Radishes, Eggplant, and Blogs

Last week my good friend Taylor posted an excellent recipe on her blog, One Recipe at a Time, involving eggplant and pasta. The pictures looked fantastic, and the recipe rather quick and easy for a good work-night meal.

Jack happens to love eggplant, and decided to try out her recipe. He sauteed the veggie while I made the pasta in the KitchenAid (boy do I love my KitchenAid!). In the meantime, I decided to make some braised radishes from Mark Bittman's cookbook. I had tried them once before, but burned them terribly. I decided that it was time to try again, and I am certainly glad I did. The radishes combined superbly with the butter and white wine. They caramelized during the process making the radishes taste like flowers of the earth rather than the slightly bitter root vegetable that it is. My mouth smiled when the radishes touched my tongue. Jack laughed at my enjoyment and the site of my face when I was eating it.



But back to Taylor's recipe. It turned out really well, and was very filling. The recipe was a great way to combine eggplant and pasta, while still showcasing some of the flavors of the basil and other herbs. The dish was just as tasty the next day as leftovers. Kudos to her recipe and her blog!



Braised Radishes-"How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman

2 tbsp butter or EVOO
1 lb of radishes, trimmed
1/2c stock or white wine (I used white wine)
Salt/Pepper
Parsley for garnish

1. Combine butter or oil, radishes and stock in a saucepan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bring to boil. Cover and adjust the heat so the mixture simmers; cook until radishes are tender, 15-20 minutes.
**Be sure to keep an eye on the simmering as you do not want the radishes to burn
2. Uncover and raise the heat to boil off almost al of the liquid so that the vegetable becomes glazed in the liquid mixture.
3. Serve and garnish with parsley