It started out as innocent question to @agdr03 on Ash Wednesday.
Do you have any good fish or seafood recipes? The thought of eating just fish fillet for Lent is making me cranky.
She replied:
For fish, try my favourite baked salmon or trout with oyster sauce and lemon. You just put it on top and squeeze the lemon too, you can cut some lemons and put on top of the fish too. Cover in foil then baked for 15 minutes or maybe less. I think any fish will be ok but I like it with salmon and trout. ☺️
I’ll try to find the Instagram link where I got 5 variations on baked salmon and forward to you. I’ve given up Instagram as part of my Lenten devotion but I have a copy on my email, I think. ☺️
I wrote:
Oyster sauce? Interesting. I just recently discovered oyster sauce in cooking. It started when I bought the Korean BBQ grills. I wanted to give the ribs an authentic taste so instead of using our regular BBQ sauce, I looked up a Korean recipe. It called for oyster sauce. 😂
So I can also use oyster sauce too on fish? Duh! 🤦♀️ I totally forgot it had “oyster” in its name since I couldn’t taste the oysters. I thought it was just some sort of ketchup but sweeter.
Thanks. Will try it next time. This sounds easy.
Agdr03 replied:
Yes, that oyster sauce. ☺️ I’m sure the ribs marinated in the Korean recipe turned out good yeah? 😁
Let me know how you go. I hope you’ll like it. 😊
I gave her the recipe I found on the internet:
There were so many ingredients added for flavor that the ribs had no choice but to taste great. I used mirin sauce (first time ever), oyster sauce, soy sauce, Asian pears, ginger, and garlic. And I marinated the ribs overnight. If the ribs didn’t come out savory after all that, then there’s something wrong with the beef itself. 😂
We usually just add salt and pepper when grilling steak. Or brush it with bbq sauce when it’s about ready.
Edited: I also added sesame oil to the marinade bec I couldn’t find sesame seeds.
Fern suggested using pesto:
For shame, @packmule3. Now I’m hungry for ribs when I should be thinking of less meat. 🙂😉 Your recipe sounds so good.
With the salmon, could I recommend a recipe using pesto brushed on as a sauce? Easy as, if you are in a hurry too. Last week my older daughter hijacked my salmon supper by taking my potion-sized fillets and frying them in a bit of olive oil, with crushed garlic, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. She cooked them for about 8 mins only; just until the moment she could flake them. I wouldn’t ever have considered rosemary for salmon, but the flavour wasn’t overwhelming at all.
Sorry, ‘portion’ not potion.
I answered:
Whoops. Sorry. You’re right. Why am I talking of meat today of all days!
Yes. Pesto is my other go-to sauce after the lemon and pepper.
Maybe I should open a thread on Wednesday/Thursday for seafood recipes?
Wait a second. I’ll open one, and you can post your pesto sauce there. I usually just buy a bottle from Costco but it’s about time I learn to make it from scratch.
Fern replied:
The seafood recipes are a great idea – just enough time before Fridays to get the ingredients. Bottled pesto is fine, as long as it’s good enough quality to eat on your pasta as well. Yum. Lemon and pepper (capers, too?)
Although it’s a bit cross-referencing of religions, my mom sometimes made latkes for Friday suppers.
Agdr03 wrote:
Latke looks yummy @Fern. ☺️
I’ll try pesto next time too. My boys like it with gnocchi but I’ve never tried it at home. I really should.
Queen, we do our steaks the same. 👍🏻
Fern replied:
Off topic. @agdr03, did you have basil pesto in Italy? I’ve had it with gnocchi or pasta, but the most authentic was pasta layered over sliced potatoes and green beans. -So could be served on a meat-free day even though it’s so delicious it should be sinful. I had an Italian housemate who used to make home made gnoccchi. So hard if you’re not used to doing it. So filling, too!
And that’s why I’m opening a thread for recipes for fish, seafood, eggs, veggies, and anything meatless for our Friday abstinence. Please consider sharing one of your tried-and-tested dishes. I panicked yesterday and bought seven varieties of fish (I kid you not! The freezer has salmon, tuna, sea bass, red snapper, mackerel, palmburo and tilapia.) But with my limited cooking skills, they’ll all end up floating in butter and lemon, and baking at 350 degrees in the oven. lol.
Thanks for your recipes!
We like DIY pizzas and they are also good for a crowd that includes fussy eaters.
For the base, I use the BBC recipe below. It takes no more than 10 minutes and doesn’t need to rest or rise.
For the sauce, we sometimes make one with passata or use a commercial pasta sauce mix out of a jar.
For the toppings, we have the usual: various cheeses, sliced vegetables, olives, mushrooms, herbs and spices. For example, One daughter loves goats cheese with shredded basil or pesto. The other prefers mushrooms and olives. I like hot pepper flakes, olives and soft mozzarella. My husband likes everything possible, so his takes longer to bake.
Each person can roll out and design their own pizza. The recipe makes enough for 2 servings, so needs adjusting if you like more. I usually use about 1/3 less water than asked for, so I can handle the dough more easily. Don’t forget to put oil on the baking trays and sprinkle with coarse corn meal or polenta so the pizzas don’t stick.
If you want to skip making your own dough, either purchase individual cheese pizzas or pre-made crusts and improvise from there.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pizza-margherita-4-easy-steps
Just the thread I needed! I’ll tag along for ideas, too, since we do need some variations, and are not very fond of salads.
At home, Dijon Mustard Salmon is always a hit, though I “clean it up” before serving my son, since he’s averse to creamy sauces. It’s the easiest to make since it literally just requires Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. I do prep the day before with limes (not lemons) cut under the meat, and prefer mine with skin on. You simply bake it covered for 15 mins, then uncovered for 5. You can get fancy with and throw some herbs and whatnot to make it your own, but it comes out great either way.
We are also avid egg eaters on Lent, much to my husband’s dismay. I make a “traditional” egg salad, which is not the version on the stores. I boil potatoes and eggs separate. Slice the potatoes in rounds, and eggs in half, and place on a serving plate. On a pan, golden up some onions with a bit of garlic and olive oil, plus salt and pepper to taste, and toss on top of the “salad.”
For us, a frequent lunch is often times white rice, fried egg, and a banana or a slice of Florida avocado (or California/Caribbean). Sounds weird, but it is commonplace in our culture, and delicious. Let me know if any of you venture to try it. My son fell in love with the runny egg on the white rice mixture.
Great idea, Fern!!! How did I forget about pizza? We used to order a lot of pizzas on Fridays when my boys lived at home.
Yes. I love mushrooms, olives, artichokes, spinach, basil, green peppers on veggie pizza. I prefer white cheese sauce to tomato sauce.
I also like extra garlicky butter.
I also love Hawaiian pizza: that’s ham with pineapple, but ham’s out. lol.
I may have to skip the fish and go to pizza tomorrow. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe, @IcedFireAngel.
Yes, that’s the lovely thing about salmon. Just add sauce to it and it’s transformed. Mine was just “lemon and butter” salmon. Agdr03 said “oyster sauce” salmon. Fern said, “pesto” salmon and you said, “Dijon mustard and lime” salmon. 🙂
I don’t have white rice. I think I only have purple rice left in the pantry. I’ll have to pass by the store and get white rice tomorrow. Is it special rice? Like Jasmine, Basmati or Kukuho rice?
Couldn’t resist a food post…. I’m gonna try the oyster sauce salmon! We usually cook teriyaki salmon because the kids love it, esp when I pan fry it. (I add the teriyaki sauce after the salmon is almost cooked)
On another note, this is my favourite kind of fish, steamed and with aromatics added. Usually with the elders, they use whole pomfret or even the red snapper but I really don’t like handling all the bones, I’m lousy at picking all the flesh like a cat, except for the most tender cheek meat.
https://honestcooking.com/hong-kong-style-steamed-cod-fish/
(the garlic is the best part)
It works with fillet too to a similar effect
https://thewoksoflife.com/cantonese-steamed-fish/
Egg fried rice works too! Jasmine rice is an easy all rounder rice to go for.
@packmule3 Indeed, can’t go wrong with Salmon. I’ll need to try your variations. Oyster sauce would be a new ingredient for me too.
As far as the rice goes, you’d be fine with either Jazmine or Valencia. I think any long grain rice would work, but it’s a matter of preference. I’ve actually significantly reduced my rice intake since it triggers my migraines, so Lent is the one time when I indulge on it more frequently, and compensate for all other pleasures excluded. Blessings in disguise, I guess.
@Fern, do you use a regular pizza tray and oven, or one of those brick or wooden ones? My husband is a big pizza lover, and your recipe sounds like a fun family activity (and an excuse to get some help in the kitchen!).
Hi all,A combinationof mustard (any kind-depending upon whether you wantvsweet or savory) and mayonaisse as a coatingbfor any fish filet and then baked for a very short time to prevent drying (aboutb15 to 20 minutes) gives a quick and easy fish dinner. Serve wuth a dump salad-greens plus any veggies you havebin hand including olives, roasted peppers, any nut (unless allergic) -you can include berries and raisins with a nice balsamic vinegarette makes a nice meal. If you want a grain, cous cous is great and easy.
If you are making potato latkes, and flour is used in tbe recipe, substitute matzoh meal for half the flour to add crispness. If you can’t find matzoh meal, panko is great. And zucchini can be used instead of potatoes. Both require straining-can use dish towels or paper towels or a collander tostrain. And to prevent potato discoloration, grate a small onion before adding the grated potatoes and mix.
I’m not Christian but my religion does not allow meat and dairy to mix. So I grew up with lits of meatless meals, that I actually prefer. Eastern Europeans eat meatlessvpierogis with sour cream. They stick to the ribs and are so goid. For those of you who like smoked salmon (lox), it’s wondrrful mixed with scrambled eggs and sayteed onions(caramelized onions too). And you can make it in an omelet-add cream cheese before folding the omelet and alliw the cream cheesecto melt a bit. It’-# extremely rich and you don’t count cholesterol if you eat it. It’s really goode in cold weather.
Hope this added some ideas to your menus. I know that this is a vety solemn part of the year for those observing lent. I hope that the season culminating in Easter brings you comfort and meaning.
Yummy post!!! Will try the oyster sauce with the salmon and the steamed fish.
Pesto sardines pasta is our go-to. Cook by Mixing pesto sauce (homemade or bottled) and sardines (in olive oil) with lots of sautéed crushed garlic. Add some anchovies and red pepper flakes for some heat. Top this over spaghetti noodles.
Another easy hodge podge of shrimp and salmon, we even add scallops. Put the seafood to fill a Pyrex baking dish. Melt 1 stick of butter in microwave and then pour on top of the seafood. Sprinkle with Italian herb seasoning, salt, pepper, and slices of tomatoes (some onions, too). Bake for 15 mins at 350F, then turn the shrimps and salmon, bake it for another 15 mins til salmon is cooked. We eat this with rice.
@grace, the steamed fish is another fave of mine. It’s yummy with barramundi. 😋
@Janey, I’ll try that baked seafood that you said. Thanks 😊
@Fern, you know what? I’ve never tried pesto when I went to Italy thrice. I don’t know why my cousins didn’t let me know about it. 😁 I’ll ask hubby tomorrow why. But it’s time to cook some here. Salmon with pesto sounds good too. 😉
Queen, I’m sure you’ll be able to eat all those fish during Lent. That’s a lot of fish. 😂
@Iced Fire Angel, I have an electric oven with a fan. We used flat cookie trays. Nothing fancy.
@Janey and @Old American Lady, pasta with pesto Sardines sounds awesome and we use smoked salmon (like Lox) with pasta as well. We just heat it a bit to flavour the olive oil, then stir it in and season to make a very easy and tasty meal. Thank you for the Matzo meal suggestion for crispy latkes. My mother always used onions in her latkes, too. That baked seafood sounds awesome. I used to order something like that from a now defunct restaurant in downtown Chicago on Fridays and I really miss it.
We had fish on Thursday 🐟, so we’re looking Indian food tonight 🍛🥟🍚(veg options galore). We’ll have lemon 🍋 risotto for next Friday if we can wait that long, using a veg based broth rather than chicken and adding lashings of parmesan cheese.
Fish is also good in flour wraps, with fresh veg like cucumbers, tomatoes, lime juice and tomatillo salsa. Good for another sort of warm weather DIY meal – just serve with lots of compatible fillings and let people choose their own.
Hmmm. That has made me think of Pho… I had better have some lunch.
This thread is a bad idea, @ Fern. I can’t concentrate while working at home. 😂 All I’m thinking of is food.
I’ll try @ grace’s recipe, the Hong Kong style steamed fish tonight. I don’t have shaoxing wine but it says on the wokoflife site that cooking sherry can be used as substitute so I’ll go with that instead.🤞I’ll look for shaoxing next time I’m at Hmart.
Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. Happy cooking!
@packmule3 and all of the cooks at BoD, so many great ideas for delightful and healthy meals. And this is world wide sharing. For those observing Lent and the holy days leading up to Easter, may your spiritual journey be inspiring and meaningful.
chinese style steamed fish is family’s favorite, adding the sauce to rice is yummy tip: make sure to throw away the water used for steaming.
@packmule3, I hope that your meal was excellent.
What is H Mart? It’s new to me. Asian food store like Uwajimaya in Seattle?
When I first met my husband and for several years afterwards, he was a strict vegetarian, so I became used to eating various meat-free meals. We still have probably 2-3 meatless suppers each week. I never realised how demoralizing bacon is. But that’s another story.
HMart is the biggest chain of Asian supermarkets in my area and that’s where I get my seafood nowadays because of the variety.
It also has interesting Korean knickknacks like the cosmetic face masks we see in kdramas, cute socks, ahjumma hats.
😂 I dated a vegetarian. It didn’t last long. It was too much to accommodate his strict diet when my family gatherings were essentially a big all-you-can-eat steak affair. My mother especially fussed about what he would eat during the barbecues and I walked on eggshells that my brothers would poke fun at him.
I didn’t realize it back then but family approval was a big factor in our break-up. I was looking for someone who would fit in with the idiosyncrasies of my family.
I’m very envious of your H Mart. We have 3 cramped Asian food markets, but then it reflects the population here. The best one is near the University and the covered market.
It probably would have been a hassle for me as well, if my family were around, but I wasn’t the first to date a vegetarian and my parents were gone by the time I married him.
You know the concept of being someone else, or else finding yourself while travelling – as in Lovestruck in the City and Jab We Met? My husband ordered a vegetarian breakfast at a B&B but was served a Full Irish Breakfast. Sausages, Ham with bacon rasher, black pudding, eggs, baked beans, etc, etc. He ate it without complaint and I kept my mouth zipped. Later he tried to tell me that it was a conscious decision, but I blame it on the bacon.
Refried beans and rice. I also like tasty legume curries.
@Snow Flower, Refried beans and rice – 💖.
Have you ever had Mexican-style red beans and rice? It can be easily be adapted to vegetarian using vegetable stock and mushrooms or meatless sausage.
There are lots of Asian markets in various parts of the United States, some parts of global chains. In New York and New Jersey there are lots of H Marts that are Korean. There’s also 99 Ranch, Kam Man, and Mizua Marketplace. The last is in Edgewater New Jersey and it is a hub of Japanese life is n the NY metro area. We go for the extensive be food court and to feel like we’ve gone abroad.The complex has a book store, gift shop (lots of Hello Kitty). And not far away is this high rise Korean spa-very luxurious. So if you come to the NY metro area you’ll find lots of Asian neighborhoods and towns.I didn’t try touch India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Vietnam, Myanmar, The Phillipines and Thailand. And all over Manhattan there are the Halls guys food trucks. If you are Asian and homesick, you’ll find places here. And lots of deliciousness.
@Fern, I have not, but your suggestion is great. I am always looking for good vegan food to eat every Wednesday and Friday.
@Fern, Bacon 🥓 is an insidious problem. I grew up kosher (Jewish dietary laws that forbid eating pork, she’ll fish and certain food combinations). I fell because if the siren song of bacon. Call it the weakness of the flesh…I have no excuses.
@Old American Lady, I am not Asian, but I love Asian food so would love to see those shops around New York. I lived in Seattle for many years and there was a huge emphasis on Pacific Rim culture and food. I had culture shock moving to a small market town in central England where the only Asians were exchange students at the private secondary school. I live in a small city now, but it’s remote from London, so again Asians are definitely a minority.
Weakness of the flesh. Good one. 😉 How did bacon come your way? My husband did a bit of research and found that the most common reason for British vegetarians falling off the wagon is bacon. There are many here who don’t eat pork for religious reasons, but food tends to be very clearly labelled for Kosher, Halal, vegetarian, vegan, etc.
Strange – here people say Asian when they tend to mean of or from the subcontinent – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. They say Oriental for other parts of Asia. I still don’t know why.
Hi @Fern, I came to bacon in elementary school when “friends” sought to test my resolve. Bacon was the test and I failed. It was a gateway drug(lol).
I grew up in NYC on theblowerveast side of Manhattan, the historical immigration gateway to NYC and the US for st least the endbof the 19th Century through the mid 20th century. I grew up in a multicultural setting and when our tenement was torn down for “urban renewal” we mived to a labor union sponsored cooperative building that was close to Chinatown and Little Italy ( when it
was Italian. Our neighborhood high school offered several foreign languages: French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese and Hebrew. There were all sorts of ethnic clubs. And in middle school and high school the faculty was diverse. My seventh grade social studies teacher had us bring our ethnic food in to try for lunch. It was a veritable feast. So I can imagine the culture shock you felt when you moved to your small town in England. I undrrstand because I also spentbtimebin a small working classvtown inNew Jersey where there were 15 Jewish families (and nobody of color). And that was a time in America when jello molds were all the rage.
I think in intellectual circles in America the term Oriental is considered racist and part of colonialism. But right now, Asians, especially people perceived as Chinese are being violently attacked. The US is acountry thst imprisoned Japanese American citizens during WWII(but didn’t do thevsame for German- and Italian-Americans. And the Chinese had the only law that excluded them from entering America and becoming citizens. But the world and country change. And NYC and environs show the way. There arevsuburbs herevthat are almost exclusively Asian like Palisades Park, New Jersey. And some that are a mixture of East and South Asian like Edison, New Jersey. And Queens, New York is the most ethnically diverse county in America with representation from more than 100 countries.
I am an Anglophile, the fault being BBC dramas and hunky British actors (I was stoked to see Richard Armitage in Space Sweepers).But I know that isn’t the real UK, like Friend isn’t the real NY. The interesting thing about the pandemic and food availability is that online shopping has made ethnic food choices more available to people living in communities that don’t have the choices, especially in non-perishable choices. I hope, at least, you can source condiments, spices and things like sauces that way.
And I love reading your comments. As an oldie, I try to be a life long learner and you are ine of the wonderful, curious, interested in all things people who make BoD such fun. And it’s fun to learn wherevpeople are living because it feels like travelling around the world. (And when I went to the UK when I was much younger I survived on B&B English breakfasts, tomatoes and beans and all-kept me going all day-but so much food!)
@Old American Lady, I’m sorry to hear from you directly about racism still ongoing in the USA. We’ve seen evidence in the news but it seems like a near-universal problem. I’ve seen it first hand here, too. I think that living in Seattle when I did was a bit like living in a bubble. I know that NYC is very diverse and you are lucky to be able to take advantage of the mix. I grew up near Chicago — different mix but diverse as well. I think that people come to Chicago from both the east and west coasts and meet there in the middle.
It is indeed very interesting to read your comments, too. One O.A.M. to another. 😊
Jello. Or jello salad as people called it back home. My husband served some this evening in the form of trifle. I can’t get away from it. 😱
Since I am vegetarian (I eat dairy, but no eggs), I skipped this article that you posted. But my biggest question to you all is this?
What do you guys consider meatless? Isn’t fish meat? ISn’t seafood meat? They are all living organism who move, feed, reproduce and die. Why would that be meatless.
Love the Pizza special, will try it out sometime.
I’m glad to hear H Mart is within reach of you, @Packmule3. I’m not practicing a faith that requires a special diet during this time of the year, but I’ve thought a lot about your wanting variety in your fish recipes.
My first suggestion does not come with my own cooking experience, since I can waltz a few blocks down the street and buy them at Rubio’s Coastal Grill, but you could enlarge your repertoire with Baja fish tacos. Just thinking about them led me to order some tonight for Taco Tuesday. The traditional fish tacos sold on the street in Baja California are strips of beer batter fried fish in a soft corn tortilla with shredded cabbage and a creamy, spicy sauce. You can Google a recipe for Baja fish tacos if you’re interested.
For family gatherings at our home, when we used to be able to get together, we liked to cook a salmon fillet from Costco: putting a light smear of Chinese black bean garlic sauce on it with julienned fresh ginger, tenting it in foil, then tossing it on the BBQ for a few minutes. The black bean garlic sauce we like is made by Lee Kum Kee, and I suspect H Mart carries it. It’s a staple in our household, added to a wide variety of Chinese dishes we cook (e.g. steamed broccoli, or tofu & ground pork). Don’t put it too thickly on the fish fillet, as it is salty.
When I’m up at our mountain cabin on my own, a meal I make often is ramen. At H Mart you can buy fish balls. I usually add pork or beef balls, cut into quarters, a couple minutes after adding the noodles to the boiling water. One minute before the noodles finish cooking I add baby bok choy that’s washed and sliced. You could use spinach instead. As soon as the noodles are done cooking and I turn off the heat, I crack an egg into the broth and break it up with chopsticks. I like to add a little sesame oil to the broth, as well as a few shakes of furikake, to add a bit more flavor as I usually only put in half of the seasoning packet to reduce salt. Then I eat my ramyun the way I’ve seen it done in Kdramas: a few bites at a time out of the saucepan lid, moving it from the saucepan to lid with chopsticks. It helps to cool it so you don’t burn your mouth.
Hello, @Angelwingssf. Yes, there is a difference between ‘meatless’ Lenten fasting in some Christian faiths and ‘meatless’ vegetarian. The fasting in Lent is a spiritual fast. You would have the automatic edge over those renouncing meat, in the sense that they are enduring giving up something they enjoy, whilst you are already accustomed to it. There is history, of course, that can be found if you search fasting and Lent. It is a religious topic. Spiritual fasting differs between religions and sometimes between countries even in the same religions.
My husband, when a vegetarian, didn’t eat any fish. In terms of biology, meat is meat, after all, whether from a mammal, crustacean, fish or insect. He didn’t even like to share a BBQ grill if someone had cooked meat on it at that meal. If you were coming to eat with us, I would usually ask if you had any dietary restrictions in advance for planning purposes, so we could prepare something that everyone could enjoy. Those pizzas, for example. 😋
Actually, giving up meat might be considered abstinence rather than fasting? But the rest applies. I think my family lumped all of the Lenten sacrifices under the term fasting – apologies.
First time poster and could not resist a food thread! I live in an area that is historically a fishing village, so I tend to eat fish frequently even when it is not Lent. I am a big fan of buying a fillet of something freshly caught and cooking it in foil with just some salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon or other citrus in a foil packet. It is hard to mess that up.
My go to vegetarian meal is ratatouille. Zucchini, 1/2 an eggplant, onion, sometimes a yellow squash, sometimes some mushrooms, bell pepper (I prefer red), tomatoes (I like to use grape tomatoes cut in half), cooked over medium heat with olive oil, salt, pepper, some Italian or French type dried herbs, and finished with fresh basil, fresh parsley, and fresh grated parmesan.
For a pantry fish dish, I eat sardine avocado toast, which does require an avocado. (I have eaten this for years, before avocado toast was a thing.)
Thanks for your recipes. The ratatouille sounds delish. It has all the veggies I love: zucchini, squash, mushrooms, bell pepper!
I think I’ll add chickpeas, too. I stocked up on chickpeas from Costco.
I really have to get myself avocados! Janey also recommended a rice bowl with avocados last week.
@Wreckgirl, I love ratatouille and caponata, the Italian version. It’s good hot and makes a great cold picnic dish as well.
If you like eggplant, have you tried eggplant parmagiana? There is a great video online of someone called Grandma Gina making this. I have decided that I want her to be my gran. Her idea of a little salt in the water – 🤣. Another easy-to-make-into vegetarian dish.
@packmule3, A quick chickpea dish (often a side but I sometimes eat alone) that my whole family likes is 1 can chickpeas, drained (peel if you like but I typically do not bother), 1 snack pack shelled edamame (or an approximately equal amount to the chickpeas), small handful of crumbled feta cheese (1-2 oz), vinaigrette (olive oil, vinegar of your choice plus crushed garlic and touch of prepared mustard) or Italian dressing, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix and eat.
@Fern, I do not eat a lot of eggplant, but when I do it is ratatouille or eggplant parmesan. My grandma (nonna) who largely taught me how to cook was Italian (like many Americans each of my grandparents came to the US from different countries), so I am most comfortable with southern Italian dishes. I do not like to fry my eggplant as is traditional in parmesan though, as it makes the dish too greasy for me. I prefer to slice the eggplant in thin rounds (assuming it is the large Italian eggplants – for Japanese or other smaller eggplants slice longitudinally), salt, and bake just the eggplant first on a sheet pan with a cooling rack on top first, then assemble the rest like lasagna and bake it all together. If someone gives me a lot of zucchini or other squash in the summer I will often make zucchini parmesan, too. It is not quite the same as eggplant but the same flavors work well.
Wait please! I think I’ll start another thread for all these good veggie dishes. Wait a moment.
@Wreckgirl, I envy you having an Italian nonna. My gran, bless her, never used anything except salt and maybe pepper and pretty much boiled or pot-roasted everything except fruit pie.
Zucchini parmesan sounds good, too. Easier to grown than aubergine, where I live now. I also love aubergine/eggplant sliced thin, brushed with olive oil and put on the BBQ. It makes a great appetiser.
I’m watching ‘Vincenzo’. In the 1st ep. he goes from fine Italian dining to dodgy fake Italian, snack-bar or pub grub food in Korea. I was feeling very maternally sorry for him, like I wanted to feed him which is also a bit questionable.
@Wreckgirl and @Fern, Do you salt and drain your eggplant 🍆 before cooking? Eggplant can be very watery. I like eggplant rollatini. The addition of ricotta to the other parmigiana ingredients makes it so yummy. I live in the most Italian county in the USA and we have lots of Italian markets where they directly import from Italy without being so pricey and snooty as Manhattan markets like Eataly. They even have Brioschi for indigestion, cleaning products and cookware. But for all us K Drama fans, I recently saw that many are carrying Choco Pies-Hospital Playlist fodder. Add in the bagels and it’s a cultural melding.But hope nobody needs the Brioschi
Haha. Eataly. 😂
@packmule3-yup!😉
I discovered Eataly on my last trip to Boston and fell in love. It felt like pasta heaven. I wish they had more of those in the southeast.
HMart is a new discovery. Will have to ask Google for one near me, though luckily, there are plenty “Asian” markets (I quote because they feel Asian/Latin mixed) near me, so definitely will be trying some of y’alls recipes tomorrow. Leaning towards the ratatouille 🙂
@IcedFireAngel, 99 Ranch is anothrr great Asian market. It can be found on the USvwest coast, but there’s also a branch in Edison, NJ. Edison, NJ is multi-ethnic with large East Asian and South Asian populations. H Mart is there a s w ell as Kam Man. You canalso find Patel Brothers and subzi Mandi(forgive my spelling). Oak Tree Road has lots of Indian shopping-chat shops, restaurants, jewelry stores, sari shops, dosa shops and some beautiful restaurants, including an Indian Chinese place. Fort Lee, N.J and Palisades Park, NJ have large Korean populations and shops and beauty salons to go with it.H Mart is huge there. And Edgewater, NJ across the Hudson River from Manhattan has the high rise Korean spa (super sauna-looks very upscale) and the JPanese MizuaMarketplace with supermarket, food court, gift and book stores.
And up and down the East Coast, in Brooklyn,NY and elsewhere, if you want Dastern European/Russian food/beer/groceries/meats, fish, beautiful produce, steam table items, rustic breads and smoked meat and fish, go to Net Cost Market. The dairy section is incredible with all sorts if yogurts, sour creams, butter, kefir, milk (not only cow’s milk) and cheeses.
I love all sorts of food-if you meet me, you’ll see that although I’m not thin, luckily I’m not obese. I feel very fortunate to live in an area with so much good food. I haven’t even touched on all the Spanish/Latin American food there is and Fillipino and African and African American places that are available. We have Jolibee! Anyway, if you’re travelling to the NYC area, I can help you find a variety of food.
We’ve now moved the discussion to the new thread.
https://bitchesoverdramas.com/2021/02/25/whatcha-cooking-for-meatless-friday-feb-26/
Thanks Fern for the explanation. Since I am not Christian, and don’t do Lent, I am always perplexed when someone says, I am not eating meat for Lent and say that they had a salmon toast or lobster or something in that category. I think I am like your spouse, that I don’t even eat when the meat and non meat is done on the same grill. Anyway, since I did not decide to become vegetarian voluntarily and was this way since a long time, I don’t mind it at all. When growing up, I hardly saw any meat until I came to the US where there were multiple racks of meat all packed and stuff. Anyway, it was just a question and thank you for being frank about it.
Enjoy your lent dishes and I will check out Eggplant parmigian – havent made any italian dishes lately due to hubby working from home and mostly Indian dishes for the time being.
@angelwingssf, I grew up in a family that served meat twice a day except Fridays and 3 times on Sundays. I couldn’t do that these days. Yet the idea of not seeing meat until arriving in the US is still mind-boggling and really interesting.
Do you sometimes make Indian food when you have visitors? Talk about a great repertoire of vegetarian dishes! I’ve just eaten, but my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 😋
Hoping to see you on @packmule3’s new thread.