fully-loaded roasted eggplant with yogurt and parsley pita bread

fully-loaded roasted eggplant with yogurt and parsley pita bread, originally uploaded by aarn! +5th January, 2011+.

mixed together 1c. of all-purpose flour with a few spoonfuls of whole milk yogurt, a pinch of salt, and a handful of fresh chopped parsley. the dough was very wet, but workable (no idea how much yogurt was actually in there, could have been almost 1:1). cut the dough into two equal sized pieces and rolled it into oblong pitas on a floured work surface. placed the rolled out dough onto a pizza peel and transferred to a hot baking stone in a 425-degree oven until brown, then flipped and repeated.

rotated a raw eggplant atop a stove burner on high heat until the outside was charred and the flesh was tender to the touch. sliced the eggplant in half, put one half on each plate, and splayed the halved eggplant like a baked potato. smeared some garlic paste (garlic, olive oil, salt, and a little lemon juice, worked together into an emulsion in a mortar and pestle) onto the open flesh side of the eggplant, then drizzled on some tahini, honey, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice. topped the eggplant off with some diced tomatoes, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, and a dollop of whole milk yogurt. served with the pita.

[adapted from "the book of real isreali food" by gur]

pan seared chuck shoulder steak with garlic-mashed red potatoes and roasted fennel

pan seared chuck shoulder steak with garlic-mashed red potatoes and roasted fennel, originally uploaded by aarn! +5th January, 2011+.

sliced a fennel bulb in half and sprinkled some salt and pepper onto the cut sides. put the two sides back together, wrapped the bulb in aluminum foil, and placed in the back of a 375-degree oven for about 40-minutes (or until fork tender).

washed and quartered five small red potatoes. tossed the potatoes in some olive oil, salt and pepper, and placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet on the bottom rack of the 375-degree oven until brown, then turned and baked until fork tender. mashed the potatoes with 1.5T. butter, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 2-3T. heavy cream, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. whipped with a spatula until smooth.

brought a 1-lb beef chuck "london broil" shoulder steak up to room temperature and sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper. heated a 10-in skillet with a little olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. placed the chuck steak into the hot skillet and cooked for about three minutes, then flipped the steak and put the skillet into the 375-degree oven for another three minutes or so. pulled the skillet and put the meat on a cutting board to rest for about 5-min, then sliced thin, plated over the mashed potatoes and sliced fennel bulb and garnished with some fresh thyme.