Challenge #2: Sad Lady Casserole

This week challenge came from Jen G.: "Make something that would have been awesome to a single working Mom in the late seventies, like some sort of gruesome casserole. Only make it GOOD."

And so I bring you the Sad Lady Casserole aka The Triflin' Ho. It's layered tomatoes, zucchinis, and fried eggplant all topped with mashed turnips, Gruyere, and goat cheese. Recipe after the pictures. Enjoy!


Cut turnips ready for boiling.


The cut zucchini and tomato, marinating in black pepper, Italian seasoning, and olive oil.


Bread in the food processor for fresh bread crumbs.


The eggplant frying station.


Frying eggplants.


Pile of fried eggplant.


Pre-mashed turnips.


Layering the dish.


The sadface in the mashed turnips.


Cheese!


The finished dish.


The food plated and topple over. Oops.

Sad Lady Casserole:
1/2 Eggplant, peeled, thinly sliced, and fried
1 Zucchini, thinly sliced and marinated
1/2 lb Turnips, peeled, cut, boiled, and mashed
3-4 Tomatoes, thinly sliced and marinated
1/2 C Gruyere, goat cheese, or any other cheese

1) Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, then throw in the turnips.

2) Cut and marinate the zucchini and tomato

3) Peel and cut the eggplant.

4) Bread the eggplants in the style of eggplant parmesan, then fry and place on a paper towel to cool.

5) When the turnips have boiled for about an hour, drain thoroughly and mash (a dollop of sour cream is recommended).

6) Layer according to your tastes. I did tomato, zucchini, eggplant.

7) Spread mashed turnips on top and then sprinkle of cheese, if desired.

8) Bake for 35-40 minutes at 450 degrees.

If I had to do it again, I would make a lot more turnip mash and combine that with some potato so I could use that as a bottom layer as well. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Challenge #1: Hummus

Ok, so here's where I admit I am going to be playing fast and loose with my own rules. Ohsnap's challenge was to make homemade hummus with veggies. Instead I made soup.

It's not that I hated the challenge--far from it--but I've made hummus before. Since part of the reason I am doing this is to make myself do new culinary things I figured I would take that idea and make it more difficult/new. So: hummus soup.

I'll give my recipe, so to speak, at the end of the post, but before I begin I should tell you not to follow it. It's not that the soup was bad, per se, it just didn't blow me away. It was a little bland, frankly, and not as creamy as I would have liked. Cutting down on the broth would help, but I was really hoping for something more like chickpea mulligatawny soup, which this wasn't.

That said, it was fun to try and a good side salad and pita bread for dipping meant that this meal didn't go to waste.







Hummus Soup:
1 15 ounce can of chickpeas (or 15 ounces of dried chickpeas, if you're that prepared)
6 cups of broth (HIGHLY recommended that you lower this for a creamier soup
3 cloves of garlic
A pinch of Tumeric
2 punches of Cumin
A pinch of Coriander
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup of yogurt

1) Boil chickpeas in broth, with spices, for about an hour (if canned, more if not)
2) Combine chickpeas, broth, garlic and lemon in a food processor
3) Reheat and whisk through with the yogurt
4) Serve!

The Idea

The idea behind this blog is simple. I like making food. I like taking pictures of food. But I am HORRIBLE about finding new types of food to take pictures of.

So you send me your recipes. Your half-formed food ideas. I'll make 'em and snap pictures of them (and hopefully the process too). I'll get some new food ideas, you'll get your own test kitchen.

Caveats:
1) It can be either a recipe or a half-formed thought (what would shallots and limes go good with?), but if it's the former I need to given a copy/link to it.

2) I'm a vegetarian, so the recipe should either be meat-free or you won't be sad when I make it meat-free.

3) The less ingredients I have to go to the store to buy, the more likely I am to make it. I'm poor. The same will go for time involved in preparation.

4) Go nuts! It can be anything, from a soup to a appetizer, to a main dish, to a dessert.

So go on. Tell me what to have for dinner.