Layered Eggplant Casserole

Pan fried Ciabatta bread slices in olive oil were crumbled in the food processor.      It added the crunchy factor to the mouth feel to awaken the palate that is tasting the creamy, yet fibrous textures of the eggplants.    Eggplant is washed, peeled, and grilled between George Foreman's hamburger grill.   Brushing on the olive oil when it is 3/4 done.     Undercooking of the diced zucchini also helped in giving different texture when bite into it than the eggplants'.     I originally thought of making the eggplant boat and filling it in, but I decided to layer the eggplants with the sauteed ground beef with zucchini, etc.   Then, shaped it into eggplant halves; then, topped it with mozzarella cheese to keep its shape as it melts over it.     It worked out quite well.

 

 Add some Parmesan cheese.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

It's been a long long while since I last made stuffed bell peppers.     Probably 20 years ago.    I remember making stuffed rolled cabbage stew, rolled grape leaf stew, stuffed bell peppers.     I don't know why I don't make it any more, but as I started to prepare for this one, I kind of remember the dis-likeness of the 'mushy' rice in it.     The solution I came up with is perfect.     As the "new crop" rice use less water to cook with my rice cooker - instead of the 1 to 1 or the 2 to 1 -  water to rice ratio, I cook it 1/2 to 1 water to rice ratio.      I also used Thailand's long grain jasmine rice.    And used a bit more less water than the 1/2 - to undercook it.     I love the result with this rice.     The meat and sauteed vegetables flavored the rice all around and did not turn out mushy.

 The green bell peppers are home grown from my mother's garden.
Mozzarella cheese was placed on top of the cooked stuffed bell peppers after they came out of the oven.  Then, covered with the top aluminum foil for about 10 - 15 min to allow to melt.
I did not want the crusty browned cheese as the rice on the top has already formed a crust.  The Hungarian paprika and bell peppers complemented each other and brought the heat and flavor of the bell pepper well together.

Short Ribs Stew with Vegetables

This short ribs stew taste light and heart warming.     I enjoyed the variety of vegetables I added to it - carrots, onions, mushrooms, pearl onions, tomatoes, roasted peppers to give a bit of heat, sachet, and turnips from my own garden.    Straining the soup produced a clearer liquid.     It probably qualifies more like braised dish, but I used both methods to produced this versatile stew with clearer soup.      After the second day, I added ravioli to go with it to create another dish.