Cooking Kick-Off!

Grub Club met for the first time on Thursday, January 20th in Bitsoff's 490 square foot apartment. Guests kindly took to a variety of seats, which included a couch  (normal), ottoman (somewhat normal), Adirondack chair (getting weird), floor (sorry!) and, of course, the bed (not normal).  Stephanie Zaren and Jenny Vasil kindly joined us.  Hopefully, this will be the first of many more meet and eats to come!

Appetizer, provided by Kim Messey

Variety of cheese-y goodness with French bread, walnuts and tapenade. 

Salad, provided Jessica Hobbs

• 2 pkgs. of romaine lettuce
• 1 case of cherry tomatoes
• 3/4 c. pitted Kalmata olives
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1 pkg. of Mediterranean flavor Feta cheese
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• Red Wine Vinaigrette, Trader Joe's brand
• Pepper to taste

Eggplant Parmesan, provided by Bitsoff

Eggplant:

• 2 lbs globe eggplants cut crosswise into 1/4 rounds
• 1 T kosher salt
• 1 c. unbleached all-pupose flour
• 8 slices high quality white bread, each slice torn into quarters
• 2 oz. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1 cup)
• 4 large eggs
• 6 T vegetable oil

Tomato Sauce

• 3 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 T EVOO
• 4 medium garlic cloves minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 1/4 t. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 c. coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• salt and ground pepper
• 8 oz. (2 c.)whole milk or part skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 oz. (1/2 c.) Parm cheese
• 10 fresh basil leaves for garnish

1. For the eggplant: Toss the eggplant slices and 3 t. of the kosher salt in a large bowl until combined; transfer the salted eggplant to a large colander set over a bowl. Let stand for 45 minutes until the eggplant releases about 2 T of liquid.  Spread the eggplant slices over triple layers of paper towels; cover with another triple thickness of paper towels and press firmly to remove as much liquid as possible and wipe off the excess salt
2. While the eggplant is draining, heat the oven to 425 degrees and place two rimmed baking sheets in the oven. Pulse the bread in a food processor to fine, even crumbs, about fifteen 1-second pulses to produce four cups. Transfer the crumbs to a pie plate and stir in the cheese, 1/4 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper; set aside.
3. Combine the flour and 1 t. pepper in a large zipper-lock bag; shake to combine. Beat the eggs in a second pie plate. Place the eggplant slices in the bag with the flour; seal the bag and shake to coat the slices. Remove the slices, shaking toff the excess flour. Dip in the eggs, letting the excess run off and coat even with the bread crumb mixture. Set the breaded slices on a baking sheet.
4. Remove the pre-heated baking sheets from the oven; add 3 T. vegetable oil to each sheet, coating evenly. Place half of the breaded eggplant slices on each sheet in a single layer; bake until the eggplant is well browned and crisp about 30 minutes, flip the slices over after 20 minutes.

For the sauce

1. While the eggplant bakes, process 2 cans of the diced tomatoes in a food processor for 5 seconds. Heat the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Stir in the processed tomatoes and the remaining 1 can diced tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium -low and simmer, stirring until slightly thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the basil and salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:

1. Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Layer in half of the eggplant slices, overlapping the slices to fit; distribute 1 more cup of the tomato sauce over the eggplant; sprinkle with half of the mozzarella. Layer in the remaining eggplant and dot with 1 more cup of the sauce, leaving the majority of eggplant exposed so it will remain crisp; sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and the remaining mozzarella. Bake until bubbling and the cheese is browned, 13-15 minutes. Scatter the basil over the top and serve, passing the remaining tomato sauce separately.

Dessert, provided by Megan Young
Four delicious gelato flavors (lemon, strawberry, carmel/chocolate and some other long Italian name that we can't remember) from the Gelato Bus Stop in PB!