the one where Sachinky cooks an eggplant.

I finally figured out what to do with that eggplant in my refridgerator. The one I don't why I bought, except that it was on sale and I figured it's time we start eating some vegetables. I've been in a dip-phase lately so what better way to eat an eggplant than to pulverize it into a tasty dip? Presenting my variation of a roasted-eggplant-feta-dip.

Step One: Gather ingredients.
One medium size eggplant.
1/2 cup chopped onions.
3 large tablespoons of crumbled Greek feta.
Juice of one key-lime.
Salt, pepper and paprika for taste.
A dash of red chili flakes.
Chopped garlic.
A pinch of sugar.
1/4 cup of good quality olive oil.
Several large basil leaves chopped.

Step Two: Roast eggplant on a baking sheet at 350F. Let it cool.

Step Three: Throw in all the remaining ingredients in your mixer/blender/food processor.

Step Four: Once cooled, scoop out the flesh of the eggplant. I used our ice-cream scooper and it worked just fine. Add it to the mixer with a hint of sugar to prevent it from tasting too bitter.

Step Five: Blend well till desired consistency is achieved.

Step Six: Serve in a bowl with corn tortilla chips! I know, I know it doesn't look that appetizing but trust me on this one.

apple crumble.

This is a dish that tastes best on cold winter nights. I was first introduced to it by Samantha (who made peach crisp) using her mom's recipe and we made it plenty of times during our senior year.  As with everything I cook and like to eat, this is a simple dish, involving a few ingredients but very high in taste.

Gather ingredients: Apples. All-purpose flour. Packed brown sugar. Salt. Lime juice. Pecans or walnuts for garnish. And one stick of butter (not pictured below). One can add ground cinnamon and nutmeg for a little more spice but I didn't have any in my kitchen.

   

3/4 cup of brown sugar in a bowl. I've usually prepared this dish with regular white sugar but the brown sugar definitely adds a little something more to it.

3/4 cup of flour. And 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Dice one stick of cold butter.

Mix it well with your hands or a fork till it achieves the desired texture/consistency.

Chop and dice apples and marinate in the juice of half a lime. I used the local ones we purchased at the Sunflower Market last weekend. About four of them, chopped and diced. I left the peel on.

Said squeezed half-a-lime.

 Layer the apples with the sugar-flour topping.

Garnish with pecans.

Bake in 375F for about forty minutes till the apple is tender, the topping is golden brown and crusty and the juices are bubbling. Serve with whipped cream or French vanilla ice-cream.

the one where Sachinky cooks and eats pasta willingly.

Mr. Sachinky loves pasta. I hate pasta. Actually, I think it's the heavy, creamy sauces that I dislike. Presenting a slightly healthier alternative -- my version of angel-hair-shrimp pasta that we consumed in one sitting. The shrimps were fresh and on sale at Sunflower last night, so score!

Ingredients: Minced garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (I wanted to use chillies but I forgot to pick them up yesterday during our grocery shopping trip), shrimp, angel hair pasta, one tomato, half an onion, mushrooms, romano cheese, chives, butter and olive oil.

Step One: Peel, clean and wash shrimps.

Step Two: Boil pasta in boiling water with salt and a few spoons of oil to prevent the pasta from sticking. Drain.



Step Three: Drizzle olive oil in a hot skillet generously. Melt two-three spoons of butter in it. Fry minced garlic, chopped onions (yaay for my Perfect Chopper!) and sprinkle red-pepper-flakes.

Step Four: Chop mushrooms and tomatoes.

Step Five: Drop the shrimp in the skillet with the aforementioned items. Cook thoroughly.

Step Six: Mix the pasta well with the shrimp and let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Step Seven: Chop chives and mix it in with the pasta.

Step Eight: Sprinkle salt, pepper and an additional dose of olive oil. Mix well. Serve with a sparse dose of romano cheese on top.

It was beyond delicious, thanks for asking! :)

P.S.: Pictures by the ever willing, ever talented Mr. Sachinky who has declared himself as the official Media Co-ordinator for This Blog.

buffalo chicken dip.

Today is SuperBowl Sunday! Yay. I'm more about the wings, the commercials and the half-time show. Anyway, Mr. Sachinky and I decided to have a party. Number of invitees: two. Yes, we're retarded like that, whattodo? We have a massive planned spread of pizza, wings, onion rings, jalapeno poppers, tacquitos, beer for Mr. Sachinky and bottled margaritas for me! I decided to email Mrs. G for her buffalo chicken dip recipe since Mr. Sachinky has been raving about it for days and she emailed me back from Florida where she and Mr. G are spending their weekend with Mr. Sachinky's grandmother.

Anyway, it looked easy enough so I gave it a try. Holy-moly! It came out fantastic and I can't wait to make buffalo chicken wraps with the left-overs. If there are any.

Step One: Gather ingredients. About three cups of a shredded rotisserie chicken, 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Wings Sauce, 1/2 cup of blue cheese salad dressing. 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. And one 8 oz. package of cream cheese. The bottle of Mike's Margarita is just for me.

Step Two: Three cups of shredded chicken in a baking dish. No skin, of course. We used a rotisserie chicken since that was easier but I'm sure you can use uncooked chicken breasts as well.

Step Three: Pour the buffalo wings sauce and blue cheese over the chicken.

Step Four: Add a package of slightly melted cream cheese. Then throw in the shredded cheese as well. We used our regular variety of colby-jack-monterey. I debated between that and blue cheese crumbles but our salad dressing had chunks of blue cheese in it so out of consideration for Mr. Sachinky I didn't want the blue-cheese taste to be too over-powering. (As if there's such a thing as too much blue cheese!)

Step Four: Mix well and bake in the oven (350F) for about ten-minutes. If you're using uncooked chicken, it'll probably be twenty-five minutes before the chicken is cooked and the cheese mixture is bubbling.

Voila!

P.S.: As always photo credits go to Mr. Sachinky.