This post was written at the cottage including the photos taken on my lowly iPhone 3GS! Hopefully Apple’s September announcement will be about the iPhone 5, for which I am anxiously awaiting the release.
Do you have to create a meal plan for the weekends at the cottage? I do, I have to. We have no decent stores anywhere near our cottage. I once forgot cream cheese and had to settle for a cream cheese and chive dip from a 7-11. It was pathetic. I have to have everything figured out because to forget an ingredient would be devastating (well, for me anyway).
I had a menu plan for this past weekend which was our Civic Holiday long weekend (each first Monday of August is the Simcoe Day, in honor of our first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe) and it was good and it was well thought out. I had shopping lists and everything. And then I read a couple of posts which made me switch my plan. Yes, you read that correctly. I revised the meal plan to include these wonderful recipes that inspired me.
My first deviation was because of Karen at Backroad Journal Posted a healthier version of Eggplant Parmesan that I just couldn’t resist; plus it gave me an opportunity to use my adorable cast iron individual square frying pans! It was incredibly delicious!
Eggplant Parmesan
(only slightly modified from Karen’s lovely recipe)
Serves 4-6 for lunch as a main
Ingredients:
- 4 baby eggplants, sliced 1 cm (0.5″)
- 1/2 lemon
- 2-3 tbsp EVOO
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- salt to taste
- 300-400 mL basic homemade tomato sauce, or your favorite marinara sauce
- a handful of chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
- 20 cm (8″) square pan plus individual serving dishes
- Non-stick spray
Directions:
- After slicing the eggplant, rub each side with lemon juice to prevent ‘rusting’.
- Mix the olive oil with the garlic and brush each side if the eggplant slices liberally. Grill on a hot grill until slices are soft. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Set aside (may be made in advance).
- Mix the ricotta with one clove finely minced garlic, salt to taste.
- In an oven proof 20 cm (8″) pan, line with parchment and spray with non-stick spray. Line the bottom with one layer of eggplant, top with half of the ricotta. Dot with roughly torn fresh basil. Drizzle with the tomato sauce, add another layer of eggplant. Top with the remaining ricotta, roughly torn fresh basil and the remainder of the tomato sauce.
- Add the sliced fresh mozzarella evenly on top. Bake on indirect heat on the BBQ until fully warmed through and mozzarella has melted. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and broil until bubbly.
- Serve in individual serving dishes garnished with fresh basil and green onions.
[…] restaurant reviews, and always succeeds in making me so jealous when she posts pictures from her wonderful cabin. I’ve known Eva since almost as long as I’ve been blogging. I think I first discovered […]
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Oh Eva – you make me so jealous with your photos from your cabin – I can’t imagine how relaxing it must be to spend a long weekend there.
Fabulous looking dish as well Eva – eggplant’s a winner in any shape or form 😀
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Thank you kindly Charles. We were just talking about Sweden and how the landscape is so similar to Canada’s (JT was there many, many, many years ago). We hope to plan a trip there sometime in the future.
The cabin is indeed quite relaxing. I had hoped to redecorate this year, but alas I ran out of time (we have to close up on September 1). But perhaps next year I will do so and take some photos of the insides.
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Well, wait until I’m living there and you can come and stay with me 😉
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How sweet, Charles, thank you. But be careful, we may just do that! 😉
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You’re more than welcome – I’m actually hoping to find a property there one day which has a separate guest cottage on the land. I love having guests, but I’m sure you know as well as me that after some time you can end up being under each others’ feet a bit, so it would be great to be able to each retire to separate houses each evening, and then any guests I had could still be independant if they wanted, while still having the possibility of enjoying each others’ company!
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That sounds perfect Charles, JT and I have often talked about owning a B&B when we retire (but then that would limit travel…so not sure about that now).
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Yum! I was drooling over this recipe too. I love your skillets!!! It looks like a great weekend at the cabin. 🙂
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Thanks Kristy, it was a lovely weekend, thanks
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Your Eggplant Parmigianna looks great Eva! Hope your having a wonderful time at your cottage!
My family’s cottage, luckily for us, is about a 15 minute drive from a well-stocked grocery store. We usually plan for the weekend depending on what looks good at the grocery store and try not to make a second trip there unless we forget something that’s crucial to the meal.
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That’s great Amber, my brother’s place on Rosseau is like that; they never have to bring groceries from the city.
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I liked it when Karen posted it and I like it now that you have posted it, too. When eggplants come in I’m going to try it myself (won’t be long now).
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Thanks Sharyn, it was very tasty. Next time I’ll make it with home made ricotta!
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Such a great recipe. Looks fantastic!
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Thanks Greg, it was so creamy and delicious!
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Eggplants are my all-time favourite vegetables! And baked veggies with cheese is AWESOME!! What’s EVOO by the way? haha
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Hi Sammy EVOO is extra virgin olive oil.
I live the creamy texture of eggplant, sooo yummy.
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As soon as I saw your picture on facebook I figured it must have been inspired by Karen’s post. I started to crave it when I saw her picture and now your post has inspired me as well. I hope you enjoyed your time at the cottage. We are back from out west — but work has taken up every spare minute since we’ve been back…oh to win the lottery. Hope you guys are well and hope to catch up soon.
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Hi Barbie we’ve been busy too adjusting to the new reality; cottage was good, too short! Next time we’re up we’re closing down :(.
It’s really a delicious dish hope you try it.
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I’m crazy for eggplant parmigiana-I think I prefer it to the real version! Your cottage view looks divine! 😀
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Thanks Lorraine, I know, JT preferred the real version too, but this one is a might healthier and less hot on a day that was over 30°C!
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This must be the season for eggplant parmesan, Eva. Both yours and Karen’s sound delicious. I made another version when I visited Zia that included prosciutto, based upon a blogging buddy’s (The Gastronomic Gardener) recipe. And every photo you share of your cottage makes it seem more placid and beautiful. And 3 hours isn’t all that long a drive if you know that this is waiting for you.
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I’ve always shyed away from the dish because of the deep frying, but the ricotta and the fresh mozzarella really made this dish for me (probably not much calorie savings with all that cheese).
Yes, you are indeed correct with the view…and the wonderful chilled martini awaiting us on the porch when we finally finish unpacking (and cleaning up the mouse poo!!!). Have a great weekend.
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I must visit that blog, JT would love that version with prosciutto; I wouldn’t have been able to do it this past weekend because of the vegetarian among us, but next time for sure.
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He rolled the eggplant to form rollatini before baking. I cut my eggplant too thick for rolling, so, I made eggplant parmesan instead. The flavors, though, were all there and delicious. I’m sure you’ll enjoy both the dish and his blog.
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I just popped over to see his blog, very cool. It’s on my ever growing reading list. Thanks for the recommendation, John. It’s turned chillier and very rainy for the next few days here in the big smoke; hope you guys get some reprieve from the hot weather too.
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The lake view from your cottage is amazingly beautiful.
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Thank you kindly Angie, it’s the view that makes the 3.5 hour drive worth it.
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What a beautiful lake view. I can relate to having to bring everything needed for meals preparation. At a taping, I forgot to bring one ingredient, the studio had zero food related ingredient. Fortunately it was white vinegar so I could substitute water. There was no audience, so no sampling and I got away with it. I frequently think back and wondered what I would do if it was a different ingredient.
I really like Karen’s lighter version of eggplant parm.
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Thanks Norma, yes that would be very bad if there were tastings. Fortunately for our studio we are very close to a very large grocery store, so if the food stylist forgets something, I can run out to get it!
The view makes you forget about the three plus hour drive up!
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Hi Eva, I am so happy that you made my lighter version of eggplant parmesan and enjoyed it enough to write about it on your blog. Thank you!
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It was my pleasure Karen, thank you kindly for the inventive recipe; our guests loved it!
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I’m so glad.
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What a fantastic eggplant dish! I think that it’s the Italian cuisine that has put me off eggplant for a long time because there’s always so much oil… This light version sounds like something I could make without worrying about my waist 😉
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The eggplant is not deep fried Sissi, and we used low fat ricotta but I doubt I would call it light, it’s a very filling dish with all the cheese.
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I dont feel like I could resist making this either, it looks exquisite 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks CCU, not exactly your requisite sweet though!
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Yummy dish!! I love Karen’s blog. I’m originally from Maine and I get homesick every time I see her summer photos. 🙂
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They are certainly lovely Maureen, although I’ve only visited once many many years ago.
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I love the photo of the view from your cottage, even if it was an image taken on an i-phone 4GS. Karen has some lovely recipes on her blog and I saw this eggplant dish and thought it would make a great meal. Thanks for the recommendation Eva – now I have two reasons to give it a try! xx
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Thank you kindly Charlie. I do enjoy Karen’s blog quite a bit, her recipes are fresh and reasonably healthy.
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