New Year, New Beginnings, Eggplant "Taquitos", Egg Substitute, Healthy B-Split

Collard Greens Hack!
Not yer Mamaws collards!   Collard greens with blackeyed peas is a traditional southern New Years dish.  But the sulphurous smell of cooking collards puts a lot of people off.  

To prevent stinking up the whole house, collards have to be cooked differently from the way Mamaw (or Paula Deen) stewed them for hours!   I got a huge bundle of Co-Op Collards to make collards and blackeyed peas for New Years, and here's what I did.

Trim the leaves away from the massive central stems. Roll and slic ethe leaves into 1" strips for quicker cooking. Chop the stems into 1-2" pieces and reserve for pickled collard stems (see below).

Put a huge wad of chopped collards in a large microwave-safe bowl, add 1/4 cup of water and toss. Microwave on high for 4-5 minutes until the leaves are about half wilted. Repeat if you need more greens.

Now make up your 'pot likker' -- broth, ham hocks, chopped tomato, diced onion, herbs and spices, and bring to a boil.  I used liquid smoke rather than having smoked pork in the likker.

Add the par-cooked collards, put the lid on the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer the greens in the liquid for about 15 minutes to finish wilting them and letting them absorb the likker flavors. Remove the lid part way through cooking if you want to reduce the pot likker a bit.

Plate and serve with blackeyed peas and cornbread for a real Southern supper.

No more sulphur smell!!! The collards are done but not mushy!

Pickled Collard Stems
...or almost anything, really -- green beans, broccoli stem slices, etc.

Chop your soon-to-be-pickles into bite sized pieces, wash them and drain. Pack them into a screw-top jar, all the way to the top and beyond so they have to be pushed down to tighten the lid.

Vinegar. White, balsamic, wine, apple cider, malt, whatever you've got. I like a blend of all of them... Pour in your vinegar(s) to completely cover the veg in th jar.

Pour the vinegar out (through a strainer, directly into a pot on the stovetop.

While you bring the vinegar(s) to a boil, add your spices and herbs to the jar of veg - about 1 Tbsp of herbs/spices per cup of veg.

What spices & herbs?  The shy's the limit!  Whole peppercorns, seeds like fenugreek, mustard, dill, cumin, coriander, celery, star anise, cardamom, etc. Ground dried herbs like red pepper flakes, chopped garlic, dried onion, bay leaf, cumin, rosemary, and more. Can't decide? Just use a pre-packaged "pickling spice".

When the vinegar comes to a boil, pour it over the jarred veg and spices, all the way to the top, and tighten the lid down. Let the jar set out until the contents come to room temperature, before storing in the fridge.

Wait at least 2 weeks before trying your new pickles. They'll last in the fridge for up to six months.

Eggplant Taquitos 
My Italian food photographer friend Luciano Furia, of Naples, Italy, posted a photo of a family eggplant-spagetti dish he called involtini di spaghettini in melanzane. Basically sort of spaghetti-eggplant tacos, with fork rolls of cooked, sauced spagetti as the filling, and baked or friend rounds of eggplant as the taco shell. This inspired me to create these cheese-filled eggplant taquito rolls on a bed of spaghetti.
Cook up a batch of spaghetti big enough to lay down a bed in a 9x13 baking dish, and make a nice hearty vegetable filled "gravy" to coat them with (or use a chunky commercial pasta sauce. 

Reserve leftover sauce for topping.

Slice a 2-3 large eggplants lengthwise, about 1/4" thin.  Spritz them with EVOO and broil just a few minutes to soften them so they can be easily rolled up.  You'll want 16-20 good slices. 

Open a package of mozzarella string cheese sticks and slice them in half lengthwise, for the filling.

Roll an eggplant slice around a half cheese stick and place it seam-side-down on the bed of spaghetti.  Repeat until all the cheese sticks and eggplant slices are used.   

Spoon any remaining sauce around the taquitos.   Top with shredded mozzarella or a good Mexican melting cheese.  Bake at 400F for about 30 minutes. 

Plate and serve.

Apple Sauce/Egg Swap!
So there I was, everything laid out and triaging my ingredients to make our regular Friday fried cod supper, when I realized I did not have an egg to dredge the fish in before breading.  I knew that the cornmeal would not stick properly to the fish by itself, or make a decent crust.  What to do??

Luckily the Internet was just a couple clicks away; and after a brief search I discovered that -- in this situation and others -- you can substitute apple sauce for the egg!! 

Why in the world I had apple sauce but no eggs, I haven't a clue!   But dang if it didn't work.

I patted the filets dry, then brushed them with apple sauce before dredging in the cornmeal.  Trust me, you aren't going to 'dredge' fish filets in a pool of apple sauce!   Here's the result.  The taste was not "apple-y" but there was just a touch of sweetness.

Healthy Banana Split
This has become one of Sally's favorite fruit desserts.  A banana, a big dollop of Siggi'stm Skyr yogurt, a drizzle of local honey and a sprinkle of shaved almonds.