An early lunch before an early supper before an early
rehearsal for the gig that I've been demoted from
concertmaster to assistant principal second (when Bonnie
saw my music, which had been sent to her house for my
collection, she sort of huffed and said "ugh, second
violin," and I think she was serious).

It was a reprise of the previous day's lunch in all
its glort, yogurt, which I didn't have, stuffed baby
eggplant, and salt-cured turnips (which I didn't have).
Pita bread from Joseph's to accompany and to mop up
excess oil; gigantic red seedless grapes for dessert.
Then Deb brought out her famous lemon squares, shich
made a delicious shambles of a light meal.

--

For supper we had crockpot pulled pork made with Jack
Daniel's sauce (not smoky enough but not bizarrely
oversweet - vinegar being the first ingredient). Bob
made this, so most of the fat went away before I got
a shot at it. Furthermore, the pork had been cooked
at least an hour too little, so it was as much chopped
as pulled, not a huge problem. I made a spectacle of
myself fishing for fatty bits; I found just a couple.

I made aligot - mashed potatoes beaten with cheese.
There of course being no Comte in the house, I used
a mix of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar and Market
Basket Parmesan. I shouldn't have bothered with the
latter, which tasted like foot smell.

There was leftover cornbread from many moons ago. It
was very crumbly even after being zapped for a few
seconds. Luckily it wasn't too sweet. Luckily I had
only half a piece of it.

More of those lemon squares for dessert.

The rehearsal, well, I've never seen the second violin
part of most of the music - in fact, two of the pieces
I'd never heard of before, Gjello's Song of the Universal
and Dona Nobis Pacem by Vasks. Luckily, I'd seen the
second part of Mozart's Regina Coeli in high school, and
for the Bach Eine Feste Burg both violin parts are very
similar. I needed a stand of my own; with my new portable
cordless stand light I could do almost okay. As the space
for the orchestra was curved, it turned out the only place
to put me was right in front, in the middle of the arc,
so I ended up being more audible than anyone else anyway,
which was fine until, toward the end of the rehearsal, I
misread a quarter note for a half note and came in wrong,
loudly. Whoops.

Bob forgave me, and I was given a treat of lemon squares
and Black Box Malbec afterward.

Makdous
categories: pickle, vegan, middle eastern
yield: 3 pt

2 lb baby eggplants (about 32)
salt for rubbing
olive oil to cover
h - stuffing
1 1/4 c raw walnuts
1 tb crushed red pepper
1 tb salt
1 1/2 hd raw garlic

Pickled stuffed baby eggplant (magdoos)

Rinse eggplants very well and set aside.

Fill a large pot with water and a spoon of salt.
Place the pot on high heat.While waiting for the
water to boil, prepare filling. Place walnuts in
Ziploc bag and use a pestle or rolling pin to
roughly crush the walnuts. Finely mince raw garlic.
Place the raw walnuts, crushed red pepper, salt,
and garlic in a bowl and mix together until well
combined.

Once the pot of water boils, add all the eggplants,
and place a plate or heavy object over the surface
of the water to keep the eggplants submerged.
Cover the pot with a lid. Keep the stove on high
heat, allowing the eggplants to fully cook. After
30 min, turn off the stove and transfer the
eggplants to a colander to drain, then lay all
the eggplants out on a tray to fully cool.

Slice eggplants lengthwise, halfway through.
Make sure the eggplant is still intact. Rub salt
on the inside of the eggplant, then place the
filling inside the opening. Push the filling in
using your finger. Close the eggplant and place
it in a 48 oz jar jar. Continue this process until
all the eggplants are stuffed.

Place a sieve in a well fitting bowl. Place both
the sieve and the bowl upside down on the mouth
of the jar. Quickly and gently flip the jar over,
so it is balancing upside down on the sieve and
bowl. Keeping the jar upside down in the sieve/bowl,
place the jar in the fridge to keep it from souring
as the excess liquid strains from the stuffed
eggplants. Check on the jar every few hours to
pour out any liquid that has strained into the
bowl. After 48 hrs, when there is no remaining
liquid, remove the jar from the fridge. Flip the
jar upright. Add any remaining filling from the
previous day into the jar. Fill the jar with olive
oil until all the eggplants are covered and the jar
is full. Use a spoon to push down the eggplants if
needed. The jar should be tightly packed. Seal the
jar using 2 layers of plastic wrap and the jar's
proper lid. Close tightly. Place the jar in a dark,
cool area for 3-4 weeks. The longer, the better.
After a month has passed, pop open the lid, grab a
piece of toasted pita bread, and enjoy!

Notes
Waiting 48 hrs for all liquids to strain from the
jar is a crucial process in order for this recipe
to work.

Patience is key. The month wait is worth it.

stitchingcuisines.com
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)