Sweet and Sour Eggplant Salad

This is from Claudia Roden. It's simple enough to let the flavor of the eggplant come through.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant

Olive oil

1 large Spanish onion, coarsely chopped

1 pound eggplant, partially peeled and cut in 3/4-inch cubes

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1-pound can diced tomatoes

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

3 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground red chili

Cover bottom of a large skillet with oil and heat. Saute onion until soft and golden. Add eggplant and cook, stirring, for about five minutes. Then add garlic and cook until colored.

Add remaining ingredients and cook over very low heat for 20 minutes. Serve cold (we had it warm last night and cold today--delicious).

And here's the Sidecar recipe. Russell made these for us.

Sidecar

1 part lemon juice

1 part Cointreau

2 parts cognac

Shake with ice.

And our version:

Poor Man's Sidecar

1 part lemon juice

1 part Triple Sec

2 parts bourbon

The Bourbon Blossom

I forgot to mention in the last post that we invented a new drink for Father's Day, which we named the Bourbon Blossom.

2 ounces bourbon

1 tablespoon Triple Sec

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Lots of ice

Orange slice for garnish

Shake the bourbon, Triple Sec, and lemon juice with ice. Serve in a glass over ice, garnished with an orange slice.

Second Annual Tapas Night and Family Gathering

We gathered in Tucson again and spent one night drinking and making tapas (here are last year's posts on Tapas Night). This time Russell and Brittany were in on it, too. I'm still in Tucson on vacation...hence the lack of posts this past week.

Dad made margaritas. He squeezes tiny Mexican limes one by one, then mixes 4 parts good tequila, 1 part lime juice, and 1 part triple sec. They are like martinis, fierce and amazing and totally unlike your average sweet frozen margarita.

For the first course, Russell made a big batch of baba ghanoush. We ate it with Ak Mak crackers. Lawson sauteed fresh coconut with salt and fresh hot chile -- a Fijian dish he learned about from a friend who once lived and worked there.

For the second round of food, Grandma made whole wheat bread with sweet butter.Mom (you? I never know how to phrase these co-posts) made a green bean and tomato salad. And I made white lima beans with garlic and fresh rosemary. Here is my recipe:

Rinse 2 cups dried white beans -- cannellini, lima, or great Northern -- and put them in a crockpot. Cover by 2 inches of water -- no more. Cook on high for 2 to 4 hours, until the beans are beginning to soften, and add several tablespoons olive oil, 3 6-inch springs of fresh rosemary, and two big smashed garlic cloves. Add water at any point to keep things slightly moist. After a few more hours, add salt to taste. During the last hour or two, add more water here and there to make a white sauce for the beans. Add black pepper before serving.


The last main course was by my mom: avocados filled with crabmeat and avocado, dressed with lime juice and maybe some other secret things.

For dessert we had date bars and fresh fruit, I think. Here is Russell finishing off the grapes.

But around that time Russell also started making bourbon sours, so I don't completely remember. Coincidentally, my pictures became quite silly around that same time. Most are too silly to post.

Here is Russell's bourbon sour recipe as written that night.

All in all, it was a successful evening.