Summer is the season for eggplant!  It is sometimes called aubergine and comes in a variety of sizes and colors.  It is has a spongy texture and works well fried or stewed.
When buying eggplant, you want to make sure that the skin is smooth and the whole eggplant is firm. There are also male and female eggplants.  The females can be slightly pear-shaped and have more seeds.  The males, are usually longer and have fewer seeds.  Next time you are shopping, look at the bottom of the eggplant.  If the indentation is like a dash, it is a female.  If the indentation is like a dot, it is a male.  Either male or female, both are delicious. 
 
This recipe of Pasta alla Norma is a quick and flavorful meal. It can turn plain pasta into a trip to Southern Italy.

Ingredients
1 medium size eggplant, 1" cubed
2-3 inches of vegetable oil
1lb. short cut pasta (rigatoni, penne, rotini etc.)
1 medium onion, diced
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes 
1-25oz. bottle of passata or tomato puree (I like Mutti)
Basil leaves, torn

​Heat your vegetable oil in a shallow saute pan over medium-high heat.  I use vegetable oil because it has a higher smoke point and I don't have to worry about allergies.  In Sicily, I noticed that they use a lot of peanut and seed oils. Test your oil by placing one cube of eggplant in the oil.  If it does not immediately start to bubble and fry, wait.  Think of this as a deep-fry of the eggplant.  If the oil is not hot enough, your eggplant will just soak up the oil and become mushy and tasteless.  Once your oil is hot, carefully place  your cubed eggplant in the oil.  You may have to do this step in batches depending on the size of your pan.  You don't want to crowd and steam the eggplant.  Now fry away.  How long do you fry the eggplant?  Until it is deep brown but not burnt.  I use to cook my eggplant until it was lightly golden until a recent trip to Sicily.  I had a cooking class with a woman named Patricia in Palermo.  She told me the secret to good eggplant is to fry it dark.  The dishes we made with her were so delicious that now I only fry my eggplant dark.  I don't bread my eggplant anymore either, but that is for another blog and recipe.  Once the eggplant is fried, remove to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.  

Get a pot of salted water going for your pasta.  You want to make sure the water comes to a boil and cook your pasta until al dente.  Don't overcook it because you will be finishing it in the sauce.  I like short pasta, and it is traditional, with this recipe because it grabs the sauce and the eggplant giving you the perfect bite.  

While the pasta cooks, drain all but a few tablespoons of oil from your pan.  If all the oil is gone, add a few tablespoons.  Heat on medium.  Now add your onions and red pepper flakes to the pan.  Cook until the onions become soft and translucent.  

Next, add the passata to the onion and red pepper flakes.  Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  At this point, your pasta should be done.  Drain it and add it to the sauce along with the fried eggplant and torn basil.  Mix and Mangiare! 

When I moved into my home, I found two rhubarb plants growing in between some hostas up against the back of the house.  I was never quite sure why they were planted there. That spot doesn't get a lot of sun during the day and they seemed so out of place between the hostas.  What I did know was that the previous owner knew a lot about plants so I left them where he planted them.  Each year these plants thrive and I am able to harvest a good amount of rhubarb.  If you don't grow rhubarb, you can usually find it in the produce department in the Spring and Summer.

I personally love rhubarb but talking to other people, rhubarb is like cilantro, you either love it or hate it.  If you have ever eaten rhubarb, you know that it is quite sour.  It is usually is cooked down with a lot of sugar and becomes somewhat soft and mushy.  Sounds delicious, right.  It actually is!  While there are many ways to use rhubarb in both sweet and savory dishes, my favorite way is combining it with strawberries.  I found this Land O Lakes recipe for strawberry rhubarb bars that is so good, I had to share it.

FILLING
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries 
1 tablespoon lemon juice 
1/2 cup sugar 
2 tablespoons cornstarch 
CRUST
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats 
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
3/4 cup butter, softened 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
DRIZZLE
3/4 cup powdered sugar 
1 to 2 tablespoons milk 

Combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice in 2-quart saucepan. Cover; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 8-12 minutes or until fruit is tender

Most recipes for milk braised pork call for pork shoulder or a pork loin roast.  I use pork tenderloin because it cooks much faster than pork shoulder and is available in most stores.   Feel free to use a pork shoulder in this recipe.  Just know that the cooking time will be hours longer.  

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
2 pork tenderloins each weighing approximately 1 to 1-1/2 pounds
Salt & pepper
1 small onion, diced
3 cups of sliced mushrooms (optional)
4 sage leaves
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard


Heat olive oil and butter in a dutch oven or a deep sauté pan over medium heat.  Dry the tenderloins with paper towels and liberally salt and pepper them.  By drying the meat before you season it, ensures that it will get a good sear once it's placed in the oil and butter.  Add the pork to the pot, turning occasionally, browning on all sides.  Once browned, transfer the pork to a plate.

To the oil/butter mix left in the pan, add the diced onions and mushrooms (if using). Cook until the onions begin to soften and the mushrooms begin to brown.  Next add the sage leaves, smashed garlic and rosemary and continue cooking until the garlic is fragrant, 2-3 minutes.

Return the pork tenderloins to the pot, with any accumulated juices from the plate, and add the milk.  You want the milk to surround the pork but not fully cover them. Cover the pot and simmer about 20 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in at the thickest part of the tenderloin registers 140 degrees.

Transfer the pork to a plate and tent it with foil to let it rest and stay warm while you finish the sauce.

Sauce
Strain the contents of the pan over a large bowl separating the mushrooms, garlic, onions and herbs from the milk mixture.  Make sure to keep both.  Add the milk sauce back to the pan and whisk in the mustard.  Turn the heat to medium/high and bring to a low boil.  Once boiling, add a cornstarch slurry* to thicken the sauce. Add the slurry a little at a time.  If the sauce gets too thick, add a little more milk.  If the sauce seem too thin, add more slurry.  The consistency of the sauce is up to you.  

Lower the heat and add the mushrooms back to the finished sauce.  The rest of the solids have done their job and can be tossed.  Taste the sauce for any additional salt and pepper that is needed.  Slice the pork into medallions and spoon the gravy on top.

*Slurry
2 parts cold water to 1 part cornstarch

Buy a cooked, rotisserie chicken, some tortillas, defrost some sauce and you can have enchiladas any night of the week.
Just in time for Cinco de Mayo!  ​

Enchilada Sauce
3 tbs. olive oil
3 tbs. chili powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
5 tablespoons tomato paste
1-1/2 cups of crushed tomatoes (I have used tomato sauce and it works too)
1-1/2 cups of chicken broth (use veggie broth if you are keeping it vegetarian)
Salt & Sugar​*

Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat.  Add chili powder, garlic and oregano and cook a minute or two, stirring until you begin to smell the spices coming back to life. Be careful not to burn the garlic.  Now add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, broth and stir to combine.  Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The sauce will seem a bit thin but it does thicken as it cools.

This sauce will be a rich red color.  If you like your enchilada sauce lighter, whisk in a couple of tablespoons of sour cream or Mexican style crema.

Enchilada Assembly & Baking
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Once the sauce has cooled a bit, you can begin to make your enchiladas.  Spray some cooking spray in a square or rectangular baking dish and add enough enchilada sauce to lightly cover the bottom.  Dip your tortilla in the pan of sauce that you previously made on the stove, letting the excess sauce fall back into the pan, and place on a flat surface like a plate or cutting board.  This will make the tortilla a little soft and easier to roll.  In the lower half of the tortilla, add your shredded chicken, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, green onion; anything you like.  Make sure you spread out your fillings or you will end up with too much in the middle and empty ends.  Begin at the bottom and roll your tortilla up. Place it in your prepared baking dish seam side down.  Top with more enchilada sauce, cheese and salsa.  

Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes.  Then remove the foil and continue to bake about 10 more minutes or until the cheese on top is melted.  

Big Batch Sauce
(Makes 4 quarts)

6 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chili powder
12 garlic cloves, minced
8 tsp. dried oregano
3-6oz. cans tomato paste
106oz. canned tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
Salt & Sugar*

* Taste your sauce for salt and sugar.  The salt content will depend on the brand of tomato products you use.  Some are saltier than others.  The same goes with sugar.  You may not need to add any to your sauce but it will depend on your chili powder. Some are sweeter and some are more bitter.  Start will little amounts; you can always add but you can't remove.