Too many syllables for me

Blogging 101: Keep Blogging. If someone points out you haven't blogged in a while, then that's not good. So this is for Karyn!

I do have a good excuse. I got a bad upper respiratory infection. Then Brian did. Then Brian and I went to New York. With URIs. Fun. Then we came back. And we still had URIs. 2 weeks after i exhibited the first symptoms, I still have some symptoms, but I managed to make some food (other than soup).

In New York, Brian and I went to a cute Greek restaurant (Greek Kitchen on 10th Ave.) for lunch. For an appetizer we got the eggplant dip. I was telling a co-worker who is half-Greek about it, because we always talk about Greek food. I couldn't remember what it was called and neither could she, so she looked it up, and it is called melintzanosalata. She kept saying it over and over again to learn to the word: "Mel - in -tzan - o - sa - la - ta. Mel - in - tzan - o - sa - la - ta." That's just too many syllables for me. I said that I do make
melintzanosalata, but I think what I make it is more like baba ganouj.

Here's what I make:

Baba Ganouj

1 medium eggplant
2 cloves garlic
1 TBSP tahini
Salt, Pepper, Coriander, and Cumin to taste
juice from 1 lemon
about 2 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds

Put eggplant on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Place on top rack of oven. Place rack as close to heat source in oven as possible without the eggplant touching. Heat oven on Broil. Broil for about 8 to 10 minutes, until one side burns. Turn, and broil until skin burns. After 4 turns, remove from oven, wrap in foil to steam. Steam for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then unwrap and allow to cool. Remove all skin.

In a food processor, chop garlic. Scape sides, and add roasted eggplant, tahini, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and lemon juice. blend until mixed. Slowly drizzle in 1 TBSP of olive oil and the toasted sesame oil. Blend until smooth.

Plate. Then drizzle with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with warm pita.

I also made a Greek Salad to go with it, with store-bought dolmas on top. Brian made hummus, and pomegranate martinis. I have been trying to get him to write out dip recipes, but he finally wrote out the martini recipe:

Pomegranate Martini


Fill a shaker with ice, then add:

2 jiggers (2oz) vodka
1 jigger (1oz) Bauchant- orange liqueur
1 jigger (1oz) Pomegranate juice
squeeze of lime

shake contents vigorously.

use the squeezed lime-half to rim the martini glass, then dust with sugar

Pour contents of shaker & enjoy!