Breaking Thai

What better way to end a really great weekend, than with a delicious home cooked meal and watching the series finale of an amazing TV show? Well, that was my ideal this past weekend. I celebrated my dad's birthday on Saturday (with a fiesta and homemade margaritas!); brunched at an Irish festival in Annapolis with my friend Erica and our pups; then came home and cooked this rich and savory meal for myself and my friend, and fellow Breaking Bad enthusiast, Paloma. We needed some comforting food to help us make it through the stress of the finale!

When I invited Paloma over for dinner, I asked her if she was doing any special diets or had any food restrictions. She said she was avoiding gluten and dairy, but that I didn't have to work within those parameters. But you know me, I love a culinary challenge! Paloma is always down to eat a vegetarian meal, so I knew our dinner would also be vegetarian (though some shredded chicken or beef would probably be good in this recipe if you're a meat eater). I decided I would try to figure out a recipe that would also be gluten and dairy free. I knew I could come up with something that met all of these requirements, but was still filling, tasty, and satisfying.

I thought of using a vegetable as a roll and then stuffing it with other veggies. Then my mind wandered to my recent love affair with panang curry. It all started on a work trip to California where the neighborhood Thai restaurant was everyone's favorite. That was the first time I tried panang and have been in love with it ever since. I order it at my local Thai restaurant and also happened to have it last week at my boss's birthday lunch, so it was fresh in my mind when trying to come up with this vegetarian, gluten & dairy free meal. I thought I could make the panang at home and use that as the sauce for my veggie roll-ups. I would usually do an Italian style tomato sauce, but figured I should venture out and try something different this time, and that is what I did!

I made the rest of the recipe Thai-inspired as well, as far as the oil for frying the eggplant and the seasoning for the veggies. To keep it gluten-free, I decided to serve this along with some quinoa instead of the traditional jasmine rice I get at Thai restaurants. I obviously don't know how to make panang from scratch, so I did have to use a recipe for that. The one I used turned out to be really tasty, so I would recommend it.

This recipe definitely did the trick for holding our hands through the finale of Breaking Bad. And although we no longer have Walt, Saul, or Jesse, we will always have this recipe! haha

Milli was so exhausted from our fun weekend that she couldn't even bring herself to play when Paloma showed up! I caught her passed out on the couch, barely able to keep her eyes open:

When this puppy is too tired to play, you know it was a good weekend!

OK, let's get cookin' (this recipe, not meth...;-)!

Eggplant Roll-Ups
Servings: 2
Prep time: 20 minutes (this includes the time it takes to make the panang sauce)
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 large eggplant, cut into long, quarter inch thick strips
7 teaspoons peanut oil (or sesame oil if you're allergic to peanuts)
1 white potato, diced
2 handfuls cauliflower florets, chopped
1 beefsteak tomato, diced in large chunks
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 rounded teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup prepared (uncooked) panang curry sauce
3 large Thai sweet basil leaves, julienned

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, make the panang sauce and set that aside until you're ready to use it.

Next, place a Dutch oven or a pan with high sides on the stove over medium-low heat. Drizzle in 3 teaspoons of peanut oil.

Add the diced potatoes, toss to coat them in the oil, and allow them to cook for about three minutes.

Next, add the cauliflower and mix with the potatoes and oil. Let them cook for three minutes.

Add the diced onion, toss. Cook for another three minutes.

Sprinkle in the 1/4 teaspoon of salt and stir.

Throw in the diced tomatoes, sprinkle in the ground coriander, and stir.

Place the lid on the pan and let that cook while you are frying the eggplant. Just remember to stir every few minutes so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Put a stainless steel pan on the stove over medium heat. Add one teaspoon of peanut oil and let that heat up for about five minutes.

While the oil is heating up, arrange a paper towel over a dinner plate. You will use this to drain the eggplant when it's done frying.

When the oil is hot, distribute it evenly throughout the pan. Add two strips of eggplant.

Let them cook on the first side for about a minute, then flip them over to cook on the second side for another minute.

Remove them from the pan and place them on the paper towel plate.

Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan and repeat the frying process with the next two strips of eggplant. Continue doing this until you have fried all of your eggplant.

Now you are ready to assemble the roll-ups.

Remove the lid from the veggie pan and give it a good stir.

 Pour about 3/4 of a cup of panang sauce on the bottom of your baking dish.

Place an eggplant slice on a clean plate, and add a heaping tablespoon of the veggie mixture to the center of the eggplant strip.

Fold over one end of the eggplant strip atop the veggies, then fold over the other end, then roll them over so they are resting on the seam.

Use a spatula to gently pick up the roll and place it seam-down in the sauce inside the baking dish.

Repeat this for the rest of your eggplant strips.

Once all of the roll-ups are arranged in the baking dish, spoon the remaining quarter cup of sauce over the top of the rolls.

Place the baking dish in the oven to cook for a total of twenty-five minutes.

At this point, you can go ahead and start cooking the quinoa. Follow the directions on the box and set aside when it's completely cooked.

After the roll-ups have been cooking for fifteen minutes, open the door and sprinkle the julienned Thai basil over the top of them.

Replace the dish in the oven to finish cooking for the last ten minutes.

When the roll-ups have cooked for twenty-five minutes total, remove the baking dish from the oven.

Place two heaping spoonfuls of quinoa onto the center of your serving plate. Add two to three roll-ups to the top of the quinoa. Spoon additional sauce over the top of the roll-ups and the quinoa (I decorated the plate with the sauce as well, just to be fancy!)

 Serve with a glass of red wine like we did, or a Thai beer, like Singha, and enjoy!

 Salute!