Camembert and Cranberry Stuffed Eggplant with Pesto

I am going to Singapore from tomorrow for 8 days. Past couple of days have been a struggle between clearing what's left in the fridge and buying what I'd like to cook with. Eventually I did a pretty good job having just a bunch of parsley and basil left. With such combination, one naturally thinks of Pesto. I would just like to emphasize the beauty of chopping instead of processing: you get these bits and bites of nuts and the ingredients that you don't get with the homogeneous paste from processor. It's a lot of patient and work especially so in a hot kitchen - you may want to make it a point to whoever you make it for. I have no doubt Adrian is well aware of the effort I put in to this pesto.

Here is something I made long before that I have always wanted to redo. It's a very intricate combination of flavors from the tartness of dried cranberry, creamy Camembert, savory pesto served with the ambiguous mushroom. Unfortunately despite all these varieties of mushroom they are showcasing during the Nine Emperor Festival, I couldn't find the wide, flat mushroom that I needed for this recipe. So what was I going to do? I bought eggplant. I knew I have made it my mission to challenge Adrian's taste bud but this time it was unintentional.

Instead of using dried cranberry, I used Homemade Cranberry Sauce made from dried cranberry. If you don't have the time for a proper pesto, go to the original recipe and follow its use of rocket leaves.

We liked the play of different elements in this recipe. Although I think mushroom is still the better choice than eggplant. I may do it again with mushroom when I come back if Adrian decides not to do anything with the extra pesto for the next 8 days.

Updated: I came home from Singapore and guess what? The extra pesto was left intact in the far corner of the refrigerator. No surprise there. Hence I decided to repeat this recipe with Portabella mushroom. You can use any flat mushroom. Remember to pick the big ones because mushroom shrinks in size when cooked. The method is basically the same:

• Fry mushroom (stalk removed) in a ovenproof pan until golden brown all over.
• Arrange mushroom with the bottom side up in the pan. Pile cheese and cranberry on the mushroom. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and basil leaves.
• Bake until cheese has melted.
• Serve with pesto.

I made this into a main dish by serving it along with a Cheesy Cheddar Corn Polenta. The real essence develops when the foods are slightly cooled and it is much better with mushroom than with eggplant. Two hours after the dinner, while I was preparing Sticky Date Pudding and Adrian slouching on the coach slaying yet another alien on X-Box, he said "dinner was really good". And guess who I made it for?

Ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
For the Pesto:

• A few bunches of parley and basil
• 3/4 C Parmesan, grated
• 3 gloves garlic
• A handful of raw pine nuts (or walnuts/ pecans)
• Extra virgin Olive oil
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Sea salt

1. Start chopping the some of leaves. Add some Parmesan, garlic and nuts as you chop. Add more of the leaves, Parmesan, nuts and garlic as you continue to chop and chop and chop.... until they become more or less homogenized.
2. You'll need approximately 1 Cup of pesto for this recipe. If there's extra, press them into a cake in a jar, cover with extra virgin olive oil and keep refrigerated for future use.
   
3. To the 1 cup pesto, mix in 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon olive oil and pinch of salt. Taste and adjust with more oil, lemon juice, and salt as needed.

For the Eggplant:

• 1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise
• Olive oil
• sea salt
• 1 Cup Homemade cranberry sauce (or dried cranberry)
• 125g Camembert, cubed
  

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Rub eggplant halves with oil and salt. Let roast for about 30 minutes, until the cut sides are browned.
2. Remove cooked eggplant from the oven. Top it with cranberry sauce and cubed Camembert. Return to the oven and let bake for another 20 minutes, until Camembert melts.

To serve:
Place eggplant halves onto individual serving plates. Drizzle pesto over and serve warm.

Pumpkin Goat Cheese Salad with Walnut and Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette

The key to this salad is the cranberry orange vinaigrette dressing that come with just a tinge of ginger. It is rather simple provided you have homemade cranberry sauce (not that you can't use commercial brand but why would you?) at hand. You can make a big batch of it and use it whenever you need that delicious dressing for your greens. When in hurry, simply omit the roasted pumpkins, and use fresh goat cheese instead of deep fried - I'm just in the mood for it since I made it with the Barley Pilaf. For aesthetic reason I spooned the dressing into the orange halves. You can dress it any way you like.

This dressing is a keeper.

Ingredients:
(makes 2 sides or 1 large)

Vinaigrette Dressing:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup homemade cranberry sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar
sea salt and Pepper to taste

1. Whisk the juice and cranberry sauce together in a large bowl until thoroughly blended.
   
2. Add in the ginger, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and mix. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
   

Salad:
Salad greens
1/4 large pumpkin, peeled and cut into wedges
4 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons dried cranberries

Deep Fried Goat Cheese: (optional)
60 gram goat cheese, freeze and cut into bite-sized chunks
Unbleached all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
Breadcrumb

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Coat pumpkin wedges with olive oil and salt. Bake in oven till tender.
   
3. Place flour, egg and breadcrumbs in three separate plates. Coat goat cheese with flour, egg then breadcrumbs.
4. Heat a pan with pure coconut oil. Fry coated goat cheese for 2 minutes on each side.
   
5. Pile the salad leaves either on one large bowl or two individual plates. Top the greens with roasted pumpkins, walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese.
6. Drizzle vinaigrette over to serve.