Baked Eggplant Sandwiches – Get’em While They’re Room Temp!

I didn’t intend for this baked eggplant sandwich to turn into yet another Super Bowl party food post, but two bites in and I realized that’s what may have happened. The reason for this epiphany had nothing to do with taste or texture, but with temperature. I’d forgotten just how truly delicious these are served at room temp, which was always how the Italians I learned this from served it.

Of course, like any normal person faced with a warm, cheese-filled anything, I ate one as soon as possible, and it was great. Golden-brown and crisp on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside. However, when I went back for seconds an hour later, I got to experience these in all their cooled-off glory.

While not as crispy, they were still crunchy around the edges and featured an entirely different flavor profile. Hot salami isn’t the greatest expression of the sausage maker’s art, and you really don’t appreciate the eggplant’s subtle sweetness playing against the cheese when hot.

I’m not sure exactly why, but Italians seem to have a thing for room temperature fried foods, especially vegetables. I’ve heard Mario Batali talk about this before, but there seems to be a long tradition of letting fried stuff cool down first before eating.

Happily, this practice works perfectly for entertaining, since you can bake these off ahead of time, and put them out on a tray anytime. Whether for your Super Bowl party, or not, I hope you give these addictive eggplant sandwiches a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for each eggplant sandwich:

2 thick slices eggplant (Note: some people salt the slices to draw off liquid, which they say is bitter. I’ve done this for other eggplant recipes, but not for these sandwiches. With the breading and filling, I actually think the slight bitterness is an advantage.)

3 thin, small slices of salami

1/2 slice provolone cheese

1 generous tablespoon olive oil, divided

seasoned flour as needed (flour with enough fine salt, pepper, and cayenne so that it tastes “seasoned” when you dip your finger in it)

beaten eggs, as needed (2 eggs is enough for about 4 sandwiches)

plain breadcrumbs, as needed
1 tsp very finely grated Parmesan cheese

An Award-Winning Smoked Goose

I’m heading down to Los Angeles tomorrow for the Taste Awards, and in addition to the medals we won for “Best Food Program: Web” and “Best Home Chef in a Series,” we also were gifted a smoked goose by one of the show’s sponsors, Schiltz Foods. 

While the picture may look food styled and photoshop’d, I can assure you it was not. These delicious geese really are as gorgeous as you see here, and I thought I’d repost the video below as a little thanks to the fine folks at Schiltz for this year’s bird.

The Taste Awards may not yet have risen to match the prestige of the James Beard Awards, but the last time I checked, those guys weren’t getting any free poultry, so there. To read the original post, and get the ingredients, just follow this link. Enjoy!

Beef Goulash! Thick Hungarian Soup, Thin Austrian Stew, or None of the Above?

I’m not sure how authentic this goulash recipe is, since the recipe I use is adapted from one by Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck. Austria is Hungary-adjacent, and I’m pretty sure they were the same country once, but still, the Puckmeister’s version, further modified by me, is closer to a stew called "Pörkölt." Apparently true goulash, or Gulyás, is much more like a soup, and is served with dumplings.

Okay, two things. First, when it comes to a main course, I like stew more than soup. If you want to stay truer to the original, add more liquid. That’s not going to bother me, or Wolfgang. Also, since I operate in a universe ruled by Google, I went with “goulash” since it’s a thousand times more recognizable than pörkölt. When’s the last time you heard someone say they were craving a big bowl of pörkölt?

Of course, none of this helps my American viewers who, thanks to the cafeteria ladies from our childhoods, think “goulash” is a tomato, hamburger, and elbow macaroni casserole. I’m assuming that variation was born when some Hungarian (or Austrian?) immigrant tried to stretch the last few ladles of soup/stew into another full meal.

Anyway, now that we’ve cleared up absolutely nothing, I can talk about this gorgeous dish of food. I adore everything about this dish. The color is stunning, the beef is sticky and succulent, and paprika-based sauce is incredible.

By the way, I’ve heard from my people on YouTube that this is never served on noodles. How do you say, “whatever” in Hungarian? Despite our questionable naming, ingredients, and side dish, this made for a fantastic winter dinner, and I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 large portions of beef goulash:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes, seasoned generously with salt and pepper

2 onions, chopped

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 teaspoons caraway seeds, toasted and ground

2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 tsp dried marjoram leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

4 cups chicken broth (1 to deglaze pan, 3 more added to stew)
*Note: real goulash is more like a soup, so if you want yours thinner, just add 2 or 3 extra cups of broth.

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

1 bay leaf

1 tsp sugar

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

*Simmer for about 2 hours, or until tender

Garnish with sour cream and fresh marjoram if desired.

View the complete recipe

Soup For You!

I'm not sure where you're reading this from, but for the sake of this post I'll assume it's freezing outside, and you're craving a huge bowl of steaming, hot soup. Sweaters are great, but when you need to get warm from the inside out, there is really only one way...well, two actually, but this isn't a cocktails blog, so we're just going with soup. Here are a few of my personal favorite cold weather soups. Click on caption to read the post and watch the video. Bundle up and enjoy!

Spicy Coconut Shrimp Bisque

Bumblebee Soup - Bacon, Black Bean and Corn Chowder

Minestrone Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Garlic Parm Hot Wings – Video Recipe 800! 800? Really?

This garlic Parmesan hot wings video represents the 800th recipe we’ve uploaded to YouTube since we launched the channel in January 2007. As I waited for the file to upload, an odd sense of disbelief started to wash over me. Had I really cooked, filmed, and posted 800 video recipes? It didn’t seem possible.

The more I thought about just how much content that is, the more improbable it seemed. 800 recipes? That’s like 10 cookbooks! Then, a different kind of disbelief came over me as I considered all the dishes I’ve still not done.

After all these hundreds and hundreds of recipes, I still have not done things like risotto, goulash, blue cheese dressing, calamari, or beef Wellington; just to name a few. Anyway, it was an interesting and introspective ten minutes, sitting there watching the upload progress bar slowly move across the screen, thinking about what I had done, and how much I still needed to do.

As far as these gorgeous wings go, they rocked. My wife Michele, who is not a big fan of chicken wings, ate more than I’d ever seen her eat before, and deemed them my best yet. I’m not sure about that, but they did come out really, really well.

One reason it’s hard to get a crispy-crusty coating on a wing in the oven is all the moisture that leaks out during the initial phase of baking. Here, we are parboiling the wings in a very flavorful liquid, which not only helped season the chicken, but also produced a surface texture in the oven that your guests will swear came straight out of a deep fryer. I hope you give these a try soon, and as always, and for the 800th time, enjoy!

Ingredients for 5 pounds of wings (about 48 pieces):

3 quarts cold water

1/4 cup salt

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried rosemary

4 to 5 pounds of chicken wing sections

8-10 cloves garlic plus big pinch of salt

3 or 4 tbsp olive oil, or as needed

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste (obviously you can add cayenne or other hot stuff to make these even spicier)
2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs

about 1 cup of very finely and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

creamy Italian dressing for dipping, optional

View the complete recipe

The Tuna Melt – Open Face, Insert Hypocrisy

If you watch as much food television as I do, then I’m sure you’ve heard a celebrity chef or two, pontificating about the horrors of combining cheese and fish. They say it’s never acceptable, no exceptions, never, ever.

Of course, after the show ends, they have a couple beers and head for their favorite late-night diner, where they enjoy delicious tuna melts. Those hypocritical bastards. I’m not saying to start pouring nacho cheese sauce over your sautéed sand dabs, but when it comes to food, it’s best to never say never.

As I mention in the video, this will only be as good as your tuna, so use something nice. You know I’m a Tonino man, but any imported, olive-oil packed brand should work fine. By the way, I enjoy the classic, toasted sandwich-style tuna melt a great deal, but this open face version is a little easier to execute, and perfect for larger groups, since you can fit a bunch on a pan.

Whether you use my formula or embellish to your tastes, I really hope you give these a try soon. And, if you know any celebrity chefs, invite them over and see if you can get them to admit this totally works. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 large tuna melts:

2 thick slices of Italian or French bread

2 tbsp soft butter

6.5 oz jar of oil-packed tuna, drained

2 tbsp small diced celery

1 tbsp minced green onion

2 tsp capers

1 tsp hot chili sauce or other hot stuff to taste

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp mayonnaise, or more to taste

about 1/3 cup shredded or crumbled fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

cayenne to taste

Next Up: Tuna Melt