Surprisingly Great Eggplant Parmesan

When I think of edible vegetables I think of Carrots, celery, broccoli, tomatoes or pretty much anything you could fit in one of those holiday veggie trays with the dip in the center. Something that I knew existed yet, is out there, is Eggplant. Where is it? I don't know where necessarily, I just know its never been here, in our fridge, in our life, or cooked on our stove or in our oven. So, you can imagine my surprise when Trisha walks up to me with two huge Eggplants in her hands. "Is this what they are supposed to feel like?" First, get the visuals out of your head, it really happened that way and isn't some fabricated story to get a laugh. But it is funny looking back. Anyway, I responded to Trisha's question how anyone who's ever known me would think I would respond. Well, anyone except my beautiful and intelligent wife of over 6 years and significant other of 11 years apparently. I said, "How would I know? What is that, Eggplant? And you wouldn't ask me that unless your planning something, but we don't eat Eggplant." 


Here is the spirit of this Blog. Trisha gets these wild ideas about food that she got from somewhere and I get to try out the idea she had, good or bad. I swore this would be one of the bad and never make it to the blog. There are not many that don't make the cut, but there are a few. I thought this would be bad because nothing what-so-ever about Eggplant seems edible or excitable to me. It looks horrible, feels horrible (Its supposed to be a little soft, by the way), and smells like a bunch of nothing. Having said all that, as you can tell from the title, the eggplant, to my delight, was absolutely delicious. I watched her skin it, cut it into slices, bread it and bake it, then build the dish of eggplant, cheese and sauce and during this process is when my mind started to turn. When she pulled the breaded and baked Eggplant from the oven it smelled amazing, looked amazing when placed in the same dish as heaping piles of gooey mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, as well as the bright, colorful, and flavorful tomato sauce. Just to reiterate, I didn't want any part of this dish, yet when it was time to dig in, I did what I always do; took a deep breath, inhaled the aroma, dug in and LOVED every bite I took. Trisha truly is an awesome cook, but don't take my word for it, go cook it! Enjoy!


Ingredients:


- 2 Eggplants peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 4 cups Italian seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 6 Cups of your favorite Tomato Sauce; divided
- 16oz Freshly shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
- 1/4 shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Tablespoon basil




How to Cook It:


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. Dip Eggplant slices in Egg, then bread in crumbs. Place in single layer on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 5 minutes on each side.

3. In a 9X13 inch baking dish spread tomato sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and basil. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.


4. Bake in preheated oven for 35minutes, or until golden brown. ENJOY!

Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

Before Trisha and I got married, I used to think of soup as whatever Campbell's can was in my parent’s cupboard. I first want to say about these canned soups, kids have it so easy now-a-days. When I was young we didn't have the nice convenient pop tops with the pull tabs they have today. We didn't even have an electric can opener. We had the cheap metal one with the wings on it you had to crank by hand and it literally took five minutes to get the one can open because you could never get the cutting blade to sit just right on the lip of the can. It would often slip off or you would get it where no matter how hard you cranked on those wings the thing just wouldn't turn. Sometimes I would get so frustrated I would just get the can open half way and call it good, go grab a butter knife and bend the lid open enough for that extremely salty Chicken broth to pour out with those terrible little, bigger than spaghetti but smaller than fettuccine hybrid noodles to flop out along with two little chunks of chicken. And no matter what preparations I made, the flop out of the can would always create little splatter spots on the counter for me to clean up. 

It was a chore to eat soup and it really wasn't worth the time because the only time any of that soup, chicken noodle especially, tasted good was when I was sick. These kids today have it so easy. Pop a tab up and Pull. That's it! No mess what-so-ever. Just dump the soup in a bowl and throw the can in the recycle or trash bin. Also, today there are about 450 different choices from Progresso, Campbell's, Ramen, etc. We had Chicken Noodle, Tomato, or Vegetable, that's it. Kids just don't appreciate how easy they have it. I think soup is to blame for so many kids today feeling entitled. The frustrations with soup made me the man I am today! Kidding of course, but its examples like this that make me appreciate the little things in life. 

Now days though, I can't complain because I married such an awesome woman. I actually have it easier than these entitled kids. I grab a ladle, dip it in soups like the one you see in the picture, and put it in a bowl. I then plunge my spoon into it getting heaping chunks of potatoes mixed with cheese, onions, garlic, and pepper, a touch of salt and, as with most dishes, the most important ingredient, love! Campbell's chunky soup has nothing on Trisha's homemade Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup. This is another recipe that really is just as easy as it looks. It takes some preparation time and a little time to cook of course, but you’re going to get twenty times as much soup as what you would pay in the store for the previously mentioned cans of soup. Well, except Ramen, but c'mon, that stuff will kill you quickly and it doesn't even hold a candle to the soup you see before you. I encourage you, if you’re on a budget or have a big family, or don't have a ton of time and need something simple, easy, and jam-packed full of flavor, try Trisha's soup. Don't forget to let us know what you think and Like us on Facebook. You can also sign up for E-Mails and you can be notified every time we post, and you can follow us on twitter @SheCooksIShoot. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

- 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

- 1 1/2 Cups chopped Onions

- 1 1/2 Cups chopped Celery

- 32 Oz of Chicken Broth

- 8 Potatoes

- 1 Slices of Bacon per Bowl 

- 2 Cloves Garlic

- 8 Slices American Cheese

  Broken into pieces

- 2 Cups ShreddedCheddar 

(or Co/Jack)

- 4 Tablespoons all purpose flour

- 1 Cup Milk

- 1 Cup Water

- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley

- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

- 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

- 1 Teaspoon Pepper

- 1 Teaspoon Zenders Chicken Seasoning

(Order Zenders Chicken Seasoning Here) 

Or use any CHICKEN seasoning. DONT USE 

POULTRY SEASONING as alternative

How to Cook:

1. Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Saute Onions, Celery, & Garlic Cloves in the butter for 5 or 10 minutes or until tender.

2. Stir in Water, Chicken Broth, and potatoes, bring to boil and then simmer until the potatoes are Tender. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Add Garlic Poweder, Salt, Pepper, Chicken Seasoning, stir in. Fry up Bacon in separate pan. 

3. In separate small bowl, combine flour and milk and stir well until flour is mostly dissolved. Pour this into the soup slowly, stirring constantly until soup has thickened, about 5 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley. 

4. ENJOY!

"Sweet Baby" Country Style Ribs

When I go to a restaurant and look at a menu, one of the first things I always look at is how much Ribs cost. I do this with anticipation that somehow, someway, they overlooked this incredibly delicious food item and simply marked it under $10 for no reason other than to make people like me happy. Trisha and I are the type of people who doesn't want to pay a fortune for something that although worth it, still really is just a meal. With three kiddos, we choose to be economical when it comes to food because we know we can get good deals through coupons and sales that we can spend the money saved from being food savvy on things enjoyed for more duration, as a family. I love ribs and if your like us and don't want to spend as much as restaurants charge, you get to make your own at a fraction of the price, if your patient. Usually once or twice a year grocery stores will have family value packs of de-boned country style ribs on sale at a really cheap price, sometimes as low as $1.29/lb. When we buy these family packs Trisha usually cuts them into thirds, 2-3lbs each, that will feed generally 4-6 people for about the same price you would pay for one Rib dinner in most restaurants. To me, that sounds extremely economical! 

This recipe is one that, similar to our other posts, is pretty simple in that not many ingredients are involved to get your own perfectly cooked Country Style ribs. Essentially, this way of cooking ribs with no bone is to bake it for three hours to the point of tenderness where every bite just melts in your mouth and the flavors are so embedded in the meat that its almost like it was in a smoker for half a day. If you want a change up from eating ribs on-bone, where you need the wet-naps and a bowl to collect the bones and all of that, or you want eating ribs to be cleaner, say when your feeding children, try this recipe you can enjoy anytime of the year. Remember to let us know how it went and Upload a photo to our wall on Facebook (facebook.com/shecooksishoot) or Twitter (@SheCooksIShoot). Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

- Boneless Country Style pork Ribs (Cut into strips 2 inches wide)

- 1 full bottles of Sweet Baby Rays (or whichever BBQ sauce you prefer)

- 1 Large Chopped Onion

- 4 Garlic Cloves

HOW TO COOK: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Par-boil Ribs on medium heat in water in a stock pot with Onion and 2 cloves minced garlic for about 45 minutes. 

3. Add Ribs to a casserole dish; pour liquid from pot into casserole dish until about 2/3rds full

4. Sprinkle with Seasoned Salt and 2 cloves of minced garlic; cover with aluminium foil and bake for about 3 hours. 

5. Remove foil; drain half the liquid from casserole dish, add full bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce covering all meat and bake for 30 minutes more. 

6. Keep checking and flipping ribs every 30 minutes until desired tenderness. 

ENJOY!

Souped up Minestrone

Happy 2012! 


"Look how much weight I have to lose" is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. This being a food blog, we wanted to give a recipe that encompasses the idea of being a healthy dish with low amounts of calories and fat. With those ideas in mind, you get what we call, "Souped Up  Minestrone".  Trisha and I are not firm believers in New Years resolutions, mainly because we've made resolutions in the past to the same result of many other Americans; we broke them by Valentine's day. In essence, our resolution is to not make resolutions or do things we don't truly believe in. Something that we very much believe in is actions speaking louder than words. Therefore, we are giving you our word that our goal for this blog, among many, is to post a new recipe at least twice a week. We obviously don't know if we will be able to, however, by giving you our word we are certainly going to try. Doing this blog is something we both really enjoy and we have received some great feedback in response to the recipes we have put on here. I don't know if people like the way I write, the stories I tell, or the way in which I present Trisha's recipes but, your stuck with me writing it, so if you want Trisha's glorious recipes your going to have to put up with me:) Although, I guess I'll give  you some major insight if your not a fan of how I write. Just scroll to the recipes and skip my writings, although I want you to know you will have just hurt my feelings; even though I won't be there to see you skip over my supurb and ever-engaging writing, just know I'm crushed. Obviously I'm kidding. In all sincerity we thank you for stopping by, thank you for the support in the past and into the future and we just hope you enjoy the blog in the year 2012 as we are looking forward to growing this thing into something special that more and more people really enjoy. 


I've never eaten a Minestrone soup because it looked terrible to me and as I'm learning with my food photography experience, food has to look good in order for people to want to eat it. A Minestrone soup has big chunks of tomatoes, white beans, kidney beans, spinach and celery and did not look enticing to me. Trisha on the other hand loves Minestrone Soup, particularly from Olive Garden. When she was thinking of a healthier meal to cook that's easy and delicious, she thought of that soup. So, if you want Olive Garden Minestrone Soup in 2012, all you have to do is go on the internet, type it in Google and there ya have it, the recipe for a great soup. But, your not reading this because you wanted Olive Garden Minestrone. Your reading this because you want better than Olive Garden, and Trisha once again delivers, I promise you. Since I've wrote quite a bit already I'll just get to the recipe and how she cooked it. Again, with most our posts, its easy, relatively fast (takes about 40 min to prepare but its a check back once and awhile 40 minutes), and the flavors will knock you out! 


Ingredients:
-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
-1/2 Cup minced White Onions (1 small onion)
-1/4 Cup Frozen Cut Green Beans
-1/4 Celery (2 Stalks) 
-3 Cloves Minced Garlic
-4 Cups Chicken Broth (Original Recipe says Vegetable Broth. We were told not to use Chicken. We defy convention!)
-2 Can's small white or Great Northern Beans, drained (Original recipe call for 1 can of Kidney, 1 white but I hate Kidney)
-1 Can Diced Tomatoes, not drained
-1/2 Cup Carrots, Shredded
-2 Tablespoons minced fresh Parsley
-1 Teaspoon dried Oregano
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
-1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
-1 Cup Hot Water
-1/3 Cup Frozen Spinach
-1/2 Small Shell Pasta
-1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
-1 teaspoon Garlic Powder


Cooking Instructions:


1. Heat 2 TBSP Olive Oil over medium heat in large soup pot.


2. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans in the oil for about 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.


3. Add Chicken broth to pot, plus tomatoes, beans, carrots, hot water, and all spices. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. 


4. Add Spinach leaves and pasta and cook for additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Your Done!
We like to add shredded parmesan cheese to the top!


Please, let us know what you think, if you tried your own thing you could always post your own pics showing your own interpretation. Thanks, let's have a delicious 2012 and Enjoy!

The Tradition Checklist

I'll start right out and say that if you are looking for a recipe on this post, there isn't one. I encourage you to continue reading, but no recipe here. 

This time of year is about many things including food, which definitely is present in this post, but this is a post about me, my family and how I see our traditions carrying on and hopefully it inspires you to create your own or carry on those that have been passed down to you.

I thought of this post when, a few days ago, I took my son Julian and my photo equipment over to my Grandma's house so I could document a family tradition that has been going on around 50 years. As you can tell by the photo's, one of my families traditions is rolling homemade Kielbasa. 

I remember when I was a kid, my Dad would take my brother Josh and I over to my grandma's about a week or so before Christmas and assist all our uncles and cousins in this tradition. Usually it was a crank or two on the grinder, or throwing some meat in the grinder or maybe Dad teaching me how to feed the casing on the nozzle or rolling the Kielbasa as it came out, but mostly, it was a chance for all of us kids to get together and play. As the years moved along and the getting together for this tradition was a little more about rolling the Kielbasa and less about the playing, I began to appreciate that this is something that had been done for generations before me, yet I didn't fully comprehend until I had a family of my own just how much something like rolling the Kielbasa means to me. Once I had kids I really starting thinking about what I want to leave as my legacy when I'm gone. What things will I do to tell my children that what this life is about isn't the small material things like a house, car, laptop, or camera; life is about family, great friends, actions speaking louder than words, and the TRADITIONS we set forth for those we leave behind to continue and pass on? Creating things that can be passed on are how we know we will still matter once our time is up. 

This is also why I take such pride in my photography. I look at my photography different than many photographers. I love the feeling I get when I am taking a photo and I know I got it, THE shot. The shot that is going to make someone smile with joy when they look at it. My hope is that Joy is but one of many emotions that come to them while looking at all the photos I take. As a father, I know how emotional it can be to have a truly wonderful photo of your children. I have a History degree in Education and I love History, see it everywhere all around us all the time, but the most important History is our own family histories. When I am on a photo shoot I like to think of my time with those people as them letting me into their family's history for a short time to capture their life as it is right now. It is also my hope that someday, years from now, when they look over the course of their family's history, they can look at the photos I've captured for them and the pictures I've taken can bring up all these great emotions when looking at their child, children, or entire family. I like to think of what I do as "Capturing History with Every Press of the Shutter". 


So as you can see I always think about what I will leave behind and that is no different than my photography business itself. Right now it's not a huge, successful business, something I hope I grow it into, but when I was looking at a name for my business, I thought about J. Malec Photography, or Jeremy Malec Photography, but ended up with Malec Photography. I ended here for the simple fact that I won't always be here, but a Malec will (at least for the next generation). It's my hope one of my children learn photography so if they take over the business hopefully it would be a seamless transition in-so-far as the business is already in their name. 

Family traditions are a huge part of what life is about. Getting together with four generations; my Grandma, My Dad, Me, and My son, documenting for posterity the family Tradition of rolling Kilbasa is important to me. It is my hope that one day I will be standing where my Grandma is with my hand on one of, or all of my children's shoulder's while my Grandchild and great grandchild take part in the tradition. 

Trisha and I are creating our own Tradition Checklist with our family, a lot around the holiday's. Two such examples are that we roll out, cut and bake Christmas cookies together and every Christmas Eve we all get a new pair of Pajama's to wear for Christmas morning. We are constantly thinking of news one's and are even thinking when the kids get older of cutting down our own Christmas Tree. 

I hope by reading my post you tend to agree and look at your family in a whole new light. Maybe you want to take something we do, like the new PJ's (we took that as well), or you want to create your own traditions. I hope you just give a little thought to what your kids are going to remember and what things they will want to do when they start families of their own. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

~Jeremy