{"id":37860,"date":"2021-11-19T01:13:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T09:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=37860"},"modified":"2021-11-18T17:05:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T01:05:00","slug":"savoury-sweet-and-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/11\/19\/savoury-sweet-and-simple\/","title":{"rendered":"Savoury, sweet and simple"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cottage cheese muffins \u00e0 la Accidental Balabusta, but double the size.\u00a0<\/em>(photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking for a couple of easy recipes to add to your repertoire? But you\u2019re not quite sure what to try? Because sometimes you want savoury. Sometimes you want sweet. But what if you want both? I\u2019ve got just the answer \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t come in the form of one recipe. It comes in two. One\u2019s a side dish and one\u2019s a snack or breakfast food. Both punch above their weight, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

With very few exceptions I have neither the focus nor the patience to embark on complicated recipes that call for exotic ingredients and specialty cookware. If I can\u2019t pronounce it and it\u2019s not available at my local Safeway or Superstore, it ain\u2019t happening. (Except for those lamb shanks that I made for Rosh Hashanah, which did call for loads of ingredients and which were, to use my hubby\u2019s words: \u201cThe best lamb I\u2019ve ever eaten!\u201d Sorry \u2026 I just had a modesty bypass.)<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m not the most adventurous eater\/cook in the world but I never go hungry. My father, alav hashalom, used to say that I\u2019d eat out of a puddle if push came to shove. I prefer to describe it as having simple tastes.<\/p>\n

Good thing my husband didn\u2019t marry me for my cooking. Although it has improved significantly since we got married 12 years ago. When we first met, my idea of dinner was a California roll and Agedashi tofu takeout. We used to eat out at restaurants maybe three or four times a week during the honeymoon phase, i.e. the first four years of our marriage. I kept telling him I knew how to cook; I just chose not to activate that skill. And what do you know. He believed me.<\/p>\n

But I digress. Back to the savoury recipe I was going to tell you about. It\u2019s an eggplant side dish or chunky dip and is a perfect accompaniment to just about any meal, be it meat, chicken, vegetarian or fish. It\u2019s a bit time-consuming, but what eggplant recipe isn\u2019t, with all that peeling, slicing and dicing? I\u2019m not a big fan of spicy food so you can up the garlic content as you see fit. I find it\u2019s got just that right combination of salty, spicy, sweet and tart, without being heavy or overpowering. I call it Merle\u2019s Eggplant, after my sister\u2019s friend who gave us the recipe decades ago. Thank you, Merle.<\/p>\n

MERLE\u2019S EGGPLANT<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 diced onion
\n<\/strong>1 large or 2 medium-size eggplants, peeled and cubed
\n<\/strong>2-3 cloves garlic, minced
\n<\/strong>14 oz (398 ml) can tomato sauce
\n<\/strong>a squeeze or two of lemon juice
\n<\/strong>1-2 tbsp brown sugar<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Peel and cube eggplant and set aside.<\/li>\n
  2. Fry diced onion in olive oil until lightly browned.<\/li>\n
  3. Add eggplant to onions and fry, alternating covered and uncovered, until eggplant is opaque.<\/li>\n
  4. Add minced garlic, tomato sauce, lemon juice and brown sugar. Cook on low heat for about one hour, covered.<\/li>\n
  5. Refrigerate then serve. Some people like to serve it hot, but I prefer it cold, because I find that the flavours meld even more when it\u2019s been refrigerated. But that\u2019s your call. Try it both ways.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    * * *<\/p>\n

    As for the sweet recipe \u2013 cottage cheese muffins \u2013 well, it\u2019s a favourite in our home. It\u2019s one of those comfort foods that soothe just about any ailment, from fatigue to sore feet. Aside from being healthy (think protein), they\u2019re filling and super-fast to make, plus it\u2019s one of those recipes that you can make blindfolded with both hands tied behind your back. Eat them hot, eat them cold, eat them with jam, eat them plain.<\/p>\n

    The only people that won\u2019t like these muffins are the lactose-intolerant. And that can be remedied. I recently found lactose-free cottage cheese at the local supermarket. It\u2019s slightly more expensive, but worth it if you like dairy but not the side effects that can go with it. Knock yourself out with these fluffy, light, healthy muffins. I\u2019ve seen all sorts of variations on this recipe, using cheddar cheese, whole wheat flour, sour cream, etc., but none of them quite matches the simplicity and yumminess of this one.<\/p>\n

    I would strongly suggest doubling the recipe, since this recipe only makes 12 small muffins. Or just eat several at one go, and explain to shocked onlookers that they\u2019re mini-muffins. Which they\u2019re not, but, never mind. Just look at it as muffin-envy.<\/p>\n

    COTTAGE CHEESE MUFFINS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1 1\/2 cups cottage cheese
    \n<\/strong>2 tbsp sugar
    \n<\/strong>1\/2 cup melted butter or margarine
    \n<\/strong>2 tsp baking powder
    \n<\/strong>2 eggs
    \n<\/strong>a pinch of salt
    \n<\/strong>1 cup flour<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Preheat oven to 400\u00b0F.<\/li>\n
    2. Mix all ingredients by hand. Don\u2019t be surprised if the batter is quite thick.<\/li>\n
    3. Grease muffin tins or use paper muffin liners. Distribute batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.<\/li>\n
    4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. They\u2019re ready when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.<\/li>\n
    5. Eat plain or topped with yogurt, sour cream, berries, jam or whatever. They reheat well in the microwave. But, if there are more than two people living in your home, the muffins probably won\u2019t make it till the next day. They may sound too good and too easy to be true, but I\u2019m here to tell you, they\u2019re the real deal. Sometimes, the most basic recipes are the star of the show. Or at least the crowd-pleasers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      * * *<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s not the number of ingredients or the sophistication of technique that make a recipe sing. It\u2019s the flavour, plain and simple. So, do yourself a favour and try out these two recipes. Tell them the Accidental Balabusta sent you.<\/p>\n

      Shelley Civkin<\/strong> aka the Accidental Balabusta is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the <\/em>Richmond Review. She\u2019s currently a freelance writer and volunteer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Cottage cheese muffins \u00e0 la Accidental Balabusta, but double the size.\u00a0(photo by Cynthia Ramsay) Looking for a couple of easy recipes to add to your repertoire? But you\u2019re not quite sure what to try? Because sometimes you want savoury. Sometimes you want sweet. But what if you want both? I\u2019ve got just the answer \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[8729,3584,21037,3463],"class_list":["post-37860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-accidental-balabusta","tag-cooking","tag-cottage-cheese-muffins","tag-eggplant"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}