Tag: European
Steak Frites with Maitre D Butter
Put a tbsp of the maitre d butter on the steak and serve with your favorite fries.
Sicilian-Style Grilled Swordfish
Sicilian-Style Grilled Swordfish
Swordfish steaks are my absolute favorite fish to cook. They’re meaty, oily, firm fleshed, and holds up great on the grill. Swordfish is a type of fish that can be tricky, since you want it cooked all the way through without overcooking and drying it out. The secret is to get a steak that it 1” – 1 1/4” thick. Any thinner, you risk cooking it to a piece of leather. This recipe is a simple Sicilian-style preparation, with olive oil, lemon, garlic, basil, and Italian oregano for the marinade. If you change out the Italian oregano for Greek oregano, you will have a Greek marinade. 5-6 minutes a side over the charcoal is all it takes.
Equipment
- chimney starter
- charcoal
- charcoal grill
Ingredients
- 1 lb swordfish steak 1” thick
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tbsp basil finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Italian oregano finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix together the marinade ingredients.
- Marinate the swordfish steak for 8 hours. Save the remaining marinade.
- Start the charcoal in a chimney starter until gray. Poor into the grill and place on the grate. Place the swordfish over the charcoal.
- Grill for 5-6 minutes a side; casually basting the swordfish. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Baked Eggplant Parmigiana
Baked Eggplant Parmigiana
I’ve very recently fell in love with eggplant parmigiana. I ate it from my work’s deli hot bar. It was good, but I knew that I could make it better. Eggplant parmigiana’s origins are from the southern regions of Italy; Calabrian, Campania, Apulia, and Sicily all claiming it’s creation. The dish consists of breaded and fried slices of eggplant baked in a tomato sauce, topped with parmesan cheese. Instead of frying the eggplant, I baked it in the oven until crispy; reducing the amount of oil used to make it slightly healthier. To completely ruin the healthier aspect, I added a garlic cream sauce to the dish; plus slices of mozzarella.
Ingredients
Cream Sauce
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
Eggplant Parmigiana
- 1 large eggplant sliced into 1” pieces
- salt
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cups tomato sauce divided
- fresh mozzarella sliced
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Slice the eggplant and salt liberally to extract the moisture. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Make an assembly line of flour in a bowl, beaten egg in one, and breadcrumbs in another. Dredge the eggplant in flour, then the beaten egg, and finally the breadcrumbs.
- Pour the olive oil on a baking sheet. Place the breaded eggplant on the baking sheet.
- Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes; flipping half way through.
- While the eggplant is baking, melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Sauté the minced garlic for 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour.
- Pour in the whole milk and continue to whisk for 5 minutes until thickened.
- Take off the heat. Whisk in the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour half of the tomato sauce into a large glass baking dish. Arrange the eggplant on top of the sauce.
- Pour over the cream sauce.
- Place a spoonful of sauce on top of each slice of eggplant; followed by a slice of mozzarella. Season with the dried herbs. Top with the parmesan cheese.
- Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
