What's for Dinner, Thurs., Sept. 15, 2022

[NJCher]

Appetizer: Red pepper hummus on wheat crackers.
Maple cinnamon artisan crisps with mascarpone.

Roasted Brussels sprouts in walnut oil with garlic. Toasted walnuts over the top.

Eggplant parmesan using eggplant I grew in my garden.


I took this photo when it was small. I also harvested Japanese eggplant.

Tart cherry kombucha.

Dessert: tapioca and green grapes. Decaf coffee.

Note to PJMcK: are you OK?

[NJCher]

1. Did I ever show you my Alfred Hitchcock eggplant?

I grew this in 2010. I am a Hitchcock fan, so this amused me to no end:

[irisblue]

2. 🤣🤣🤣

[irisblue]

3. A knock off Taco Bell Mexican Pizza & decafe tea

https://www.thecountrycook.net/mexican-pizza/#recipe








Ingredients
For the pizzas:
▢1 pound ground beef
▢1 packet taco seasoning**
▢¾ cup water
▢1 cup vegetable oil
▢8 flour tortillas (taco size)
▢15 ounce can refried beans
▢10 ounce can enchilada sauce**
▢2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
Toppings:
▢diced tomatoes
▢sliced green onion
▢sliced olives


Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large skillet, brown and and crumble the ground beef.
Drain excess grease. Place cooked beef back in skillet and taco seasoning mix and water and stir. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until thickened.

In a large skillet, heat up oil over medium heat. Add tortillas (one at a time) and cook for 3-4 minutes (flipping frequently) until crisp. Continue with the rest of the tortillas. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat up the refried beans in a microwaveable-safe bowl. This will make it easier to spread the beans onto the tortilla shells.

On each tortilla, slather a generous layer of refried beans. Then top with seasoned ground beef.

Place another tortilla on top. Slather about two tablespoons of the enchilada sauce on top. Then place some shredded cheese on top of the sauce. Continue assembling the rest of the pizzas.

Place the pizzas on a large nonstick baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

**-I make my own taco seasoning mix, using this
https://www.jerseygirlcooks.com/diy-taco-seasoning/

**I make my own red enchilada sauce using this

https://cookieandkate.com/enchilada-sauce-recipe/#tasty-recipes-24083-jump-target

[Luciferous]

8. Yum, I'm going to try this recipe 🙂

[irisblue]

10. LOVED those after finishing second shift.

For me, making the flours tostada crispy seems important. YMMV

[PJMcK]

4. Lamb

Tonight is our last evening in our mountain house so we've been eating everything left in the house.

Marinated grilled lamb roast, corn on the cob and a green salad, the end of the Landlady(!)'s garden.

Tomorrow, we move aboard our cruising sailboat, Pelagic, before we head south for the winter. From now on, the Landlady(!) shall be known as the First Mate. (wink)

[elleng]

5. Bon Journeys!

(Feeling better???)

[PJMcK]

13. Thank you!

I had 36-hour bug.

We’ll be sailing south through the Chesapeake in October. We’ll wave and dip our burgee as we pass your neck of the Bay.

[elleng]

14. Great! DO so,

am @ Patuxent River.

[Emile]

6. Spaghetti, garlic bread and a toss salad.

[Marthe48]

7. Fried cabbage with onion, bacon and garlic

First time I cooked since Sunday.

I sure wish my eggplant had produced. Maybe next year.

[NJCher]

11. what might be the problem

you have to grow a lot of eggplant around each other to get a decent harvest. In the past I have only had one or two plants. Not enough. I got no eggplant at all last year and the year before that,only one.

Then I started raising many eggplants--at the community garden there are about 20--and now I have enough to give away!

I don't know where I read about this, but Google it for more info. I raised all mine from seed.

[Marthe48]

12. I had only 2

Last year the lady at the local farm market gave me 12 she grew. They were old and I went from dreams of eggplant parmesan to wondering if any would grow where I tossed them. She said they were easy. I don't know of anyone else locally who grows them. I wanted a small garden, so I got 2 plants. I also got 2 summer squash plants, 2 tomato plants, and planted a pack of okra seeds. It was a new place for a garden. I thought it would be good, because it got a lot more sun than other places in the yard. But nothing has done well. The lawn guy mowed down one of the squash plants. Got none. I got 2 eggplants, but really puny. Got some okra, but puny. Got a couple tomatoes, all small. Tasted good. I added some loam to the sandy soil where I planted, and watered them until we started getting rain. A few people said we had too much rain, but some of the other gardens on the street looked pretty good.

I'll keep your tip in mind. Thanks!

[hippywife]

9. Entree green salads:

breaded chicken tenders, lettuce, cucumber, sweet onion, tomato (his), olives (also his), strawberries, mandarine orange segments, raisins, pecans (mine), bleu cheese crumbles and bleu cheese dressing.

Was supposed to have garlic toast, but since we don't normally eat bread with out meals, I forgot.

Water.

Dark chocolate espresso ice cream.