Eggplant Lasagna

I bought a bunch of eggplants in the market and wanted to put them to good use. I scoured the internet for ideas for how to make lasagna and found a good recipe for the cheese mixture. I also found a recipe for homemade pasta and embarked on the mission. It was a bit labour-intensive but so tasty and well worth it for the thanks from my friends.

Prepare lasagna sheets:
-On a clean, wide surface make a mound of 3 cups of flour with a dip in the middle (volcano)
-Crack an egg into the middle and beat with a fork within the volcano, picking up flour on the way; repeat with 2 more eggs for a total of 3

-Once you can't beat anymore with the fork, knead with your hands for a while - at least 5 minutes
-Set aside for about 30 minutes-On floured surface, roll (and roll and roll). It will most likely be easier to divide the dough in half and roll that way, otherwise it takes up too much space.
-Once it's flat enough to almost be transparent, cut into rectangular sheets-Get the widest slightly-deep pan you have and fill it an inch or two with water and set to boil
-Cook the sheets for a minute or two in the boiling water and then place aside to drain

Prepare eggplant:
-Preheat oven to about 200C/400F
-Cut a couple eggplants into 1/2inch thick slices.

-Place on a tray and coat with olive or canola oil
-Roast for about 5 or 10 minutes, then flip over and roast again

Prepare cheeses:
-Cube about 2 1/2 cups of fresh mozzarella, 1 cup provolone, 2 cups ricotta, 1 cup grated parmesan
-Mix in a large bowl with 2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic and an egg to hold it together

Prepare sauce:
-Make or buy a tomato sauce. I have a couple recipes on the site. I just made a basic one: sautee onion and garlic in olive oil with a bit of balsamic vinagrette. Add 2 or 3 tins of peeled tomatoes, 1 fresh tomato, some bay leaves, 1 tsp of stock powder, 1 tbsp tomato/chili paste, 1 tsp oregano, a bit of honey and some salt and pepper. Let simmer for about an hour (so start this before the pasta sheets)

Prepare lasagna:
-Line the bottom of a deep baking dish with eggplant
-Pour some sauce to cover eggplant
-Add the layer of cheese
-Repeat until everything is used up, trying to end with sauce on top. On the top place large pieces of mozarella
Cook lasagna:
-In an oven preheat to about 190C/380F, bake for about 30 or 40 minutes
-Take out and let cool for about 10 minutes so you don't burn the roof of your mouth
-Enjoy

Tips:
-I know it's labour-intensive. I made everything from scratch and from start to eating took less than 3 hours. But it was 3 full hours. Timewise, the best way to do this is to start the sauce, then make the pasta dough and roll it out; once it's flat and cut do the eggplant and while the eggplant is in the oven, cook the eggplant sheets in the boiling water. This way the oven can still be on once the eggplant is taken out of the oven and the lasagna can go right in.
-Rolling is pretty hard (especially with a wine bottle!). The best strategy, I find, is to roll a bit and then flip the dough over and rotate 1/4 of a circle clockwise. Once it gets pretty flat, it's harder to roll and you have to kind of press down as you slide the roller. Make sure stretch your fingers every now and then.
-This recipe for pasta is the same as any kind of pasta, so you can use it for any shape you'd like etc (I had more sheets than other material and so cut it into fettuccine and froze it)
-I don't peel eggplants because I like the texture and taste of the skin. I also have stopped salting them before hand since the newer varieties aren't as bitter and don't need that done

Sesame Noodle with Steamed Veggies and Egg

I was hankering for a nice sesame-sauced noodle dish. I googled around and saw that there is a lot of different ways to make sesame sauce. I tried to synthesize my own.
Prepare Sauce:
-Roughly chop a couple hot chilies, 3 cloves of garlic, and a bit of ginger
-Prepare 1 tsp each of olive oil, sesame oil, Chinese 5-Spice, black pepper, red wine, honey, and fresh chives-Prepare about 3 heaping tablespoons of good unsweetened peanut butter and another tablespoon or two of tahini
-Mix all the above in a food processor with about 1/4 cup of warm water
Prepare Dish:
-Soak any sort of noodles that you like in some water or cook them until they are just ready
-Chop/prepare any vegetables that you like steamed. I used broccoli, cauliflower, and bok choy
-Toast a tbsp of sesame seeds on a pan
-Roughly chop some cilantro and chives
-Ready a couple eggs

Cook Dish:
-Steam vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower take longer than bok choy)
-Crack 2 eggs on a warmed pan with olive oil over medium heat, after 1 minute of frying, roughly mix together

-Once vegetables are steamed, mix noodles through and leave for a couple minutes

-Mix in eggs and sauce, sprinkle with cilantro, chives, and sesame seeds

Tips:
-You can change this sauce anyway you see fit. I put in 3 chilies and it had a lovely amount of heat to it. I think next time I may add a bunch of cilantro to the sauce itself to give it a bit of that nice flavour.
-Substituting eggs with tofu or chicken would be a very welcome addition.

Pad Thai

When I've been to Bangkok, the main delight was eating the astoundingly cheap yet amazingly delicious pad thai that the locals whip up on their mobile woks along the street. I've had pad thai at restaurants of various quality, price and location in the world and have never found a comparable pad thai. I wanted desperately to recreate that dish. What I made wasn't exactly the same but still turned out, if I say so myself, pretty delicious. I found the recipe at this website that specializes in Thai food, made a few modifications, and had it for dinner. This makes about 4 servings.
Prepare:
-Chop 1 small onion
-Crush 4 cloves garlic
-Get a 1 lb/400 gm package of dried rice noodles (I used the flat kind)
-Chop up a small piece of pork
-Chop 1/2 a cup of firm tofu-Ready 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp fish sauce, ~4 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tsp chili powder
-Ready 3 eggs
-Chop up a handful of green onion and bean sprouts
-Crush 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
Cook:
-Soak the noodles in water for about 5 minutes (this is what I did per the recipe and found this was not enough, next time I'd half cook them in boiling water!)
-In a large wok, fry the onion and garlic for a couple minutes with a couple tbsp of olive oil on medium heat, then add the noodles-Fry for 5 minutes or so, or until noodles are well cooked, then add the sugar, fish sauce, vinegar and chili powder. Mix for another minute or so and then put aside (it said in the recipe, put to the side of the wok but I think you'd need a gigantic wok to be able to do that, so I just put it in a bowl)-In the same wok with added olive oil, fry pork and tofu for about 5 minutes or until pork is not pink on the outside-Toss the pork into the bowl, mix well
-Add a bit more oil to the wok and break the 3 eggs into it, scramble it a bit, and fry for 2-4 minutes (pending on how cooked you like your eggs)-Then pour the noodles and pork back in and mix well, turning off the heat
-Add bean sprouts and green onion
-Serve with crushed peanuts on the side

Tips:
-I was very pleased with how this turned out. It was a bit sweet, not salty, not too vinegary (which is great since I don't like vinegar, usually), but not spicy. Next time I'd fry a chili pepper or two with the onion and garlic
-The noodles were good but, due to soaking without boiling at all, a bit undercooked. They were difficult to fry, as well. Next time I might try with a different noodle
-The recipe called for salted Chinese radish but I didn't have that so didn't use it, if you have it or love it, you should throw it in

Beef and Noodle Veg in Black Bean Sauce

This is just a nice miscellaneous stir-fry, with a black-bean undercurrent. This is a salty, savory dish so make sure to enjoy with a nice Gin n Tonic or such.
Prepare:
-Chop up some veggies, most veggies work pretty well in a stir-fry. I'd say mandatory are onion, garlic, pepper, and broccoli. For black-bean sauce, I would also consider Bok Choy to be requisite. I also had some carrot, zucchini, cauliflower, chili pepper, and green onion.
-Brown the beef in a separate pan and drain: you don't want all the fat getting in your glorious stir-fry.-Get the sauces and other additives ready. A stir-fry should be stir-fried quickly, so you don't want to be fumbling with caps and lids and sauces. I use: black-bean sauce, a bit of stock powder, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and some ginger.
-If you're not using fresh noodles (I just used the ones that came in my Shin Ramyun pack, as I used the base for something else) make sure you boil and drain them ahead of time.
Cook:
-Heat the wok up first, get it nice and hot... a bit below the highest setting.
-Drop a bit of olive oil in and some crushed garlic
-Throw in the vegetables, making sure to stir often
-After a minute or two, add all your additives
-Add noodles and beef-When it's almost done, add all the greens that are quick to be cooked (leaves of Bok Choy and the green ends of the green onion)
-Serve it up, garnish with a generous amount of cilantro. When I made mine, it came off a bit too salty and overpowering, so I added a bit of honey and that smoothed it out quite well.