Eggplant and Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes

 While I miss having a CSA to rely on, I do visit the Farmers Market every chance I get.  This past weekend, I got the first of the eggplant for the season.  Unfortunately, there was only one small one!  So, last night, I decided to make a quiche out of it with some beautiful heirloom cherry tomatoes.  It is important I decided to do this last night because as always, when you want to put fresh vegetables into a quiche, you must do what you can to reduce the extra liquid added to the dish.  Instead of only doiing 20 - 40 minutes with the salt, I decided to slice the eggplant last night, salt it and let it rest in the refrigerator over night, to get as much liquid out as I could.  I didn't, however, remove the liquid from the tomatoes, even though I roasted them until they burst, so I am fully expecting liquid around the quiche.  But it smells so good while it is cooking!!!

Roasted Eggplant & Heirloom Cherry Tomato Crustless Quiche

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 small eggplant*, sliced lengthwise into ¼ inch slices

2 cups mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes*

1 head garlic*

Cooking spray

6 large farm fresh eggs*

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 ½ Cups Milk (I used 1% organic milk)

1 oz crumbled goat cheese

1 up shredded Swiss & Gruyere cheese

Directions:

1.      Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Slice the eggplant and lay in a single layer on sheet.  Sprinkle with salt.  Allow to rest 1 – 8 hours (refrigerate if over 1 hour).  This will draw excess liquid from the eggplant.

2.      Preheat oven to 400F.  Pat the eggplant slices to absorb excess moisture.  Line a large cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Lay eggplant slices evenly over the cookie sheet.  Spread tomatoes between the slices.  Cut the top and bottom off garlic head and place head in middle of cookie sheet.  Spray all with cooking spray.  Roast for 20 minutes, turning pan halfway through cooking.  When done cooking, reduce oven to 375F.

3.      Remove garlic to cutting board to cool.  Place tomatoes in a colander to drain excess liquid.  Pat dry the eggplant.

4.      In a medium mixing bowl, crack eggs and season with salt and pepper.  Beat eggs until uniform in color.  Slowly add milk and beat until a light lemon yellow.

5.      To assemble: Spray baking dish with cooking spray.  Place one layer of eggplant in the bottom of the dish.  Add burst tomatoes.  Peel cloves of garlic and spread throughout the tomato layer.  Place a second layer of eggplant over tomatoes.  Sprinkle with goat cheese.  Slowly pour eggs over vegetables, then sprinkle Swiss/Gruyere over top.

6.      Bake at 375F for 40 minutes, or until toothpick, inserted into center, comes out clean.  Allow to sit for 5-7 minutes before serving. 

* Farmer's market items.

Instant Pot Red Wine Short Ribs

 Well, it is official, I am ready for the farmer's market to open again  I thawed the last batches of local short ribs and decided to make ragu.  And I just happened to have a package of potato gnocchi I needed to use.

Instant Pot Red Wine Short Ribs

adapted from: https://www.lifasastrwberry.com/instant-pot-short-ribs

2 lbs boneless beef short ribs

salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

12 oz baby portobello mushrooms, sliced

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used a red blend)

3 cups homemade roasted tomato marinara

Instructions:

1) Generously salt and pepper all sides of your short ribs

2) Set Instant Pot to saute setting and add olive oil.  When pot is hot, add short ribs and sear for 3-5 minutes per side until golden brown. 

3) Remove short ribs from pot and set aside. 

4) Add onions and mushrooms to pot and stir to combine.  Cook until all water from mushrooms is evaporated.  Add garlic, cook a minute until it becomes fragrant.

5) Add balsamic vinegar and red wine to pot to deglaze.  Make sure to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan with your spoon or spatula.  Bring to a simmer.

6) Press "cancel" button to turn off saute setting.

7) Add short ribs back to the pot, nestling them in with the onions and mushrooms.  Pour tomato sauce over the ribs (do not stir).

8) Lock the Instant Pot lid in place, move the valve to "sealing" and set the cook time to 65 minutes on high (if you are using boneless ribs, cooke at 50 minutes)

9) When cook time has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 mintues, then do a quick release of any remaining pressure by carefully moving the valve to venting. Let the pot vent until the pin drops.  Then carefully remove the lid away from you to avoid steam.

10) Remove the cooked ribs to a plate to cool.  

11) Add the gnocchi to the pot and stir.  Place lid back into place and move the valve to "sealing".  Press cancel to turn off "Keep warm".  The set the cook time to 6 minutes on high.

12) While the gnocchi are cooking, remove the beef from the bones and fat.  

13) When the cooking time is over, do a quick release by carefully moving the valve to "venting"

14) Once the pin drops, carefully open the lid away from you.  Stir the shredded ribs back into the pot.  Let the mixuter cook for about 5-10 minutes more to thicken a bit.