 15 oz jar spaghetti sauce 1 can artichokes (NOT marinated, you want fresh for this) 1 large black eggplant or an equivalent of smaller eggplant red wine 2 cloves garlic pinch of red pepper flakes olive oil Pasta (whole wheat penne is good) OK, a splash of olive oil in the skillet, chop the garlic and throw it in along with the red pepper flakes, saute a minute or two until sizzling and smelling good but not browning. While this is going on, peel the eggplant if it is a biggun and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. If using baby eggplants, you can leave the skin on and cut into bit

I said I was on an eggplant mission, and I wasn't kidding. The following is not a recipe traditional to ANY ethnic cuisine AFAIK, it is something I threw together after chatting with Armand Saiia of El Valle's Dragonfly Farms and purchasing a bag full of his excellent baby eggplants. Eggplant, Sage and Walnut Pasta 1 lb baby eggplant, sliced in half-inch rounds ½ cup olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced Pinch of red pepper flakes handful of chopped walnuts ¼ cup dried breadcrumbs several chopped fresh sage leaves Salt, pepper to taste. Saute the garlic and red pepper flakes in the olive oil until it smells good but do not let the garlic brown. Add the eggplant and saute until softened. Add the bread crumbs, walnuts and fresh sage leaves and saute a minute or two more. Season. Toss with pasta. Whole wheat penne would be perfect. Grated parmesan is nice but not required.

I chose this title because I have been asked that question several times when buying eggplant in the local supermarket. Even cashiers have expressed their perplexity over the eggplant. Odd, since it grows well here and really delicious eggplant is available in season from local farmers. So I will, for the next few blog posts, be on a mission - to share with you some wonderful eggplant recipes. Eggplant is yet another gift from the deadly nightshade family,as are peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. It is bland in flavor, and because of this quite versatile. It is an ingredient in many ethnic cuisines, including Japanese, French, Middle Eastern and Italian. It gets on well with its nightshade cousins tomato and peppers, and can be taken in a number of directions, flavor-wise. We'll start off with a Mexican spin on a classic French recipe that is a celebration of fresh, summer vegetables and which relies heavily on the usual suspects of local cuisine as well as eggplant. Ratatouil