Thanks for the Georgian threads, such a passionate read. Now I would like to cook some dishes…
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Yesterday, made the eggplant, pomegrante with buttermilk sauce, from Ottolenghi’s Plenty book. I guess many of you here have tried this recipe. I don’t know if the 200ºF 35-40 minutes oven temperature a mistake or the eggplant is meant to be barely cooked. I’ve attempted this recipe several times, and decided I prefer to have aubergines roasted with really soft texture.
Cod filet with sesame and olive oil.
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Ditto.
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I’ll make a wild guess that the eggplant is meant to be more cooked, as you and I would prefer.
I have noticed that eggplants straight from the farm in summer require less cooking than eggplant I buy in the supermarket this time of year. Hmmm, maybe that’s why the recipe doesn’t work as expected?
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For the purpose of learning some people may find this interesting. Salteñas are named after a place in Argentina called Salta
Empanadas in Argentina and Chile are quite different and salteñas are super juicy (as explained by Maria).
Caprese is my favourite because tomatoes.
Was deep in the mountains hiking in El Chalten. Empanadas were perfect food to take on hikes. Here I put them down on a rock for the photo. We sat down on another rock eating empanadas and this was the view. That’s Monte Fitz Roy, the symbol of Santa Cruz province and a magnet for hikers.
Empanadas in Chilean Patagonia are awesome, too.
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Deep fried and filled with crab meat!
Beautiful Chilean food words!
It had only occurred to me, after coming back from the trip, to make photos of food! My first trip to SA was Peru and Bolivia. Incredible and heart-wrenching. Here’s a proper salteña shop in Potosi. The peak in the background is the mine.
And many unofficial sellers on the street everywhere. Salteñas are kept in the baskets. We all need peace (la paz) and salteñas to be happy and productive 
These came home with me from Bolivia. Maria can have them if she wants them. There are recipes for “empanadas” in one of the books, with photo for each recipe).
PS: some photos don’t appear (yet). Simply click on the links.
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This eggplant recipe can be found easily online now. I read some of the comments below the recipe, many people found the vegetables under cooked, one comment stressed the eggplant could be cooked with this temperature if they were stored in room temperature. Your theory of summer farm ones do make sense, but it was not stated in the ingredient. This dish is on the cover of Plenty, I think they can make mistakes on other recipes, but not this one. So I supposed they wanted them lightly cooked.
My version this time is cooked at 200ºC / 390ºF for 40 minutes, H still complained… lol! Don’t know, maybe the aubergines here are “fat”.
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Cooking for one tonight. BF has work early tomorrow and will be in bed by the time I get home. So that means…STEAK! 
Bought a nice little skirt steak in the Italian market (only place I can get smaller sized cuts for one-- everything in Shop Rite is just too large).
Currently marinating in hoisin, oyster sauce, soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, olive oil, garlic, and gochugaru.
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You remarked, perhaps in a later post, that the recipe can be found online. I looked and the first place I found it was on the website thekitchn.com The recipe there calls for an oven temperature of 400°F. or about 205°C. Maybe that was the problem.
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Lamb ribs tonight! I intended to smoke them but it was so frigid and windy today, I couldn’t bear the thought of going in and out to feed the smoker, so I slow roasted instead. Rubbed with an Asian-ish mixture of salt, white pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander and garam masala (because I didn’t have any five-spice). Sriracha maple drizzle at the end. They were good, but VERY fatty and rich, much more so than pork ribs. I didn’t trim them at all, so next time I might cut away some fat. Still, nice with a crisp slaw on the side and a sour berry beer from Big Ditch Brewing in Buffalo to cut through the fat. I’m not really a football fan but having gone to college in Rochester, I’m rooting for the Bills tonight!
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Thanks Presunto! I did know the history of the name - a woman from Salta married a Bolivian president and made up the recipe in Bolivia. The saying was to “go get some empanadas from la Salteña” - e.g., the woman from Salta. So yeah, they did start out as empanadas but became their own thing. I linked the wiki entry way above, i thought…
I’ve mostly had them in La Paz, it’s strange I don’t remember seeing them in Sucre…
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they sound absolutely heavenly!
I use the recipe from the ebook, 200°F it said. I think some sites “corrected” it! 
i’m with you on wanting aubergine to be soft. (I really never call them aubergine but i love the word so much more than eggplant!)
Smoked brisket, slaw, braised cabbage, and smoked baked beans. All tasty. I had to unplate some of the food DH heaped on it - he skipped lunch. We’ve been cutting back on portions, seconds, and calories recently. It hasn’t been that tough of an adjustment.
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One of those happy/sad moments with TB12 going on to another Super Bowl…but without the Patriots. He is The GOAT. No question of that. I just wanted him to finish his career in New England. :::BIG sigh::: But still one more game to get through.
Came up with a Honey-Bourbon Chicken marinade of the following:
1/3 cup bourbon
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
Whisked that all together and poured over 2 chicken thighs to marinated for 3 hours.
Roasted in a regular oven for 20 minutes, then switched to convection for another 30, spooning some marinade over top and adding white wine to the roasting pan so the marinade didn’t burn.
Sides were orzo with onion and red bell pepper and steamed and buttered green beans. And wine.
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We had some excellent takeout from Don Pepe ll. We enjoyed seafood stuffed avocado, seafood stuffed lobster (crab, scallops, and shrimp), paella Valenciana, and Spanish chips. We have some nice leftovers for tomorrow. Although this meal calls for white wine, we are red wine drinkers, and enjoyed an excellent 2005 Syrah.
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I’ll take your plain Jane any day.
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Not sure where “Over here” is for you, but if you’re one of the New Jersey crowd, I last had it scungilli at Tuzzio’s in Long Branch (back in the 80s.) The restaurant’s still in Yelp, I assume now run by a younger generation than the family members of the friend I went there with back then.
